Please supply one single reason why this is not wrong:

"Because they are animals" is not an argument. The singular fact that you state that humans aren't animals implies that you are lacking even the most basic knowledge in biology. Given that, I can understand that applying ethics on top of that is currently too much to ask.

After all, maybe a good documentary film, that actually deals with these topics, could help you with that. I can assure you that no zoo will.

In what way is my POV biased? What you describe is a purely egoistic attitude. Ask the question: Who does this serve?

Your answer might be: primarily the animals (this includes fish). But this is not true, as the only reason we would have to conserve any species in the first place is because we humans (almost) drove them to extinction by e.g. killing them for profit (e.g. leather, ivory, etc.), burning their habitat for animal feed (which happens when you eat land animal meat) or by overfishing (which happens when you eat fish). Either way, the reason is not valid because the root cause is driven by human behavior, which almost all people causing it could change it in an instant - but they choose not to. Why? Because their pleasure is more important than non-human animals' lives.

Hence, the answer is: the humans who pay for it. It only serves the entertainment of humans at the cost of the (non-human) animals.

Kids visiting a zoo for sure don't consciously think "its OK to capture animals for amusement", but they get subconsciously conditioned by the fact that it is portrayed as "normal".

My guess is that you never researched about how zoos work. If you did, I promise you will be shocked what happens behind the scenes in order to "give kids a view into a world beyond the one in which they live day-to-day".

However, this does not mean that "smaller" problems are somehow not worth mentioning/tackling. IMO zoos, just like TV shows for children in which cartoon animals are portrayed to live happy lives on farms, happy cows on products, etc. are all tiny little but VERY effective weapons for the industry to manipulate people into thinking that using animals for profit is actually good, because the animals are said to be so happy. The opposite is true.

Not all zoos in the world combined will educate you like this 90 minute video does.

By visiting zoos, children get taught at a very early age that it is OK to capture animals and use them against their will for amusement purposes / profit. They get presented the animals in a completely unnatural habitat. Most of these animals have developed mental disorders due to their situation.

Please feel free to read some of the research on this - there is plenty more:

References: - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261254556_Evaluatin... - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338313609_Psycholog...

I am well aware of its worth avoiding harming animals. This includes capturing them, holding them against their will, using them, forcibly breeding them and killing them for profit and food.

I have also been to many zoos in my life but I only got this perspective by watching educational documentaries, reading up on the topic and, most importantly, applying simple reasoning, like: "Would we do this to humans? Would I volunteer to be in their situation for the rest of my life?"

"to have a way of" does not mean that something is 100% certain to happen but that it frequently happens.

These are just a few though about the very complex topic ;)

My favorite part:

> I would rather get execution right, and remain on the same mental track I have been on. I also don’t want my priorities re-ordered, or suddenly to feel that now I have grasped the true nature of the universe, and that x, y, and z are in fact meaningless. Let’s stick with the process, people!

Having this mindset sets you up to a gloriously ignorant life. It is basically programming yourself to lie to yourself until you die and be happy with it. You are scared to find out the truth, because it might hurt in one way or another - or set you free. Nothing truly great ever came out of this - but the exact opposite...