[FRIAM] by any means necessary

[glen]

Animal-rights group says monkeys used in experiments for Elon Musk's Neuralink were subjected to 'extreme suffering'
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-experiments-monkeys-extreme-suffering-animal-rights-group-2022-2

Elon Musk’s Neuralink allegedly subjected monkeys to ‘extreme suffering’
https://nypost.com/2022/02/10/elon-musks-neuralink-allegedly-subjected-monkeys-to-extreme-suffering/

I've never quite settled out to a strong opinion on animal research. Since I'm mostly consequentialist, the *actual* ends [⛧] tend to rule out in my mind. But cause doesn't come in pure chains. It's a mesh, at best, an unquantifiable fractal at worst. So the means to the end are never merely means, they're always ends, in themselves. Utilitarians tend to abstract out seeming "no-ops" or "don't-cares", as if there were, in actuality, epiphenomena. But there are no such things. If that makes me a Vico-ist, that's fine. How you treat the animals is not merely a social side interest. It's a core part of good science and good engineering ... like keeping a good notebook.

Musk is (now) a huckster, exploiting the good will and childish optimism of dorks everywhere.


[⛧] By "actual", I don't mean whatever ends the actors have in mind when they launch the action mesh, but the outcome over time. Of course, that's fraught and requires some scholarship and ability to track the mesh as it unfolds. But one does the best they can. Whatever brainfarts some moron like Musk has in his mind prior to launch is largely irrelevant. We're all fans of scifi. The trick is being able to distinguish fact from fantasy.

-- 
glen
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.