I've been pondering...

[DimondLight]

:hmmm:...Yeah, I felt like saying pondering.

Anyways, I've been thinking about how my sister is a vegetable vegetarian. Would it be possible, if humans were vegetarians for long enough, and say all her kids, grandchildren, etc were vegetarians, would it be possible to adapt so that their bodies rejected meat? I don't really know if it would be possible, but am i just thinking crazy things? Lol.

[The Good]

Maybe, just maybe. My sister used to be a vegetarian, because she didn't want to eat animals, but I'm not sure if she still is. I myself eat meat in moderation, usually only in one meal a day; dinner.

[Dunecat]

As we are not Omnivores, Carnivores, or Herbivores, we can really decide to do what we want. If we survive, our bodies will adapt and we will live to evolve and reproduce.

Ethically, I think that if it was strictly more efficient to gather all required nutrients without animal products, I would think it the preferable choice.

The human digestive system is a very complicated thing, stuck in transition from when we first started eating meat to grow our large brains long ago. Wherever we are headed I am not sure.

[HopliteElite]

Reject meat? I don't think so, considering humans have always been omnivores. We are an adaptable animal in that we eat meat and vegetables, fruits, etc... in order to survive. Should there be little to no meat, we can survive on non-meat products, should there be an abundance of meat and little to no vegetables, we could survive as well. The fact is though that we have both to choose from at the moment and we use our evolutionary gift of intelligence to know that in order to be healthy, we should utilize both, as long as we are able.

[Dunecat]

Humans are not omnivores.

They are not. Biology is a great deal more complicated than "meat = carnivores, vegetables = herbivores".

[HopliteElite]

Humans are not omnivores.

An omnivore is a kind of animal that eats either other animals or plants. Some omnivores will hunt and eat their food, like carnivores, eating herbivores and other omnivores. Some others are scavengers and will eat dead matter. Many will eat eggs from other animals.
Omnivores eat plants, but not all kinds of plants. Unlike herbivores, omnivores can't digest some of the substances in grains or other plants that do not produce fruit. They can eat fruits and vegetables, though. Some of the insect omnivores in this simulation are pollinators, which are very important to the life cycle of some kinds of plants.

http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/proj...-omnivore.html

If you scroll down a bit on that site you see that humans, according to this Northwestern.edu website, that humans are omnivores. Is this site wrong? I'm really asking, I'm not trying to be a wise guy, as I've always been told, throughout my colleges courses, that edu's are highly reliable, especially a northwestern edu.

[Ummagumma]

Humans are not omnivores.

Wrong. Try again.
Humans are classic examples of an omnivore in every relevant anatomical trait, from teeth and jaws down to the intestinal tract.

[HopliteElite]

Wrong. Try again.
Humans are classic examples of an omnivore in every relevant anatomical trait, from teeth and jaws down to the intestinal tract.

I agree. I am still waiting on a credible source that says humans are not omnivores. As usual, I'm open to the potential that I'm wrong but I don't think I or you am wrong.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Humans are not omnivores.

What are we then? You said we weren't carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores. What else is there?

[Pontifex Maximus]

:hmmm:...Yeah, I felt like saying pondering.

Anyways, I've been thinking about how my sister is a vegetable vegetarian. Would it be possible, if humans were vegetarians for long enough, and say all her kids, grandchildren, etc were vegetarians, would it be possible to adapt so that their bodies rejected meat? I don't really know if it would be possible, but am i just thinking crazy things? Lol.

The day the human body rejects meat will be the day I leave this world forever.

[DimondLight]

The day the human body rejects meat will be the day I leave this world forever.

Heh, I agree.

[gambit]

I'd go for balance, I couldn't live without meat but I could live without vegetables...I just prefer to even out the unhealthiness of meat with some fruit and vegetables..mostly fruit. I don't understand some vegetarians, specifically the christians, because God gives us permission to hunt and eat animals in the bible, it isn't worded exactly like that but it's what he says. The ones who don't want to kill animals, that's all well and good I'm an animal lover, NOT eating them won't stop a thing unless meat is globally denounced by every human on earth (and if that happens, you could tell me Hitler and Jesus were best friends and I'd believe you) but I congratulate them for their convictions. There is one type of vegetarian I truly dislike and it is the 'rebel without a cause' form of them. There is one kid at my school who is a vegetarian and we always ask "Why? Meat is good for you and you don't care about all the animals" (he's gone hunting) and he'll just shrug and go "I don't know, I just am" He doesn't do it to eat healthy because I watch him eat and his diet appears to be made up of 3 things 1. Doritos 2. Pop and 3. Candy. Makes me want to shove meat in his mouth because I'm a bastard like that.

[Ummagumma]

There are other strange groups like detrivores (fungi etc), but due to our dental structure, length and 'pockets' of our intestine and lack of fermentation areas (Carnivores have many pockets in their digestion tract, like Cats, while cows and other herbivores have areas for fermentation to generate sugars). We are, to all intents and purposes, a textbook example of a dietary omnivore.

Of course I'm not discussing taxonomical grouping, purely anatomical function.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Well, I don't feast particularly on fungi (even mushrooms), so I think I can rule that one out.

I'm just curious as to what Ronnec thinks humans are.

[Ummagumma]

Well, I don't feast particularly on fungi (even mushrooms), so I think I can rule that one out.

I'm just curious as to what Ronnec thinks humans are.

No, Fungi are detrivores, rather than eating fungi is a detrivore. Still, never mind. Sorry if I confused you.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Ah, okay. I understand what you mean now.

I can be so clueless.

[Ruin]

if humans were vegetarians for long enough, and say all her kids, grandchildren, etc were vegetarians, would it be possible to adapt so that their bodies rejected meat?

Evolution doesn't work like that. Simply doing things repeatedly does not change your genetic code, only your outward 'settings', or phenotype. Your genes, or genotype, are unaffected.
Phenotype = Genotype + Environmental factors.
You're only changing the environmental factors by being vegetarian.

To cause adaption to vegetarianism there must be competition, in which those whoa are not adapted well to it do not reproduce (through death or sterilization).

[chriscase]

:hmmm:...Yeah, I felt like saying pondering.

Anyways, I've been thinking about how my sister is a vegetable vegetarian. Would it be possible, if humans were vegetarians for long enough, and say all her kids, grandchildren, etc were vegetarians, would it be possible to adapt so that their bodies rejected meat? I don't really know if it would be possible, but am i just thinking crazy things? Lol.

If you don't eat animal protein for a long time, your digestive system can have a difficult time with it if you start again. The explanation for this I have heard is that vegetable proteins and animal proteins require different enzymes for digestion, but I have never seen a completely satisfying discussion of exactly what is different about them. Either way, that would hardly change your genetics.

What are we then? You said we weren't carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores. What else is there?

I used to be a bibliovore before I got a computer. Now I just lick the keyboard and pine for beef.

[Kscott]

To the Op,

You aren't talking about evolution, you are talking about Lamarckian theory. Lamarck said that life changes through use and disuse. This theory is rejected by modern biology.

The only way we would evolve to reject meat is if increased our chances of living to adulthood.

[DimondLight]

I see, thanks for the responses.