Need help – I need a good intellectual response.?!


Question: My friend is always telling me that veggies have feelings and I am doing the same damage to them, as the animals in the slaughter houses.

I know this is not true, but how to I respond, without getting upset, or not saying anything. I have tried the nervous system respond, but my friend says, “how do you know, maybe the scientists have not found the nervous response”.

I need a strong, scientific and effective one liner!


Answers: My friend is always telling me that veggies have feelings and I am doing the same damage to them, as the animals in the slaughter houses.

I know this is not true, but how to I respond, without getting upset, or not saying anything. I have tried the nervous system respond, but my friend says, “how do you know, maybe the scientists have not found the nervous response”.

I need a strong, scientific and effective one liner!

Scientists HAVE found that you need a brain to process the sensation of pain. That's why plants and some animals (bivalves) cannot feel pain. They react chemically and electrically to stimuli but there is no sensation.

After you tell them that, pinch them and say, "Did that hurt? Ok, just checking.".

Tell her when the veggies start screaming in pain when you bite them (as the animals that are being slaughtered do), then you'll stop eating them!

Just say this:

"Geeze, man... what the heck are you supposed to eat if you can't eat meat and you can't eat plants?!"

Or you can take this approach: It's ok to eat this because it didn't kill the plant... it is just a part of a plant that is still alive. Very rarely does the harvesting of a vegetable or fruit kill the entire plant

God gave you plants to eat. This seems silly to me.

If you simply tell your friend to eat and live as she wants and let you do the same it should work if that doesn't do it tell her
as soon as you see tears from your peas or hear you carrot cry ouch then you are gonna eat what you want

ask your friend what she eats. and since the seeds are still there, the plant can make babies with out still being alive. so your not harming the species any

Vegetables and fruits, along with grains, don't have a nervous system. With no nervous system they have no cognitive function, therefore no awareness, and therefore no pain.

As for "not finding the nervous response," that makes it pretty clear that your friend either has no idea what a nervous system is, or he/she knows what it is but is just trying to get a rise out of you.

How is it even possible that a scientist couldn't have found the nervous system? That's like saying 'well, maybe they haven't found the plant's brain.' The nervous system isn't some airy-fairy, intangible idea - it's a network of cells, called neurons, that are very easy to see with a microscope. If scientists haven't found it at the cellular level, or even at the level of intracellular structures, then where the heck COULD the nervous system be?

Plants have defensive mechanisms that can mimic nervous response, like growing larger when plants are exposed to human speech, but that seems to be because there's more CO2 from the human breathing around the plant.

Maybe you should instead ask your friend what made them think that plants have feelings.

Ok.It was found that when picked from the ground there was a reponse a tiny electrical jolt was it pain?Vegetables cannot feel pain as we would quantify it, they are organic that is true but not on the same level as animals or humans.I would say the response was due to the vegtable being picked not pain.Vegetables live for very short periods of time/ seasons and should be eaten without thinking you are hurting them as being already picked no reponse/pain can happen

ok! what are you going to call food then?

Honestly, it sounds like your friend just needs to mature a bit and accept your choices. When I first went vegan, lots of people seemed to feel the need to act defensive, and as much as it's a pain, you just have to brush it off.
If someone is not grown up enough to accept the choices you make for yourself, they're likely not going to listen much to a really intellectual response anyway.
My best advice is keep on doing your normal friend stuff, and when your diet comes up change the topic until your friend seems like he or she is truly interested in what you have to say, and not just looking to create conflict.

i do not believe that veg tables feel pain as we know it and if they do feel pain how would they express this they have no brains or intestines no nervous system .
i am sorry not to be of more help to you . but no i am sure they feel no pain at all.
but we do not know everything do we even the so called experts disagree on all subjects so i have to say to you do not worry about this and take what some folk tell you about veg feeling pain with a pinch of salt and just think to yourself what a maroon you are about this person

There are no neural pathways in plants what-so-ever. For plants to feel pain, they have to have neural pathways connected to some sort of reflex, I would assume that the first ever to be found would be equivalent to a spinal reflex as it is primitive in nature in animals, but there are none. This would require a central nervous system or at the very least some sort of ganglion. To be quite honest this, even as a theoretical, would prove moot as plants have no way of quickly retreating in the presence of danger. Pain would serve no physiological purpose. However, you can offer this to your friend as proof. There is no such thing as a nocireceptor in plants; the sensory receptor for pain. No matter how you slice it, pain in plants is an anatomical impossibility.

See these two for possible responses:

http://ar.vegnews.org/plant_consciousn...
http://ar.vegnews.org/what_if_plants_f...

Hope this helps!

Tell him when he gets a central nervous system, then you will respond with an intelligent answer. Because right now he has none that you know of.

Strong & scientific isn't going to shut your friend up. She's just trying to pi** you off. So, you either have to ignore her or play on her level.

"Friend, are you really stupid enough that you actually believe this? Or are you just trying to play dumb? I've heard better arguments from 10 year olds"

she'll continue with "How do you know???"

and you'll respond, "You can't really be serious. Come up with a real argument and I'll be happy to discuss it with you. Now, how about that Super Bowl???"

And my friends dont try to anger me. If she continues to pick fights with you, then you may want to start phasing her out. Friends should be supportive, not confrontational.

You are right, somehow...Plants and trees have feelings too...I learned this when my mother died...all the household plants died too, they didn't care about how caring I was with them...
However, from a spiritual point of view is OK to eat anything which can't run away..I mean, it didn't reach that spiritual level to take care of itself.
Also, keep in mind that you usually eat the plants fruit, not the plant itself. The fruit is what the plants give to you, when you take care of them, it's like a symphony of life.
So don't worry :)

1) You do know the difference between a carrot and a cow, don't you?

2) You know those animals you eat? Well, they have to eat something, too, and it takes between five and fifteen pounds of plants to produce one pound of meat. So YOU are killing more plants than I am.

Your ignoramus of a friend is using a classic anti-veg trolling remark. Spend some time in the V&V section here, and you will see at least one wiseacre asking "what about the plaaaaaaannnnts."





The consumer Foods information on foodaq.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007 FoodAQ - Terms of Use - Contact us - Privacy Policy

Food's Q&A Resources