Is Veganism based on belief? Should it be?
12 October 2017 [link youtube]
Trying to do the best you can, or doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do, need not be based on belief in ideal. Or, at least, this is my nihilistic perspective.
Youtube Automatic Transcription
so my girlfriend just says like
interesting to me that made me think about the extent to which we express veganism in terms of belief as opposed to anything other than belief you know but you said your brother regarded you as Andy I think he criticized you for being easily manipulated on the grounds that you had just watched this one documentary and then become vegan now in reality you did a bunch of research the documentary sparked your interest you decided to go vegan but you know I think in Western culture belief I mean you know we're really taught to regard belief as something hallowed and profound and that people aren't allowed to criticize or has to be criticized this has been a special way given some kind of special regard and I think many vegans imagine they're leading with a strong suit they're playing a strong card if people ask you why are you vegan and you answer I believe Blanc I think that's basically what Gary francais only does I mean I you know he says I I believe why and if you don't you're evil I mean I think it's actually a really weak way you know to uh to approach veganism I mean this is what I had one I had one view or quit my patreon over this I always say I think there really are I think there are many competing definitions of ego so I don't think there is one definition of ego they with a lively intellectual discourse understand because there's more than one some people I think would define it as as a belief a belief that Blanc therefore you do therefore you do Blanc but you know a lot of the time when I was talking to professors at UVic or something I wouldn't start with that I'd start with something that framed it in terms of you know I'm doing the best I can you know I'm trying to do something positive you know ecology ethics animals etc but like you know I'm doing the best I can what about you you know as a way of presenting it I you know I can't say it's more pretentious or less pretentious but it's it's different you know yeah well really if argument is like testifying you know like let me let me spread the word of veganism to you like this is my belief in this yeah I guess I guess also there's the delusion which is really encouraged by Western religions and Gary francais only does believe in God he believes in a monotheistic teja d of some kind he's not a conventional Christian but he's talked about his eccentric religious beliefs I think there's a sense that belief is for everyone and the belief is something everybody can do and indeed from a Christian perspective that everybody ought to do you know so maybe that's why they imagine like if I if I play the belief card people are gonna come over to my side cuz they're gonna share in the belief they're gonna want to believe what I believe and it's kind of work is like the fact that we're having this conversation already me and the professor me and the mediator is almost inevitably means that they don't believe it and they're they're never gonna believe it so why you know why even talk about you know belief as opposed to ie boat I'm trying to make a difference you know man that's a I'm sorry just bit my own tongue we're just eating on camera sorry biting my tongue has said you know a lot a lot of time when I was actually talking to professors at Victoria what I said to them was I'm interested in the difference I can make there are a lot of situations where I can't make a difference Cambodian politics at one time close to my heart you look at the disaster of any given set of elections in Cambodia I can't make a difference you know even if I write an article on the internet and even if I make a youtube video it's like damn I can't make any difference you know this is a difference I can make and in general you know politically and philosophically you know there's so many headings or even in terms of research and study I'm interested in the difference I can make you know that's how I do research and what have you so I try to plan for the future of my life you know and this this is the difference I could make you know being vegan so that's there's no belief there and it's challenging the other person in a different way because it's saying to them why don't you care about the difference you can make or it puts them on that level it puts them in a position to answer that question and they may have a meaningful answer they may say oh well they're devoted to you know being in the US Marine Corps so they just eat whatever food the Marine Corps gives them and they never question it there are people who really live in these kinds of highly structured situations I got one I got one email from a vegan very sincere vegan and he for his job is required to wear leather boots and he hates it you asked him to have boots that meet a certain safety code blah blah blah and he had he really searched he absolutely couldn't get anything you know for that you know there were situationally that I said so come say it joining the Marine Corps is the greatest job or anything but if if that's the path you're committed to there are people who are in those kinds of structured situations where they don't choose what they eat or they don't chose that they don't choose the clothes they wear or the shoes they wear where that's out of their power they're not making those decisions anymore but yeah for my professors what's their excuse or you know what's the reason why don't they care enough about making some kind of positive difference in the world if they can when they can because you can with veganism you can and it's definitely stronger to be in a position with veganism or any political movement or ideology or it does not require belief you know you don't have to believe in anything to be vegan right and it's it's stronger for that reason you know look at the weakness and the hopelessness by contrast of Buddhism Buddhism is going nowhere in the 21st century and veganism has grown dramatically in 1020 years and I think we all know it it has the power to do so much more I think as persist because it doesn't rest on faith it doesn't rely on an appeal to belief so we can go further and faster and make greater use of the human resources we've got more reckless optimism from about Lucille
interesting to me that made me think about the extent to which we express veganism in terms of belief as opposed to anything other than belief you know but you said your brother regarded you as Andy I think he criticized you for being easily manipulated on the grounds that you had just watched this one documentary and then become vegan now in reality you did a bunch of research the documentary sparked your interest you decided to go vegan but you know I think in Western culture belief I mean you know we're really taught to regard belief as something hallowed and profound and that people aren't allowed to criticize or has to be criticized this has been a special way given some kind of special regard and I think many vegans imagine they're leading with a strong suit they're playing a strong card if people ask you why are you vegan and you answer I believe Blanc I think that's basically what Gary francais only does I mean I you know he says I I believe why and if you don't you're evil I mean I think it's actually a really weak way you know to uh to approach veganism I mean this is what I had one I had one view or quit my patreon over this I always say I think there really are I think there are many competing definitions of ego so I don't think there is one definition of ego they with a lively intellectual discourse understand because there's more than one some people I think would define it as as a belief a belief that Blanc therefore you do therefore you do Blanc but you know a lot of the time when I was talking to professors at UVic or something I wouldn't start with that I'd start with something that framed it in terms of you know I'm doing the best I can you know I'm trying to do something positive you know ecology ethics animals etc but like you know I'm doing the best I can what about you you know as a way of presenting it I you know I can't say it's more pretentious or less pretentious but it's it's different you know yeah well really if argument is like testifying you know like let me let me spread the word of veganism to you like this is my belief in this yeah I guess I guess also there's the delusion which is really encouraged by Western religions and Gary francais only does believe in God he believes in a monotheistic teja d of some kind he's not a conventional Christian but he's talked about his eccentric religious beliefs I think there's a sense that belief is for everyone and the belief is something everybody can do and indeed from a Christian perspective that everybody ought to do you know so maybe that's why they imagine like if I if I play the belief card people are gonna come over to my side cuz they're gonna share in the belief they're gonna want to believe what I believe and it's kind of work is like the fact that we're having this conversation already me and the professor me and the mediator is almost inevitably means that they don't believe it and they're they're never gonna believe it so why you know why even talk about you know belief as opposed to ie boat I'm trying to make a difference you know man that's a I'm sorry just bit my own tongue we're just eating on camera sorry biting my tongue has said you know a lot a lot of time when I was actually talking to professors at Victoria what I said to them was I'm interested in the difference I can make there are a lot of situations where I can't make a difference Cambodian politics at one time close to my heart you look at the disaster of any given set of elections in Cambodia I can't make a difference you know even if I write an article on the internet and even if I make a youtube video it's like damn I can't make any difference you know this is a difference I can make and in general you know politically and philosophically you know there's so many headings or even in terms of research and study I'm interested in the difference I can make you know that's how I do research and what have you so I try to plan for the future of my life you know and this this is the difference I could make you know being vegan so that's there's no belief there and it's challenging the other person in a different way because it's saying to them why don't you care about the difference you can make or it puts them on that level it puts them in a position to answer that question and they may have a meaningful answer they may say oh well they're devoted to you know being in the US Marine Corps so they just eat whatever food the Marine Corps gives them and they never question it there are people who really live in these kinds of highly structured situations I got one I got one email from a vegan very sincere vegan and he for his job is required to wear leather boots and he hates it you asked him to have boots that meet a certain safety code blah blah blah and he had he really searched he absolutely couldn't get anything you know for that you know there were situationally that I said so come say it joining the Marine Corps is the greatest job or anything but if if that's the path you're committed to there are people who are in those kinds of structured situations where they don't choose what they eat or they don't chose that they don't choose the clothes they wear or the shoes they wear where that's out of their power they're not making those decisions anymore but yeah for my professors what's their excuse or you know what's the reason why don't they care enough about making some kind of positive difference in the world if they can when they can because you can with veganism you can and it's definitely stronger to be in a position with veganism or any political movement or ideology or it does not require belief you know you don't have to believe in anything to be vegan right and it's it's stronger for that reason you know look at the weakness and the hopelessness by contrast of Buddhism Buddhism is going nowhere in the 21st century and veganism has grown dramatically in 1020 years and I think we all know it it has the power to do so much more I think as persist because it doesn't rest on faith it doesn't rely on an appeal to belief so we can go further and faster and make greater use of the human resources we've got more reckless optimism from about Lucille