ext_382929 ([identity profile] turil.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] urbpan 2006-03-10 12:16 am (UTC)

Hmmm. I think my problem with your statement is that it seems that you, yourself, have brought ideology into the subject by saying that "we all have benefitted" from experiments on mice. Not only was that a blanket statement (including all humans, even those in primitive societies that may have little or no contact with the Western world), but saying that we've benefitted from the experiments is clearly (to me anyway) a moral claim, not a scientific fact. What is good in one person's eyes may not be good in another's eyes. Actually, Cottonmanifesto's comment about abortion is an excellent example of this. Some people would readily say that they've benefitted from abortions, while others would say that they have not. It's an entirely personal viewpoint.

Also, leaving the morals aside, and just talking about the scientific idea of health, as far as I know, my life has not been positively affected by an experiment on mice in the least. I'll admit that it's possible that I may have inadvertantly used something that had been tested on mice, but I don't think I'm any healthier due to that testing. Also, people who have been harmed by drugs that were shown to be safe in mouse trials may have an even stronger reason to disagree with you, since they not only did not benefit from the mice experiments, but they were specifically harmed by the scientists relying on them.

You may very well benefit from mice trials, but to say that everyone does is putting both an ideological claim and a scientific claim out there that, from my own standpoint, is not true. And it's not so much the debatability of your statement, as it is the seeming disrespect you have for other people's beliefs about the subject that bothers me.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
No Subject Icon Selected
More info about formatting