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Ape-Human DNA Split
M. Boss writes "CNN is running a story about a gene split between humans and the apes. This is the second major DNA article regarding human evolution published in the last month (the first being about the FOXP2 gene, possibly responsible for human speech and comprehension). This second story is about a gene missing in humans that is responsible for production of a sugar acid, and possibly human brain expansion."
> Cannibalism is wrong because same-species flesh
> carries bacteria, viruses, prions, concentrated
> toxins, and all sorts of nasty stuff that is bad
> for us.
Oh, piffle. All it takes is a little care and preparation of the meat. Also, eating healthful specimens is better than munching away on Johnny CouchPotato.
> Why is it we eat lots of herbivores (chickens,
> pigs, cows, etc), but we don't eat carnivores
> (dogs, cats, tigers, lions)? Is it because it
Who's "we"? There are several asian cultures where dog meat is considered a delicacy. Anyway, that said, hunter-gatherer humans would eat the meat from any animal preyed on. The main reason our diet currently consists of herbivore flesh is that herbivores are easier to domesticate and raise in an agricultural environment. And, historically, most herbivores would be much less dangerous for humans to hunt and kill.
If it were about avoiding toxins, nobody would be smoking, drinking, overdosing, etc. We, as a species, are smart, but not that smart.
> Why don't Jews eat pork? Is it because God said > so, or is it because God (and his numerous
> assistants down here) noticed that before
> refrigerators you got Trichinosis from eating
> pork?
Ask some Jews and you'll get one answer, ask science-oriented non-Jews and you'll get a different answer.
> Is it because you will go to hell if you have
> sex, or perhaps it is because people recognized
> that lots of promiscuous sex was correlated to
> diseases?
It's because there are vast numbers of people out there who really subscribe to the idea that if it feels good it must be wrong. If sex were really considered okay today, we'd never have BS "storks bring babies" stories taught to youngsters. Unfortunately, the world is full of people for whom even nudity is something of which to be ashamed.
Really, man, you give too much credit. You state that many seeminly senseless taboos have a basis in fact, but I would say that many of them have a basis in nothing more than psychological control. And the church still uses those tactics today. How...modern of them.