Are you a vegetarian?

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On what grounds? When you look at the role each species plays in life in general on the planet, exactly what good are humans? If bees disappear tomorrow, it spells huge problems, possible disaster as without pollination we lose much of our food. If the humble cattle disappear tomorrow, it's disaster for many humans. But if humans disappear tomorrow...??? So what? A few pets don't get fed, most would be delighted to return to their true nature. The rest of the planet thrives and re-enters the garden of eden that we have messed up.

Truth is that not one species (apart from the head lice) needs us as much as we need them. What exactly are humans doing that is so 'important'? Strip mining? Over fishing? Fossil fuel burning? Deforestation? Murderering each other by the million every few decades or so? Hey, but on the bright side, a few of us have daubed some pretty pictures. That must be sooooo important in the cosmic scheme of things

The head lice and rats would miss us if we became instinct, and that's about it.

I'm not a vegetarian.

Simple reason for that:

I eat what the family cooks and they're not vegetarians.

One day (meaning when I'm independent and all), I'll make sure only to buy meat from places that I know treat animals normally ('humane').

Not that I agree with what RockDrummer616 said or anything, but there are many more species than just the headlice which are reliant upon us for a habitable environment. To imagine that, if we vanished, the world would merely revert to some Eden-like state in which all animals thrive in a natural environment is, I think, a fantasy. It wouldn't be nearly so simple.

~

I am not a vegetarian, but I have no better justification for eating meat than that I enjoy the taste. I'm not satisfied with this as a justification.

If I go long enough without eating meat, it feels like I'm starving. When I had a girlfriend who was a vegan, I tried to see it her way and experimented with not eating meat - I couldn't stand the hunger pangs, and came to my own realization that I couldn't be a vegetarian. Cats can't be vegetarians either.

Since humans evolved to be omnivores, I'm comfortable with my eating habits. I'd rather (and do) abstain from ingesting sugar, sugar substitutes, sweeteners created in a laboratory, caffeine and alcohol. Those staples of today's society go against evolution and I don't want to have to deal with the consequences that they bring.

Yes, it is still very interesting to think of ourselves in this way! Are you thinking of any that *don't* live directly on us? I still think the species that are threatened by humans outnumber those that need us by thousands to one.

Of course not *all* animals would thrive without humans. Thanks to competition etc we have always had extinctions. However, I have seen several stats to the effect that the rate of extinction is, right now, the highest it's ever been. Every ranger, land warden, estate manager knows that sometimes a species grows too dominant for it's own good (and the good of all the others) and you have to 'thin it out' a little..or a lot, for the overall good. In general, measured by diversity of species, which is a means used by ecologists to measure health of a habitat, earth would be healthier if the humans were culled.

BTW I wrote 'instinct' NOT 'extinct'

There are 6 billion humans and only 1000 giant pandas left. Surely each of those pandas lives is worth more than a humans? We are common and value comes from scarcity



I'm glad to hear that because there's rumours that humans taste goooooood!! ! (no worse than duck, at least) And if you're criteria for diet is "must taste gooooooood"..... ?

I'm thinking that you are seeing humans as being an unnatural force intruding upon natural order. I don't think this is the right way to look at it, because our cities - to take an example - are an environment in which creatures exist and thrive - just as much as a forest is. It is these animals I was thinking of: the rats, or the cockroaches, or the feral pigeons (to give examples).

I also cannot see the future, so I don't want to agree or disagree with your last statement there. However, I do think it is far less simple than merely saying: those that depend upon us die, and those that don't live, because there are such things as degrees of dependance. Many species are used to us being in a certain place, and would have to adapt to us being gone, even if they are not domestic or do not live in cities.



I don't disagree with the facts you put forward here, but I also think this hasn't so much to do with vegetarianism.



Forgive me. I thought you mistyped, because I've no idea what it would mean for human beings to, "become instinct." Would you please explain what this means?



I don't know about that. I'm not sacrificing my own life for a panda's, and so I would not expect anyone else to.



Actually, I said I was unhappy with this being a criteria, so I think it was unfair of you to caricature me in that way. In fact, if I cannot think of a better criteria soon, I think I might become vegetarian.

I shall admit that I would not be happy to eat human meat. This is because there are differences between eating human and eating, say, duck, far beyond merely taste and texture.

For one, a society in which human flesh is consumed would be one in which it would not be secure to live, for fear of being made lunch (assuming the society eats its own. If not, then it would be unsafe for those foreign to the society to interact with it). A society in which duck is consumed does not suffer from this, for it will not be sacrificing a portion of its people, or compromising any diplomatic relations it has with an outside duck community.

For another, it is far easier for a human to relate to its own kind than it is for it to relate to something of another. Thus, if I were to have a plate of mince made from a man before me, I would be provoked to a contemplation of how his life went, and how he was unlucky. I would be able to feel empathy for him, while I would not with a duck (I don't think mince made of a duck is on the market though).

If you fed me a human liver, and concealed from me its nature, I'd probably enjoy it. But, for reasons above, I couldn't enjoy it the same if I knew it was human, whereas I am not worried if I know this mince is made of duck.

Your right, it hasn't. "Tangentitis" has struck again!


Well it was a mistype, but a Freudian slip and it sounded interesting so I left it.


Apologies, I was actually agreeing with your reasoning and trying to caricature those who *don't* question their reasons for doing something, but I tried to be a smartass and got it wrong.

i wish. change is difficult though

I'm Aspie and have been a vegeterian for about one and a half years.

I'm also a huge animal rights activist, and I stongly disagree with the fact that animals are constantly treated like commoddities in the meat industry. Meat was definitely easy to give up, I've been repulsed by it ever since I was a kid and found out that meat was the flesh of another living thing.

That makes about 75% of the ASD-diagnosed respondents compared to a report of 4-10% of the American population.

With all the kindhearted vegetarians here, one might wonder who would accuse us of lacking a theory of mind. Even further, one might worry about the 'gluten-free diet' becoming a temptation to these kind animal lovers.

After I was told I had Asperger's Syndrome, they urged me to go on that diet. I ended up doing that and eating a ton of beef (which was rather self-preoccupied, I know). Just last year I got tested for Leaky Gut Syndrome, and guess what? I don't have it.

I now feel tremendously guilty and also resentful to the people who insisted I go on this diet and recommended meat. I can't help but wonder if this is partly a sham of the meat industry to keep people from becoming too nice. I feel almost as if they told me, "Do you like animals? You must have ass burgers. Lose your buns on a glute-free diet and don't forget the slaughtered cow."

No offense to Temple Grandin, but I don't think slicing cows is a wise human endeavor. It makes us look really, really stupid.

I have it and no way. Part of my AS I hate most vegetables especially if they aren't fresh and love most meat.

i was a vegetarian for over 10 years when I was younger. Ever since I started eating meat again I have struggled to stop. I tend to slip up a lot.

I'm a proud aspie omnivore.

<--- is a vegetarian

I would be if I didn't also have to cook for a husband and son that like meat. I don't like the smell of most meats, and the texture of chicken is especially gross to me. However I'm too lazy or uninspired to cook meals for just myself.