The Differences Between Plants and Animals

[DeathsAmbassador]

So I was thinking about how most vegetarians choose to not eat meat because they consider it inhumane. But what about eating plants? They are just as alive as animals, there are even plants that eat bugs (using the term "eat" loosely). So I was wondering what you guys thought about this. I suppose that animals are mistreated while plants usually are not, unless you consider pesticides and such mistreating them. So anyway, what do you guys think. Are animals really much more "alive" then plants. And does it make sense to say that eating an animal is wrong but eating a living plant is not?

(I apologize early if my understanding of vegetarianism is wrong and if I offend anybody)

 

[BonsaiK]

Well plants have no nervous system so they can't feel pain when you pick fruit off the tree or whatever. I think that's an important difference.

 

[Metric Monkey]

No one says a thing because apparently animals are "too cute to hurt".
Plants don't make a sound if you try to kill them.

 

[zauxz]

Umm. You really dont see a difference between a dog and a carrot?

 

[Metric Monkey]

Umm. You really dont see a difference between a dog and a carrot?

Pfft, that's easy. Dogs aren't orange, silly.

 

[itSucks2beU]

first,there is not much difference in plants and animals because they both benefeit from
sun light they reproduce and other characteristics of living things but their main difference is you get more energy when eating plants because they are the ones producing energy at the start of the food chain.

 

[zauxz]

Umm. You really dont see a difference between a dog and a carrot?

Pfft, that's easy. Dogs aren't orange, silly.

You were saying?

 

[Juraz]

Id rather eat an Animal then a plant? sometimes a nice chunk of animal with a side of plant ^_^

 

[Metric Monkey]

Umm. You really dont see a difference between a dog and a carrot?

Pfft, that's easy. Dogs aren't orange, silly.

You were saying?

You win this round...

 

[SmartIdiot]

Here we go. Whether or not you realise it you have just thrown a classic nihilist arguement into the works.

Here's the difference. One has leaves. One has fur.

 

[The Blue Mongoose]

Plants arent mammals so your allowed to hurt them. From a previous PM message, Its okay that the plant suffers pain its not as much usffering as a cow. So some suffering is OK.... (it was long ok?)

You are very astute, and you took the words from my mouth. You, sir, have done very well.

Grass screams when you cut it. We, as humans, feel compassion for things with faces, mostly mammals and other humans (if humans are not covered by mammals - we should be). Plants don't have faces.

 

[Woem]

One think I would like to make clear about vegetarianism is that it's only about the eating of animals. It's a dietary choice. A vegetarian can wear leather shoes, own a leather couch and a bear-skin carpet. The term also doesn't say anything about the reason for the person to not eat fish or meat. It could be an ethical choice, it could be because the person is trying to loose weight, because he doesn't digest meat so well, because he's allergic to it, ...

 

[TheRealCJ]

Oh, you don't offend me because of your lack of knowledge regarding Vegitarianism.

Your grasp of basic biology, on the other hand...

 

[lostclause]

The more you can relate to it, the weirder you feel eating it. Not many people look like plants so we have no problems. Similar sort of thing with fish. However animals can look disturbingly human at times so we find it disconcerting. Thus you're more likely to be hesitant about eating animals.

 

[Woem]

The more you can relate to it, the weirder you feel eating it. Not many people look like plants so we have no problems. Similar sort of thing with fish. However animals can look disturbingly human at times so we find it disconcerting. Thus you're more likely to be hesitant about eating animals.

And that's exactly why the Sea Kittens were created. For the younger generation of course.

 

[lostclause]

The more you can relate to it, the weirder you feel eating it. Not many people look like plants so we have no problems. Similar sort of thing with fish. However animals can look disturbingly human at times so we find it disconcerting. Thus you're more likely to be hesitant about eating animals.

And that's exactly why the Sea Kittens were created. For the younger generation of course.

I've seen those, they're odd but wouldn't keep me from having fish. But let's keep this thread on topic, there are enough people bashing those that they don't need additional help.

 

[veloper]

photosynthesis for one

 

[Woem]

The more you can relate to it, the weirder you feel eating it. Not many people look like plants so we have no problems. Similar sort of thing with fish. However animals can look disturbingly human at times so we find it disconcerting. Thus you're more likely to be hesitant about eating animals.

And that's exactly why the Sea Kittens were created. For the younger generation of course.

I've seen those, they're odd but wouldn't keep me from having fish. But let's keep this thread on topic, there are enough people bashing those that they don't need additional help.

True. Well, staying on topic here is a print from the bio.net mailing list that everyone should read. It basically ends the thread:

Can plant feel pain? [http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/plantbio/1994-December/004565.html]

 

[lostclause]

True. Well, staying on topic here is a print from the bio.net mailing list that everyone should read. It basically ends the thread:

Can plant feel pain? [http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/plantbio/1994-December/004565.html]

It's a good point but personally I think they can't. A plant doesn't really respond to physical stimuli except for growth. Why would they develop such senses when they can't do anything about it like movement?

 

[Cpt. Red]

Well their cells for one...