How smart would cows have to become for you to stop eating beef?
Obviously this question is only for people who eat beef regularly.
But I just was wondering, what IQ/ability would make you swear off beef? If they could speak like an 8 y.o, would that be enough to cut off beef? If they got an IQ of 80, would that do it?
I'll go with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy answer and say the cow likely will offer me in person which cuts of meat I prefer. It's sole purpose in life is to be part of the food cycle. It knows that and it accepts it.
I don't know if there's an IQ amount, but there's probably a dollar amount. The more expensive it gets, the less I'll eat, and then eventually I won't bother.
Intelligence has nothing to do with it. Intelligence isn't even well defined or measurable. Things like IQ are designed for humans, so they would not be applicable to other beings. They're barely even useful for human applications.
It's an interesting question though. First, I'll ask myself why I eat beef in the first place.
It's tasty
It's relatively cheap
Very nutrient dense, so it's easier to consume
Why do I not eat dogs or cats?
They are not socially acceptable to consume
They contribute positively to my life in other ways than being a food source
I'm pretty sure that a dog/cat could be dumb as a rock and I still wouldn't eat them because I'd still enjoy their company.
Now I do try to reduce the amount of beef I consume, but it's mainly for environmental reasons.
I think it should be mandatory for everyone to spend at least one day of their young adult life hunting, killing, dressing, and cooking. The experience will likely alter the person's entire outlook on life and meat in general.
I never forget that meat was a life that mattered; with a personality; good and bad days; life; experience; struggle it lost to me. It doesn't stop me from eating meat. I wish I had the ability to hunt for what I need. I know my own ethics, like when to take a clean shot, and only taking what I need. Animals in industrial livestock facilities are mostly managed by unethical criminals. None of us asked to be born in such an overpopulated world. Unfortunately, this is the impossible problem. If you are smart enough to see the issue of overpopulation, that is great, but even if you avoid having children, those that are not so bright will always enumerate.
I think your should stop eating any meat the moment you don't feel like you have what it takes to look at the animal in the eye while you kill it for consumption.
If you think you can't do that, then you should reconsider your meat consumption.
I'm approaching this point in my life and reducing consumption accordingly.
Cows can be moderately smart when raised as such. It's humans who selected the specific traits we considered more convenient for our needs, and breed them like that.
They would have to be able to hold a conversation. Octopi are much, much smarter than cows, I will still happily eat them... though I feel a little guilty about that. Cows, though? No guilt.
That said, there is much tastier red meat to be had, if only we diversified our livestock. Kangaroo and Ostrich, in particular. And both of those animals are cold-blooded killers who deserve to be eaten.
Basically, I wouldn't be able to eat anything that speaks (I haven't and don't intend to, but that's not what would prevent me from eating a "talking" parrot, for instance)
They're already smart enough :) but up close they're a burpy gassy mess, feels like a sentient bioreactor who is really fussy about what delicious grasses their friends found on the other side of the hill.
I guess my cutoff would be actual conversation. Unless they specifically ask to be eaten, ala the bit from Hitchiker's Guide, in which case I guess the sky is the limit.
My personal limit is recreation, or having fun. So no cows, or pigs, horses or dogs or cats, mostly no mammals really. But also i wouldnt eat like a crow, or octopus.
I wouldn't eat a dog, a monkey, an octopus, a dolphin, a whale, a cat, a parrot, a crow, or a donkey. Pretty much everything else is on the table unless I'm missing something.
I don't think it's entirely to do with intelligence. Pigs for example are apparently of similar intelligence to dogs, but I love eating pork. Obviously the dog has the advantage of a unique domestication where they can read and react to our emotions better than virtually all other animals.
So it's an interesting question you ask. Because while intelligence isn't the primary reason it has to certainly be a motivator because all of those I listed are intelligent animals.
To actually answer your question, they would have to be pretty damn smart for me to stop eating them because they are delicious.
Smart enough for them to stop being eaten. But at this point they'd have to have similar intelligence to ours, which means we'd probably be at war with them anyway.
What I eat is already dead. I've never decided to eat something in such a way that it contributed to the harm of any lifeform. So it's not a matter of intelligence, but if it was, it could be as intelligent as a snail and I still wouldn't eat it.
Cows could launch a spaceship past Warp 1 and I would still want a cheeseburger. I could make do with a well marinated portabello burger at the same price.
Well I don't eat meat at all, and part of the reason is the video on YouTube of the little girl who snuck her pet cow onto her indoor porch and is holding it in her lap and scratching it while it sighs contentedly.