In regards to eating meat

[Bring4th_Austin]

Concerning the individuation of entities:

1) Does being 2D mean that it's okay for humans to take its life, or inflict pain and suffering on it?

Inflict suffering or pain, probably not. To take its life, it might not be okay, but necessary for survival.

2) If, for argument's sake, all 2D entities are the same regarding awareness, then what to eat?

Well we can't just eat sand and air, so we eat what nourishes us.

3) It boils down to: now, do I take the life of plants and/or animals to survive.

Right.

4) There is no need to take animal life.

From which point of view? From a sustainability point of view, the only way we're going to feed 7 billion people without destroying the Earth is through use of efficient sustainable and permaculture techniques which employ the cultivation of both crops and livestock. There is a ton of energy and motivation going in to studying the most efficient and sustainable systems for producing quantities of food. Just growing crop is not a sustainable system.

On top of that, without soy, a vegetarian diet is nearly impossible. The cultivation of soy in the quantities it would require for 7 billion people to be vegetarian are not nearly possible. A huge field of soy cannot support an ecosystem, where as a sustainable dynamic system growing a variety of crops and producing a variety of meats will output more protein and nutrition, all while supporting a natural ecosystem. Using the same amount of space, higher quantities of more nutritious food are produced, land is preserved, and life flourishes (where if you follow the source of the tofu you eat, you'd likely find a barren field with only one thing living there: soy).

In parts of the world where this isn't possible, the biggest saving grace would be aquaculture systems, where a greenhouse environment is created producing both vegetables as well as fish meats in a nearly closed, low-energy, low-water system.

I'm not trying to say the decision to be vegetarian is irresponsible. It's a personal decision and is possible for many people in the world if they wish to not eat meat. But what I am saying is the feasibility of producing enough food to feed the world is only going to come from mixed farming systems which practice sustainable husbandry and crop cultivation as integrated systems.

5) Plant life is needed.

Very true.

6) Why take animal life?

See number 4.