02 November 2021

The sience of detecting the creation of ignorance - Agnotology

The vegan propaganda machine is doing this, as well. At least for me, now I can start putting this in words, after watching the following DW documantary:

Fact vs. fake - why don’t we trust science any more?

https://youtu.be/frCIYEyURV0

This leads to a a sientific approach to get to the bottom of the issue.

Agnotology
Agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of deliberate, culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data. More generally, the term also highlights the condition where more knowledge of a subject leaves one more uncertain than before.

To get the link to Veganism there is a source from Belinda Fettke:

Belinda Fettke - 'Nutrition Science: How did we get here?'

This video shows the same pattern as the DW - creating ignorance!

And another propaganda trick is geting a name for me: FUD

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (often shortened to FUD) is a propaganda tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information and a manifestation of the appeal to fear.

Unconscious and deliberate ignorance...

I believe it is already more like a complex maze of tunnels and chambers than just a rabbit hole. It is the support of believes like the philosophy of Peter Singer and the religions like Seventh Day Adventist. These two pillars of vegetarianism support each other without having the same goal in mind. Animal welfare and the believe meat is coming from the devil. Both streams of propaganda use similar propaganda tricks. Now these two pillars are the base for an additional growing pilar: the money. The propaganda and this way created ignorance is leading the path for the idea, with plant-based food is a way to make a lot of money. Now we can follow the money:

Gunhild Stordalen
She is the founder and executive chair of EAT Foundation...


Bill Gates
Business ventures and investments (partial list)
Impossible Foods, a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products.


James Cameron
Hollywood director James Cameron invests in Saskatchewan pea processing plant
The Oscar-winning Cameron appeared Monday in Vanscoy, a village southwest of Saskatoon, to say the couple have formed Verdient Foods to handle 160,000 tonnes of organic pea protein.
Now, he also one of the executive producers of the documentary film The Game Changers (2018), that promotes a plant-based diet.

Now there is the combination of "ethics", "the believe in the devil" and money.

This construction opens the door for more money. E.g. Beyond Meat (Bill Gates again) and Impossible Foods (and Bill Gates again). These meat substitutes are getting very interesting for big buisineses like Burger King,  NestlĂ©, PepsiCo  and more.

What a powerful force!

25 September 2021

The Vegan Trolley Problem - not a problem for all sentient beings

Religious Vegetarianism, like the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Utilitarian Philosophy are the two pillars of the philosophy for Veganism. Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong, good and bad, pleasure and pain etc. According to Peter Singer, sentient beings have to be included when acting.

The central argument in Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation, is an expansion of the utilitarian concept that "the greatest good of the greatest number" is the only measure of good or ethical behaviour. Singer believes that there is no reason not to apply this principle to other animals, arguing that the boundary between human and "animal" is completely arbitrary.

There is a lot of criticism about Utilitarianism. It is e.g. impossible to precisely predict the consequences and they are inherently unknowable. Another idea of this normative Philosophy is the duty of the decision maker (Agent) to put his own interest on side. The well-being of strangers counts just as much as that of friends, family or self. And this idea is contrary to other Philosophies. E.g. Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to act in their own self-interest. 

A thought experiment - the Trolley Problem

The trolley problem is a thought experiment as an ethical dilemma of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number of persons. 

In the following I will add another version to this thought experiment, by taking Peter Singer's words and take his idea to extent this thought experiment with sentient beings.