I
selected this article for class and for the blog because Schutt states many scientists have come to understand that
the reasons behind the act of cannibalism are similar between animals and humans.
Throughout the past decades, there has been evidence that cannibalism occurs in
hundreds, maybe even thousands, of species around the world. Schutt mentions
that cannibalism among animals is an aberrant behavior that is a result from a
lack of alternative form of nutrition and overpopulation. According to Dr.
Polis, the benefits of consuming one’s own kind can outweigh the cost, except
for the Fore people of New Guinea, when many of them died of kuru. This group
of people practiced cannibalism for ritual purposes. Apparently in ancient
China, body parts were extremely important ingredients for the exotic
human-based dishes in their culinary. Many of these dishes were prepared for
Chinese royalty and upper-class citizens. Many individuals in ancient China
would provide parts of their own bodies for the consumption and medical
benefits of the elders.
Questions:
1. How come we never talk about these exotic human-based dishes in ancient China?
2. What exactly are the medical benefits of consuming one’s own kind?
1. How come we never talk about these exotic human-based dishes in ancient China?
2. What exactly are the medical benefits of consuming one’s own kind?
I don't know why it seems so unnatural to see a creature eating another of the same species, but it makes me cringe to see the pictures (particularly the lion, even though I already knew about that practice). All meat is pretty much the same at its base, just protein, so it really makes no difference.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the medical benefits would be other than just general nutrition, if there was a lack of food. Some of the drawbacks the article mentioned, though, are a reduction in the gene pool for future generations and the passing of disease.
Animals eating other animals of the same species happens in nature all the time. Some even eat members to the families that they belong to. Studies have shown in the case of wolves and dogs in which the mother would eat the runt of the litter if food was becoming scarce. I actually did a research project in high school about Kuru. What I discovered is that it is a disease that is transmitted by consuming the brain of an individual that is infected. Kuru is almost native to the tribe that it originates from as that tribe practices cannibalism. Other than Nutrition and survival, I cannot see the medical benefits to cannibalism.
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ReplyDeleteIn most animals, cannibalism has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. A prion (basically a small protein) interacts with other proteins similar to its own shape to cause a cascade of events that results in a degenerated cell. Two well known cases of prion transmission were Kuru (as mentioned in the article) and "mad cow disease" (which killed 180,000+ cows in the 1980's). Both resulted from eating tissues from others of the same species. This is because prions have to be similar enough to proteins already found in cells. Thus, the only real danger posed from prions is by consuming others of the same species. Any nutritional benefit is more than offset by the inherent danger of this transmission.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article, I never realized how common “animal cannibalism” was. That being said, it is important to acknowledge that animals participate in cannibalism for many of the same reasons as humans-generally in cases where it is a last resort. The question of what circumstances warrant cannibalism reminded me of an article I read for a sociology class about the aftermath of a plane crash where young men ended up resorting to eating the bodies of their dead friends and family members because it was their only means of survival. It seems to me as if situations such as these are the only scenarios where cannibalism has a “medical benefit” (not dying), because it can have can have risky consequences for animals and humans alike such as reduction in gene pool and disease.
ReplyDeleteThe base argument in this article reminds me of Montaigne’s essay we read about Cannibals. Montaigne primarily argued that the reason Cannibalism is such a far-fetched concept to us is because it has become a social norm that cannibalism is absurd, when really, he said, cannibalism was primarily used as a method of revenge. He shared through his observations that cannibals live a much more civil life in harmony with nature, which, as this article points out, may be a new question to us with the rising population and deteriorating source of food to feed the billions of us on earth. Cannibalism in times of early European culture was believed to provide one nutritional benefits, but, according to Medical News Today, side effects include joint pain, shaking, muscle spasms, and headaches, just to name a few. Another observation is that China and other Asian countries consume a lot of foods America doesn’t even think about, such as snakes, scorpions, and dogs, but this isn’t something that is talked much about either, despite it being a modern cultural norm. We’ve shunned the idea of cannibalism because of the bizarre concept we see behind it, but Montaigne and this article would argue that we might have to give it a chance, eventually.
ReplyDeleteIt's likely, in my opinion, that we never talk about the ancient Chinese dishes that involved cannibalism is because of the fear we have surrounding the concept. Honestly, if this was more widely known I think it would feed stigmatism against Chinese people. In general, a large amount of Western society the views on the Asian dishes which have not been normalized among them, is already very avoidant. I am doubtful that much of us would be able to name a single ingredient involved in any ancient Chinese dish, it's most likely that our own avoidant behavior has been capable of keeping this information from reaching us. Regarding medical benefits of cannibalism, I first want to address a misconception a lot of our classmates seem to have on kuru. While I am in no way suggesting that you should go around fileting people for the fun of it, everyone is thinking that kuru is a lot more common among cannibalistic people then it is (there are still a few cultures alive that are cannibals and in no way have a deteriorating brain). People will only really extract kuru from cannibalism if they are eating certain tissue, mainly brains (that's right, there's no such thing as zombies they all just have kuru---I'm kidding, I promise). Other areas that diseases in the family of kuru contaminate include bone marrow, the spinal chord, and the small intestine. Truthfully, I cannot think of any reason that any of those areas would be eaten for ANY benefit (if you are eating the small intestine you're making gross choices in general). So, in all honesty if a culture involves cannibalism, which is often ancient tradition (like the Chinese), it is more than likely they have figured it out by now. Furthermore, a lot of scientists and historians think that a great deal of our ancient ancestors were cannibals. Some even have gone so far to suggest that cannibalism has furthered evolution (but this study has a lot of reasonable skeptivity surrounding it). Once again, please don't flambé your friends. Truthfully, I have never heard of any medical benefits, and I am not willing to be on an FBI watchlist to Google it. However, one may consider that a healthy human being would likely contain nutritional aspects that meet our needs. However, to think in a perspective of Western medical issues, I can only imagine this would be a quick way to spread blood-borne diseases. Still, I am no doctor and no chef.
ReplyDeleteI think we probably don't talk about the cannibalism of ancient Chinese culture because China is often thought of as the Rome of the East. Ancient China is widely considered to be the seat of civilization and culture in Eastern Asia much as Rome was considered to be that for the West. It makes sense that no one would want to spread the idea that Chinese culture involves something as barbaric as cannibalism because that would destroy the idea that ancient China represented the best of the best in East. As for the medical benefits of eating people, I don't know if there are any beyond calories until you can find something else. I've heard jokes that humans have all the nutrients humans need to survive, but I don't know how true that is. I imagine it's like drinking urine: it's fine at first, but it isn't sustainable.
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