Sloppy Reporting on the Self Driving Car

Re:Sloppy Reporting on the Self Driving Car by chc on Friday February 17, 2012 @02:01PM (#3604529)

That does indeed seem to be the sense in which infoveganism is meant: You consume information according to a strict set of ethical standards (which you feel is superior) rather than what is most pleasant or convenient. Just like with veganism, it is mostly defined by what you choose not to consume, but it is also important to replace the "bad" things you discard with enough good things. It isn't just about "actual content being present in your media" any more than veganism is about veggies being present in your meals. It's about only taking in good content and eschewing content which (by the philosophy's standards) is bad.

When I first heard it, I didn't like it because I thought it was based on the popular conception that vegans practically starve themselves. But having read more about it, I think the concepts are indeed similar.

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Re:Sloppy Reporting on the Self Driving Car by true_religion on Friday February 17, 2012 @02:57PM (#3604742)

Vegans consume food according to what is pleasant within their ethical standards. Yes they refuse more food due to ethical boundaries, but that doesn't mean they've fundamentally changed how they consume food.

Meat-eaters for example mostly refuse to eat human meat, but choose to eat any other kind of meat that is pleasant--cannibalism excluded.

This standard is strict as well, there isn't any leniency allowed for cannibalism in the common day.

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Re:Sloppy Reporting on the Self Driving Car by chc on Friday February 17, 2012 @03:06PM (#3604785)

I think you're using a different definition of "pleasant" than I was. The idea of something being ethically pleasant is odd to me. I basically meant "tasty." Some vegans find, say, fried chicken to be quite tasty, but they refrain from eating it nonetheless. The same cannot be said of human flesh for most people.

As for the suggestion that vegans are no more dedicated to their diet than anyone who does not eat human meat, I find that frankly bizarre. Refraining from cannibalism in a society where cannibalism is illegal is extremely different from avoiding all animal products in a society where animal products are nearly ubiquitous. People who don't eat other people are essentially going with the flow. (This is not to say that they would be cannibals in a different situation, just that few are even presented with the choice, and choice is an important distinction here.)

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Re:Sloppy Reporting on the Self Driving Car by xsmasher on Friday February 17, 2012 @10:43PM (#3605879)

Most Americans eschew insects, dogs, and cats. That seems like a better analogy.

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