Ordained Civilized Intelligence, or Galactic Jeffrey Dahmers?

I'm not a vegetarian or anything. But we're a race of animals that kills other animals, strips the organs from the body and the muscles from the bones. Enjoys the flavor of the "juices" that come from the meat ("broth"), and eat the meat after cooking it in a way that we would be horrified to be put through ourselves... I bet aliens look at us like we used to look at Indians... Uncivilized savages. If we ever started settling deeper in the stars, we'd probably get quarantined... Or maybe that's where we are now, in a quarantine. And they probably already tell "Ghost stories" about us to their children.

 

why do we assume that aliens are entirely herbivorous? being a carnivore might even be a significant evolutionary asset, since hunting is a major reason why you would form communities and the begginnings of civilisations.

i think we're gonna have a harder time explaining to them why we're so ashamed of our own genitalia, and all the competing neuroses we have culturally about sex.

didya know that when we sent that space probe up with information about humans and cultural artifacts on board (music, poetry etc. also an adress by kennedy) a last minute decision was made to black out the depictions of human anatomy so that they were just sillhouettes? explaining the reasoning behind that to an extra-terrestrial would probably be pretty fucking difficult.

 

I've thought of it many times. I suppose it depends on individual perception. Like if we eat animals then why don't we eat eachother? Why is it morally wrong to eat one another? I'm not saying we should eat eachother and I think it's gross but from a philosophical point of view doesn't it make sense? And then again in another light it's just disgusting and stupid. The same goes for vivisection. Why test on animals when we are seeking human cures and solutions?

Shouldn't we be seeking cures by testing on what is in need of repair?

 

That is not what I assume at all. I assume aliens are probably entirely more like plants than animals. They probably make their own food, instead of eating each other. If Thousands, and maybe millions or billions of species from planets all over the universe were going to get along, they would have to not eat each other, and quarantine things with digestive systems...

 

i think the reason we don't eat one another (and our aversion to the idea of it) is evolutionary, if we ate people, we'd die. there are a lot of species specific parasites and diseases, we can eat cows that are riddled with diseases, but they only affect cows so the meat is safe for us. so, our aversion for eating human is probably an evolutionary instinct to prevent us from dying out early. much like our aversion to feces is so that we don't keep it around us and pick up diseases like dyssentry etc

as for the testing, if the cure doesn't work, id rather we accidentally killed lab rats than people.

 

My guess is that we don't eat people because it causes too many feuds. If I went around eating people, there would be entire families that wanted me dead... So all the people that were ok with eating people just died out... Because I have heard we taste like pork/bacon. So it's really just about telling everyone it's not ok, and killing everyone that does think it's ok. So that everyone raises their kids to think it's ok to eat other animals but not humans. Then there is no issue of people eating people... And that's where we are now. The only time you hear of cannibals is like deep African jungle shit, and people that don't have any food.

 

i'm inclined to think that its evolutionary more than cultural, but theirs a cultural element to it, certainly. in fact, apart from rare desperate acts brought on by starvation, cultural practices of cannibalism are always religious or symbolic in nature, rather than dietary. endocannibalism (easting one from ones own ethnic group) being mainly a mark of respect, imbibing their spirit, part of the grieving process etc whereas exocannibalism (easting someone from another ethnic group) is mainly a celebration of territorial victory. human meat doesn't tend to be a staple food for anyone.

 

I just thought about it. It probably died with the slave trade. When we stopped conquering lands, raping and pillaging their people. We probably stopped eating them also. Because like you said, it's not a staple food source. There is no longer a source of human meat, which would either have to be taken from farming or war.

 

Yeah diseases and feuds are two big reasons why we don't do it. I've read that humans are somewhat inefficient at converting ingested food into usable meat. Not sure if it's true or not but it would be a reason why we don't farm people. If Soylent Green were to happen I would rather starve than eat another person.

 

Soylent Green, lol. My friends step dad showed us that shit. They secretly solve the food crisis by grinding up dead people. :2thumbsup:

 

honestly, i'm not sure i'd have that much of an objection to it. wouldn't mind donating my body to be eaten, after the other bits had been taken for medical research/transplants. better than just being burnt.

 

Hmm, if I look at it from a charitable point of view it makes sense to give my body to be rendered into food. Like if I died I would love all my stuff to be donated like my clothes and books and other junk. To get the most out of my charity I suppose my flesh could be made into meals for whoever was hungry.

Of course they could fry my flesh with my own fat to get the absolute most out of me

 

I always say no at the DMV to organ donation. I tell them "I want to keep my organs" :biker:

 

Meat is soooo good.

 

Agreed. I'm just saying we probably look like monsters to every other species.

 

see, i never got that, i'm not usin' 'em for anything, everyone else is welcome to 'em

 

I'm using mine when I die. I'd rather die and go into the ground (I'm going to be cremated and used to fertilize a marijuana plant) than be used in some crazy experiment. Like have you seen that scientific showcase that goes from town to town, I think it's called "Bodies" or something. But they take off not only your clothes, but your skin. And they make displays with you sliced into thin layers, or on a skateboard with a pieces of your body flayed open for viewers to gawk at. It's sick shit, and I don't want my dead body to be a part of it

 

My mom has a video tape of it. If someone really wants to know I can find the name of the dead people showcase. But I'm pretty sure it's "Bodies". It's like a Serial Killers dream. My mom showed the video to us when we were little and I was disgusted. She actually took my sister TO the museum thing when it was in Dallas I think. I would never want to go see that, that's horrible.

 

when the aliens do get here, i'll show them how to grow corn.

 

I bet they don't have to eat other things. That's my whole point. I would guess that the universe runs on energy. Like, things use stars to exist, instead f eating each other. The way plants use the sun to survive and support this planet.