Most people imagine animal's selves through combining the ones they already know. E.g. if you raise a dog or cat long enough, you'll roughly know the soul of a dog or cat.

So when we imagine animals like sharks or horses or birds we think by combining bit of dog and cat to them.

This is wildly inaccurate because dogs and cats are well..not wild animals.

It's like if you wanted to cook chinese food but all you have is avocado and croissants. There's no possible way to combine these things in a way that's accurate. You have to see the "real" thing.

When we imagine an animal dying in the wild we imagine our favorite dog yelling out in pain, begging for us to save him from the predator. We feel we have 'failed' the animal somehow like we failed to protect a family member.

This is ridiculous in a way b/c this isn't what animals feel. They feel the same tragedy, but just at a much lower resolution than humans can. I'd argue that an animals feeling of death is less a tragic than a human. Like an ant dying isn't a big deal.

Most people don't project the consciousness of their favorite pet of 10 years into an ant, but some do it for chickens, or cows, or pigs. Truly feeling that sadness is what makes one become a vegan.

That is, you can't truly become a vegan unless you've had a chicken for a beloved pet. Same for pigs and cows. You don't have access to the kinds of projections that can generate enough disgust to avoid eating something that tastes is and is normal for majority society.

I suspect that every vegan who does so to avoid animal misery had a strong emotional tie to a "lesser" being before. (Thus acting as a goddess of love for that animal) They're usually people who are kind to everyone.

I'd also guess that most vegans who haven't had these 'farm' experiences do it for health or virtue signalling reasons. They "treat" themselves. Or look for stuff that tastes the same.

That's like saying "I don't eat cats because I care about their feelings." but then going on to invest in Impossible Feline ™ as it IPOs and eat it everyday.

If you had a chicken/cow/pig in a 'pet' related way you wouldn't even want to KNOW what Fido tastes like. Let alone have a bit of him "as an occasional treat".

This applies to different cultures too. Unless you actually have truly *been* in a different culture, nothing in it means anything to you. It's like watching ants die or chicken nuggets being made.

The more we understand of the world the more tragic everything seems. Imagine Fido dying for every single chicken nugget you ate. You wouldn't be able to function. We set a boundary and say "I don't care. This steak is tasty and great for keto."

Which is reasonable. For most people in cities it's impossible to own a cow, pig, or chicken. You shouldn't be morally obligated to own a frikin cow for a few years and bond with it.

Yet you also can't turn away from the fact that you're doing this intentionally. "I don't want to know you as I devour you."

Observing and watching this 'evil' limits it. It's the father who has to kill his daughters pet in order to feed the family and avoid starvation.

This is the type of "virtuous killing" that is associated with the strong masculine.

It bears the rage, sadness, and despair of a loving daughter as a burden. Yet still is capable of doing what is necessary.

If you think men stubborn and unyielding and unreasonable and evil, think this. What kind of mental mindset would you need to have to in order to weather the storm of a daughter you love's hate for you as you kill her pet?

From a child's perspective it's an insanely evil thing to do. It feels like cannibalism. It marks a shattering disillusionment of the garden of eden. The masculine is designed to weather thoughts of being felt evil and monsters. But that doesn't meant they are.

What this means is that the strong "masculine" yang energy is strong in proportion to how monstrous it *can* be but *doesn't*. It's capable of doing "evil" things for good. (Think Thanos killing half the universe)

As a adult there are some things in the world that feel the equivalent of a giant man, taking your beloved pet, killing it, and cooking it and expecting you to like it.

That does NOT mean that they're necessary evil. In fact they may be doing the ONE thing necessary to not DIE.

It may require recognizing that no one else saw Fido. Only you did. Just like re-watching a childhood show and being shocked at how low resolution it is. Maybe the death of a chicken wasn't as "tragic" as I remembered. Maybe I'm overreacting...

What's the worst that can happen if this is true? I'd have to stop feeling 'superior' to or hate people who do eat chickens.

Instead of trying to shame them I'd get them to visit farms and pet chickens more. Maybe breed an apartment friendly chicken.

My actions would have "real" impact (vs "dramatic" impact) because I understood the mechanism of tragedy. Guilt and shame are dropped as weapons b/c you can truly "see" that the blood being spilled is strawberry jam in their eyes.

Imagine someone cutting their arm in front of you to show you that "their blood is the same as ours!" as you try to buy strawberry jam. You'd think they were insane.

The more effective way is to show them how "strawberry jam" is made.

Sharing the violence of slaughterhouses is one way. Hunting an animal and participating in the violence is another. But the most effective one is probably to keep one as a pet.

Moral conundrum. Imagine you've tried to be vegan once before and failed because meat is delicious. Now..you know owning a chicken can be done for say 200 dollars and you *know* that by owning it as a pet, you'd lose all taste for meat permanently. Would you?

How about killing and guns? Would you pay money for an experience that prevented you from playing shooting or fighting games without feeling sick?

How about any form of mental or physical violence?

You wouldn't be able to be "mean" ever again without feeling like you're going to throw up. Would this make you virtuous? or weak?

You wouldn't be able to function independently that's for sure. You'd be unable to merge or exit off highways for one. You wouldn't be able to go into any restaurants b/c of the smell of roasted Fido. You wouldn't be able to communicate at work. etc...

Anyway... moral of this thread is to question the positive and negative valence of your projections and recognize that they're unique to YOU (or your family / culture/ country) alone.

Not every ant is Fido. Not every dog-eating korean is Satan Reincarnated.

HINT: Satan can't reincarnate because Literal God literally destroyed him so that guy definitely *isn't* Satan Reincarnated.