XPost: alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian, alt.california   
   From: fred@fredwilliams.FFFfca   
      
   K wrote:   
      
   > Fred wrote:   
   >> K wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Fred wrote:   
      
   >>>> Well, unless you're a psychopath, it is.   
   >>> No, killing animals to eat them is not evidence of psychopathology.   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >> Why don't they show it on television?   
   >   
   > Why don't they show up-close-and-personal operation of sewage treatment   
   > plants?   
   >   
   	Well they do.   
      
   > Why do you suggest that a decision to show, or not show, some activity   
   > on television is the ultimate test of whether or not the activity is   
   > moral?   
   >   
   	That's not what I said.  It is immoral, but this is not the test.  If   
   you'll recall, the question was about whether killing animals without   
   compassion was evidence of psychopathy.  Most people don't even want to   
   witness it because it would give them nightmares.  That's why we don't see   
   it on television.  If they don't have to think about where their food came   
   from life is more comfortable for them.  It's called "denial."   
      
   >   
   >> It's not something that most of us want to think about whether we eat   
   >> meat or not.   
   >   
   > You're right.  I also don't have any wish to watch anyone change the oil   
   > on my car, or submerge my clothes in dry cleaning fluid.  So what?   
   >   
   	And *that* is the logic of the psychopath!   
      
   >   
   >> Most people would rather go on eating their Big Macs and not think about   
   >> where it came from or what had to be done to make it.  If people had to   
   >> actually go out and do their own killing, there's be a lot more   
   >> vegetarians around.   
   >   
   > That's a common belief by so-called "ethical" vegetarians, and there's   
   > no evidence to support it - *zero*.   
      
   	There might be.  Regardless it's true because of what we know about human   
   nature, those of us who are not psychopaths know it, anyway.   
      
   > In fact, among rural people who   
   > quite often /do/ see the slaughter of animals for food, and who also   
   > hunt, the incidence of vegetarianism is much lower than in cities.  So,   
   > your claim is directly contradicted:  witnessing the slaughter of   
   > animals does not, in and of itself, put people off eating meat.   
      
   	I've seen what you refer to and this is the first time you've even come   
   close to making a rational argument, congratulations, but it doesn't quite   
   make it.  Developing a callous disregard for the suffering of others *is*   
   similar to a learned psychopathy, or a lesser degree of it.  It is possible   
   to switch off that part of our brains that react to others by way of   
   sympathy or even empathy.  When the suffering becomes too great, a reflex   
   action turns that area of the brain off to block the pain. It may be thought   
   of, at least, as a pseudo-psychopathy as the real psychopathic mechanism   
   hasn't been shown yet, but people must be working on it... I hope.   
      
   --   
   Peace,   
   Fred   
   remove FFFf from my email address to reply.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)