Chickens raised in the Matrix

[manimal]

I also thought the chicken in the OP was staying at one of those Japanese mini hotels they have at the airport.

 

[slayer202]

well, it's an interesting idea. sounds a lot more humane than current conditions, but I'd imagine it would be more expensive even after saving space. the places that really abuse the animals will keep on doing so

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Well the initial costs and R&D will probably be very expensive but if the numbers are correct and they can fit 3x as many chickens in the same area or however the explained it then it would eventually make back the money since your production capabilties are greatly higher than the competitors.

If that happens I could see our current systems giving way to this one.

 

[Puppies04]

D:

I'm going to stick with my organic non-gmo vegetarian fed cage free / free range chicken, thanks.

Do you know of a spare planet somewhere close by so the other 6.99 billion people on the earth can have one aswell? Or are you just happy as long as you aren't the one eating inhumanely grown chicken?

 

[busydude]

well, it's an interesting idea. sounds a lot more humane than current conditions, but I'd imagine it would be more expensive even after saving space. the places that really abuse the animals will keep on doing so

At the beginning it should be considerably expensive, but if it gains popularity.. I can see it becoming cheaper and pretty damn efficient at growing food.

 

[darkewaffle]

well, it's an interesting idea. sounds a lot more humane than current conditions, but I'd imagine it would be more expensive even after saving space. the places that really abuse the animals will keep on doing so

Well, frankly the animals would still be abused, hell probably more so if you convinced the producers they couldn't feel any of it. Which I mean I guess is an improvement, but I wouldn't really see the progress in letting a drunk father beat up a coma patient instead of his kid either.

 

[slayer202]

At the beginning it should be considerably expensive, but if it gains popularity.. I can see it becoming cheaper and pretty damn efficient at growing food.

But I imagine the land that the chickens take up is not a huge expense. The upkeep of the connections to the chickens and whatever machinery is needed probably isn't much or at all cheaper than the current expenses. It's not really reasonable to speculate though, so who knows

 

[surfsatwerk]

I want those chickens in my basement now.

 

[Jeff7]

I like the lobotomized chicken idea better than the blind chicken idea. The way I see it, it doesn't matter if you kill them before or after you grow them to edible size, but it does matter if you blind them and make them live their lives packed together in the darkness.

It does sound distasteful awe but this seems like a logical progression towards the ethically neutral solution of directly growing meat cells.

Agreed - we want meat, but some of us don't much care for the suffering part. Ok, fine. We'll eliminate the chicken's ability to experience suffering. (Even better: Genetically-engineer a brainless chicken.) Then you've got the holy grail of meat: A thing that assembles itself into tasty meat at the molecular level, is incapable of experiencing any manner of pain or suffering, and can be grown in a volumetrically-efficient manner.

It sucks though that our genetic engineering capabilities are still so crude - so much of it strikes me as nothing more than grafting chunks of DNA here and there and seeing what happens, or slicing out snippets until something works. My idea of genetic engineering would be more like computer programming - figure out the "code" it uses, and write a fresh DNA program from scratch.
"Declare your variables properly or the pony-kitten dies! No, seriously. If you don't do it right, the precious little thing will die."


Well, I guess the Ameglian Cow would be an even better solution.
"I'll just nip off and shoot meself. Don't worry, I'll be very humane."

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Well, frankly the animals would still be abused, hell probably more so if you convinced the producers they couldn't feel any of it. Which I mean I guess is an improvement, but I wouldn't really see the progress in letting a drunk father beat up a coma patient instead of his kid either.

I don't see how it would further the abuse of these 'chicken'. Ususally the workers abuse these animals because they're working some shitty job cleaning up after them and the environment sucks.

With the proposed method it looks to be nearly entirely automated. I see it as eventually instead of having 'farm-hands' watch over them it's more like a team of technicians watching over and monitoring the machinery.

 

[Azraele]

I don't see how it would further the abuse of these 'chicken'.

It's a living breathing creature. Butchering it so that it doesn't "feel" the horror of its life doesn't make it ok in my book.

 

[SKORPI0]

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/02/16/architect-student-proposes-matrix-for-chickens/ D:

 

[slayer202]

It's a living breathing creature. Butchering it so that it doesn't "feel" the horror of its life doesn't make it ok in my book.

Would you rather be alive, in captivity, and tortured/killed

or

Not aware of any of it?


Come on, let's not pretend like it's a difficult choice. These are creatures we create for one purpose. The only real argument is that it's wrong to breed animals with the purpose of killing them for food.

 

[ichy]

I kind of wish I lived in a part of the country that had a problem with feral pigs. Nothing quite as organic/free range as meat you get from hunting, and feral pigs are basically vermin that destroy the area they live in.

 

[darkewaffle]

Would you rather be alive, in captivity, and tortured/killed

or

Not aware of any of it?


Come on, let's not pretend like it's a difficult choice. These are creatures we create for one purpose. The only real argument is that it's wrong to breed animals with the purpose of killing them for food.

I don't really have a problem with animals being bred for food, to me the problem is the treatment of them during that 'in between' period and the foregone conclusion that the only way to achieve that [efficiently] is through brutality.

To that end, I think it does indicate a positive change in thought processes, a promulgation of the idea that being ethical and profitable are not/do not have to be mutually exclusive. But I also think it's lacking in it's approach being limited to poultry and, again, treating the symptom of cruelty and not the cause. Admittedly the latter is very nearly inexorable.

I don't care for it but I could see it as being the best we can do.

 

[SagaLore]

Would you rather be alive, in captivity, and tortured/killed

or

Not aware of any of it?

Removing ALL of your senses and motor functions, while your brain still functions, is nothing less than purgatory. That is still a form of awareness. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.

 

[busydude]

Removing ALL of your senses and motor functions, while your brain still functions, is nothing less than purgatory.

This does not make any sense.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[sm625]

It makes no sense to grow the whole chicken like that. Just remove the skin, bones, eyeballs, etc. All we want is the meat so that's all that needs to be grown. Itll happen just give it time. Till then try not to think about it, especially if it is close to dinnertime.

 

[airdata]

D:

I'm going to stick with my organic non-gmo vegetarian fed cage free / free range chicken, thanks.

sadly not everybody can spring $8/lb for chicken.

 

[Baked]

The way I see it, if you don't wanna get eaten by other species of animals, evolve. Evolve to the point where you can defend yourself or turn around and become the predator.

 

[Matthiasa]

Removing ALL of your senses and motor functions, while your brain still functions, is nothing less than purgatory. That is still a form of awareness. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.

You missed the part where the mind was destroyed/gone didn't you?
There is no aware anything going on.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Make it so they crap ranch and buffalo sauce.

 

[slayer202]

Removing ALL of your senses and motor functions, while your brain still functions, is nothing less than purgatory. That is still a form of awareness. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.

first, chickens do not have the level of consciousness and self-awareness as us. second, I doubt this proposed "procedure" leaves the chickens still conscious and aware that they are stuck to machines etc etc

 

[KeithTalent]

Yea.

As a society we need to learn how to eat less meat, not find ways to eat more of it.

Fuck that.

KT