How do you decide what is okay to eat?

I just read a post regarding contact from beings outside of our planetary space and the possibility that we could be considered items for dietary consumption. It made me think long and hard; with no concrete answer about things that we think is okay to eat.

So I ask you; how do we determine what is acceptable to eat? Not what is safe to eat but what is considered socially acceptable.

Is it strictly by tradition or is there something else that restricts what we accept as okay to eat.

What about the ability to communicate?

If you could hold an intelligent conversation with a cow would you think it still okay to eat it?

Maybe it became tradition to eat us before we learned intelligent conversation.

Old habits are hard to break; add to that tradition and ,well, maybe our saving grace will be that Thanksgiving only come once a year.

Hold intelligent conversation with a cow? Heck, you can't even do that with some humans!

BTW, cows are delicious. I'll continue eating them forever and ever.

[edit on 3/10/2009 by eldard]

Originally posted by eldard
Hold intelligent conversation with a cow? Heck, you can't even do that with some humans!

BTW, cows are delicious. I'll continue eating them forever and ever.

[edit on 3/10/2009 by eldard]

So if the cow looked you right in the face and with tears streaming from his eyes, and asked to please spare his life; you would have no trouble killing and eating him?

Remember you would be able to clearly understand the cow and the cow you.

Would you still have no trouble eating him?

If your answer is simply because you like the way it taste then I guess any alien diners would have to be given a free pass.

I just read a post regarding contact from beings outside of our planetary space and the possibility that we could be considered items for dietary consumption

Like a lot of posts on ATS I hope you took that with a grain of salt ( I prefer sea salt, much tastier).

Somehow I find it HIGHLY unlikey that an advanced alien species would travel across uncountable light years in order to eat us.


My aunt has ate dog. It was in fact quite common for them, they were very poor and during WW2 their regular routes of travel ( They're Jenisch -Swiss Gypsies) were severely restricted which meant that their incomes were severley restricted. Basically they couldn't leave Switzerland because the Swiss would deny them re-entry ( even though they has Swiss passports). So instead they had to stay in one place. Anyway, eventually the had to resort to eating dogs. To this day she swears that the best ones were any type of collie.

I remember reading somewhere that during the Olympics Chinese authorites ordered Bejing resteraunts to remove dog off the menus to cater to more western sensibilites.

In anycase I think that if something has the \ability to be aware of self then it isn't ok to it. Therefore, I'd eat a dog but I probably wouldn't eat certain primates.

That being said, If I was hungry enough and the alternative was death, I'd eat anything.

Originally posted by Merigold

I just read a post regarding contact from beings outside of our planetary space and the possibility that we could be considered items for dietary consumption

Like a lot of posts on ATS I hope you took that with a grain of salt ( I prefer sea salt, much tastier).

Somehow I find it HIGHLY unlikey that an advanced alien species would travel across uncountable light years in order to eat us.


My aunt has ate dog. It was in fact quite common for them, they were very poor and during WW2 their regular routes of travel ( They're Jenisch -Swiss Gypsies) were severely restricted which meant that their incomes were severley restricted. Basically they couldn't leave Switzerland because the Swiss would deny them re-entry ( even though they has Swiss passports). So instead they had to stay in one place. Anyway, eventually the had to resort to eating dogs. To this day she swears that the best ones were any type of collie.

I remember reading somewhere that during the Olympics Chinese authorites ordered Bejing resteraunts to remove dog off the menus to cater to more western sensibilites.

In anycase I think that if something has the \ability to be aware of self then it isn't ok to it. Therefore, I'd eat a dog but I probably wouldn't eat certain primates.

That being said, If I was hungry enough and the alternative was death, I'd eat anything.

I believe you just explained why all those zombie movies and Night of the Living Dead movies are so popular.

It is scary and monstrous for us to have to admit that there may be a part of us that we fight to keep submerged that can come popping to the surface under the right conditions.

Cannibalism is one taboo though that most people will not cross even with eminent death looming overhead.

Why? Is it more then the ability to communicate? Is it too much like self consumption?

Though some do believe that the Ouroboros is an image that reflects that self consumption may be the way to eternal life it is the life taken from others that they believe will achieve this goal; so in comes the vampire movies.

Either way the consumption of human life is considered monstrous and totally “unacceptable”; but is it just because of the human connection or does it extend to all sentient beings?

I've been to a slaughterhouse. We also had chickens, and killed a bunch of them.
I can tell you from experience: Animals are self-aware, they cling to their life, and they know when you are coming for theirs. I don't speak chicken, or pig, but the pigs on the truck knew where they were headed. they did not want to get off. they did not want to die. It is really obvious.

I still eat animals. They're really tasty! But I beleive we should allot them more respect than automatad killing-facilities. Anyways, I think animals are a bad example.

Perhaps it is easier to imagine it this way: You have been assigned to terminate some, say, japanese person (think of any more or less reasonable excuse, he may be a baby-eating commie...) Anyway, he looks different than you, he utters strange sounds, you have no way of determining his intelligence. Assuming you have never met another foreign culture, anyways. Your crew is really hungry, and you don't have enough time to figure all that out anyways. You cannot communicate, his actions are completely alien (?) Would you do it?

NOTE: I DO NOT CONDONE THE KILLING (or eating) OF JAPANESE PEOPLE (or any people, for that matter), I have many japanese friends!

What is "socially acceptable" to eat, correlates directly to how hungry you are.

Take a vegan, and strand him in the arctic north. After a while, he will put all personal beliefs aside, and do what he has to to survive. If that means hunting, killing, cleaning and eating a cute little bunny rabbit, he'll gladly forget he's a vegan until his belly is full.

Edit to add a little more than "second line..."

[edit on 3/10/2009 by Unit541]

[edit on 3/10/2009 by Unit541]

Originally posted by Unit541
What is "socially acceptable" to eat, correlates directly to how hungry you are.

Take a vegan, and strand him in the arctic north. After a while, he will put all personal beliefs aside, and do what he has to to survive. If that means hunting, killing, cleaning and eating a cute little bunny rabbit, he'll gladly forget he's a vegan until his belly is full.

Edit to add a little more than "second line..."

[edit on 3/10/2009 by Unit541]

[edit on 3/10/2009 by Unit541]

I seriously doubt that. Throughout history, people have given their lives for what they believe.

Vegans would never eat an animal, regardless if it is a life or death situation.

Just like Christians would never deny Christ, even if someone was holding a gun to their head.

The same for Muslims who voluntarily kill themselves in the name of their personal beliefs.

reply to post by holyTerror


Not necessarily. Do you think the survivors of a certain plane crash that took place in the Andes in 1972 thought eating human flesh was socially acceptable before they found themselves without food?

I think you'd also find extreme muslim fundamentalists a little less willing to blow themselves up, if doing so involved weeks of agonizing starvation.

Hunger does things to people, and very few individuals have the self discipline to remain in the "drivers seat" when hunger takes over.

Sure, plenty of people would die for what they believe in. There's quite a bit that I myself would die for. But what happens when you don't remember what you believe in? What happens when the conscious mind is thrust into the backseat by instinct.

I didn't choose the vegan example randomly, but rather from personal experience. I witnessed a vegan of 35 years eat two ptarmigans after just 4 days without food.

Humans starve to death when there is nothing to eat. Not when choice of food is the only thing missing.

reply to post by Unit541


Okay, I can understand that.

I guess I didn't factor in the effects of starvation.


edit: for emphasis

[edit on 10-3-2009 by holyTerror]

[edit on 10-3-2009 by holyTerror]

reply to post by Unit541

Sure, plenty of people would die for what they believe in. There's quite a bit that I myself would die for. But what happens when you don't remember what you believe in? What happens when the conscious mind is thrust into the backseat by instinct.

No one that I know including myself has ever faced true starvation.

I have felt what I would have categorized as severe hunger only because I become hypoglycemic when my diet is poorly maintained but I have never come close to starvation.

I know that starvation can be an extreme motivator and I don't think anyone can honestly speak of what they would or would not do when faced with it.

reply to post by Carlthulhu

Perhaps it is easier to imagine it this way: You have been assigned to terminate some, say, japanese person (think of any more or less reasonable excuse, he may be a baby-eating commie...) Anyway, he looks different than you, he utters strange sounds, you have no way of determining his intelligence. Assuming you have never met another foreign culture, anyways. Your crew is really hungry, and you don't have enough time to figure all that out anyways. You cannot communicate, his actions are completely alien (?) Would you do it? NOTE: I DO NOT CONDONE THE KILLING (or eating) OF JAPANESE PEOPLE (or any people, for that matter), I have many japanese friends!

In this situation you would still recognize them as members of your species. They are still men regardless to the level of their intelligence or their ability to communicate.

There have been tales of remote villages were members of the tribe are permitted to eat the members of an enemy tribe but it is taboo to eat the member of their own tribe.

So they have decided to place the restriction on tribal membership.

For most of us we have placed the taboo on any member of the human species; even if the being is determined sentient many would give social approval for it to be eaten if it was not humanoid.

Would the ET’s have such taboos?

Where would they draw the line?

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn
I know that starvation can be an extreme motivator and I don't think anyone can honestly speak of what they would or would not do when faced with it.

This is what I was getting at. Nobody, can predict how they will react to the situation, until they're in the situation.

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn

Originally posted by eldard
Hold intelligent conversation with a cow? Heck, you can't even do that with some humans!

BTW, cows are delicious. I'll continue eating them forever and ever.

[edit on 3/10/2009 by eldard]

So if the cow looked you right in the face and with tears streaming from his eyes, and asked to please spare his life; you would have no trouble killing and eating him?

Remember you would be able to clearly understand the cow and the cow you.

Would you still have no trouble eating him?

If your answer is simply because you like the way it taste then I guess any alien diners would have to be given a free pass.

It depends.....did the cow say something like " hey you fatty, yes i'm talking to you " making all his cow mates laugh?? well if so.....

Originally posted by Unit541

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn
I know that starvation can be an extreme motivator and I don't think anyone can honestly speak of what they would or would not do when faced with it.

This is what I was getting at. Nobody, can predict how they will react to the situation, until they're in the situation.

So you would forgive an ET for making a snack of us "if" he was hungry enough?

Originally posted by mr smith123

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn

Originally posted by eldard
Hold intelligent conversation with a cow? Heck, you can't even do that with some humans!

BTW, cows are delicious. I'll continue eating them forever and ever.

[edit on 3/10/2009 by eldard]

So if the cow looked you right in the face and with tears streaming from his eyes, and asked to please spare his life; you would have no trouble killing and eating him?

Remember you would be able to clearly understand the cow and the cow you.

Would you still have no trouble eating him?

If your answer is simply because you like the way it taste then I guess any alien diners would have to be given a free pass.

It depends.....did the cow say something like " hey you fatty, yes i'm talking to you " making all his cow mates laugh?? well if so.....

I guess that would a very stupid thing for a cow to say if he is pleading for his life unless he was just suicidal and distracting you so another could spear you.

I will admit that words do have power for us humans and can be just as fatal as in “DOOM”.

I just ponder at how much of what we do and think is as much tradition as it is conditioning; though the two can go hand in hand they are very different.

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn
So you would forgive an ET for making a snack of us "if" he was hungry enough?

Does the rabbit forgive the coyote? Of course not, but if the coyote shows up hungry, and the rabbit can't fight him off, well, too bad for the rabbit. It's just the way things go.

Do you think hard feelings would be the secret weapon that would keep human-eating aliens at bay? What makes an alien race making food out of another race any different than us making food out of cows, pigs, chickens, fish, you name it.

Originally posted by Unit541

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn
So you would forgive an ET for making a snack of us "if" he was hungry enough?

Does the rabbit forgive the coyote? Of course not, but if the coyote shows up hungry, and the rabbit can't fight him off, well, too bad for the rabbit. It's just the way things go.

Do you think hard feelings would be the secret weapon that would keep human-eating aliens at bay? What makes an alien race making food out of another race any different than us making food out of cows, pigs, chickens, fish, you name it.

I hear your argument but I am not sure whether you think if this the natural order of things then we should be accepting of being the choice item on the menu.

Originally posted by NightSkyeB4Dawn

Originally posted by eldard
Hold intelligent conversation with a cow? Heck, you can't even do that with some humans!

BTW, cows are delicious. I'll continue eating them forever and ever.

[edit on 3/10/2009 by eldard]

So if the cow looked you right in the face and with tears streaming from his eyes, and asked to please spare his life; you would have no trouble killing and eating him?

Remember you would be able to clearly understand the cow and the cow you.

If the cow is sentient then I would not eat it. But it's not so it's fair game, including its delectable teeny tiny children. Suck that, PETA!!!

Originally posted by Merigold
To this day she swears that the best ones were any type of collie.

Dog meat is actually more fragrant and delicious than most common meats. The aroma is really something. I'd eaten once, accidentally. We thought it was goat meat.

Dogs and cats would be fair game to me, too, if they weren't so dirty as full of parasites.