A new Reason Why The Animal Industry Is Flawed [Science B*tch]

[QualityGains]

The animal industry is flawed, and there are a couple obvious (*cough* for vegans *cough*) reasons why:

1. Needless torture and killing of sentient beings
2. Clogging of arteries, advancement of various cancer stages
3. Inefficient economics (government subsidies)
4. Destroying of planet earth (methane and CO2)

But there's also another reason that explains the issue from a good ol' science standpoint. See the energy transfer in our current, flawed, food production looks like this:

0. Sun/ Soil/ Water -> 1. Plant -> 2. Animal -> 3. Humanoid Animal

Meaning:

0. Original Inedible Nutrition -> 1. Actual Nutrition -> 2. Sentient middleman -> 3. Human

Ok, so what? You might ask.

Good point: See basing our diet entirely on plant foods inevitably cuts out the middleman, meaning:

0. Sun/ Soil/ Water -> 1. Plant -> 2. Humanoid Animal

Why does this matter? See the first law of thermodynamics states that energy can never be lost or created, it can only be transferred.
And when energy is transferred, the second law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, applies. Meaning: In every additional step of this ladder energy will inevitably be lost! An energy transfer chain with more steps can therefore be considered inefficient.

So no matter how efficient animal food consumption might be, it will never be as efficient as production of plant foods will be. Science B*tch.

Takeaway:

1. Seeing the inefficiency of an incredible destructive industry displays hope that it will soon be obsolete, due to general market forces.
2. When a carnitard claims that 'eating beef is more ethical/ environmentally friendly etc.', debunk their arguments by using some good ol' science.

Best,
Florian

 

[Lou]

Good job with describing and explaining. And not to pop your balloon or anything but those concerns are somewhat obvious and also been explained by others in many different formats.

In Cowspiracy there is even a little segment on how many pounds of feed go into making a chicken. If I remember right chickens are less than 30% efficient in changing grain to meat. (Remember the scene where Kip goes to kill a chicken and ends up driving home with it).

This inefficiency thing is also used in contradicting the studies that say we should be eating insects. No matter what animal is used as a middleman you get inefficiencies in the system.

There are counter-arguments that some animals don't have to be fed "feed". they can be fed "waste". Chickens in a pasture, fish in a pond, or mealworms in a bin. But my counter- counterargument is why bother eating those things when we can just eat plants.

 

[Second Summer]

In the future, we need to genetically engineer humans so that we can absorb energy directly from the sun, just like plants.

Ever wondered why space aliens such as little green men from Mars have a green hue? It's because they're full of chlorophyll.

(This has been a tongue-in-cheek post by your favorite admin.)

 

[QualityGains]

In the future, we need to genetically engineer humans so that we can absorb energy directly from the sun, just like plants.

Ever wondered why space aliens such as little green men from Mars have a green hue? It's because they're full of chlorophyll.

(This has been a tongue-in-cheek post by your favorite admin.)

 

[Lou]

In the future, we need to genetically engineer humans so that we can absorb energy directly from the sun, just like plants.

Ever wondered why space aliens such as little green men from Mars have a green hue? It's because they're full of chlorophyll.

(This has been a tongue-in-cheek post by your favorite admin.)

I like the image of a bunch of green humans sunbathing in order to make their own lunch.

There may be some good basic scientific reasons why that can't be done. Animals and plants are pretty different. Although I think I remember something ... (googling)... ah. here it is. The Green Slug is half plant half animal.

Surprising Sea Slug Is Half-plant, Half-animal

A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant, as it's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.

www.livescience.com

On a semi-related note, some scientists have developed bacteria that produce food from air and electricity. If we incorporated that in our boides we would just need to recharge. Maybe at night when we sleep.

This futuristic food product can be made by mixing carbon dioxide, water, and electricity | CNN

You can make something out of nothing. Or so one company claims.

www.cnn.com

 

[Second Summer]

I like the image of a bunch of green humans sunbathing in order to make their own lunch.

There may be some good basic scientific reasons why that can't be done. Animals and plants are pretty different. Although I think I remember something ... (googling)... ah. here it is. The Green Slug is half plant half animal.

Surprising Sea Slug Is Half-plant, Half-animal

A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant, as it's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.

www.livescience.com

Ah yes, I think I've read about this before somewhere. This may be where I got the idea from initially

The scientific term for this sort of phenomenon is horizontal gene transfer or lateral gene transfer (LGV). Unfortunately, when sequencing the slug, no evidence of LGV was found:

Genome Analysis of Elysia chlorotica Egg DNA Provides No Evidence for Horizontal Gene Transfer into the Germ Line of This Kleptoplastic Mollusc

The sea slug Elysia chlorotica offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of a novel function (photosynthesis) in a complex multicellular host. Elysia chlorotica harvests plastids (absent of nuclei) from its heterokont algal prey, Vaucheria litorea. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

On a semi-related note, some scientists have developed bacteria that produce food from air and electricity. If we incorporated that in our boides we would just need to recharge. Maybe at night when we sleep.

This futuristic food product can be made by mixing carbon dioxide, water, and electricity | CNN

You can make something out of nothing. Or so one company claims.

www.cnn.com

That's pretty amazing. It reinforces my belief that science can make a huge contribution towards "saving the world".

 

[Forest Nymph]

Yeah I mean eating lower on the food chain is more energy efficient, even my natural history and ecology professor talked about this as a math problem in relation to wildlife.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I like the image of a bunch of green humans sunbathing in order to make their own lunch.

There may be some good basic scientific reasons why that can't be done. Animals and plants are pretty different. Although I think I remember something ... (googling)... ah. here it is. The Green Slug is half plant half animal.

Surprising Sea Slug Is Half-plant, Half-animal

A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant, as it's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.

www.livescience.com

On a semi-related note, some scientists have developed bacteria that produce food from air and electricity. If we incorporated that in our boides we would just need to recharge. Maybe at night when we sleep.

This futuristic food product can be made by mixing carbon dioxide, water, and electricity | CNN

You can make something out of nothing. Or so one company claims.

www.cnn.com

That would probably be terrible for humans psychologically. Food and eating is an entire experience for us which relates to all sorts of things. It would be great for treating anorexia though.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Ah yes, I think I've read about this before somewhere. This may be where I got the idea from initially

The scientific term for this sort of phenomenon is horizontal gene transfer or lateral gene transfer (LGV). Unfortunately, when sequencing the slug, no evidence of LGV was found:

Genome Analysis of Elysia chlorotica Egg DNA Provides No Evidence for Horizontal Gene Transfer into the Germ Line of This Kleptoplastic Mollusc

The sea slug Elysia chlorotica offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of a novel function (photosynthesis) in a complex multicellular host. Elysia chlorotica harvests plastids (absent of nuclei) from its heterokont algal prey, Vaucheria litorea. ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That's pretty amazing. It reinforces my belief that science can make a huge contribution towards "saving the world".

But science is what messed up the world to begin with. Never lose sight of the fact that global warming, pollution, food toxins and pesticides are all thank you very much to irresponsible science. One of the things that makes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein so powerful is it's the story of an egotistical man neglecting his destructive creation (the monster). What creeps me out the most is that in the end, the monster disappeared on Arctic ice. I don't think Mary Shelley knew what she was foretelling. Though it was intentional because she saw Arctic exploration and whaling as problematic. Shelley was a vegetarian.

So be careful believing in science. We definitely need it to clean up our messes but like any tool if it's not used responsibly or ethically it hurts us.

Plus people believing science can save us can distract them or give them an excuse why they can keep eating meat, not recycle, or use lots of fossil fuels.

 

[Second Summer]

That would probably be terrible for humans psychologically. Food and eating is an entire experience for us which relates to all sorts of things. It would be great for treating anorexia though.

We should of course still be able to eat food and get energy the traditional way. However, having the option to also absorb energy directly from the sun would give humans a better chance to survive in a world of dwindling resources, climate change and civilization collapse!

But science is what messed up the world to begin with. Never lose sight of the fact that global warming, pollution, food toxins and pesticides are all thank you very much to irresponsible science.

Not science, but humans - imperfect, irrational, flawed humans! We need to transcend our limited human form and create a new race of green skinned super humans, fit for the future - to boldly go where no man (or woman!) has gone before! And let's face it, if we don't do it, the Chinese will surely do it before us! So we might as well get on with it a.s.a.p! What could possibly go wrong? Frankenstein monster? Nah ...!

But seriously, though - I think genetic engineering may have a place in our future. Small steps at first, obviously ...

 

[Lou]

I think genetic engineering may have a place in our future. Small steps at first, obviously ...

You really need to watch more horror movies. A lot of them start that way.

I can't remember who said this but things go wrong when our scientific boundaries go past our ethical boundaries.

 

[Forest Nymph]

We should of course still be able to eat food and get energy the traditional way. However, having the option to also absorb energy directly from the sun would give humans a better chance to survive in a world of dwindling resources, climate change and civilization collapse!

Not science, but humans - imperfect, irrational, flawed humans! We need to transcend our limited human form and create a new race of green skinned super humans, fit for the future - to boldly go where no man (or woman!) has gone before! And let's face it, if we don't do it, the Chinese will surely do it before us! So we might as well get on with it a.s.a.p! What could possibly go wrong? Frankenstein monster? Nah ...!

But seriously, though - I think genetic engineering may have a place in our future. Small steps at first, obviously ...

Have you ever read Vurt or Pollen by Jeff Noon? I loved those books in my late teens and early twenties. Especially Pollen I think relates to the idea of human plants (or plant humans).

If we could make our own food, could we also be walking carbon capture like plants are, to spare the other animals?

Not saying I'm entirely opposed. I'm just quite skeptical. It's funny as someone who has a science degree I both insist on and fear science. I like the scientific method of disproving falsehoods to get closer to the truth. I dislike engineering being used to feed egos instead of the greater good though. I mean science gave us life saving technology, the Internet and Beyond Burgers. Ethics have to be a huge part of science in any event, even if it's just reporting research. Take for example the scientists paid to skew data for cigarette companies, fossil fuels, and big agriculture. Don't let them genetically engineer you.