[338] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Re: Local Newspaper Article
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (LEWIS.J.HADDOW)
Tue Jan 31 10:24:13 1995
From: "LEWIS.J.HADDOW" <9235367@arran.sms.edinburgh.ac.uk>
To: Don Whiting <dwhiting@cs.stmarys.ca>, vsg@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 13:32:05 +0000
Return-Receipt-To: "LEWIS.J.HADDOW" <9235367@arran.sms.ed.ac.uk>
I'd like to make several points on this subject.
It is important not to read too much into a local newspaper article.
It has been written for the general public. Perhaps you should read
the original scientific article. Also, have you written to the
newspaper or the journal in question on this subject?
There are numerous theories concerning the mechanisms involved in the
development of the human brain, of which this meat-eating idea is
just one. All have some element of truth, and all are speculation.
An example of another theory is that our large heads evolved as a
blood-cooling device, and our brains grew in response to the expanded
skull and better blood supply. Just because an article appears in a
scientific journal does not mean that it is accepted truth. Far from
it, no good scientist thinks this. (Unfortunately the general public
is more gullible). The purpose of publishing scientific literature
is to provoke further discussion and experiment to support or
disprove the theory. No scientific theory can be proved; it can only
avoid disproof.
What is this thing about vegetable matter being difficult to digest?
Of course, grass is indigestible by humans, but cows find it no
trouble at all. Conversely, a cow would get no benefit from eating a
pork chop. The relative ease of digestion of various foods depends
entirely on the structure of an animal's digestive system. I don't
think that raw meat is very easy to digest. For us to eat cooked
meat requires the pre-existence of some intelligence.
Carnivores' intestines are short, not because of the ease of
digesting meat, but so that putrefying bacteria are eliminated from
the body as quickly as possible. Herbivores have long intestines to
ferment grass and woody stems. Primate guts are intermediate between
these two, as primates have the intelligence, eyesight and
manipulative ability to select a vast range of foods. Our guts are
quite long in comparison to a carnivore of equal size.
We resemble herbivores in other ways. For example, we have grinding
teeth, possibly for eating grass seeds in the African savannah.
Our canines are fairly useless as tearing tools. In fact, they are
more rudimentary than those of chimps and gorillas.
If meat correlates with brain development, why are lions not the most
intelligent animals? Large brain size correlates with adaptiveness
to surroundings by adopting different behaviour and overcoming our
physical limitations.
Who can say what is meant to be? Are we meant to wear clothes, drive
cars or write Email messages? Primitive man certainly did not do
these things.
Who can say what is the best type of diet for humans? Certainly it
is not cakes, chips and hamburgers. We have the intelligence to
choose the best diet, depending on our environment. In Western
society, almost any foodstuff imaginable is available, so there is no
pressure for us to restrict our diet. Some cultures are purely
vegetarian. A tribe in southern Africa lives off milk and cow's
blood mixed together, and very little else. Another actually eats
a type of clay and gains nutritional value in this way.
If meat-eating allowed the development of our large brain, will we
lose it again if we stop eating meat? I certainly do not feel
intelectually inferior since I became a vegetarian. Perhaps now that
we have got our large brains, we can use it to see that it is time to
stop eating meat in our current fashion.
Surely primate ribcage shape has a lot to do with the use of hindlimbs
as locomotor, while the forelimbs are free for manipulation?
I agree with one of the correspondants, that the acceptance of a
system of rights, and what those rights are, is purely a personal
choice. I prefer to use teleological, common-sense arguments to
support my choice of diet. I have no immutable principles.
Finally, I would like to ask S.K.Gupta what relevance the word of God
has on MY diet.
Lewis.
