[Avodah] anti-meat rhetoric "according to Judaism"

[Micha Berger]

There was a recent Scientific American article on self-awareness that
might be of value to our discussion of a couple of weeks ago. July 2010
issue.

    Me, Myself and I: How the Brain Maintains a Sense of Self
    by Uwe Herwig
    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=me-myself-and-i
    ...
    The Layers of Self-Awareness
    ...
    In the mid-1990s neurologist Antonio R. Damasio, then at the
    University of Iowa, distilled the self's multiple layers into a
    three-part hierarchy. The lowest level, which Damasio calls the
    proto-self, corresponds to a simple, neural representation of
    the body. This proto-self oversees basic physical functions such
    as metabolism, body temperature and circadian rhythms. We are not
    conscious of the proto-self unless problems arise, eliciting attention
    from the core self (the intermediate level), which generates our
    immediate cognizance of the here and now. At this level of awareness,
    signals from the body give rise to nonverbal impulses -- feelings
    of hunger, sadness or cold. The autobiographical self, Damasio's top
    layer, enables us to evaluate our impulses rationally -- referencing
    earlier experiences and current goals -- and to guide our behavior
    in a targeted way.

    These three layers of self emanate from increasingly sophisticated
    processing centers in the brain. The proto-self is associated with
    the brain stem and the hypothalamus, structures found at the base
    of the brain near the spinal cord. The core self enlists areas
    in the interbrain, or diencephalon, which serve as a relay for
    visceral activities, and the amygdala, which is primarily involved
    in processing emotions. It also activates the cingulate cortex and
    the insula, which are connected to emotions, and the medial and
    dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which act as an internal governor,
    forming plans of action and issuing commands. The autobiographical
    self, meanwhile, relies on linguistic abilities that only humans
    possess. Accordingly, it employs speech and memory centers in the
    hippocampus and Broca's area, as well as parts of the prefrontal
    cortex. Many of the areas related to the self are found along the
    brain's midline, where its two hemispheres meet.
    ...

I'm suggesting that what we call "suffering" requires the autobiographical
self. Animals have responses on the proto-self and a non-verbal self,
which puts them ahead of machines (at least all those that exist so far),
but their pain doesn't cause suffering, because the concept "I am in pain,
poor me!" can't be constructed.

And that, in turn, could explain how halakhah could morally allow causing
animals pain with a very low threshold of reasoning.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life is complex.
micha at aishdas.org                Decisions are complex.
http://www.aishdas.org               The Torah is complex.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                                - R' Binyamin Hecht