In The Name of Science

Date:09/08/08
Time:9:30 PM
Locations:Home

I am off to a late start on my blog today. But better late than never, as they saying goes.
I was disturbed by something I read yesterday in my Psych book. It was about experiments. An experiment was done using dogs. They put a dog in a small contained area. Almost like a box. The dog could jump from one side to the other. One side had a regular ground for footing, while the other side was a grate that could be electrified by the push of a button. When the dog jumped to the electrified side, they would zap him with a certain voltage. Obviously enough to hurt him because he would yelp and run to the other side. They did this continuously until the poor baby lost his will to survive. He became accustomed to being zapped and instead of trying to get away and jump to the other side, he would just sit there and whimper. Oh my God! I know that some people would speak from a scientific stand point and defend science by saying that experimenting on animals is for the benefit of humans. The experiment was to prove that everyone is adaptable and will learn to live in whatever situation they find themselves in. And eventually, every breathing being loses the will to fight if beaten down long enough. But my question is why did it take torturing a poor defenseless animal to prove something that is so obvious. I mean haven't these people heard of the Holocaust? Of slavery?Of children being kidnapped and forced to live and interact with their captors. Of prison inmates who adapt to their environment and forget what freedom feels, smells and tastes like, so they make prison their home, they form bonds and groups with like minded people, usually of the same nationality/religion/origin?
It just made me sick. It's funny how you can think a certain way your entire life and then open up a text book to be taught that things you would never, ever condone are being presented to you in such a way that perhaps you've been to idealistic your whole life. But I don't think so. A text book nor another human being can make me believe that torturing anything that feels, breaths and loves is acceptable. I cannot imagine God thinking that this is OK. Regardless of the cause. If I for instance decided to run an experiment on a random animal, I would be put in Jail and marked a lunatic for the rest of my life. But someone with DR after his name can do the same thing in a controlled environment "in the name of science".
There is such hypocrisy in this world