Is Veganism/Vegetarianism a more evolved dietary practice than meat eating?!
“It is necessary to correct the error that vegetarianism has made us weak in mind, or passive or inert in action. I do not regard flesh-food as necessary at any stage” Mahatma Gandhi
“Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all living beings, we are all savages.” Thomas Edison
“Vegetarianism is a greater progress. From the greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension motivated him to become a vegetarian. Flesh-eating is an unprovoked murder.” Benjamin Franklin
Yes I'm biased, and I'm sure there are a lot of great quotes by meat eating people, I'm just interested in how people will respond.
Answers: It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” Albert Einstein
“It is necessary to correct the error that vegetarianism has made us weak in mind, or passive or inert in action. I do not regard flesh-food as necessary at any stage” Mahatma Gandhi
“Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all living beings, we are all savages.” Thomas Edison
“Vegetarianism is a greater progress. From the greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension motivated him to become a vegetarian. Flesh-eating is an unprovoked murder.” Benjamin Franklin
Yes I'm biased, and I'm sure there are a lot of great quotes by meat eating people, I'm just interested in how people will respond.
Bwahahaha
"meat eater...Bsc (hons) forensic science, IQ 142 mensa certified."
I don't know if we are more evolved, but I do find it interesting how so many spiritual leaders are veg. Many enlightened people are veg.
I think that we are just a little more aware of what we are doing. I know that sounds a little vain, but it is hard to understand people who eat flesh and be fully aware of what it all entails...
I don't think it's any more evolved than meat-eating from a physical standpoint. But do you mean "evolved" as in more kind, compassionate? Because I do believe that aspect of it. I have also read that children who become vegetarian in the future have higher IQs than their peers on average.
Yes it is. not only will you lose weight (i've been a vegetarin for 5 months and lost about 15 pounds) you will live longer (as long as you cut out most sugars) And Save animals! thats the best part
I honestly do not believe there is any correlation between intelligence and eating vegetables. I do believe it is healthier to eat more vegetables and fruit and less met but I do not believe meat is the big villain it is always made out to be in this forum. From my own experience here I find carnivores like myself to be much kinder and more tolerant and far more polite than the veggie folks.
Honestly, people with higher IQ's are going to be attracted to vegetarianism, because it takes curiosity and awareness about one's food sources, which the duller crayons in the box of life wouldn't tend to know about. Vegetarianism doesn't make you smarter. I'm a lawyer, I've got a degree in forensics, but does that have to do with my diet? I doubt it; probably the opposite.
Then again, I see posts above like the guy with a BSc in Forensics who can barely spell at the level of a third grader... and I wonder... ;-)
Honestly, Adam - for a person with a background in science, you must realize how weak it is to argue that vegetarians must be less intelligent, because of a small sample of people, with only two veggies, that you knew from a private high school. Would you really consider that evidence stronger than large studies published in peer reviewed journals? That's just silly. That, and the fact that you're rambling without any focus about university education, is why you're getting thumbs-down, not because you disagree.
People that become vegetarians tend to be more educated than the average omnivore. Well educated omnivores have healthy diets containing meats, but they get figured in with all the people going to McDs three times a week. I think that would explain vegetarian children having a higher IQ. If the parents are heavily involved in planning their child's diet, it is more likely they will be involved in the child schooling. IQ test are biased against minority groups that probably have less vegetarians anyways. The purpose of intelligence testing was some people pitiful attempts to prove black were dumber than whites (obviously that has been proven untrue in many ways).
I think vegetarianism just shows how evolved our society has become to allow us to have the choice of not eating meat. Humans would not be able to survive in most parts of the world without importing plants with proteins we need. If we had not evolved to be able to build planes and ships, we wouldn't have a choice.
ADDITION (in response to Adam T): I have no sources to support the idea that vegetarians are better educated, but as the drusilla said smarter people tend to think about what they eat more. I based that statement on my knowledge of statistical connections that have been made over and over again between education and diet choices. Poor, uneducated people have been shown to be more overweight and less healthy. A lot of this is because many people don't know why McDs is bad for you. People are starting to understand more because of attempts to educate more people, but many only get bits and peices and learn from bad sources. Your class is much too small to be a useful sample. I really don't know what genralizations and lies I am spouting. I may not be completely accurate in what I say, but to the best of my knowledge this what I say is true. I speak about these things from statistical points of view and by no means do I think that these things are true for everyone.
I'm not against veganism/vegetarianism if you live that way for the right reasons. But I would say that most veggies/vegans are just a bunch of people who have their priorities backwards. Most of them would rather picket outside of KFC than help starving orphans.
I'm not going to agree with veganism/vegetarianism until the vegans and veggies have fixed the real problems in this world. They spend all their time telling us meat eaters what we should and shouldn't eat yet care less about the millions of people in this world who go to bed hungry every night.
And as your question shows, most vegans/veggies all think they're holier than thou because they don't eat at Burger King.
No, it is not more evolved than eating meat. It is simply a dietary choice that too many people assign ethical values to. Equating the evening to murder is irresponsible and inflammatory. Granted, not all animals raised for consumption are ethically treated. More meat eaters need to be conscious of where their product originates. I choose to buy for local butcher because I can visit the slaughterhouse and see the animals.
I choose to eat animal products because they are convenient source of protein and I like their taste. There are many days I do not eat meat, and I have many friends who are vegetarian. We can coexist peaceably if we stop saying that one group is morally superior to the other. I hope this is the last question I see like this for a long time.
I suppose it depends what you mean by evolved. I think choosing animal-free eating at the moment, considering the huge environmental damage that is being done by factory farming, is a good choice. And kindness towards all living creatures is definitely something that we can think of as "highly evolved", from just about anyone's point of view.
But sometimes the most right and "highly evolved" choice, and what might be the kindest act isn't always clear, whether you're veggie or meat eater. Each "side" needs to always bear that in mind I think when dealing with the other.
Is Veganism/Vegetarianism a more evolved dietary practice than meat eating?
No. Diets are not measured that way and none of your quotes come from dieticians. It's great that 4 people in history had an opinion though.
What is known is that when man's ancestors began to eat meat it ignited the evolution into the human brain.
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I think veganism/vegetarianism (and its cousins the organic foods, whole foods movements, etc.) is more evolved in that it goes against the grain--no pun intended--and it contradicts the big meat and processed/junk food industries. I don’t think that vegetarians are necessarily smarter, or more evolved life-forms, or better people than their carnivorous counterparts; but I do think that they are often, but not always, better informed and more open-minded.
In other words, you can’t evolve without being open to change, to new things, and alternatives to accepted ways of doing things. I care about my nutritional health (and that of my family), so I looked to vegetarianism. I did it, but it's not something that, say, my sister or my husband would do. Why? Because they are more conservative when it comes to some things (I don't mean that in a pejorative way). That's not to say that they aren't evolved.
Meat-eaters say that they like the taste of meat, are more satisfied by it than other foods, and find it convenient. Fine, I accept that (but I confess to not being entirely convinced by the ‘convenience’). And maybe the ability to hunt and eat meat was responsible for many things in our evolution thus far, but the way I see it is...we left the cave a long time ago. I don’t *have* to eat meat, and knowing the ‘cons’ against it (e.g., animal cruelty, dangers of eating red meat, fast food, etc.), I can make informed choices to suit my life and (I hope) do a bit for the earth as well. That’s the nature of evolution.
Science chick: There is something in the book “In Defense Of Food” by Michael Pollan that speaks to the education level of vegetarians vs. meat-eaters. I don’t recall what the stats were or how he came to that conclusion.
BTW, as for the intelligence debate: I agree that more educated people are likely to be more open to vegetarianism/veganism. But I don’t think eating a meat-free diet makes one more intelligent; IQ tests measure only accepted, and culturally biased, standards of smartness, which are also the standards at schools. And besides, isn’t fish supposed to be the real ‘brain food’?
hi im not goin to be rude there will be people who will be, chosing sumthings to eat does not make any1 superior..vegetarians are not evolutionary superior to meat eaters or the other way around....i know vegetarians who are smark and sum who are as about as thick as the plants they eat just as i know smart and dumb meat eaters...it may be better for the body but in no way makes sum1 superior than meat eaters...and as for losing weight i have aperfectly tonned 6 pack and very healthy but that because i exercise alot if u just eat veg and dont exercise ul still get fat. drucilla i know how to spell i just type fast and use short versions of words so if you think that this means im stupid my qualifications beg to differ..u dont have to be smart to be vegetarian..u can b smart and gullable..take ur pick..i am perfectly aware of my food and the choices i make so why is making a choice that doesnt include meat make u intellegent..i dont smoke does that make me more intellegent than them...i went to a private school, went to university how many of u have done that??? does that mean because i chose to go to university im smarter than every1 who never went...course not..that just shows how stupid u are if u use this as an argument lol i pity you for it.
and science chick your wrong that vegetarians are better educated...in my year at high school there were 70 of us 68 ate meat and 2 ate veg 8 ppl from the meat section got good enough grades to oxford or cambridge and the rest did very well and the 2 veges both just got average so how can you sit there and spout lies and generalize things when that exactly what im told not to do by u lot???
ok because i dont say vegetarians are smarter i get thumbs down..well heres a kick in the teeth for ya...everytime i get a thumbs down il sacrafice a lamb...hows that..oh so thats 5 so far...glad to see your all contributing to animal death here...have a nice day.
i not once said meat eaters are smarter...so u obviously are ignorant and dont read everything just the parts u wanna hear...i didnt use my experience to say we are smarter i used it to show that no one is smarter...you cud survey 1 million people and it wont mean jack...there are over 6 billion people...so how can a study at even a million be representative...its not.