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[kaijyuu]

Demonize no technique that has potential (or at least net) benefit

Turning people into soylent green when they die instead of burying them/cremating/etc.

[King DZA]

I usually tend to judge all life based upon its individual actions and intentions, rather than the form it happens to take, and thus generally don't see any entity as inherently more valuable than any other. Because of this, whenever I must fulfill my mortal need for sustenance, I'm pretty much willing to consume whatever is available to me; be it plant, insect, animal, human, or whatever.

That being said, I stand strongly against the unnecessary suffering of any life form, and strive to prevent it from occurring whenever & wherever I am able.

That's a non-sequitur, to be honest. Presumably go going via the least pain-induced, you'd focus on the less intelligent forms of life. It doesn't work in a worth vs value sense, either. If you were guaranteed the same amount of suffering would result from eating a fly or a baby, you would choose the fly. Part of this is because you're human and as such can't be entirely neutral, but i doubt that would be the prime factor.

Actually, if those were my only two options, I'd probably end up eating both of them in short order. As a single fly sure as hell isn't going to do much to stave off my hunger.
In fact, I may even come to the conclusion that the nourishment gained from eating the lone fly would be so insignificant that it wouldn't be worth the suffering brought about by devouring it in the first place, ultimately deciding to disregard the fly as a meal choice altogether.

Cannibalism is a great way to get a prion disease.

Bah, I can potentially contract diseases from a lot of things I partake in. Seeing as I've somehow managed to stay fit and healthy thus far in spite of that, I don't any reason why I wouldn't take my chances with long pork as well.

Perhaps there should be more focus on making human flesh safer for human consumption, though. After all, there's a practically limitless supply of dead people to go around, it would help us to become less dependent on farm animals for meat, and just think of all the space we'd save without the need for those pesky graveyards. It's the perfect solution!

[Xantalos]

That does sound viable.
I want my brain unbeaten when I die, though.

[PanH]

Perhaps there should be more focus on making human flesh safer for human consumption, though. After all, there's a practically limitless supply of dead people to go around, it would help us to become less dependent on farm animals for meat, and just think of all the space we'd save without the need for those pesky graveyards. It's the perfect solution!

The issue is eating people (and that applies to animals too) that die of natural causes. Old meat is untasty (look at the skin of a very old person, and then imagine it as a steack), diseased meat is well, potentially dangerous, and so on. Technically, we're eating short-lived children under steroids (and other medecine).

[King DZA]

Well shit. In that case, how about we just turn the old people into well-seasoned jerky, and save the corpses of those who meet an early end for the steak 'n' burgers?

[Xantalos]

Well shit. In that case, how about we just turn the old people into well-seasoned jerky, and save the corpses of those who meet an early end for the steak 'n' burgers?

Let's do that.

[Frumple]

Demonize no technique that has potential (or at least net) benefit

Turning people into soylent green when they die instead of burying them/cremating/etc.

Or fertilizer -- which is what happens when you bury them anyway, eventually, but yeah. S'actually a not terribly uncommon thing in sci-fi dealing with stuff like generation ships and such. Heavy recycling, et al. Might be able to use cremated ashes too. And... why not? Should one not want to help one's people and family, even in death? What better way than to help feed them?

Thanks. Yeah I agree it's a big mess and it has to be addressed from many different angles. I really believe that making small changes in our own lives can have a cumulative positive effect over time. That's why even if people are determined to prove that vegetarianism doesn't help, I think the effort and sacrifice was still meaningful. Sometimes I think we are paralyzed into apathy by too much information.

Yeah, information overload is always a problem. I tend toward advocating the "Is a good idea? Yes? DO IT. Is it the best idea? Do you have to choose it and it alone? No? Then whether it's the best idea is goddamn irrelevant. We can do that, too, if we find it." line of thought, nowadays. As you say, the little things add up.

My thing with vegetarianism conceptually* isn't that it doesn't help (signs point to yeah, it's mostly more efficient than an omnivorous diet), it's that many of the proponents seem to think that it's some kind of silver bullet or without its own problems. Full cultural conversion into herbivores (and... maybe insectivores? That's a thought.) would likely mean a massive reduction or outright annihilation in livestock population and it still entails a heavy carbon footprint and massive ecological damage besides that. Etc., so forth, so on. It's a potential start (and a good one), but there's logistical issues above and beyond it, yeah.

*Personally, I just can't stomach most non-grain vegetables, despite repeatedly trying over the years, and intending to continue to try into the future. Ideally agreeing with something only helps so much when practically trying to induces you to vomit

[Gamerlord]

<_<
>_>
0_0
Meeeeeeaaaaaat...

No, seriously I see no problem with meat consumption, though I do not advocate factory farming.

[Zangi]

Well shit. In that case, how about we just turn the old people into well-seasoned jerky, and save the corpses of those who meet an early end for the steak 'n' burgers?

Old people meat can be used for soup.  But, I guess the soup I have in mind is not really an American thing. The Chinatown community and probably in extension, China/Asia, they do that. A number of em use the meat of old animals for soup.  It might be cause it is cheaper then the young meat.

[Cthulhu]

If I could eat meat I would.  I'd be a bloodmouth carnist with a graveyard inside me.  But I can't do it.  Some white meat I can handle but I don't like it, red meat makes me physically ill.

[Geen]

ALL HAIL THE ONE TRUE BACON. DOWN WITH THE VEGITARIAN HERETICS!

[FuzzyZergling]

I personally have no problems eating meat, as I don't assign any value to the lives, comfort, or happiness of animals.
I see them as a resource to be used, no different from an inanimate object.

[Realmfighter]

I personally have no problems eating meat, as I don't assign any value to the lives, comfort, or happiness of animals.
I see them as a resource to be used, no different from an inanimate object.

Do you extend this to other human beings, and if not what relevant characteristics giving value to a life are so basic that every human possesses them, while all animals lack them?

[FuzzyZergling]

I personally have no problems eating meat, as I don't assign any value to the lives, comfort, or happiness of animals.
I see them as a resource to be used, no different from an inanimate object.

Do you extend this to other human beings, and if not what relevant characteristics giving value to a life are so basic that every human possesses them, while all animals lack them?

I assign an inherent value to human life, since I myself am a human.

[DrPoo]

I would love if i could just hunt down my meat. But i cant. Im forced to eat cage poultry and factory cows.
Sad. But i cant find/afford tofu and i like the taste of meat.. so.. Well.. Fuck.

We cant live from vegetables alone in the long run, atleast not in our growth.