this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
130 points (82.2% liked)

Asklemmy

54622 readers
459 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Be civil and follow principle of charity in the comments.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] procapra@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Outside the "food for survival" aspect (which I won't touch on because everyone else already has)...Rape vs Murder is essentially the topic here.

I'm in the camp that murder (as in intentional cold blooded murder) is comparatively worse. Culturally, I think the overwhelming majority of people disagree.

I think there are people out there that would much rather be around someone who has killed in cold blood. I think there are far more people willing to accept that a former murderer has reformed. There is a certain degree of sanctity people give sex that they don't even give life itself.

Both are extraordinarily heinous crimes and i am in no way defending either.

[โ€“] Alberat@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Zoophilia is banned because it's gross. Killing animals is okay because it's delicious. Lol jk but actually I'd be fine with being more vegetarian. But probably not vegan yet.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] folaht@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (3 children)

Like some here who have said it before, it's about survival.
There's no survival issue when it comes to zoophilia.
There still is with eating meat.

To say that most people don't need meat is to ignore more than half the planet.
I thought this place was aware that not everyone can afford a diet,
let alone a healthy vegan diet.

I'm not a big fan of pulling the ladder up behind oneself and start demanding
everyone else to follow suit when they're living in either developing nations or
nations that are in a state of collapse or both.

That said, since natural meat production is theoretically more expensive
than growing meat in a lab,
we'll be heading towards the dissolution of eating farm animals soon
and with it, most farm animals themselves.

[โ€“] Soulcreator@programming.dev 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Some of the countries with the large percentages of vegetarians, vegans or predominantly plant forward diets such as India or South East Asia are not wealthy by Western standards. Eating a 'healthy' plant forward diet does not have to be an expensive affair.

The perception that a plant based diet is a wealthy western modern invention is white washing its unglamorous origins as a traditional eastern diet, especially in Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, etc cultures.

To dismiss a plant forward diet because not everyone can afford to eat impossible burgers 7x a week is disingenuous, as people were eating diets with little to no meat for centuries before faux 'beuf' plant minces were invented.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] andallthat@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

I agree. Just a comment on lab-grown meat. I'm not sure if that is going to help in developing markets. Maybe a big lab can produce meat that you can buy for less money than you'd need for a real steak in an advanced economy. That doesn't mean that someone in the Philippines countryside can start their own meat-lab instead of raising chicken.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm sure you would hear more than a few say something along the lines of 1) ending their life can be done relatively humanely. And it serves a fundamental purpose, for sustenance. While meat for sustenance is not actually necessary, it is considered a basic staple of our diets and generally acceptable. 2) Having sex with animals, though, harms them in a way and leaves them to live with that harm. It can traumatize the animal. It is inherently inhumane. And it serves no purpose but to satisfy a carnal desire, a morbid curiosity, or a sadistic appetite.

I'm not saying that it is an altogether consistent or sound argument. It is something some can rationalize though. But, frankly, I would call either explanation at least a little bit bullshit.

The answer to either their desire for meat or their revulsion to animal molestation is that their instincts give them those feelings. It is evolution. Animal meats and fats are a calorie dense and nutritionally valuable food source that our ancestors have eaten since before humans existed, and we're mostly wired to enjoy the taste and crave it. A revulsion for sex outside of species helps make sure that we continue to make babies. It's as simple as that.

Some very few people don't have one, the other or both of these instincts, but the vast majority do. Most of those people will happily rationalize the feeling that isn't based in rationality, like above. Some will examine those feelings and rationalize themselves into changing/recontextualizing their feelings or choosing to not act upon them in light of their viewpoint or some virtue they've applied to the question. But most just do what feels right and is normalized and don't ever really truly question it.

And even if you are one of those people who has rationalized themselves into a rationally/morally superior position regarding meat eating, or maybe you never even had an instinctual desire for it, you almost certainly have other habits, values, opinions, etc. that go against every rationality too that just come with human nature.

We're people. We're animals. We have intelligence. We have primal drives. Nobody is morally perfect. Nobody can even agree on what moral perfection is. Morality is both subjective on the whole, and objective for each and every one of us. We just gotta get along.

[โ€“] obey@lemmy.wtf 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If alien species more powerful and smart came to earth i would rather be molested than killed and turned into a sausage.

[โ€“] when@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Wise choice, Mr. Schopenhauer.

[โ€“] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Really enjoyed this thread.

This is one of the threads of all time!

[โ€“] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Most people don't use critical reasoning to make their decisions, hence why most people live their lives in a state of constant contradictions.

My old philosophy professor once told us that the most effective way to expose somebody's lack of critical reasoning about an issue is to just respond with, "who says?"

Basically the Socratic method, ask them to justify the statements they make, and see how they respond. The vast majority of the time, you'll quickly find out that they don't have any good reasons to support their statements. They haven't given them much thought at all, nor much thought to differing views/positions. They live their lives in ways that feel generally "correct" or pleasurable to them, and that's it.

Why do they think it's alright to eat factory farmed meat? Because they like the taste, the thought of billions of animals living short, miserable lives, then being slaughtered and processed for us to consume doesn't horrify or disgust them, so they keep doing it.

Most people when challenged on it will put up some vague attempt to support their actions, "Other animals do it to each other, so why not us?" "Animals don't have sophisticated minds, so it doesn't actually cause them real suffering." "Humans need animal protein to be healthy." etc. All terribly weak arguments that are easily refuted. But most people don't care, because most societies normalize meat consumption and factory farming. They grew up eating meat with other people eating meat all around them, and they never gave it any thought.

Hence why most pet owners who eat meat would be absolutely horrified and disgusted if their dog or cat had a litter and somebody bought all of the puppies/kittens, only to torture, slaughter, and eat them. A completely inconsistent reaction given the fact that the pet owner happily eats other animals that are treated in the same way. But again, they didn't reason themselves into their viewpoint, so they don't worry about being consistent.

This is further confirmed by anecdotes from vegetarians/vegans, who will tell you about all the awkward, unprompted reactions from meat-eaters when they find out they don't eat meat. Many people get very defensive, often making snide or accusatory remarks about vegetarianism/veganism. They don't like the idea that eating factory meat is morally wrong, because they like the taste and don't want to make to effort to change their lifestyle to confirm with that moral principle. So they mock, tease, or try to "expose" inconsistencies in the vegetarian/vegan's own worldview as a defense mechanism.

If they can make the vegetarian/vegan look foolish, then that feels like a win psychologically to them, which provides mental and emotional comfort and allows them to slip back into their lifestyle without needing to confront their own moral failings.

load more comments (5 replies)
[โ€“] judgy_jackdaw@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

emotivism. when i eat burger i say "yay", when you fuck animal i say "boo"

[โ€“] when@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Why such opposite reaction? X commited murder for its benefit and Y commited rape for its benefit. Both have dismissed the "consent of animals" for their respective benefits. You can either condone both or condemn both.

[โ€“] judgy_jackdaw@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

i am not claiming one is right and the other is wrong. i am simply claiming that, for reasons outside of my control, eating meat evokes a positive emotion within me while zoophilia evokes a negative emotion. just like i cannot help it when i find vanilla ice cream more delicious than chocolate ice cream, i cannot help it when i experience a positive emotion when eating meat and a negative emotion when confronted with zoophilia. i am not making a factual statement about reality, i am just expressing my emotions and letting that guide my sense of morality. and i am a mere observer of my emotions, not their author.

[โ€“] BottleBoardBakon@lemmy.ml 90 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Everybody's gotta eat, but not everyone's gotta fuck a dog

[โ€“] YoureHotCupCake@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (4 children)

No one has to eat meat, in fact with all the space used for animals we could produce way more food instead.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[โ€“] rossman@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

Maybe it's whatever grosses them out. A lot of unsanitary stuff is just prohibited out of safety. There's like hunter ethics guides for handling game.

It's interesting but to me it seems more of a health concern. Ironically we laugh when dogs dry hump people. Or when horses get turned on and all.

load more comments
view more: โ€น prev next โ€บ