Remembering self, hedons, and animals

My favorite psychologist, Daniel Kahneman did an experiment where he had people evaluate their experience after a colonoscopy. For one group, he extended the normal procedure by 3 minutes with the probe not moving creating an uncomfortable but not painful ending. Those who had the extended procedure reported less unpleasant. This shows that the end gives a lasting impression.

Kahneman shows that the remembering self doesn’t add up all the pleasure and pain from the experience. The end summation of discomfort is more than remembered. However, psychologists Paul Bloom contends that it doesn’t mean hedonism shouldn’t be discarded then, even if you don’t remember it. Those hedons add up to something, to a better life, it just isn’t captured in these experiments.

I think most people would agree. Which in turn, I think people should value animal wellbeing. Even if they can’t remember or don’t have a higher sense of those pleasures, they do have instantaneous experience. So if we value our hedons, we should value theirs.