12 ms·

While I generally agree with the gist of your argument, "meat eating cult" seems a bit hyperbolic.

by hvs 9y ago

metamet 9y ago
And... wrong. Historically, and presently, humans are primary omnivorous. We evolved eating meat. Moving away from it is a new thing--so to call your species' history a cult is very... odd.
- heurist 9y ago
  Not to the extent we do today. Meat was hard to come by for most of human history.
  - xienze 9y ago
    "Hard to come by" in the sense that you had to hunt for your food, yes. But to use that reasoning to imply that meat eating in humans throughout history was uncommon and to deny its role in human development is laughable.
    - heurist 9y ago
      I disagree about the implication. Even when raising cattle you wouldn't slaughter one unless you had to, either to avoid waste or starvation. Few would deny that humans have eaten meat but it was definitely much less common than it is in the US today. For instance, much of America's fascination with beef traces back to the loss of the bison in the mid to late 1800s. Entrepreneurs found great opportunity in the open plains once bison were gone and made subsequent use of it, heavily imprinting beef into our culture... So yes, we've eaten meat for a long time but not to the extent we do now. Now is an abberation, and one that comes at great cost.
- teach 9y ago
  Humans may have evolved to eat meat but nowhere near the staggering quantities of low-quality meat that most Americans now consume. I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year.
  - xienze 9y ago
    > I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year. What's the source on that? And there are of course other kinds of meat you can eat besides beef.
  - douche 9y ago
    > I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year. Which makes sense, in a region that was profoundly ill-suited for cattle farming... If you want to talk about staggering quantities of low-quality meat, look at European military/naval rations from the early modern period. At least a pound a day of salt beef, pork, or fish. https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/ https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit...

While I generally agree with the gist of your argument, "meat eating cult" seems a bit hyperbolic.

by hvs 9y ago

While I generally agree with the gist of your argument, "meat eating cult" seems a bit hyperbolic.

And... wrong. Historically, and presently, humans are primary omnivorous. We evolved eating meat. Moving away from it is a new thing--so to call your species' history a cult is very... odd.

heurist 9y ago
Not to the extent we do today. Meat was hard to come by for most of human history.
- xienze 9y ago
  "Hard to come by" in the sense that you had to hunt for your food, yes. But to use that reasoning to imply that meat eating in humans throughout history was uncommon and to deny its role in human development is laughable.
  - heurist 9y ago
    I disagree about the implication. Even when raising cattle you wouldn't slaughter one unless you had to, either to avoid waste or starvation. Few would deny that humans have eaten meat but it was definitely much less common than it is in the US today. For instance, much of America's fascination with beef traces back to the loss of the bison in the mid to late 1800s. Entrepreneurs found great opportunity in the open plains once bison were gone and made subsequent use of it, heavily imprinting beef into our culture... So yes, we've eaten meat for a long time but not to the extent we do now. Now is an abberation, and one that comes at great cost.
teach 9y ago
Humans may have evolved to eat meat but nowhere near the staggering quantities of low-quality meat that most Americans now consume. I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year.
- xienze 9y ago
  > I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year. What's the source on that? And there are of course other kinds of meat you can eat besides beef.
- douche 9y ago
  > I once read it estimated that the average Jew in first-century Palestine would have probably eaten less than a pound of beef per year. Which makes sense, in a region that was profoundly ill-suited for cattle farming... If you want to talk about staggering quantities of low-quality meat, look at European military/naval rations from the early modern period. At least a pound a day of salt beef, pork, or fish. https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/ https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit...