“It only feels longer”

Arguments vs Animals, part 42, from 2023

“You won’t actually live longer if you’re vegan.
It will just feel longer.”

It would be very useful if every vegan understood that joke is funny ‘cuz it is true. I have talked with many people who say they would literally rather die than be vegan. Being denied the foods they like, being different than their friends and family, being lumped in with angry and rude vegans....

This has nothing to do with the arguments for being vegan. Everything “factual” we say simply doesn’t matter. Life isn’t about facts.*

We don’t act on reasons, we act on feelings. There are no exceptions to this.

As noted, being more physically fit is the best thing we can do to live longer and healthier. Yet very few people are even close to optimally fit.

In reality, people are simply not motivated to live longer. Especially in the short-term.

Death Over Cold

I’ll give you an example. I hate VO2 max workouts, but I’ll do them ~1/week. However, I won’t do the recommended cold therapy. I just won’t. I hate being cold, and I am nowhere near mindful enough to not dread being cold. Even if longer, my life would be worse.

I would 100% choose a shorter life over a longer, dread- and cold-filled life.

The same with abstaining from alcohol. Just not worth any purported benefit. You won’t convince me otherwise.

And this is how nearly everyone thinks about veganism. Another study won’t change that. Another “But what about…” won’t change that. People would choose death over veganism. That is the only “fact” that matters.

It is illogical to expect logic to matter

You may honestly and deeply believe that you have the optimal lifestyle. You may believe, for example, it is illogical and irrational to eat chicken, or drink alcohol, or stay warm.

But here is the key: It simply doesn’t matter what you or I believe.

The only thing that matters is what will
actually make the real world better for those being tortured.

The best diet is the one someone will stick to. The best exercise plan is the one someone will stick to.

The best advocacy** message isn’t the one that is “right” - it is the one that someone will accept, act on, and stick to. At least in the United States, that message is not veganism. [An alternative.]

If we don’t face facts about what actually helps animals, are we really all that different than those we ridicule, those who continue to directly support factory farming in the face of those facts?

* You can never overcome tribalism and jingoism [or prejudice, or ... anything] with an argument. Tribalism [etc.] is an irrational position, and it is impossible to defeat an irrational position with a rational argument.***

-The Expanse

(IOW: We are rationalizing animals, not rational animals.)

** Not that every vegan cares about animals. I was told [2022] about a recent “Animal and Veganism Advocacy Summit.” Doesn’t that just say it all? Veganism itself is something to advocate for, in and of itself. According to this conference, veganism is equal to and as important as helping actual animals. 😢

As if to reinforce a link in “The End of Veganism” chapter of Losing My Religions (“The Impossible Burger Debate Was A Test For Vegans, And We Failed.”) some vegetarians are still complaining [2023] that everything in the world isn’t centered entirely on them. <sigh>

*** So why do I blog? To stay in contact with you! I deeply appreciate everyone who isn’t self-centered and actually takes suffering seriously. ❤