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Comment by kortilla | Hacker News Reader

How is your value system not as arbitrary (plants ok to kill, but not animals)? Is it just because it’s impossible to survive without consuming other life given our current technology?

In 1000 years perhaps humans will look at our treatment of all life as barbaric because they will be directly powered by the energy of the sun.

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I'm surprised your comment is being downvoted. There was an article shared on HN last year and suggesting plants are more aware than what we typically give credit to them. I also don't think its completely out there to assume humanity won't be modifying how the human body consumes energy.

It's being downvoted because it doesn't really make sense. Plants lack a central nervous system, so vegans tend to draw the line somewhere there. Regardless if we did find out that plants somehow where conscious and could feel pain we need to feed animals a huge amount of plant matter in order for us to eat them. If vegans are trying to minimise harm done then it'd still make sense to eat them directly than eat animals given there is no alternative.

But what if the plants we like to eat are more conscious than the plants that animals like to eat? Or even more conscious than the animals themselves? How do we really know? What if there is a God in every peanut?

Well why base your actions on anything at all given that line of thinking? Although I do like the idea of a God in a peanut.

I don't know, (and the whole reason I'm in this conversation was because I thought it was such an amusing concept I couldn't resist...)

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