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The programme that explains the present by exploring the past

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

The Forum: 18/12/2010 GMT

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18/12/2010 GMT

BBC World Service - The Forum, 18/12/2010 GMT

How can you tell if fish feel pain and will the answer change the way we treat them?

Signs, signals, codes and messages: Do fish feel pain? A nuanced view of the Middle East. Plus biosemiotics explained.

Pioneering biologist, Victoria Braithwaite, explains how she found clear-cut evidence in fish that they have the neural wiring which transmits a painful stimulus from their skin to the brain and proof that their behaviour is affected by pain.  So if fish feel pain, what implications does this have for the way we farm and catch them?

Sociologist Sami Zubaida wants us to discard the blanket term “Islamic” to reveal a more accurate vision of Middle Eastern societies, where capitalism and the mostly secular institutions have been instrumental in the development of modernity.

And from philosopher Donald Favareau  we find out how biology, linguistics and philosophy can interact to help overcome biology’s ‘blind spot’ and better define the essential processes of the living world, particularly as regards biological signs, signalling, messaging and codes. 

Illustration by Emily Kasriel: The meaning and significance of pain felt by a hibernating Islamic fish.

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