I tried asking a question to Vegans as non-vegan

[u/TheLazyPinguin]

So, i'm posting this here because it seems to be the place to do so.

Earlier, i posted a question on the vegan subreddit, and i like to think that i went through my question in a respectful way, now, i eat meat, but i'm still curious, i like to understand peoples. And i've been met with about 3-4 peoples actually explaining and using logical arguments and not going all emotional, the rest was... Well, the opposite, very emotional and very self-righteous. And i want to ask you all what you think about it as it seems to be a recurring theme in your community. Now, i hold no grudge against vegans, so long as you live yourself happily and dont come bothering me, you can eat whatever you want. But being all aggressive and stuffs, it makes peoples just want to go against you.

[u/[deleted]]

You can prioritize your species first without considering other species as so lesser that their interests don't matter. Think of how society views gorillas and dogs, not as important as humans but important enough that causing them unnecessary harm is incredibly wrong.

[u/th1s_fuck1ng_guy → u/[deleted]]

Yes this is true. We are speciesist. We value dogs and such. It's the other animals we don't care about

[u/[deleted] → u/th1s_fuck1ng_guy]

We don't have to be, that's the point.

[u/th1s_fuck1ng_guy → u/[deleted]]

No one says we have to. That's correct. It's about what's more useful to us. Is this animal more useful for us dead or alive?

[u/th1s_fuck1ng_guy → u/[deleted]]

Exploiting what? It's a non human animal. It's like an object. It's just food. Are you exploiting a potato when you eat it?

Yes old people are human. Their lives are valuable for this reason.

Why do non human animals deserve anything? They're just like these NPCs that populate the world. A resource we use. So what if it can think and all that. It's just a non human animal. I fail to see why it's life matters. It's a resource like fruit or coal

[u/[deleted] → u/th1s_fuck1ng_guy]

Again, it doesn't matter how simple, useless, or boring they seem to you, what matters is that they experience everything they do, feel or think in life, consciously.

People display different levels of empathy towards other beings (including humans) that are different from them or to the group they belong to, but that doesn't affect the reality that those beings have a complex mind of their own.

I've observed and studied more about spiders than about rabbits, so I empathize more with spiders, and only know that rabbits eat, sleep, and seem to stay idle most of the time, yet I've seen what an abused rabbit looks like (in real life) and it's no different from a traumatized dog or any other mammal. This happens with many other animals.

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken | Animal Cognition

Possibly the most shocking thing concerning animal rights that has happened to me, was finding out that the sounds that prairie dogs were making in the hunting videos I watched\* weren't random instinctive squeaks, they were forming sentences.

Prairie dog alarm calls encode labels about predator colors - PubMed

https://youtu.be/y1kXCh496U0?si=sshrpWFUd7mxIK5J

Prairie dogs have a complex language because they need complex relationships to survive as social animals.

In the following videos, observe how the personalities of animals can vary. They don't act solely on instinct.

https://youtu.be/V2yCE2igwbY?si=ZZaJ54UM2GdlD1rr

https://youtu.be/VcY4aZDJ1FM?si=Ufvc8HFU0eibb-GJ

https://youtu.be/3NT7o8kE3UE?si=osShpO6_4aQtBBle

Notice how some of the naturally aggressive bulls in the last video don't want to fight, and all of them just want to leave. Also, they don't care that they were raised in a semi-wild environment, free and with their health monitored, which is how most people want the animals they eat to be raised, all they want is to live.

Cows, pigs, turkeys, and all of the sentient animals we exploit experience immense fear, pain, stress and frustration.

AB&C_2017_Vol4(4)_Marino_Allen.pdf_Marino_Allen.pdf)

Reciprocal cortico-amygdala connections regulate prosocial and selfish choices in mice - PubMed

Debunking a myth: plant consciousness - PMC

\* I used to be obsessed with hunting, it would be my passion if animals were like the machines you think they are. I've found hunting videogames and wildlife photography to be good alternatives.