Scientist Says Kurt Cobain Was Wrong, Fish Do Feel
Whenever I get really depressed, I put on Nirvana’s Unplugged Album and listen to Kurt Cobain sing “Something in the Way.” The line that always gets me the most in that black pit is “It’s okay to eat fish, Cause they don’t have any feelings.” For me, personally, this is connects as being about feeling emotionally numb and unable to connect with other people, sure. But it’s based on a belief that it’s literally true, that fish don’t really feel pain or other feelings, so it’s okay to butcher them or otherwise be cruel to them. Uh, no, says one scientist. They feel pain fine. According to research by Culum Brown of Macquarie University in Australia, recently published in the journal Animal Cognition, Brown found that fishy cognition and their sensory perception are generally on par with that of other animals, and that we should really think about being less cruel to them. Brown found that fish “have very good memories, live in complex social communities where they keep track of individuals, and