Peanut

Script theory does a good job of showing how being able to follow certain social scripts does not suggest that the person does not hold a strong delusion that is unchallenged by those scripts.

You can believe you can fly while not needing to contest that until it becomes an active choice you are forced to make. Some might back off from the belief when put to contest, because they are okay believing whatever feels good despite the dissonance they feel. Some might take action believing they can fly. Both exist comfortable in a shared social group of online “flying truthers.”

People are easily deluded, and usually those delusions cover vaguely bounded and varying social groups, where a single person and an LLM can confirm the person into a noticeable delusion that hasn’t been socialized into the surrounding social scripts.

This is also how you can get a genuinely smart person in math or something, which also holds confident deluded beliefs on some other context.

On the whole: Eco-niche specialization, misplaced confidence, and social affirmation, generally can lead to this.

Literally a “protection racket” Where protection is from their own violence.

“give us a billion dollars and bad things won’t happen”

Possible the most classic and uninspired thug tactic of all time.

Id say the distinguishing difference is the function being the thing, where suffering relies on the set of distributed tools being used to measure and process suffering.

Many people excuse animal suffering by denying these parts exist, despite being basal and meadurable even in fish.

While I do think to some degree you are right, and we should be careful where we bound expected suffering, but eating a plant is much more like eating a disembodied part of an animal, or cell culture, rather than the full animal nervous experience.

At the very least, near the bottom of the triage. Its a constant energy balancing act as we progress as intelligent life. Also case by case as different eco-niches are fit. Don’t underestimate life and intelligence.

This is coming from a perspective inspired by Michael levin from tufts university, in the understanding of diverse intelligent systems.