We often think of childhood indoctrination as applying to religion; we notice that most people seem to take on the religious beliefs of their parents (probably even if we include atheism as a religion), and these beliefs can be difficult to undo if they are all a person has ever known. I think this phenomenon can apply to other areas, even if there is no logical reason for sticking with the belief.
One "conversion" (not religious in nature) that I've gone through is becoming vegan. The way I see it, I was brought up with the idea that animals are ours to use and exist for the purpose of serving us, and that non-humans are somehow "lower" than us and are not worthy of their interests being considered. Much like religion, this was pushed upon me before I was old enough to consider such hypotheses, or even understand what was actually on my plate, let alone the production process involved in getting it there. It was so normalised in my family and wider community, and it tasted good, so I had no reason to question it. It took several different experiences to unprogram my mind so I would be motivated to think for myself in an unbiased way about this issue. I learned about the animal exploitation industries during my veterinary science degree, attended a talk by the founder of Edgar's Mission animal sanctuary, and watched the movie Earthlings (which can be watched for free at http://www.earthlings.com).
I could probably write a book on the various levels of cruelty in the animal exploitation industries, but to sum things up succinctly: we would all agree that murdering a human for personal enjoyment is not morally justifiable, so to justify killing non-humans for our personal enjoyment, we must specifically identify species differences that confer less of a will to live, less of a survival instinct, or a reduced capacity for suffering. For the animals we exploit the most (mammals, fish, birds and crustaceans) such differences are not apparent. We can't use reduced intelligence as a reason, since this would allow us to justify murdering mentally retarded people, and besides, how do we make the logical leap from someone being less intelligent, to deserving to be exploited and killed? Even if they don't know they will be killed, it is not an adequate justification for human murder to say "but I did it humanely, and he/she didn't even know it was coming!" If I had continued to exploit animals despite the logic presented to me, it would have made no more sense than someone who continues to believe in a religion despite no scientific or logical justification.
Does anyone here think that there are logical justifications for exploiting animals for food, clothing and entertainment? And more to the point, does anyone else have examples of childhood indoctrination (of a non-religious type) which they have managed to overcome?
One "conversion" (not religious in nature) that I've gone through is becoming vegan. The way I see it, I was brought up with the idea that animals are ours to use and exist for the purpose of serving us, and that non-humans are somehow "lower" than us and are not worthy of their interests being considered. Much like religion, this was pushed upon me before I was old enough to consider such hypotheses, or even understand what was actually on my plate, let alone the production process involved in getting it there. It was so normalised in my family and wider community, and it tasted good, so I had no reason to question it. It took several different experiences to unprogram my mind so I would be motivated to think for myself in an unbiased way about this issue. I learned about the animal exploitation industries during my veterinary science degree, attended a talk by the founder of Edgar's Mission animal sanctuary, and watched the movie Earthlings (which can be watched for free at http://www.earthlings.com).
I could probably write a book on the various levels of cruelty in the animal exploitation industries, but to sum things up succinctly: we would all agree that murdering a human for personal enjoyment is not morally justifiable, so to justify killing non-humans for our personal enjoyment, we must specifically identify species differences that confer less of a will to live, less of a survival instinct, or a reduced capacity for suffering. For the animals we exploit the most (mammals, fish, birds and crustaceans) such differences are not apparent. We can't use reduced intelligence as a reason, since this would allow us to justify murdering mentally retarded people, and besides, how do we make the logical leap from someone being less intelligent, to deserving to be exploited and killed? Even if they don't know they will be killed, it is not an adequate justification for human murder to say "but I did it humanely, and he/she didn't even know it was coming!" If I had continued to exploit animals despite the logic presented to me, it would have made no more sense than someone who continues to believe in a religion despite no scientific or logical justification.
Does anyone here think that there are logical justifications for exploiting animals for food, clothing and entertainment? And more to the point, does anyone else have examples of childhood indoctrination (of a non-religious type) which they have managed to overcome?
