“All  our knowledge merely helps us die a more painful death than the animals that know nothing.” - Maurice Maeterlinck

Prepare yourself for an intense thought provoking experiment, one designed to evoke strong emotions and push you to examine your thoughts and values. Make sure you're mentally ready for it.

The idea that animals know nothing is slightly disconcerting to me, because I know better. I've had the good tune to live with animals. My parents tell me about how our Golden Retriever, Mimo acts all innocent and sorry when he did something wrong or was planning on doing something mischievous.

People usually tend to do two things with animals. If it's their pet, they anthropomorphize nearly everything about it. The pet thinks, converses with them, has an afterlife, is their devoted friend and so forth. If the animal is one chosen for the table then it's a dumb beast without any sense of self. It was given to humans to eat, after all it's written that man was given dominion over the beasts of the earth.

Let me tell you a little story about a Horse named Ferdinand. 

In many cultures horses are a delicacy and people eat them. Often cats and dogs are fed horse meat via commercial food. Ferdinand was a great racehorse who won the 112th Kentucky Derby, was later killed for his flesh. This beloved champion ended up at a slaughterhouse in Japan.

According to Margaret Baird of the Humane Society, Ferdinand earned a then-record of $609,500 in winnings. Ferdinand finished second in Preakness and third in Belmont Stakes in 1986. He then found his winning streak again the coming season and won Horse of the Year honors by winning the 1987 Kentucky Derby.

Why did such a regal animal end up in a slaughterhouse? Breeders will tell you that Ferdinand wasn't a great stud and his utility was limited once he could no longer earn money. I guess the logic of “if he can't pay his feed bill, why feed him?” came into play.

How do you feel about that? I feel disgusted but the Japanese were applying a different criteria to the value of an animal's life than I would.

I did not tell that story to make you feel sad, what I intended to do was invoke a certain thought in you, the thought of values. Not just the physical value but also the moral value. Nobody remembers you for too long, unless they are very good people. I've seen many devote all their time and energy in order to help people only to be discarded by them for new people. Don't over-value anybody or put anybody on a high pedestal unless they really deserve it, like your parents or your teachers or that childhood friend (exceptions applicable obviously). 

Know your value, treat people accordingly