The 5 min challenge that I would like everyone to take is to watch this video in its entirety and note your reactions. It’s only about 3.5 mins long so not a burden. But, do not switch tabs or open any windows, just give it your full attention:
YouTube link here. Related news story here.
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Padding to move the discussion below the fold so that none of it is seen before the video
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Now, years ago when I would see something like this, or any similar pictures or statistics or videos of farm animal abuse, I would catch myself having the following reactions. These originate deep within the gut and are very visceral:
- This is an isolated incident.
- How dare the person who filmed the video distibute such blatant propaganda!
- So?
- What are you trying to tell me, that by consuming beef/milk I’m supporting this? [This probably wasn’t addressed to anyone, not even the person who made/filmed/wrote the offending content.]
- So what, you’re saying I’m bad, that I’m evil? [Again this would be me answering a generic Everyman]
- This is disgusting, blatant propaganda. Godwin’s Law! Godwin’s Law!
- Is this supposed to get me to change my behaviour?
- If anything, I’m going to eat more beef and drink more milk to spite the [supposed] message of the video.
- [ADDED from discussion in comments] These people are sociopaths.
- [ADDED from discussion in comments] They are nothing like me.
- [ADDED from discussion in comments] I could never do anything like this.
Of course I exaggerated all of these. But they were a large part of my reaction. The footage/image/statistic iself would always be purely factual. However I would react vehemently against the supposedly implied message of the text.
Photo of concentrated readhead bearded student, preparing for university exam in a cafe
I wonder if you can identify as having had at least some of those reactions. You don’t need to be a meat-eater to have them, I’m not. And here’s the interesting thing: if you think I placed this video there in specific support of animal rights organisations, that I had some deeper point then that in itself is similar to the reactions I listed.
A picture is not an argument, neither is a video. There are legitimate issues to be discussed here about ethics, agriculture, economics, evolution, animal behaviour, qualia and consciousness etc etc. But I want to sidestep all of those.
The main point of the video is that it’s very rare to feel a cognitive bias very blatantly, to the point where you know you’re undergoing it. Videos like this are what triggered it in me and are a baseline I can use to measure when I’m undergoing this bias. I was hoping to share some of the same realisation (at least with those who shared some of my reactions, which I think will be a lot): this is what cognitive dissonance, in its most obvious form, feels like from the inside.
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