freaking nuts?

I was going to say "fucking retarded".

So now you value the lives of cattle over the lives of parrots? I'm confused.

Is Nate really going to eat a parrot?
Did I misunderstand?
Is the phrase really,"Polly on a cracker?"

Empathy is the result of evolution.
The desire for meat is a result of evolution.
Evolutionary speaking, you are Sybil
I am evolutionary integrated to the point that I can empathise with the cow and still eat it.

The animals you are still going to eat are(for the most part) egg-laying. I think you should call yourself a live-birth exclusionist. The benefit would be twofold.
1. it would cause a disturbance in the abortion debate.
2. it would allow you to eat platypus if the situation ever presented itself.

do you eat gila monsters? Do I call you names because you don't? No, I don't.

No, I'm not going to eat parrots. I do eat chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks and pheasants. And yeah, I do value the life of a cow above the life of a chicken. Want to know why? You're bright fellas, I shouldn't have to explain it. Think about it for a little while, it'll hit you.

The desire to eat meat comes from our physiological need for protein. Humans actually require very little protein (look at your teeth, you'll notice that very few of them are built for tearing meat). and yet, most Americans eat large quantities of meat with every meal. We slaughter millions of animals a year needlessly. Personally, I eat very little meat to begin with. I'm reducing that amount even more. And I'm choosing which animals I eat.

This:

The animals you are still going to eat are(for the most part) egg-laying. I think you should call yourself a live-birth exclusionist. The benefit would be twofold.
1. it would cause a disturbance in the abortion debate.
2. it would allow you to eat platypus if the situation ever presented itself.

Is sorta a good point

I was so annoyed at the name calling that I forgot to say: Sybil? Are you a freaking retard? Wait, I think you already answered that. Think about it: "I like you, Bossy. I can feel a connection with you. I understand how you feel. Now, I'm gonna cook you and eat you," seems to be what you consider a healthy, well adjusted relationship with another mammal.

I, on the other hand, say "I like you Bossy. I feel connected to you. I don't want to see you hurt, killed and eaten."

I like you, I'm going to kill you Vs I like you, I'm not going to kill you. Who's fucking Sybil here.

edit:

Okay, it was pointed out o me that you likely meant that I was merely accepting one evolutionary drive while denying another, which you somehow think is a bad thing.

Two problems with this:

1. I’m still eating meat. Just not mammals.
2. You’re married. Do you fuck around on your wife? Then aren’t you doing the same thing?

This was not an attack on your personality.
I said evolutionary speaking, meaning that you have two conflicting evolutionary traits.
1: Eat meat
2: Be intelligent enough to have empathy for all mammals. I assume this is an evolved trait.
Where Sybil had multiple personalities, you have multiple evolutionary drives.
So yes, EVOLUTIONARY speaking you are Sybil.
I never said it was a bad thing. I did call you "freaking nuts", but that was a joke. If you notice, I followed up with an actual answer.
and yes...we are all Sybil in here.

"and yes...we are all Sybil in here."

That I can agree with.

"freaking nuts?" and "fucking retarded" Were attacks on my personality.

If I had posted a question,
"What should I call myself?"
wouldn't you have riffed on me a bit.

I know that you've been on this blog for a while now. That's how it works.

No. Maybe. Probably not. Yes. I don't know.

See? No I am Sybil. Except, even Sybil wasn't Sybil. She was a hoax.

and leave it to my brother to pop into the converstaion with an overly large link to a factual page on the subject.

That was an interesting site. I didn't know that there was a name for it.

Um, I'd also like to point out that "fucking retarded" was a joke, for which you provided the setup for. I'm sorry you took offense, but not that I posted it. It was not an attack on your person.

"And yeah, I do value the life of a cow above the life of a chicken. Want to know why? You're bright fellas, I shouldn't have to explain it. Think about it for a little while, it'll hit you."

It hasn't hit me yet. I'll admit that maybe I'm not as bright as you think. Expain it to me?

You may not be eating parrots, but you are valuing the life of mammals over fowl. I would argue, based on research I've read, that a parrot is more intelligent than a cow. It's my belief that intelligence trumps species (or family or genus or whatever level of hierarchy "mammal" is on).

I don't want to invest too much more time in this, however, since it will likely end up like this.

Thanks for reminding me of that. I had forgotten that it wasn't finished.

"Expain it to me? "

It has nothing to do with intelligence. It has to do with emotion: mine and theirs. Cows, unlike parrots, build emotional bonds with other animals. That's a mammalian trait, by the way.It stems from giving live birth and nursing one's young. Because of that I can also build an emotional bond with them.

Then there's also the fact that I am more closely related to a cow than to a bird. Much more closely, in fact. Just as I feel a stronger bond with a grandparent than with a third cousin, I naturally feel closer to a dog than a snake.

"intelligence trumps species (or family or genus or whatever level of hierarchy "mammal" is on)."

Do you eat pigs? How about Spiders? If it's a question of intelligence, then shouldn't you give up pork in favor spiders (or lizards or any of the other creatures which are massivley less intelligent than pigs)?

And, does that mean that a smart bird is more valuable than a severely retarded person?

I just re-read the whole “Man kills for sport” argument, and quite honestly, I’m fucking confused. I can’t even tell if there was an argument going on there. It seems that everyone involved agrees that:

1. man (sometimes) kills for pleasure
2. Killing is natural for humans, just like all other animals


If I had to guess, I’d say that David and Don thought I was impugning humans (saying that other animals were somehow morally superior). That isn’t the case, though.

I thought you were arguing with jestmeister and archimago...

Yeah, but I can't really tell what about, or if there was a *real* argument in there.

No sir, you said, "Man is the creature that kills for sport", not "a creature that kills for sport". My argument was that other creatures do the same. You came up with reasons why these weren't sport killings when non-humans were involved. I argued that those same reasons could be applied to humans. Conversation died.

"Do you eat pigs? How about Spiders? If it's a question of intelligence, then shouldn't you give up pork in favor spiders (or lizards or any of the other creatures which are massivley less intelligent than pigs)?"

I'm not the one giving up meat, you are. I'll eat whatever I choose based on taste, not species or intelligence.

"And, does that mean that a smart bird is more valuable than a severely retarded person?"

You are the one assigning values, not me. I'm just trying to figure out your reasoning. I would disagree with this statement, however, as I would use average intellegence of each species as a value.

"Cows, unlike parrots, build emotional bonds with other animals. That's a mammalian trait, by the way."

I think you pulled this from your ass.

Some interesting reading:

Birds
Cattle

And from the de facto internet source:

Birds
Cattle

And yet, I started the entire thing with "this sort of senseless violence is somewhat rare in the rest of the animal kingdom" which seems to pretty much admit that it does (rarely) happen with other animals.

So, what was your point?

"I'm not the one giving up meat, you are"

Uh, no. I'm not giving up meat. In fact, I ate chicken for lunch today.

"think you pulled this from your ass.
"

No- I pulled it from the fact that emotions are a function of th limbic system, which is controlled by the neo-mammalian brain. That part of the brain seems to be a mammalian structure (thus the name). It's been along time since I studied the subject, but I seem to recall that it evolved long after the reptile brain was complete.

Okay, did some research. I may be working off old data. It seems that the limbic system may be older than I had learned in school. There is some controversy about this, so I’ll have to keep looking.

"Uh, no. I'm not giving up meat. In fact, I ate chicken for lunch today."

Okay, I'm not the one giving up certain meats. (You knew what I meant.)

"And yet, I started the entire thing with "this sort of senseless violence is somewhat rare in the rest of the animal kingdom" which seems to pretty much admit that it does (rarely) happen with other animals.

So, what was your point?"

In that case, what was yours? That humans kill for sport more? How can you quantify that?

Let's keep these two debates seperate, please. There's a post for what I am now calling the "Man As The Creature That Kills For Sport (Other Animals Do Too (It's Rare Though))" coversation. I have already countered your "rare in the animal kingdom" there.

Okay- back over there

I wonder what "severely retarded person" meat tastes like?
I bet it's freaking good!
Maybe I'll see if I can find some for my next batch of chili.
No secret, it's the meat. Don't skimp on the meat. I've got a real good eye for prime meat. Runs in the family.

You have one choice, boy: sex or the saw. Sex is, well, nobody knows. But the saw, the saw is family.

Nice.