> That will be the dawning of an age of widespread empathy with our animals brethren, along with a wave of horror and shame at our previous treatment of them.
Because that worked so well with regard to fellow humans.
Because that worked so well with regard to fellow humans.
The history of slavery provides many examples of how literature was kindling for huge changes in popular opinion that eventually ended slavery in the western world.
And literature is of course a mental bridge between people distant in time and space. More efficient bridges will be invented in the future, and they will become effective across species, too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/22/world-less-violent-...
Much of the common violence and atrocities of the past when portrayed in movies and other forms of entertainment are shocking and far removed from the every day experience. See the most recent US Academy Award "Best Picture" winner for an example.
To be fair, they are never portrayed in a very realistic way. Or at least not in a way in which you care about the characters dying on screen.
As to the claim of "less violence", let's rather say "violence in number is decreasing", but there are still very violent AND cruel acts being carried as we speak in many parts of the world. And let's not forget there are still many places as well where people are enslaved - the fact that these behaviors are resilient does not say lots of good things about humanity.
I'm not sure I agree. Usually they are not, but perhaps you might re-watch Saving Private Ryan. It's not the only gory war movie, but it does a remarkable job of showcasing horrific things we humans do to each other. The knife fight scene is especially disturbing.
"The Tudors" also had some pretty cruel punishments, though often it's not carried off on-screen. Even when the people being tortured are not protagonists, it's hard not to empathize in the "oh god that's just not right" way.
You make a good point though about there still being terrible things going on in other parts of the globe.
But if and when our deeper existential problems have been solved, we can imagine constructing robotic simulacra to give those predators satisfying prey to chase.
A deeper quandary might end up being: once we have done it for ourselves, are we obliged to cure death for other creatures, too?