Yes, and that raises some interesting questions. Should Buddhists encourage the use of antibiotics?Individual wrote: Science has also shown the same of plants and bacteria, though, too. Microbial intelligence is an example that springs to mind which is readily found on Google.
Going back to what Dan suggested earlier, I'd say that common sense applies. This is not Jainism, but the "Middle Way". We do our best.
My point was simply that we can't use the "automaton" theory to excuse the heedless and frequently unnecessary killing of animal or insect life. For most of the 20th century, and much of the 19th, scientists confidently assured us that animals do not have intelligence or a meaningful experience of the cosmos (as defined by us, of course). This patently self-serving assumption has had dangerous consequences, and it has now been largely debunked.
LE