Are you more intelligent than Leonardo da Vinci?

[kbfc]

[censored] vegetarianism.

that is all the topic deserves. (note: i'm not talking about 'taste' vegetarians)

[ChipWrecked]

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The average gay person, in my experience, is smarter than the average straight person ^_^

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That's OK. We dumbass breeders will inherit the Earth after those intelligent gays die off.

[Jim T]

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da Vinci wasn't smarter than God, and God gave man dominion over the animals.

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Dominion doesn't mean killing. You might want to look up the definition. Don't you have dominion over your children?



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Didn't God tell Abraham to kill his own son? Doesn't the Bible tell you to kill your children if they curse you?

I think God (at least, the biblical one referenced by the post you responded to) might have a different definition of dominion than you do, one more in line with the earlier poster.

PS And don't forget about the various animal sacrifices that good old Yaweh demanded.

Sure, da Vinci was a smart guy. But Newton was smarter, so there's really no way out of it -- I'm simply compelled to eat meat.

[Rduke55]

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I still think that following someone's lifestyle because, wow, they're really smart, is not the way to go about it.

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I understand, but I think it has some relevance. I didn't choose it because da Vinci did, but I think it lends some credibility to it for me when I see who is. It isn't exactly the same as drinking Sprite because your favorite athlete does.

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But you can basically pick any behavior, abherrant or not, and find some "genius" in history that did it. I don't think that gives it credibility. Wagner was an antisemite. Should I hate jewish folk because he was brilliant?

(I mean this in a completely light-hearted way) I am amused by the fact that someone with your screenname is a vegetarian. It clashes with my stereotyping.

[Jbrochu]

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It is not necessary for man to survive as a carnivore.


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If you want to compare yourself to the beasts of the land, then go ahead.

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I can't remember who said this (maybe Ted Nugent) so I cannot properly credit, but anyway what he said was "Predators have eyes on the front of their head, and prey species have eyes on the side of their head. As long as my eyes are on the front of my head I will not feel guilty enjoying a juicy steak."

Since then I haven't felt guilty either.

[Willy Gee]

When discussing the merits of vegetarianism, one point seems to be overlooked: being a vegetarian is not easy. I, like most vegetarians, at one time enjoyed eating meat, and it was very difficult to give it up. But I did, because I am concerned about the suffering of animals, and do not want to contribute to it.

On the other hand, a meat eater gives up nothing: he likes meat, and keeps eating it.

This distinction is important when analyzing the credibility of arguments for or against vegetarianism. I suspect that most people who reject vegetarianism nevertheless care about animal suffering, at least on some level, and would be horrified if they saw what went on in meat factories and the pain that the animals endure. Nevertheless, they enjoy eating meat and do not want to give it up. They, therefore, manufacture after-the-fact arguments which allow them to continue doing what they want to do and deceive themselves into believing that the animal suffering does not occur or is somehow justified.

In contrast, most vegetarians like the taste of flesh and wish they could continue eating it, but were able to change their eating habits because they believe that the arguments in favor of vegetarianism were compelling.

Which arguments are more likely to be credible: those that permit a person to continue engaging in a behavior which is satisfying to them but nevertheless causes other beings to suffer or those that convinced a person to cease doing something he or she otherwise enjoyed?

One other thing: all other things being equal, I am going to assume that da Vinci got it right and Ted Nugent got it wrong.

[Token]

I am sure that the antelope which is killed by the lion suffers much more than the cow in the slaughterhouse. Should we kill the lions? Maybe da lions are smarter than da Vinci.

[Jbrochu]

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When discussing the merits of vegetarianism, one point seems to be overlooked: being a vegetarian is not easy. I, like most vegetarians, at one time enjoyed eating meat, and it was very difficult to give it up. But I did, because I am concerned about the suffering of animals, and do not want to contribute to it.

On the other hand, a meat eater gives up nothing: he likes meat, and keeps eating it.


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I don't believe that the difficulty of upholding the consequence of a choice has a bearing on the morality of the choice.

For example, it's not easy being a suicide bomber...




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One other thing: all other things being equal, I am going to assume that da Vinci got it right and Ted Nugent got it wrong.

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All things are not equal as biology seems to be on Nugent's side.






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I, like most vegetarians, at one time enjoyed eating meat, and it was very difficult to give it up.

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I respect your choice and congratulate you on successfully modifying your behavior in order to satisfy your own moral code.

[BigSoonerFan]

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(I mean this in a completely light-hearted way) I am amused by the fact that someone with your screenname is a vegetarian. It clashes with my stereotyping.

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I knew that screenname would haunt me. I may not be legally allowed to use it, since I've never been to a game and watch about 10 minutes of football a year.