Re: [GZG] Bovine rebuttal

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have some cool points here.

First of all the Vegan issue isn't based as much in biology and reality
as it is philosophy. I have Vegan freinds and relatives. Growing up on a
farm and raising a lot of my own food animals, I have butted heads lots
of times and when you strip the arguements down past the science they
will always trump you on the philosophy/spirtituality of the animals
rites, etc.

I would agree with you on dogs vs horses and certainly cows and sheep
are rite out, but I also think these arguments are watered down a bit by
the fact that we are talking domesticated animals. I am sure the wild
cousins of horses and even cows and sheep rate much more intelligent as
do wolves vs dogs.

That being said, I think if you can concede that life on other planets
may not mirror life on Earth then you may very well end up with some
very clever, crafty herbivores that might evolve into intelligent
species. I know in my own creations, one species, the Tonk, are evolved
from an amphibious creature halfway between a manitee and a salamander.

To use the Tonk as an example, if I may, they evolved a higher order of
intelligence due to the demands put upon them by a changing world and
the hostile nature of their natural environment. They were forced to
adapt quickly and in doing so "stumbled" into the spark that led toward
sentience. Even in their intellignet, humanoid selves, they are still
big and muscular, possessed of poor eye site but possessing other
attributes - natural damage resistence, accute senses of smell and
hearing, as well as a capacity for sub-sonic communication, and
incredible strength.

Is this the most realistic of scenarios? Who knows. It makes enough
sense and honestly it's based on the figs I had converted from some old
Warzone figs.

-Eli 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Don M" <dmaddox1@hot.rr.com> 

> Though your point certainly stands, that they are rare, the K'Kree 
> from Traveller were herbivores and militant vegans, to the point of 
> committing genocide against a nearby carnivorous species. 
> 
> 
> 
> Well it has been found in our own evolution that taking on 
> protein did help brain development, which is why I find the 
> vegan concept somewhat disingenuous at best, our ancestors 
> ate flesh so our brains would grow to the point where we 
> think we should not eat flesh...funny when you think about it. 
> Another "purely anecdotal" point I've been around horses 
> and dogs my entire life, love both but, of the two dogs are 
> far more intelligent. There are exceptions and I've seen 
> some really smart horses in my day but, even those were 
> nowhere as intelligent as an average dog. Again purely 
> anecdotal but it does make one think there may be something 
> to it. This doesn't cover alien evolution at all of course, anything 
> can happen out there, we just don't know at this point. 
> 
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