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I think its going to be tough for society to reconcile with the fact that we are not so unique as we thought. Maybe it never will. Some animals are self-aware. Plants and fungus can communicate with each other via underground networks. Some of them move, react to stimuli, communicate with others in their species, and are able to differentiate between their offspring and other neighbors of the same species. Is it really any different to be a vegan or a carnivore?

Boiled lobsters actually do feel pain. Some dogs have a somewhat complex understanding of human emotion and language. We had all these hopeful assumptions that we told each other in order to make us feel better about the fact that you must consume living things to be a living thing, and it seems like those are all slowly being proven wrong.

While I agree with your sentiment somewhat, the leap to equating vegans with carnivores is unjustified in my opinion
Who is anyone to decide that some life forms are “lower”? I don’t see it as a big leap.
To any commenters, please link me to any great resources (documentaries/videos/books) that you feel best demonstrates the advanced intelligence and awareness of other species. I know people that think "fish only have 7 seconds of memory" and wish to share this knowledge.

I restrict myself to eating vegetarian + things like oysters, abalone. But I'm guilty and have been eating fish. The bigger the fish, the more guilty and apprehensive I feel about the fish having some degree of qualia. Probably its fine eating Sardines with their tiny brains? As you may have surmised, it's a philosophical topic I'm very uncertain about.

People are often perplexed, saying that since everything dies anyway, it doesn't matter. But it's not about death, it's about how it lived it's life in a slaughterhouse or whatever. of course, life out in the wild is brutal too, so many animals that end up on the dinner table probably lived better lives than they would have in the wild. But, as my empathy and compassion grows to encompass other animals, even if the meat on the table is "ethical" by my own judgement, I find myself awkwardly thinking to myself "uhh, maybe ill just eat the damn tofu instead".