The staff ate it later • Hacker News Board

Re: The staff ate it later

#311

Post by lolc » Fri, Sep 05, 2025, 9:35 PM UTC

swat535 wrote: post #278

bambax wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what the quote has to do with anything here, but it's a as good an opportunity as ever to say that large parts of the "Old Testament" draw most of its inspiration from the code of Hammurabi ("an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"), the Epic of Gilgamesh (which gave us, notably, the story of the deluge, and the dark role of the serpent) and Ancient Egypt, to which it owes, among many others, the concept of…

There are at least 2 ancient pagan flood stories: The Gilgamesh Epic and the Atrathasis Epic, both originating in ancient Mesopotamia. Because both sources predate the source of Noah's story, many scholars have concluded that Noah's flood story was borrowed from these. However, consider the following objections: - When a historical event is retold to different audiences over time, the story generally becomes more myt…

> faithful to the actual historical event

What event?

I understand you saying that a flood actually happened, and that Noah's story is based on that. Well that may be, but with a quibble: that flood is prehistorical. We have no records to say when and where it happened. Unless I'm behind on research.

To me, flood stories serve to show how powerful gods are. The stories are likely based on several floods experienced by different people over time.

Imagine you see the Nile flood your general area every year with varying intensity. It's easy to worry that one year it just won't stop rising. To people living in those times, a flood story is gripping in ways we don't follow today.

Re: The staff ate it later

#312

Post by felurx » Sat, Sep 06, 2025, 1:40 PM UTC

cylemons wrote: post #293

chithanh wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the developed world and large parts of the developing world, meat is consumed for entirely hedonic reasons (ie. for pleasure). I would not consider this materially different from killing for sports or entertainment.

It is different tho, atleast eating meat is nutritionally beneficial while killing for sports is a waste of time.

You would spend some time outdoors being active, which is good for you but also entirely possible without killing animals. I'd argue that's the same for meat.

Re: The staff ate it later

#313

Post by BrandoElFollito » Mon, Sep 08, 2025, 7:44 PM UTC

dotancohen wrote: post #243

keiferski wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mostly just proximity and framing. A hurt wild animal is alive and right in front of you. Meat from the grocery store is a prepackaged product that isn’t mentally associated with the bloody process behind the scenes required to get it there. The commercial aspect is pretty dependent on this distancing. Case-in-point: I once stayed in a small town in Morocco for a few weeks. There wasn’t a grocery store nearby,…

> if you wanted chicken, they killed it in front of you. Needless to say, being directly confronted with the process…I didn’t eat meat the entire time. The one time I had opportunity to kill a bird with my own hands and eat it, I ate it with far greater respect and less waste than any meat I'd ever even before or since. I wish there were an efficient way to bring the consumer closer to the animal in everyday Western…

I live in France in a comfortable place with anything I need to eat and drink.

In that context, if I had to kill the animals I eat I would absolutely turn vegetarian because I like animals very much and the minced meat I get at the store does not stare at me.

I put the context first because such a change would require accrss to varied vegetables etc.

The situation wipes be drastically different in a world where you do not have this access or need to fight for food.