First Blog: Animal Rights and Understanding Science
I am a physician who objects to research using animals to, among other things, predict human response. In 1999 my wife Jean, a veterinarian, and I founded a not-for-profit called Americans For Medical Advancement. Since that time we have written books and articles on the scientific aspects of using animals in science. We are often misquoted and maligned by those with a vested interest in using animals but we do think our work is educating at least some in society. In Opposing Views I will be blogging and commenting about using animals in scientific pursuits. First however, I need to point out some facts about science in general.
The Internet has been an outstanding educational resource. We wrote two books essentially before the Internet as we know it now and three since. The three latter books are much better, in part because of the facts and articles we could access via the World Wide Web. That having been said, science education is not conducive to learning via Internet. Many controversies can be studied using the Internet, for example creation versus evolution, the validity of complimentary and alternative medicine, and the use of animals in science. But in order to really understand the nitty gritty science behind all these subjects one needs to go back to the last century. One needs to read books.
There is no reason a person who is lacking in advanced science education cannot read and understand science-related topics. However, jumping in without adequate background may not be productive. In order to examine competing scientific claims, a person needs a sufficient education about the science in question. For example, if you want to explore the possibility of perpetual motion machines, a good high school physics course would not be remiss. When I write about more complicated science, I will try to refer the scientifically perplexed to areas on the Internet where some basics can be found. For example, the Wikipedia section on science is a quick, easy, and informative read. If you are interested in really pursuing the topic, contact me and I will recommend books.
But there is another factor to evaluating claims of any kind and that is called critical thinking. Critical thinking is difficult to teach to oneself, but reading the material at the previous link (Wikipedia) and the material from the links provided there will help.
I may from time to time comment on the science behind the philosophy that animals have rights (yes, there is such a thing) but the above will still apply. A modicum of understanding of science and critical thought will allow the reader to understand the topic much better.
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
OV Social
The URL leads to a convenient place to read about the baboon and what happened to her. Of course, that was not to be misinterpreted as an endorsement of the site. Nor is this remark to be misinterpreted as a condemnation. What was done to the baboon remains inexcusable.
Perhaps such things wouldn't happen to animals were we to live in a much different world guided by science and an indelible sense of fairness. As veterinary surgeon André Menache once remarked, “In the era of the human genome, let us fund studies that rely on our DNA, human cell culture, microfluidics, non invasive imaging and the like. That is what good science is all about.”
It's my hope that we as a culture will abandon malice, rage, envy, conquest, greed, vivisection, and environmental destruction; that we can learn to reject our collective deathwish and remake civilization with a place in it for everyone. I hope we learn to act with true kindness and cooperation toward the natural world.
Keep a strong heart, Ray. Your work is vital. Protect the truth. Protect science. And help restore freedom to the animals. It's all the same quest. When humankind is at its worst, as long as there are always a few truthseekers who resist adding to the wasteland, hope will find a way to thrive.
~ Mae
Greed is the greatest motivator to perpetuate the charade of faux science --instead of putting the money where it belongs: clinical studies (with human subjects) and other legit research methods such as in vitro testing and computer generated virtual organs.
Let's just recall the torture --I mean, scientific research--that the poor baboon Debbie was subjected to at the University of Western Ontario by vivisector Bernard Wolfe. For 4 months NONSTOP she was strapped in a Dark Ages contraption and terrorized daily. She wasn't allowed to move or have contact with anyone but her torturers in a tiny windowless room that was little more than a glorified concrete coffin.
http://negotiationisover.com/2010/03/10/back-to-the-future-from-western-ontario-to-ucla /
This is just the tip of the iceberg of the useless and unethical mad science that's happening right now.
Thanks, Dr. Greek, for tirelessly putting the truth out there.
Just by way of a second opinion, the reader may wish to have a look at the University of California at Santa Cruz position on the use of animals in biomedical research . It can be found here:
http://www.ucsc.edu/research/animals/advances.shtml
U of C Santa Cruz has had a long history of animal rights protests , so it certainly has had the time and incentive to consider its opinion carefully.