The inescapable problem of lab animal restraint
Garet Lahvis |
TEDxMtHood
• November 2019
Garet Lahvis is a pioneer in academic research on the mental experiences of laboratory mice and is an internationally recognized scientific expert on empathy. Using sophisticated behavioral experiments, his laboratory discovered that mice enjoy living with other mice and they can also feel their pain. Garet has studied ground squirrels, sea lions, dolphins, deer, and children and his research has informed cancer, surgery, and mental health. Garet recently left academic research to focus on what he sees as a growing divide between what society expects of science and what science can provide. He sees the mantra ‘scientists are figuring it out’ as a salve that disengages regular people outside the scientific community from engaging with the problems we face together as a society. He is concerned about how ideas that sound “scientific” can shape public thinking and believes scientists need direction from an informed and engaged public.