Week Eighteen: Consider the Octopus
In all coastal regions of Korea, people enjoy eating sannakji - also known as "wriggling octopus" - which is a live octopus dish that is most famous for being served while it is still moving. As Wallace describes in his piece, Consider the Lobster, "a detail so obvious that recipes don't even bother to mention it is that the lobster is supposed to be alive when you put it in the kettle". Similarly, the octopus must be alive right before being chopped up into pieces and being drizzled with sesame oil so people can enjoy the odd feeling of the active suction cups. (Yes, this is a choking hazard. Reportedly, six people die each year because the tentacle pieces can stick in a person's throat.)
So then here is a question that is all but unavoidable: is it right to cut a "sentient creature just for our gustatory pleasure?" There is no doubt that octopus feel pain. In fact, the octopus has a nervous system much more distributed than ours. Since three-fifths of its neurons are in its arms, the octopus can obviously feel that their tentacles are being chopped.
In the link below, people try eating "exotic Asian food" and out of many, sannakji is one that is included in the video. (see 2:30) One person even says, "I really feel like I'm killing something right now. And it's great". Now of course he intentionally said this for the sake of humor, but this is exactly what happens in Korea; people eat live octopus on the daily just for the chewy, interesting feeling that it gives.
But is this morally right..?
Link: Americans Taste Exotic Asian Food
Side note: I personally have never eaten sannakji before because I don't like seafood; I do not have any opinions on how it tastes
So then here is a question that is all but unavoidable: is it right to cut a "sentient creature just for our gustatory pleasure?" There is no doubt that octopus feel pain. In fact, the octopus has a nervous system much more distributed than ours. Since three-fifths of its neurons are in its arms, the octopus can obviously feel that their tentacles are being chopped.
In the link below, people try eating "exotic Asian food" and out of many, sannakji is one that is included in the video. (see 2:30) One person even says, "I really feel like I'm killing something right now. And it's great". Now of course he intentionally said this for the sake of humor, but this is exactly what happens in Korea; people eat live octopus on the daily just for the chewy, interesting feeling that it gives.
But is this morally right..?
Link: Americans Taste Exotic Asian Food
Side note: I personally have never eaten sannakji before because I don't like seafood; I do not have any opinions on how it tastes
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