Cannibalism

Gravel. Best avoided.
I'm very careful with my teeth, since my last dental bill caused by a Christmas gift of Toffee.

What kind of moron gives you toffee for Christmas anyway?
 
That figures.
People like you are a menace.
And you have the cheek to look down on decent cannibals.:mad:
 
Pinocchio's Hoof said:
There was a good thread on neanderthal cannibalism..
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=78165&page=4

Plus if you look into a lot of past cultures ritualistic cannibalism has been rife since the year dot Aborigine's,Aztecs,American indians,the fore tribe,New zealand,Sumatra,India,Egypt,England,Europe in fact you could look at wiki as it will give you a quick insight into it from paleolithic to now...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism#Pre-history


I always thought we evolved from neanderthals but apparently not, both sapiens and neanderthals evolved from the same ape-like creature so as apes do eat other primates there is my basis..
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None of this means "we all are [descended from cannibals]." That's what I contested. It seems like someone can just state something with some surety and no evidence and it's an indisputable fact.
 
Orleander said:
There was a guy on the plane who's wife died in the crash. The others made sure that the meat he did eat never came from his wife.

They were only rescued when others walked out and found help. It was never coming for them.
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Exactly - in that situation you don't just 'decide to starve'. They could have been rescued at any moment, or else an opportunity to escape could have presented itself. It sounds very obvious, but staying alive is crucial to survival. And our desire to survive is the strongest instinct we possess.

However, such rare extenuating circumstances are almost irrelevant to the discussion. The OP put a strong emphasis on the ritualistic and religious side of cannibalism. That is, when eating human flesh is acceptable in every day routine.
 
I don't see how it's any different from burying them in a cemetary that you go visit, making them into a gem, or putting an urn on your mantlepiece. You are preserving their memory in a morbid way, since their soul has long left their body and the body is simply a vessel of life. Once the electricity is gone and the lights are out, it's no longer the person you knew and loved. It's simply a corpse. If people choose to remember their loved ones that way, why should they be prevented from doing so? How is that any more morbid and disgusting than taking up large amounts of valueable land to let the body rot beneath the surface? How is that any different from scattering their dust to the wind, where it can be breathed in, or spilled on your aunties carpet for the dog to lick up?

We have a reverence for the human body because it was once inhabited by the electricity that formed our loved ones... but we all can let go of that in different ways and it doesn't really matter once the magic is gone, does it? What is the body but rotting pounds of flesh? Why do we have more reverence for a human than we do for our best cow, who fed us and was happy to see us each day? Who provided milk and fertilizer, and other cows for us to enjoy? If cows could talk, would you stop eating them too?
 
Avatar said:
I'm thinking of researching cannibalism a bit more in depth, but before that I'd appreciate if you could answer my 9 short questions about cannibalism. Thanks!

1. What are your first associations with the word "cannibal"?
2. Could you have a friend that's a cannibal?
3. Can you accept cannibalism as a part of a religious practice?
4. Would you be willing to understand those people who eat their dead family members as a part of their burial ceremony rites?
5. Do you think there is any difference between eating a human animal and an animal of any other species, why?
6. Have your ethnic ancestors been cannibals, how long ago?
7. What would you feel if you learned that you ate human flesh last lunch, why?
8. What do you think is the ritual meaning(s) of eating [anything]?
9. Have you ever dreamed that you or someone you know is a cannibal?
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Interesting thread . . .

First of all, you might use the word "cannibal" with more precision. Some livestock are fed parts of their kind mixed with other food. Does that make them "cannibal cows"? In other words, the whole word is a perjorative that covers a wide-range of little to immense wrong.

The eating of one's own species is unnatural and "wrong" in that there is a brain toxin that is sometimes passed on in the process. There are examples of it in nature, but it is not common. It occurs among humans in tribes that include the rite in their religion. There is not much in primative tribes that we should emulate. It was also common to the Neanderthal.

If I knew someone who was trapped mid-ocean in a disabled boat in which he and others were forced to eat those who parished, I would ask questions but would otherwise feel no different towards him afterward than before. Not being part of our religion, I consider it a practice excusable only in a case of dire survival. Criminals who have been in the news as eating their victims are doubly reprehensible to me and I take it as an insult to the victims.

charles
http://atheistic-science.com
 
cosmictraveler said:
1. What are your first associations with the word "cannibal"?

Anyone who might have a certain taste for human flesh.

2. Could you have a friend that's a cannibal?

If they ate the flesh of someone in order to survive a catastrophe, yes. Otherwise if they didn't tell me they were then I'd never know.


3. Can you accept cannibalism as a part of a religious practice?

NO!


4. Would you be willing to understand those people who eat their dead family members as a part of their burial ceremony rites?

I can understand their beliefs but do not think they are correct and would try to influence them to stop the practice if they were my friends.


5. Do you think there is any difference between eating a human animal and an animal of any other species, why?

Of course there's a difference, human flesh is more fatty, especially the rump areas! :p ;)

6. Have your ethnic ancestors been cannibals, how long ago?

No.


7. What would you feel if you learned that you ate human flesh last lunch, why?

I never hope that happens but I'd be very disgusted and wouldn't eat wherever that place was again!


8. What do you think is the ritual meaning(s) of eating [anything]?

I don't know, I eat for survival myself and at times for pleasure.


9. Have you ever dreamed that you or someone you know is a cannibal?


No.
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:bugeye:
 
answered inside quote

Avatar said:
I'm thinking of researching cannibalism a bit more in depth, but before that I'd appreciate if you could answer my 9 short questions about cannibalism. Thanks!

1. What are your first associations with the word "cannibal"?
the electronics definition - making new computers and such from pieces of old ones.

2. Could you have a friend that's a cannibal?
absolutely; provided they didn't murder for their meat I'd probably hold them in higher regard than my carnivorous friends.

3. Can you accept cannibalism as a part of a religious practice?
no religious practices make sense to me, why would this more than any other?

4. Would you be willing to understand those people who eat their dead family members as a part of their burial ceremony rites?
provided the body wasn't otherwise destined for medical or scientific purposes, i suppose its better that someone get a meal out of it than wasting space in the ground with it.

5. Do you think there is any difference between eating a human animal and an animal of any other species, why?
killing: yes - a human is able to consent. Eating: no - its all just flesh

6. Have your ethnic ancestors been cannibals, how long ago?
unsure. definitely not in the last 7 generations, but I don't really know any further back than that.

7. What would you feel if you learned that you ate human flesh last lunch, why?
somewhat grossed out. i havent let anyone cook for me in about 8 years, as who knows what meat eaters could be putting in my food.

8. What do you think is the ritual meaning(s) of eating [anything]?
not a hell of a lot, most rituals are outdated and no longer serve any useful purpose.

9. Have you ever dreamed that you or someone you know is a cannibal?
not to my memory
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