Cannibalism - Would you or wouldn't you?

[Mz Chaos]

Today on the History Channel, they had a program which covered documented cases of cannibalism throughout history.

This, of course, spawned conversation and speculation here at the house.

We agreed that killing a person just to eat their flesh is just creepy and wrong, however, if a person was put into a situation where survival depended on eating the flesh of a person or person's who had already died (such as the case of the stranded soccer players in the Andes), this would be acceptable.

The way I look at it is this... after I am dead, I have no use for my body. On my drivers license, it clearly states that I am an organ donor. If I am willing to donate parts of my body so that others may live or have a better quality of life, what is the difference between that and donating meat so that others may survive?

Meat is meat and food is food regardless of what form it comes in.

So... If you were put into a situation where there was no other food... no other option... would you eat the flesh of another person to keep yourself alive?

 

[aurora5150]

hell no. cuz i've heard that "cooked human" tasts horrible. i saw another documentary a few months back and they commented that it smelled horrible and a native said that human flesh is horrible. even if it meand the difference between living and dying. i couldn't do it. cool topic though!

 

[tcklft]

Oh hell yes. If it's a choice between biting you and biting the big one, you going down, baby! 😉

I'll buy some mouthwash when I get back to civilization and have a nice life.

 

[drew70]

It's tough to say what one would or wouldn't do in such a situation. Some say that dispite what we might THINK we'd do; hunger, desperation, and survival instinct would ultimately compell us to do the unthinkable. I can only hope and pray I never have to find out.

I agree with Mz Chaos, that if I'm dead, I'm not going to care what the others do. Donner party of five, your table is ready.

 

[Capnmad]

hell no. cuz i've heard that "cooked human" tasts horrible. i saw another documentary a few months back and they commented that it smelled horrible and a native said that human flesh is horrible. even if it meand the difference between living and dying. i couldn't do it. cool topic though!

A friend of mine who raises cattle mentioned to me once that the males are castrated because the testosterone makes the meat "taste funny". In a weird discussion he and I once had on the topic years ago (on something of a lark to see just how thoroughly we could appall his wife), we surmised that because both sexes of the human species produce testosterone (though females markedly less so), over too long a time, either would come to "taste funny", but, if slaughtered for meat, younger is better, and young female would likely be best, in a pinch.

So, if taste is your chief offense, may I suggest simply being more selective in your menu choice? 😀

As for me, I don't know exactly how I would find myself in such a situation, but it would have to be dire, and I would have to have lots and lots of barbecue sauce... I wouldn't want to, but hey, if push comes to shove, my cohorts are deceased, and by forethought or circumstance, the meat has been well-preserved, well... to paraphrase Prince, that night "I'm gonna' party like it's Donner, 1847."

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Only if some really good marinara is close by. Or maybe a nice cheese sauce.


Drew

 

[minerva]

Very good question!
To be honest I really don't know. I think it's one of those extreme circumstances, where you really don't know how you'd react until you are forced to actually deal with it and I certainly hope I will never have to make that decision.

I fully agree with you though, that if my dead body could help others to stay alive, they are more than welcome to take whatever they need.

 

[Capnmad]

Now you've got me thinking... Do we qualify as red meat, or white meat? And once we know that, what's a good wine that would go with... ...us?

(Prepares self for the "fava beans and a nice chianti" answer... )

 

[minerva]

Now you've got me thinking... Do we qualify as red meat, or white meat? And once we know that, what's a good wine that would go with... ...us?

(Prepares self for the "fava beans and a nice chianti" answer... )

Red meat, no doubt - so I'd go for some dry red wine - and definitely LOTS of it 🙄

 

[SpiffyTickler]

I'm really not sure that I would, even in a life or death situation, consider cannibalism. If at all, it would only be after holding out to the brink of death from starvation that I would even begin to give it serious consideration.

Fun Fact: Human flesh is easier to digest than chicken meat.

 

[milagros317]

Today on ]
So... If you were put into a situation where there was no other food... no other option... would you eat the flesh of another person to keep yourself alive?

Yes, I would. And I have no problem with people eating my corpse to save their own lives, presuming I was already dead.

 

[JimmyBoy]

I'm not going to lie that the taste of human flesh has interested me. Not saying that I want to go out looking for a person who I think "tastes good" lol, but human flesh has interested me. In the highly unlikely scenario of a person offering me a dish of cooked human, I would definitely try it. Would I kill and eat a person to save myslef, only if i absolutely had to and if there was nothing at all around me to eat first.

 

[LindyHopper]

To be honest I really don't know. I think it's one of those extreme circumstances, where you really don't know how you'd react until you are forced to actually deal with it and I certainly hope I will never have to make that decision.

I think that's a really good point - someone who hasn't been in that situation simply can't relate. A lot of research on hunger has found that it's one of the most compelling human motivations. People who are starving think of little else but food. People have been known to kill each other over it. It's incomprehensible to anyone who wasn't there, and yet these things happen often enough that this behavior can't just be the exception.

Anyway, speaking for myself: as long as I didn't have to kill anyone, if it was a life or death thing... then yes. But if there were BBQ, marinara, or cheese sauce around, I'm thinking I'd probably eat that first. 😉

 

[ChosenofMystra]

This reminds me of the time I was invited to Jeffrey Dahmer's dinner party. Everything was going well until the main course was served; suddenly I felt awkward and out of place. I leaned over and whispered "Jeff man, I hate to be rude but I don't think much of your friends."

He looked back at me and said "That's okay Chris, try the noodles instead."

In all seriousness though, if it boiled down to a survival issue, I would consider the possibility of eating human flesh, and I would hold no qualms about others eating my corpse if it meant their survival however.

 

[Bugman]

I recall seeing a program on The History Channel i believe several years ago.It concerned a group of saliors in the mid 1800's who had to abandon their ship in the Pacific somewhere.At the point of starvation they drew lots with the loser to be killed and eaten that the rest might survive.

The young man chosen accepted his fate and was indeed consumed by the others who were later rescued and returned to their homes on the east coast of America.As best i remember they were not charged with any crime and the family of the young man forgave them.Does anyone else recall seeing this?

 

[aurora5150]

A friend of mine who raises cattle mentioned to me once that the males are castrated because the testosterone makes the meat "taste funny". In a weird discussion he and I once had on the topic years ago (on something of a lark to see just how thoroughly we could appall his wife), we surmised that because both sexes of the human species produce testosterone (though females markedly less so), over too long a time, either would come to "taste funny", but, if slaughtered for meat, younger is better, and young female would likely be best, in a pinch.

So, if taste is your chief offense, may I suggest simply being more selective in your menu choice? 😀

As for me, I don't know exactly how I would find myself in such a situation, but it would have to be dire, and I would have to have lots and lots of barbecue sauce... I wouldn't want to, but hey, if push comes to shove, my cohorts are deceased, and by forethought or circumstance, the meat has been well-preserved, well... to paraphrase Prince, that night "I'm gonna' party like it's Donner, 1847."

so if i'm stranded somewhere i should go for the youngest person? 🙂

i don't know. my parents couldn't get me to eat peas when i was a kid. someone would have a hell of a time trying to get me to eat a person. and it is very likely that i'd gag and throw up which leads to wasted human. what's a girl to do?

 

[Cosmo_ac]

truth be told, i find myself surprisingly comfortable eating human. Meat is meat after all. Hell, all over the world, humans have eaten pretty much anything and everything edible, be it cow, dog, cat, insect, vegtable,mineral and fish. I see little reason to draw the line at human, save personal preference and moral views since one would have to kill th human before eating it, usually at least.

 

[CitY of MicA]

Oh, no thank you. I ate before I came...

The answer for me is yes, although it's absolutely inconceivable to me that I would ever encounter such a situation (I'm not the mountaineering type). It's not the type of scenario that I see playing out in a New York apartment...

I'm not at all surprised that human meat is purported to be 'horrible' tasting. I've thought about the fact that the meat of most predators in the animal kingdom is very gamey. It stands to reason as they're generally lean and not meant for consumption.

And what cannibalism thread would be complete without a bit of humor, you ask? Those who find the subject 'distasteful' might not want to watch this- particularly the undertaker skit in the second half...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDgSKbapzY

 

[Bohemianne]

<img src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9082/tickleacannibalii7.jpg" border="0" alt="" />

^What my spokesdude wants...

Seriously though, I am not a meat lover (esp. pork). I will exhaust my energy looking for an edible grass or fibers first, then if there's really nothing to eat, I couldn't say...right now? I really couldn't say.

 

[MrPartickler]

As I'm chewing some meat right now, I'm finding this thread hilariously disturbing. lol

On to the topic, I suppose I would in a pinch. Although I can't imagine the mental state I'd have to be in to be driven to such. And that goes double if it's the corpse of a close friend...or worse yet, a relative.

Good question...sorta. lol

 

[jaba]

can you pass me the liver?

*munch* *munch*.......*burp!*.... 🙄

Well....SOMEBODY has to survive to tell what REALLY happened!......

 

[GirlWhoLikes2Laugh]

It's tough to say what one would or wouldn't do in such a situation. Some say that dispite what we might THINK we'd do; hunger, desperation, and survival instinct would ultimately compell us to do the unthinkable. I can only hope and pray I never have to find out.

I agree with Mz Chaos, that if I'm dead, I'm not going to care what the others do. Donner party of five, your table is ready.

I agree with what this guy said. I wouldn't want to be killed just for food but if I were dead already I'm not going to care what others do. This is a both cool and weird topic.

 

[youngrl]

I recall seeing a program on The History Channel i believe several years ago.It concerned a group of saliors in the mid 1800's who had to abandon their ship in the Pacific somewhere.At the point of starvation they drew lots with the loser to be killed and eaten that the rest might survive.

The young man chosen accepted his fate and was indeed consumed by the others who were later rescued and returned to their homes on the east coast of America.As best i remember they were not charged with any crime and the family of the young man forgave them.Does anyone else recall seeing this?

mmm...interesting if that took place in the 1800's a very conservative time period, those sailors would have been hung for that. As cannibalism is a "sin' in the bible. It would have been as shocking as beastiality.....

 

[Capnmad]

so if i'm stranded somewhere i should go for the youngest person? 🙂

By our wager, it'll be the tastiest, yep!

i don't know. my parents couldn't get me to eat peas when i was a kid. someone would have a hell of a time trying to get me to eat a person. and it is very likely that i'd gag and throw up which leads to wasted human. what's a girl to do?

Think of it like this: I know you may not like peas, but it only differs from human flesh by a syllable. Phonically, eating "people" is just like eating a "pea" with a "pull" at the end. 🙂 And if you're starving to death, I'd be pulling for you. Wouldn't you be pulling for yourself? 😀

Mind over matter, babe. 😉

 

[Mz Chaos]

I recall seeing a program on The History Channel i believe several years ago.It concerned a group of saliors in the mid 1800's who had to abandon their ship in the Pacific somewhere.At the point of starvation they drew lots with the loser to be killed and eaten that the rest might survive.

The young man chosen accepted his fate and was indeed consumed by the others who were later rescued and returned to their homes on the east coast of America.As best i remember they were not charged with any crime and the family of the young man forgave them.Does anyone else recall seeing this?

I'm thinking that maybe they hit on that one today/yesterday. There were two one hour shows back to back and they touched on a lot of different instances.

They mentioned the Donner Party, the Japanese during WW2, some Austrailian convicts, and native tribes.

There was a segment on a group of men delivering a ship that sunk before they reached their destination. There were four men in a little lifeboat who were adrift for quite sometime. They talked about "The Custom of the Sea" and how it was suggested that they draw lots but it was voted down. However, the youngest of the four, not being able to take the thirst any longer, drank some sea water and became deathly ill.
His shipmates, realizing that he was dying, hastened the process. After slitting his throat, and catching his blood in a drinking vessel, passed this cup around so that everyone had a chance to wet their whistle.
Later, after their rescue, they were brought up on charges that were eventually dropped.

Reckon this might be the same one?