This is probably more true of some animals than others. From what I’ve read, most baboons and hyenas (for example) are pretty miserable because of their social structures. I remember reading about a case where the dominant members of a baboon troop died of disease and their culture shifted because of it. The surviving baboons were much happier.
Nature (evolution) literally invented pain in the first place, and it’s under no obligation to turn it off when it doesn’t impact genetic fitness. Elephants pass the mirror test. That’s very strong evidence that they’re conscious and self-aware. Yet they slowly starve to death once they’ve run out of teeth.
Oh, there is a lot of suffering in nature, no question. The world, as it evolved, isn’t anywhere close to optimal, for anything.
I do think it’s highly unlikely that net utility for your average animal over the course of it’s lifetime is going to be negitive, though. The “default state” of an animal when it is not under stress does not seem to be an unhappy one, in general.
This is probably more true of some animals than others. From what I’ve read, most baboons and hyenas (for example) are pretty miserable because of their social structures. I remember reading about a case where the dominant members of a baboon troop died of disease and their culture shifted because of it. The surviving baboons were much happier.
Nature (evolution) literally invented pain in the first place, and it’s under no obligation to turn it off when it doesn’t impact genetic fitness. Elephants pass the mirror test. That’s very strong evidence that they’re conscious and self-aware. Yet they slowly starve to death once they’ve run out of teeth.
Oh, there is a lot of suffering in nature, no question. The world, as it evolved, isn’t anywhere close to optimal, for anything.
I do think it’s highly unlikely that net utility for your average animal over the course of it’s lifetime is going to be negitive, though. The “default state” of an animal when it is not under stress does not seem to be an unhappy one, in general.