> Vegetarianism selects for openness and analytical/reflective thinking but the extra step to veganism selects for absolutism/purity
I don't follow how you conclude this at all. there is nothing to indicate this is the case.
I don't follow how you conclude this at all. there is nothing to indicate this is the case.
And I find it ironic in that you are kind of proving the point, by painting it as a black and white issue. This is what the "extremism" means to me. Another form of that spectrum could be: Endangered species -> wild animals -> farmed animals. Do you think it would be as wrong to kill the last specimens of an animal that is about to go extinct as it would be to kill an animal that has been bred over thousands of years and could probably not survive in the wild on its own? While i am against all killing, when presented with this choice the answer is pretty clear to me.
And you even made a similar distinction yourself in another comment here:
>I hope people say the same about all animals, but especially mammals.
So again, not sure what you are trying to argue.