Complexitarian

Erik Hoel: I'm a complexitarian: only eat things below a certain neural complexity... octopus (is above the bar)... But of course being a complexitarian is just a stand-in. Ideally, we'd all be unconscioustarians... but without a theory of consciousness we can't even decide what to ethically eat.

List of animal species by forebrain (cerebrum or pallium) neuron number (interesting/surprising/pet/meat values only)

• killer whale 43B (see also pilot whales, etc.)
• human 16B
• bottlenose dolphin 13B
• gorilla 9B
• chimpanzee 7B
• asian elephant 7B
• Hyacinth macaw 3B
• Leopard seal 2.3B
• Giraffe 1.7B
• Raven (corvid) 1.2B
• Horse 1.2B
• Tawny Owl 1.1B
• German shepherd (dog) 0.9B
• Gray parrot 0.85B
• Striped hyena 0.50 B
• Ostrich 0.48B
• Racoon 0.45B
• Domesticated pig 0.42B
• Graylag goose 0.26B
• Brown bear 0.25B
• House cat 0.25B
• Wood duck 0.14B
• Eastern gray squirrel 0.077B
• missing data for
  • cow
  • chicken
  • octopus (whole-brain is 0.5B)