TIL vegans and vegetarians anthropomorphize EVERYTHING. We can't possibly understand what any animal perceives, because we cannot inhabit their brains. Maybe they feel pain, maybe they don't, maybe they hear colors, and see odors. Maybe their idea of red is actually what most people would call royal blue.

What I do know is that we are all just meat machines, and that squid (maybe even a cuttlefish) is dead, it's not feeling anything at all, because the organ that allows it to perceive those things (i.e. its brain) has been removed. It's no more aware of what is going on than a basket ball is.

However the muscle tissues, etc still (sorta) work. Kinda like how you could still make the wheels on a car with no engine spin. So when salt is absorbed into the tentacles it reacts with Adenosine triphosphate and triggers muscle spasms.

That animal, however, is dead. There nothing cruel about what is happening in this gif. The cruel part end swiftly when the animal's brain was cut off.

Anyway.