4 ms·

If a sentient AI with superhuman intelligence were observing us, they would be utterly puzzled at the amount of waste and destruction we perpetuate through the

If a sentient AI with superhuman intelligence were observing us, they would be utterly puzzled at the amount of waste and destruction we perpetuate through the meat & dairy industries for no reason other than ephemeral perceived pleasure through our taste buds. If "someone's preference" - a completely subjective thing - is objectively less efficient and more harmful than doing something else, we can and do intervene to discourage such practices. No one should have to apologize for promoting something clearly better. If you love meat and are willing to burn the planet down so you can keep eating it, fine. But don't pretend it's a choice without consequences or that it's necessary.

buildbot 6y ago
Or it would be wondering why we don’t eat any piece of meat we possibly can in order to maximally extract nutrients from our surrounding environment.
- subungual 6y ago
  Maximal extraction of resources would involve focusing on eating plants. Feeding the plants to animals and then eating them is tremendously inefficient in terms of both calories and nutrients.
YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
Humans like eating meat because it is nutritious. It is not just a random preference and it is not something that anyone can just switch off, therefore it is not a matter of morality, as you are trying to portray it ("If you love meat and are willing to burn the planet down so you can keep eating it..."). It is possible our taste for (cooked) meat gave us an evolutionary advantage that made us who we are today: However, accessing more calories was not the primary reason our ancestors decided to cook food. “Scientists often focus on what the eventual benefit is, rather than the immediate mechanism that allowed our ancestors to make the choice. We made the choice because of deliciousness. And then the eventual benefit was more calories and fewer pathogens.” Human ancestors who preferred the taste of cooked meat over raw meat began to enjoy an evolutionary advantage over others. “In general, flavour rewards us for eating the things we’ve needed to eat in the past,” said Dunn. In particular, people who evolved a preference for complex aromas are likely to have developed an evolutionary advantage, because the smell of cooked meat, for example, is much more complex than that of raw meat. “Meat goes from having tens of aromas to having hundreds of different aroma compounds,” said Dunn. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/07/how-early-humans-quest-for-food-stoked-the-flames-of-evolution https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/07/how-early-hu...
- kbhn 6y ago
  > It is not just a random preference and it is not something that anyone can just switch off, therefore it is not a matter of morality, as you are trying to portray it Every declaration you made in this sentence is incorrect.
samatman 6y ago
A superhuman intelligence would, basically by definition, have no problem understanding why an evolved being enjoys foods which it specifically co-domesticated itself with. After all, I understand that that, and I'm not superhumanly intelligent, also by definition. I said co-domesticated and I mean it: a substantial number of humans of European and Nilotic descent have a mutation which makes them able to digest raw milk well into adulthood. I have to rely on the cultural technology of fermenting milk with lactobacillus, sadly.

buildbot 6y ago

Or it would be wondering why we don’t eat any piece of meat we possibly can in order to maximally extract nutrients from our surrounding environment.

subungual 6y ago
Maximal extraction of resources would involve focusing on eating plants. Feeding the plants to animals and then eating them is tremendously inefficient in terms of both calories and nutrients.

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago

Humans like eating meat because it is nutritious. It is not just a random preference and it is not something that anyone can just switch off, therefore it is not a matter of morality, as you are trying to portray it ("If you love meat and are willing to burn the planet down so you can keep eating it..."). It is possible our taste for (cooked) meat gave us an evolutionary advantage that made us who we are today: However, accessing more calories was not the primary reason our ancestors decided to cook food. “Scientists often focus on what the eventual benefit is, rather than the immediate mechanism that allowed our ancestors to make the choice. We made the choice because of deliciousness. And then the eventual benefit was more calories and fewer pathogens.” Human ancestors who preferred the taste of cooked meat over raw meat began to enjoy an evolutionary advantage over others. “In general, flavour rewards us for eating the things we’ve needed to eat in the past,” said Dunn. In particular, people who evolved a preference for complex aromas are likely to have developed an evolutionary advantage, because the smell of cooked meat, for example, is much more complex than that of raw meat. “Meat goes from having tens of aromas to having hundreds of different aroma compounds,” said Dunn. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/07/how-early-humans-quest-for-food-stoked-the-flames-of-evolution https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/07/how-early-hu...

kbhn 6y ago
> It is not just a random preference and it is not something that anyone can just switch off, therefore it is not a matter of morality, as you are trying to portray it Every declaration you made in this sentence is incorrect.

samatman 6y ago

A superhuman intelligence would, basically by definition, have no problem understanding why an evolved being enjoys foods which it specifically co-domesticated itself with. After all, I understand that that, and I'm not superhumanly intelligent, also by definition. I said co-domesticated and I mean it: a substantial number of humans of European and Nilotic descent have a mutation which makes them able to digest raw milk well into adulthood. I have to rely on the cultural technology of fermenting milk with lactobacillus, sadly.