Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers

Richard Bulliet – Old man. Farming Background.

Sex and Blood

• what does it mean when our childhood is part of seeing and exposure to sex and blood?
• Differences: Domestic vs. Post-Domestic
• Our experiences on… farms, with animals, Media: 16 and pregnant,
• What is the reason for these differences? Animal relationships? Or is it caused by other things?
• Humane Slaughter – Does it matter how?
  • matters more – the conditions in which they were raised
• Efficiency? of slaughter “Production in the modern area” that’s the parallel. After WWII
  • Using animal slaughter techniques on humans! Woah!
  • The opposite – and “correct” reaction as opposite to the animals rights group message.
• How long was the domestic era? What about sex and blood / violence in the pre-domestic era?
• Beastiality- a common thing at Bulliet’s time?
  • is this superior to fantasy?
  • You still can get your milk delivered. or otherwise conveniently.
  • The “Domestic Era” is actually 10,000 years – and beastiality was more common then than it is now. The experience with Sex and Blood and violence is fundamentally different than ours now.
  • Switzerland.

Motivations for vegetarianism:
post-domestic guilt (about the conditions of modern agriculture / food animals)
environmentalism – nature is important
social conscience – first world guilt

Real Experience …. to …. Fantasy

• Roman blood sports and now Football Stadium… Things were more “realistic” … Is getting the experience very very good for people?

Evolutionary speaking, we are omnivores.

Are we part of nature or separate / above it? Us. Woman. Man. Human.
Our role in earth stewardship?
Are we limited by its carrying capacity? Does technology make it infinitely exploitable?
Our evolution – adapted to “think” and so we use it to create/alter animals and nature. So maybe that’s just what nature intended. right? right.
All organisms have altered their environment. We are similar in our impacts. So how are humans and animals different?

• Because we have a higher level of intelligence and that ability to reason.. “the theory of mind”
  • Makes us MORE responsible for what we do? Animals (we think) don’t have the ability to reason the consequences of their action.
• Check this out:
• http://www.amazon.com/The-Bonobo-Atheist-Humanism-ebook/dp/B007Q6XKEY
• or this:
• http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Empathy-Natures-ebook/dp/B002PYFW8Y/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360093576&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=FranzDe+Waal

It’s Human Nature.
That’s what we say to justify ALL of our actions.
we differ by only… such a tiny percent of DNA.

Hunting – the way we hunt if different. Domesticating – a way to overcome hunting.
How does science define life? (see fig 1.1)

• A fundamental tension about the category of “animal” to tell us about us.
• Animals don’t do that. or You’re acting like an ANIMAL.
• EVIL: makes us unique….
• Oh, but we’re the different ones.

Biology defines life as having these requirements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life):

1. Homeostasis: Regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, electrolyte concentration or sweating to reduce temperature.
2. Organization: Being structurally composed of one or more cells — the basic units of life.
3. Metabolism: Transformation of energy by converting chemicals and energy into cellular components (anabolism) and decomposing organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.
4. Growth: Maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter.
5. Adaptation: The ability to change over time in response to the environment. This ability is fundamental to the process of evolution and is determined by the organism’s heredity, diet, and external factors.
6. Response to stimuli: A response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism to external chemicals, to complex reactions involving all the senses of multicellular organisms. A response is often expressed by motion; for example, the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun (phototropism), and chemotaxis.
7. Reproduction: The ability to produce new individual organisms, either asexually from a single parent organism, or sexually from two parent organisms.

Philosophy of Life

• Our place in the universe…Cf:

The Human situation
Main article: Human situation
The human situation appears to be a struggle between what is (existence) and what ought (essence) to be.

• Normative situations – Alternatives, Choice, Freedom, Values, Standards, Ideals, Obligation, Responsibility
• Existential predicament – Finitude, Alienation, Anxiety, Guilt, Ambivalence, Thrownness

Four eras: of the human-animal relationship

1. Seperation
2. Pre-Domestic
3. Domestic
4. Post-Domestic

Powerful and True forces but they are not all encompassing ones. ???
————————————
Man-eating tiger. Predation. Motivation. “Theory of Mind” Read this Book.
Spiders, Snakes, Being Eaten Alive: Hard-wired. from our evolution. unconscious reactions.

This distance between these eras becoming shorter?
Why?
Future of animal-human relations. What do we predict?

Unique – Group vs. Individual vs. Species
Now are we better?
Personalities and Animals. Are animals individuals? group consensus is that they are.
Check out Tinbergen….

• perception and stimuli from environment determines your being.
• Survival Strategy.

Corporations

Contradictions in this day and age
Vegetarians that wear leather and keep dogs and cats as pets

ANCIENT ALIENS: George Washington