But then again, eating meat won't exclude you from indirectly killing quite a fair bit of plants, as a matter of fact, you are very likely killing more plants by eating meat than otherwise because of the thermodinamic losses implicated in leveling up the trophic levels (and this is the reason why eating humans and any other carnivores is crazy inefficient), IOW, if plants do indeed feel pain, eating them instead of meat remains a better choice (if that's your concern).
Absolutely, but i specifically pointed it out at the end of my last post
I kill other life to sustain my own (food-wise), just like anyone else. I'm even the lazy type who buys the already slaughtered from a Supermarket, instead of hunting it myself.
Killing life in order to sustain life - that sucks. But i guess i never really thought about it. This is what we do, isn't it?
Is all life based on this? Taking one life to sustain another?
Is that a fundamental principle of life?
I think this hits the nerve as close as it gets.
Only when we discover synthetic food production, and even that will have its downsides, this circle will be broken.
Anywhere you look, whether in nature or society, sustaining life means killing other life in order to sustain your own DNS and eventually pass it on.
Survival of the fittest, that's the rule of nature. For some reason we humans have gained the ability to at least think of the philosophy of it.
We can never be sure, if we are the only species with this ability, as we define our communication solely on language.
As Gregg points out, you don't have to consume the entire plant if you only consume pieces of it, therefore you do not have to completely kill an organism if you're a vegetarian. I eat eggs and cheese, and those items are also just pieces of/derivatives of organisms. You cannot do the same if you eat meat, though. (Until we get lab grown meat cheap & tasty at least).
Very good point, imo.
Though i would exclude eggs, as they are essentially a life in the making. Milk on the other hand is specifically produced to feed Offspring with.
I find this thread ironic as I am a cannibal pirate slaver in game. The Kumo Crew think that cannibalism is the answer in that it recycles excess useless humans into nutritious protein to nourish the able part of society. If you don't want to be considered a burger in waiting you push yourself to excel. Its frankly win win- less humans means less impact on the galaxy, society has a drive to improve and its always BBQ time.
As weird as it sounds, but me, speaking only for myself, of course, i love you bringing in this roleplay perspective.