Thoughts on Dissection?

[violetyoshi]

It's been so long for me I don't rightly remember for sure. Seems like we dissected a worm, a small perch type fish, a frog and a chicken. The chickens were live when they were received. A girl asked how we were going to dispatch the the chickens and the bio teacher just looked at me and said show her. I took one from the cage and wrung it's neck. More than one student puked on their shoes that day.

So the students who puked showed a natural inclination to have empathy for other living things, while you showed a lack of that natural inclination. Perhaps you should think about that.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Actually, I'd say Tanasi showed the natural inclination of an animal that is very near the top of the food chain, which is what a human is.

Nature is not gentle nor is it forgiving or compassionate. I believe the scientific term for it is "fucking brutal." Our squeamishness is a side effect of our civilization being far removed from the process of how we eat.

I personally would not have been able to do that. However, I'm not going to sit here and claim that a top predator killing a prey animal shows any sort of unnatural inclination. It doesn't.

And yeah. I go outside a lot. I've been a hobby naturalist my whole life, and there are parts of it even I don't want to see. However, I don't kid myself about what nature is or isn't.

Perhaps you should think about that.

[Nyoibo]

So the students who puked showed a natural inclination to have empathy for other living things, while you showed a lack of that natural inclination. Perhaps you should think about that.

I assume from that comment that you are either a vegetarian or vegan and do not wear any leather or animal goods, if not perhaps you should think about that.

It's been so long for me I don't rightly remember for sure. Seems like we dissected a worm, a small perch type fish, a frog and a chicken. The chickens were live when they were received. A girl asked how we were going to dispatch the the chickens and the bio teacher just looked at me and said show her. I took one from the cage and wrung it's neck. More than one student puked on their shoes that day.

It's always amazed me the number of people who eat meat but who are shocked to see an animal die, where do they think the meat comes from? And I swear, if I meet someone who answers "the supermarket" I'm going to have to smack them.

[Cat]

The coolest dissection I've done was for a middle school class....we dissected a store bought chicken thigh....then, because we were also studying the digestive system....we cooked them over bunsen burners and ate 'em. (we also studied the kindling point of marshmallow and the melting point of chocolate) Actually...I think that experiment made me a vegetarian for the first time.

Then in HS I dissected a flower, ha, it was actually fun. I sat out on the frog though. Still got an A for the class

Personally, I think dissection is unnecessary unless its an AP for college bio class. Then, if you can't handle the dissection, switch your major

Yeah, I love when people who eat meat cannot handle how the meat gets to theit plate...I can derail the thread wit tales, but I won't

[Lace Neil Singer]

I know where meat comes from; I used to work with animals on a country park that had a stable of shire horses and an animal farm. One day, three chickens died. The same day, we had eight hungry owls and two hungry hawks; our usual supplier hadn't delivered and we couldn't get hold of them. I think it's obvious what conclusion we came to. XD

There are far too many people who get self righteous when it comes to eating meat. Sorry, but human teeth show that eating meat is natural; canine teeth exist for a reason. Also, I'm not squeamish at all about dissection, or blood like some people are. Doesn't mean I'm heartless, any more than a person swatting a fly is; remember the Presidentual Fly Execution? XD

[blas87]

I made sure to skip school on those days.

If I really wanted to know, I'd google image it. And yes, it was around back then.

[Flyndaran]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I loath watching anything die. Not being able to go the humane route of vegetarianism does not make me a hypocrite. It only makes me a biological omnivore like most people.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I'm not a vegetarian either, and I understand that animals die to feed other animals. However, I have a strong aversion to killing an animal I have no intention of eating.

Clearly, the frogs in my biology class were not our lunch. In fact, had they not sent frogs over in jars of formaldehyde, I would have refused to kill them for a simple dissection. But since they were dead already, I was okay with dissecting them (there are probably hairs to be split here, but I'm not going to bother. I was 15 and trying to get through a class with an asshead teacher.)

When Professor Asshead decided we were going to vivisect some live ones, me and everyone else just drew the line. There is no reason to do that other than the teacher was a walking rectum.