[thechat] Fish do feel pain

[Martin]

On Fri, 2 May 2003, Luther, Ron wrote:

> I'll also note a distinction between physical pain and emotional pain ...
> but also suggest that long term behavioral studies of some animals,
> notably chimps, might suggest that they experience emotional distress.

Elephants too, iirc - they exhibit behaviours consistent with grief.

> A bit off track ... but I'll bite anyway!  ;-)  "Maybe".  What does it mean
> to see?

> I smell bad ... wait ... that didn't come right ... dogs, snakes (with their
> 'Jacobson organ'), and many other creatures have a much 'better' sense of
> smell than humans do.
>
> That leaves 'taste' as the last sense ...

I'm wondering - what's the difference between smell and taste? In both,
there's a chemical reaction between the molecules of smelly/tasty stuff
and receptors in the nose or mouth (both for smell). AFAIK, the main
difference is that the taste receptors are in the tongue and are much less
capable of differentiation between different molecules. The human smell
receptors play a large part in the taste experience anyway.

Is it that the molecules are air-borne or not? In which case, you can only
differentiate the two in air-dwelling species, and you'd have to argue
that sharks have an *amazing* (and directional) sense of taste.

Cheers
Martin
-- 
"Names, once they are in common use, quickly
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