Do you think animals would suicide if they had higher consciousness ?

[AppelduVide]

For example take salmon: it has a pretty defined life cycle, they swim up a stream, until they can find shallow waters in which they can lay eggs and then they die in the same shallow waters..do you think salmon would still do what it do If it knew what happens in the end? Like..How do normal humans do what they do without the gift of being blissful?

 

[Sprite_Geist]

Whatever is defined as a higher level of consciousness is still very much debated, and there are some gray areas too. But if other species had the same experience of sapience (homo sapience) as humans do then, yes, some of them probably would want to die, because those animals would then have the potential to realise that the natural cycle, from their current knowledge, is nothing more than pointless suffering. This is one of the reasons why certain humans want to commit suicide anyway, so it would make sense that other animals would feel too if they thought just like us.

 

[alown]

some animals are capable of committing suicide, such as dolphins or dogs, several stories prove it.

 

[AppelduVide]

some animals are capable of committing suicide, such as dolphins or dogs, several stories prove it.

oh wow,I didn't know that

 

[virginiawoolf]

some animals are capable of committing suicide, such as dolphins or dogs, several stories prove it.

to provide an example for this point - Peter the dolphin committed suicide after his carer who had a sexual relationship with him left and the dolphin was put in a smaller tank with no sunlight

this article is about it https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/08/the-dolphin-who-loved-me

this quote in the article from a dolphin expert is so interesting:

"Dolphins are not automatic air-breathers like we are," he explains. "Every breath is a conscious effort. If life becomes too unbearable, the dolphins just take a breath and they sink to the bottom. They don't take the next breath."

dolphins have to want to live in order to keep living... in this sense, they're a more emotionally complex species than humans - as we can't drown ourselves willingly if we know how to swim even if we want to (although we can stop drinking and eating)

 

[alown]

to provide an example for this point - Peter the dolphin committed suicide after his carer who had a sexual relationship with him left and the dolphin was put in a smaller tank with no sunlight

this article is about it https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/08/the-dolphin-who-loved-me

this quote in the article from a dolphin expert is so interesting:

"Dolphins are not automatic air-breathers like we are," he explains. "Every breath is a conscious effort. If life becomes too unbearable, the dolphins just take a breath and they sink to the bottom. They don't take the next breath."

dolphins have to want to live in order to keep living... in this sense, they're a more emotionally complex species than humans - as we can't drown ourselves willingly if we know how to swim even if we want to (although we can stop drinking and eating)

yes absolutely there have also been other articles with several dolphins who deliberately committed suicide.

dogs also after the loss of their master, who deliberately commits suicide by jumping out of the window or from a high enough drop point, the survival instinct of an animal can lead to a deliberate death because too much suffering takes precedence over perceived love.

 

[FuneralCry]

Yes, being conscious can be a nightmare. If we are aware of how much we are suffering and that there is a way out of it, then suicide will be a possible consideration. I have heard stories too of animals committing suicide but i'm not sure though as if you do not have a high level of consciousness you will act based on instinct to survive.

 

[alown]

Yes, being conscious can be a nightmare. If we are aware of how much we are suffering and that there is a way out of it, then suicide will be a possible consideration. I have heard stories too of animals committing suicide but i'm not sure though as if you do not have a high level of consciousness you will act based on instinct to survive.

beyond consciousness there is also love, and well-being, I think that a dog who jumps from a window to die suffers greatly after understanding that his master has died, and life is no more no longer deserves to be lived for him.

 

[JustLosingMyself]

Even vipers have been documented to commit suicide using their own venom to escape pain

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I mean with Salmon, aren't they already technically committing suicide? If they gained a higher consciousness I would imagine the majority of them would still choose to complete their life cycle the normal way because it's the only way for them to breed. It probably feels good for them to die that way too.

Besides even if a few salmon decided to forgo the process they'd just be left out in the open to be juicy prey for whatever animals eat them like humans and bears. Either way they die but if they choose not to reproduce then they literally die for nothing and they die as pathetic loser virgin incels too.

 

[alown]

cats can commit suicide from sadness after abandonment, some aphids also voluntarily kill themselves by sacrifice to make room for others, beyond making the act byconsciousness, it is also part of the cycle of life, suicide in fact left.

in Switzerland, hundreds of bulls and cows have committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, yet they have an instinct for survival.

camponotus ants and some species of termites will rupture their glands in a process called "autothyse".

 

[WornOutLife]

Yeah, I think they would because just like us, they would realize life sucks! (unless they become pro-lifers lol)

 

[PaxAmerica]

For example take salmon: it has a pretty defined life cycle, they swim up a stream, until they can find shallow waters in which they can lay eggs and then they die in the same shallow waters..do you think salmon would still do what it do If it knew what happens in the end? Like..How do normal humans do what they do without the gift of being blissful?

No they would think whats the point of all that swimming.

 

[bad luck]

penguins, dolphins, walruses ... There are videos on the Internet of these animal species committing suicide

 

[JustAMatterOfTime]

I read a while ago about a bear that killed itself that was in a cage in China being used for its bile. Not sure if it is true though but I can imagine it is, very sad.

 

[PaxAmerica]

Humans are so selfish. Money rules us. We're a not really civilized

 

[Pharmaruined]

I read a while ago about a bear that killed itself that was in a cage in China being used for its bile. Not sure if it is true though but I can imagine it is, very sad.

Damn.. I take bear bile.. it's called tudca and it decongests the liver. Fuck, everything suffers for the betterment of others