When I hit a plant with a stick, I feel guilt. When I hit a pig with a stick, I feel the same guilt.

I find it wrong to assume that plants are a better alternative simply because you don't have a scientific explaination that proves plants are not thinking and can't feel pain. What would you do if there is proof?
Would you feel bad every time you eat?

So why is it okay for a pig to be slaughtered unnecessarily, but not a dog? — chatterbears

Chinese people eat dogs, and I don't hate them for this. I wouldn't eat one myself but it is not wrong to eat a dog.


Well, let's say they serve human everywere and you're not going to jail if you are a cannibal, maybe I'll eat it. If I could give your cooked arm to someone else, I would. But throwing it away would make me feel really bad.
People who throw meat away make me feel angry. It's such a high cost which is payed to please your taste, throwing it away is not going to make it moraly better.

There are many things that occur in nature, not just within our species, but within others as well. — chatterbears

Okay that's a good point.

So again, if cannibalism was the societal norm (which in some parts of the world, it already is), — chatterbears

First time I heard that. I thought there were only a few tribes who did this.

Factory farmed animals is not the meat I eat at home. We buy our products from a farm where you can walk around and see how they gain their products. The animals can walk freely in their meadow. In the winter they get inside and in the summer they can walk outside. They are provided with shelter for sun and rain. This goes for the milk giving cows and the cows grown for meat. But I fully agree that meat industries are mainly wrong. Cheap meat is gained by mistreating animals, so we shouldn't buy this meat.

You also point out that you don't want to be a part of harming animals by eating their meat (which I respect). But, what if an animal had a good life on a farm (WHICH IS POSSIBLE), and then they kill it without it causing stress or pain (WHICH IS ALSO POSSIBLE), then there is no harm, right? There is just the natural food chain 2.0, without any suffering.

And about cannibalism, the situation you describe says that cannibalism is socially accepted, that it is normal to eat other humans. Well this is fiction, this goes against the human nature, we are not created to eat each other. We are programmed to hunt other species. You have your point here but I think this cannot be used in animal ethics.

Are you saying you would rather throw your piece of meat away than eating it? You think this is better than eating it? Why?

If you don't eat meat because you care less about plants than animals, you're just having an unethical opinion, nothing more. Your veganism may be all about making yourself feel better.

If you don't eat meat because you want your ecological footprint to be smaller, you have a good reason in my opinion, much respect !

If you're a vegan and a piece of meat is served to you by accident, and then you don't eat it and rather throw it in the garbage, you're the worst vegan in my opinion. When an animal died and gave his meat to you and you throw it away, sorry, 0 respect, 0 brains, 0 veganism.

If you don't eat meat because you are hurt by animals suffering, then eat biological meat in stead. These animals had a decent life. I also don't like eating meat when I know for sure the animals have suffered.

If you don't eat eggs or drink milk, you're just weird in my opinion. We give the animals food, shelter and safety, they give us eggs and milk, it's just a fair beneficial trade between two species. (keep in mind that this is only fair when the animals are treated with respect -> biological)

My parents only buy biological meat, milk and eggs. They want to be sure that the animals had a decent life before taking anything from them. In my opninion, this is something that deserves respect because they pay twice as much for the same amount of meat while they have a hard time paying their bills.

since anything that might undermine their position is hastily dismissed in favour of the far less intellectually demanding task of rampant virtue-signalling.

My english is not that good, could you explain this to me?

In my opinion, being a vegan means caring less about plants than caring about animals. Is this so much better? I'm not sure.

I personally experience life with both positive and negative sides. I think it's not supposed to be easy. Isolating myself would feel like running away from both positive and negative things about interaction with other people. I think I should learn to accept the fact that we're different and put in some effort to understand why people act the way they do.

I've read a few things about people's childhood experience and the influence of these experiences on their personality. The way your parents interacted with each other and with you can be the reason why you are who you are at this moment. It's not always completely their choice to become frustrating. So I accept most frustrating things about people and let these things pass.

Other people might be frustrating, but who is frustrated then? You, right? This isn't even their problem, it's yours, so it's yours to solve. You can either run away from this problem by isolating yourself or try to not get frustrated. What is better is a personal question, no one can speak for what's best for you. Altough, I choose to work on myself to accept frustrating things and remain untouched by their behavior.

Interesting question btw ;)

Greetings

Regi

Sometimes, I believe philosophy is an attempt to find peace.
Animals are on a 'higher level' than us, they also have peace in their simple lives. Finding food, finding a place to sleep, procreate, that's it. We were like them once, so perhaps it's this disconnection with our true nature that triggers this need to think about things? Perhaps philosophy is a response of our minds to the fact that we're not experiencing life like we should? Maybe this is why rough times in our lives trigger a desire to think about things?
Interesting question :) I wonder what the rest thinks about this.

Thank you all for your responses, if what some of you describe is true, I didn't experience ego-death. Also, I shouldn't try to give it a name either.

I'm going to investigate what I was doing during the period of this experience, what my thoughts were. I will google about this (not searching for ego-death).
I've always asked myself alot of questions, I never stop wondering how my mind works and how to persue happiness. It's my life goal to search for happiness, and during this experience I felt like I found what I was looking for. The more I think about this experience, the more I can remember. I also remembered feeling like I had a purpose, and feeling that I understood what matters.

I will keep you updated, perhaps I can manage to find out what triggered this.

Thanks again for your effort to give me your best view on this experience, I feel very welcome to this forum !

Oh okay :) Can you explain to me why you think that? I'd like to understand what the difference is between ego-death and the feeling I tried to describe.