iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jack McGovan @jackmcgovan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

When you decide to reassess your relationship to animals, you're going against deeply ingrained cultural beliefs. You end up fighting an internal battle, as well as an external one against a society that doesn't see things the way you do. That takes a level of cognitive effort.

That process of changing how you look at animals can be very difficult. Like almost everybody else, I was brought up to consume animals, whether through meat, leather, or entertainment like zoos. It takes wilful cognitive effort to resist the values you’ve been raised with and try to chart a new path for yourself. That’s especially true as vegans are viewed negatively by an overwhelming majority of Western society; you’re fighting an uphill battle internally and externally. The point here isn’t to make veganism seem woe-is-me, but to show how there is a level of effort and commitment involved in developing a new relationship with other species.

That process of internal reflection has made me a much more intellectually humble person. It’s only because I’ve unpicked this idea of human dominance over animals, something that had been ingrained in me since early childhood, that I’m now willing to challenge all of my beliefs. If I could have been wrong about something so fundamental as our relationship to other species on this planet, what else could I possibly be wrong about?

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Jack McGovan @jackmcgovan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

That process of internal reflection has ultimately made me a more intellectually humble person. If I could have been wrong about something so fundamental as our relationship to other species on this planet, what else could I possibly be wrong about?

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Jack McGovan @jackmcgovan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Over ten years, I've committed myself to a practice that is all about imagining and believing that things can be better, of recognising that I have agency in this world. That has been invaluable in shaping my approach to my life and my writing.

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