Asklemmy

If they were smart enough to start protesting, I could see myself eating mor chikin.

I don't know if there's an IQ amount, but there's probably a dollar amount. The more expensive it gets, the less I'll eat, and then eventually I won't bother.

I'll go with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy answer and say the cow likely will offer me in person which cuts of meat I prefer. It's sole purpose in life is to be part of the food cycle. It knows that and it accepts it.

At the point where it consciously knows that we breed and slaughter them for meat. That would be my red line. I don't know what IQ that equals to.

No smarter than they are now.

I think your should stop eating any meat the moment you don't feel like you have what it takes to look at the animal in the eye while you kill it for consumption.

If you think you can't do that, then you should reconsider your meat consumption.

I'm approaching this point in my life and reducing consumption accordingly.

Cows can be moderately smart when raised as such. It's humans who selected the specific traits we considered more convenient for our needs, and breed them like that.

Intelligence has nothing to do with it. Intelligence isn't even well defined or measurable. Things like IQ are designed for humans, so they would not be applicable to other beings. They're barely even useful for human applications.

It's an interesting question though. First, I'll ask myself why I eat beef in the first place.

• It's tasty
• It's relatively cheap
• Very nutrient dense, so it's easier to consume

Why do I not eat dogs or cats?

• They are not socially acceptable to consume
• They contribute positively to my life in other ways than being a food source

I'm pretty sure that a dog/cat could be dumb as a rock and I still wouldn't eat them because I'd still enjoy their company.

Now I do try to reduce the amount of beef I consume, but it's mainly for environmental reasons.

Well, some people believe that pigs are as smart as toddlers. So a cow would, at a minimum, have to be smarter than a pig.

They're already smart enough :) but up close they're a burpy gassy mess, feels like a sentient bioreactor who is really fussy about what delicious grasses their friends found on the other side of the hill.

The point at which it could collaborate with others and fight back.

Until then, it looks like meat is back on the menu, Boys!

Basically, I wouldn't be able to eat anything that speaks (I haven't and don't intend to, but that's not what would prevent me from eating a "talking" parrot, for instance)

I think it should be mandatory for everyone to spend at least one day of their young adult life hunting, killing, dressing, and cooking. The experience will likely alter the person's entire outlook on life and meat in general.

I never forget that meat was a life that mattered; with a personality; good and bad days; life; experience; struggle it lost to me. It doesn't stop me from eating meat. I wish I had the ability to hunt for what I need. I know my own ethics, like when to take a clean shot, and only taking what I need. Animals in industrial livestock facilities are mostly managed by unethical criminals. None of us asked to be born in such an overpopulated world. Unfortunately, this is the impossible problem. If you are smart enough to see the issue of overpopulation, that is great, but even if you avoid having children, those that are not so bright will always enumerate.

Smart enough for them to stop being eaten. But at this point they'd have to have similar intelligence to ours, which means we'd probably be at war with them anyway.

How low would my IQ have to be for you to let part of my omnivorous diet be meat ?

Would 80 do it ?

They'd have to be on one level with pigs, basically.