Thread: can you cook?
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Old 05-17-2014, 06:47 PM   #237
vixnix
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucky Day Spa View Post
for most people, it's not necessary to eat meat in order to live to a ripe old age. that's what i meant.



you said this:



i was referring to that. if i regretted eating meat, and i didn't need to eat it in order to survive, i would consider giving it up.



because it's not freely given; animals don't give up their lives as part of the beautiful fabric of nature, people outsmart them and kill them.

it's a forced utility transfer. that means the kind of untargeted gratitude we are capable of feeling – e.g., to the universe for meeting the conditions necessary for our existence – is misplaced. it's easy to imagine that kind of sentiment contributing to a false sense of justification – it feels wholesome, virtuous even
Living to a ripe old age and maintaining a editable quality of life at a ripe old age are two different things. In my opinion optimal human nourishment includes regular consumption of animal flesh.

Whether or not instransitive gratitude is misplaced, I still feel it. You claimed I couldn't feel gratitude in that instance. I disagree, I think intransitive gratitude is a fairly widespread phenomenon. It doesn't require the consent of an object because it's not directed at one. It could be part of a survival mechanism that allowed us to form and emotional connection to our environment, which motivated us to take better care of it, this enhance our chances of survival. Many subsistence/environmentally sustainable traditional cultures have thanksgiving rituals where the thanks they have for their harvest, spoils of hunt/ agriculture are given thanks for and I don't see a reason to suspect the gratitude is not real.

As for the non sequitur, the validity of that is tied up with the question of nutrition. If I didn't need to eat meat to maintain optimal condition I would consider giving it up because of the regret I feel. That isn't the case for me. I continue to eat meat because I think it is good for me and I am self interested - at the same time, I'm compassionate enough to feel regret about my own fairly un changeable nature.

 
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