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Counterpoint: we really don't know how much self-awareness fish have versus the mammals that the OP seems to be referring to. Call it gross anthropocentrism, but most people respect the lives of non-humans in terms of intelligence. Pigs are pretty well understood to he intelligent and are probably conscious of what's going on around them. Some shrimp? Maybe not.
This doesn't really address the meta concerns w/r/t procurement in your comment, but if I had to choose between a plate of fish or a plate of pork, this would be my thought process.
We do know octopi, for example, can solve complex puzzles
Just to be the super-nerd, octopus is not a regular latin word.
I think it is actually a greek loan word in latin.
So the plural is either octopodes to follow the original greek or octopuses in regular english.
The correct plural is whatever word you say that people understand as meaning more than one octopus. That's how language works.
If enough people make a language mistake, it becomes a rule.
I mean I get your point and for all intents and purposes I don't even necessarily disagree.
I just wanted to add this little factoid, since I think using "octopi" instead of the at least equally as correct "octopuses" shows that one tries to follow the etymology of the word.
And if you try to do that, the etymologically correct plural is "octopodes".
Then again I hesitated even answering you, since I am by no means one of those weirdos that has a problem with language changing.
For all I care we can talk about octopussies and octopiarians or whatever, but as someone that had to learn latin as a child, the use of octopi just kind of itches my brain.
But it is all good, I get what you are saying and my first post was never meant as a negative critique of OP and more as a fun fact.
That's true, and a lot of westerners take issue with octopus as food
'Octopi', interestingly enough, is a result of people assuming that the word 'octopus' comes from Latin because it ends in -us, which would mean that the correct plural drops the 'us' and replaces it with an 'i'. But, trickily enough, it does not come from Latin; it comes from Greek. As a result, if you're trying to be super technical, the correct plural would instead replace the 'us' with 'odes'--octopodes.
Of course, almost nobody actually uses that term unless they're doing it for fun. The most commonly used, correct plurals for octopus are 'octopuses' and 'octopus'.
I hope you enjoy that little tidbit as much as I did when I learned it.
@ozymandias117 octopuses can also teach puzzlesolving to others and also display altruism.
They will also punch fish they hunt with if they are frustrated with them, which is hilarious.
@Chuymatt totally hilarious!
When I first saw footage of them hunt that way I thought it was an equal partnership like fish have with eels, but the punching makes it clear that's not how the octopus sees it.
They also are very good with olives and potatoes
The Octopuses solving puzzles is actually overblown a bit. I used to work in an aquarium and had to teach an octopus to open a jar to get its food out. They can do this, but they're not that smart so you need to break it into tiny steps. Even 'your food is inside the jar' was a difficult lesson.
@PP_BOY_ but more and more research is showing us that fish are smart.
E.g goldfish driving "cars" around in a room, the research on those fish that choose eels to hunt with and communicate via gesture, etc