02-10-2011, 12:28 PM | #1 |
我が名は勇者王!
|
Scavenging & Cannibalism
Let's say World War III happened and humanity is rotting. Processed food isn't common anymore but there's a lot of dead bodies all over the place. In this situation,
1. Do you eat the dead animals, provided they've been freshly dead (i.e., you see a horse collapse from exhaustion). Is it ethical to still kill a living horse to eat even though this dead one is right there, for you to chop up? 2. Do you eat the dead animals, provided you're starving but the meat isn't fresh and might even be rotting in some parts? 3. Do you eat the dead humans, provided they've been freshly dead (i.e., you saw guys kill each other over a fight) or do you bury them? What if you're starving? 4. Do you kill other humans to kill and consume them, considering you're starving and the potential prey might be feeble. Do you risk getting killed yourself for the benefits of companionship/teamwork by sticking with other humans, or consume them just to preserve yourself? (assuming all posters on UPN are humans, not aliens/gods/demons) Finally, are ethics only relevant to a specific society, and once the rules that govern that society break down, what is ethical starts to change? Killing a human to survive in modern day society is totally unacceptable, but in a post-apocalyptic world, isn't it rational?
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
02-10-2011, 01:21 PM | #2 | |||||
The Path of Now & Forever
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,304
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
And it doesn't take an apocalypse to change human morals or ethics. It is purely based on the state of society and people's personal beliefs. What we find normal is unethical in other countries. What we might find immoral is okay elsewhere. |
|||||
02-10-2011, 02:24 PM | #3 | |
我が名は勇者王!
|
Quote:
FDA or USDA inspection prevents a lot of nasties in slaughterhouses from getting into our food supply, so there's a perception that most meats, once cooked, are going to be safe for consumption. So let me amend the earlier post and say that "knowledge of food poisonings" is commonplace amongst apocalypse survivors. Given the propensity of those poisonings, people would have to learn to recognize animals they can't eat and treat flesh to make it edible. And while processed food might be scarce, fire isn't, so cooking food is very easy.
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
|
02-10-2011, 07:53 PM | #4 |
The Path of Now & Forever
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,304
|
I'm fairly certain that there's no real way to make an "on the spot" inspection for safety. You would pretty much have to perform an autopsy on the dead carcass and hope you found the real reason it died. And if you're starving, you probably won't be making a proper inspection.
In addition, the time needed for food to go bad is relatively short. By the time you finish your inspection in the wilderness, the entire point would be moot. An entire rabbit will go from freshly dead to bloat to skin is like four days. Even in today's society, with all fridges, the science labs, and proper time for inspection, carcasses are not allowed to be eaten. There are just far too many things that could possibly kill an animal to make it worth taking the risk. To be honest, I would rather try and eat the maggots on a carcass than the carcass itself. But I would definitely try to cook them. Maybe if I had a skillet. Works as a weapon too. Another plus for a post apocalyptic world. :x |
02-10-2011, 11:24 PM | #5 | |
我が名は勇者王!
|
Quote:
Why did you go extinct again? o_o
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
|
02-11-2011, 03:05 AM | #6 |
Foot, meet mouth.
|
As Loki said...eating the shitload of insects would be a much better thing to do in that situation. Without them, it depends on the risk, but I wouldn't treat animals any different from humans in that situation. If it comes to that, to hell with everyone else.
__________________
Spoiler: show |
02-11-2011, 03:40 AM | #7 |
The Path of Now & Forever
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,304
|
Fresh Maggots vs. Rotten Meat. If the maggots are cooked, you will generally be safer than if you cooked a slab of possibly rotten meat. You run more risk to your fingers touching the maggots then eating the maggots after cooking. And that's about the same risk as touching the rotten meat, except the meat is still risky after cooking.
Actually, the smaller something is, the better off you likely are. Larger animals like deer or moose are considerably more difficult to hunt due to their higher endurance and the risk of the animal fighting back. It's why wolves only give chase to prey that runs as opposed to prey that stands its ground. A flight response means you have less chance of getting hurt on the hunt. So rabbits and prairie dogs are better things to hunt in post apocalypse. At the same time, cooking the larger animal is more difficult. When it runs the possibility of being rotten, it is even more difficult. If you under cook the 'steak', you risk food poisoning. If you overcook the meat, you will lose a lot of nutrition. At the same time, the longer cooking time could mean more exposure to possible human predation. Fire is an easy sign of another person and if a cannibal pack is around, the longer my fire burns, the higher my chances of being found become. Meanwhile, bugs are extremely common (most species of insects outnumber humans billions to one), have short to no cooking time, and are typically good sources of protein. Just know what is poisonous and what isn't. Earthworms are the military survivalist's most common source of clean food. They don't carry many diseases a human can contract, offer no resistance, are rather numerous, and somewhat simple to obtain (worm grunting), have decent nutrition, and can be eaten completely raw. |
02-12-2011, 04:36 PM | #8 | ||||||||
Banned
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
As a general Rule, I'd leave them alone. Burying them would cost effort better used for hunting, and the thought of eating them makes my skin crawl. If I personally witnessed the fight, And was very low on food, I might, might, make an exception and eat them. I'd much rather eat grass though. Quote:
Besides, it takes at least two to repopulate. Quote:
Granted, survival takes utmost importance, but if society had truely degraded enough that cannibalism was their only option for survival, I wouldn't expect that society to last long enough to save itself, and expect a different group which had not resorted to cannibalism to reinstate civilization. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
One thing about cannibals though, they most likely, over time at least, would have surrendered to their animalistic instincts, so while they would be vicious, they probably are using primitive tools, and not using their intelligence. Meaning they can be outsmarted, and outgunned, if you can evade them long enough for your intelligence to play a part. |
||||||||
02-12-2011, 09:38 PM | #9 |
Foot, meet mouth.
|
I disagree with some parts of your post(cbf quoting them because I'm lazy). Mainly the part where you said that cannibalism wouldn't allow reproduction. You eat them if you're extremely hungry. And anyway you could survive on termites, earthworms...loads of stuff. So basically, you eat a human and get your hunger satisfied, you'll immediately feel extremely guilty. Our brains won't allow us to eat humans unless we're staaaaarving, is what I'm saying.
__________________
Spoiler: show |
Lower Navigation | ||||||
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
|
|