simple poll, please answer!
Poll Scallops (no research allowed!)
the status of scallops is obviously a divisive matter. more responses please!
click on the poll number and then "View Results" to see how other people voted. i was waiting on responses from some people but they didn't haven't yet.
origins of the question: an unnamed family member does not eat animals. (recent development) however, until this month she used to eat scallops, unwitting that they were considered by some as animals at all. she says that she conceived of scallops and other bivalves as inert things that were found to be edible (in that sense, a little like plants. this position was never fully clarified.) in the end, i expect that when it comes to diet choices it's much more important why one chooses to avoid eating certain things in the first place, applied to each individual item you consume.
apparently scallops and other mollusks are often thought of in passing as neither Animal nor non-Animal (i came to this now disproved conclusion by asking people around me). in fact the responses to the open-ended question helped give a bit of support for this.
the distinction animal/non-animal is my own arbitrary one (have no idea if this is problematic). i get the feeling that when the discussion turns to "food animals" in particular there will be controversy over a seemingly scientific classification. even fish is sometimes argued over. crustaceans are usually lumped together with fish so it's less immediately problematic to classify that. so far only kismetsays and laiqualaurelote seem to have more ambiguous stances.
creatures of the ocean such as mollusks, sponges and to a lesser degree, sponges (though i could be wrong about these) do have brains, sense and internal organs (as well as the muscle part). check it out: wonderful blue eyes on the scallop. a little creepy but still marvelous. the page has links to other pages on ocean animals (click the arrow button).
the status of scallops is obviously a divisive matter. more responses please!
click on the poll number and then "View Results" to see how other people voted. i was waiting on responses from some people but they didn't haven't yet.
origins of the question: an unnamed family member does not eat animals. (recent development) however, until this month she used to eat scallops, unwitting that they were considered by some as animals at all. she says that she conceived of scallops and other bivalves as inert things that were found to be edible (in that sense, a little like plants. this position was never fully clarified.) in the end, i expect that when it comes to diet choices it's much more important why one chooses to avoid eating certain things in the first place, applied to each individual item you consume.
apparently scallops and other mollusks are often thought of in passing as neither Animal nor non-Animal (i came to this now disproved conclusion by asking people around me). in fact the responses to the open-ended question helped give a bit of support for this.
the distinction animal/non-animal is my own arbitrary one (have no idea if this is problematic). i get the feeling that when the discussion turns to "food animals" in particular there will be controversy over a seemingly scientific classification. even fish is sometimes argued over. crustaceans are usually lumped together with fish so it's less immediately problematic to classify that. so far only kismetsays and laiqualaurelote seem to have more ambiguous stances.
creatures of the ocean such as mollusks, sponges and to a lesser degree, sponges (though i could be wrong about these) do have brains, sense and internal organs (as well as the muscle part). check it out: wonderful blue eyes on the scallop. a little creepy but still marvelous. the page has links to other pages on ocean animals (click the arrow button).