dancing squidThe Dancing Squid video that's been making its way around the Internet and freaking out diners everywhere is kind of cool the first time you watch it: The person behind the camera pours soy sauce onto a freshly killed squid resting on a bed of rice and it "dances" -- almost right off the plate!

But the more you watch it, the more disturbing it gets. If the squid is, in fact, DEAD, then why are its tentacles moving?

The creators of the video insist that because its head was removed immediately prior to the meal, the squid is dead. Movement still happens, however, because of a simple chemical reaction: The extra sodium (or salt) in the soy sauce activates the cells in the tentacles, causing them to contract, relax, and, in effect, "twitch."

But some viewers don't find this justification so comforting. In fact, many commenters point out that if you refer to a diagram of the body of a squid, you will see that one in the video still has its brain, eyes, and internal sensory organs; therefore, it's not dead, but simply damaged. And if that's true -- that the squid is still alive -- then pouring salty, acidic soy sauce on the wound could potentially be very painful and very cruel. Suddenly, the video doesn't seem so cool anymore.

Dead or not, making a squid dance on a bed of rice is treating it more like a freaky novelty toy than the excellent dish that it is. And that's no way to respect and value your food.

Do you think this dancing squid video is mean, cool, freaky, or all of the above?