IS

Igor Scaldini

2 karmaJoined Mar 2023

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Although I'm not sure (because I don't have enough knowledge) if your claim on "not eating animals is the more rational choice for 90%+ people reading this" is correct, I liked this mental model. 

As a member of EA community and an altruist, I eat meat. Not because it's cheaper (it's not, at least in Brazil), it's convenient (I live in a massive city with a lot of vegan options), or it's rational (I'm not sure if it is) but because eating is more then putting calories in...

Eating is a social activity. It's about belonging and connections. 

And what is our most important need after physiological and safety, according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Belonging and Love. 

So I believe most people don't go vegan (EAs or not) because it's hard to adapt to this lifestyle socially,  unless other vegans surround you. 

I don't have a definitive solution to this puzzle (to have more vegans, we need more vegans). Still, I would like to share my view on that because I think what most vegan advocates get wrong is framing "eating" as a purely rational and physiological activity. 

It's like soccer. 40.000 people doesn't go to the stadium because it's rational to watch 22 guys running for a soccer ball, but because their social lives are embedded on it.