Why do some people say that since we evolved to use weapons to kill animals, we are natural meat eaters?

...I am so tired of Daisy's B12 argument. Everyone knows vegans don't get B12 from natural foods, which is why we eat fortified foods. And B12 is naturally found among bacteria in the soil. The reason why we can't find B12 naturally in our foods today is because we've become obsessed with being clean and wash it off our vegetables. Even if you grow your own vegetables, the soil is deficient in B12 due to modern day farming. Posting "vegans don't get B12, vegans don't get B12!" on every question isn't really doing anything...

Anyway, it's just another argument people have come up with to defend their case. It's equivalent to saying "Oh. Well humans are smart enough to create cigarettes, so we obviously should be smoking them".

Defensive meat eaters like to play the "natural" card, in the belief that because vegos eat plants then it must be because we crave a natural existence and that we've misunderstood what constitutes "natural". As omnivores, our bodies are physically able to extract nutrients from animal foods but that doesn't mean that we have to. As evolved beings, we are able to make choices. The modern western diet that includes daily (often at all three main meals) intake of meat is not natural and has caused humans to farm animals at an unsustainable level, which involves causing gross suffering to the animals - by far the main motivation for people choosing not to eat them.

1. No, there is no valid argument that humans are not "meant to" eat meat.

2. Your goggle/amphibian analogy makes no sense.

3. Having canines proves that we are meat eaters no more than our intestine length proves we are herbivores. We are omnivores, and we can healthily digest a wide range of foods. Our canines do work to tear apart meat, and trying to argue against that is just silly.

4. We do not need tools to capture or kill other animals. We can kill a large variety of animals without tools. However, tools make things a lot easier. Rather than stomping a mouse to death, we can set traps. Or instead of chasing a turkey and breaking it's neck, we can imitate it's calls to lure it in and shoot it. Rather than grabbing salmon from a stream, we can make nets and fishing poles to catch them. We are not the only animals that use tools, and other animals capable of using them will do so to obtain food.

that's not the reason why they say humans are natural omnivores. we have evolved inscisors. which means that we have the ability to chew our food and not digest it in a matter in which herbivores do.

We as a species have been eating meat for the past 600K years. it has nutritional values. but non that are soley found in meat. My point is that eating meat isn't necessarily unhealthy or healthy. it's just a personal choice.

I agree with what you are saying that the reasoning they're using is definitely flawed. I dont fully agree with your analogy, but it's close. Instead of amphibians, i would say swimmers. Whether or not we are natural swimmers has nothing to do with our use of scuba gear. Similarly, whether or not we are natural meat eaters also has nothing to do with the fact that we use tools to kill our food. Think of it this way: what came first, our desire to eat meat or the spear used to kill the animal? Surely the desire came first, then the development of tools to make the meat easier to obtain followed.

I also think that is a ridiculous argument... just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we should. The weapon argument could also dictate that because weapons we are meant to kill each other. I would say that if humans are so smart, we would devise ways to test product safely without torturing hundreds of millions of animals used in labs. In my opinion, we are a selfish bunch who will use our power over whatever species we are able to control and use them to our benefit (usually monetary benefit) ignoring their needs and their (in my opinion) innate right to live life in a natural way without being subject to our control. Yup, I'm a tree hugger lol

We evolved because we were able to survive. We survived (partly) because we utilized whatever food sources that were available to sustain our people, including meat.

Our bodies need nutrients, minerals, proteins, fats, sugars, etc etc... we NEED a little bit of everything.

Seems we're natural omnivores.

As for the weapons. I don't think we are natural meat eaters because we made tools/weapons. I think we're natural meat eaters because; we don't get violently ill when we consume it, and we have teeth in our mouth, specifically for tearing flesh.

I think the weapons for hunting probably came out of necessity.

Who knows, maybe our ppl saw animals eating other animals and mimicked...But because it was fruitless for caveman to jump a Wolly Mammoth and bite his leg off, he decided to sharpen a stick.

What I don't understand is why anyone, for, or against eating meat, would try to tell the other what they personally should choose to consume. You wanna eat greens, eat green. Wanna eat meat, eat meat. Get what you need. Just don't be wasteful.

Using weapons has nothing to do with the FACT that humans are omnivores and we NEEDED to eat some kind of animal foods since the beginning of time.

There are no legit arguments that humans are natural herbivores. None. Science tells us that as far back in our evolution as they've been able to research, humans ate other animals.....and sometimes other animals ate humans. Humans need vitamin B12. That's a scientific fact that virtually every vegan group admits, The Vegan Society, VRG, VeganHealth, theveganRD, all say vegans must supplement their diet for B12. Why? Because it's not available in any plant. Never has been. If your great grandmother had not eaten meat, you would not be alive today because there were no vitamin B12 supplements 80 years ago. Maybe you can be a healthy vegetarian, but you're going against your biologic nature. That's probably why 3 out of 4 vegetarians get sick and go back to eating meat.

From VRG: "There are a number of popular myths about vegetarianism that have no scientific basis in fact. One of these myths is that man is naturally a vegetarian because our bodies resemble plant eaters, not carnivores. In fact we are omnivores, capable of either eating meat or plant foods. The following addresses the unscientific theory of man being only a plant eater." http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/omni.htm#intro

Many researchers say humans evolved because we DID eat meat. Meat is nutrient and calorie dense....much more than any vegetable/fruit. Your brain uses the most calories of any organ in your body. As we ate more meat, our brain was able to grow and develop to the point that we are the dominant species on earth. As our brains grew, we were able to develop our hunting skills, create weapons, societies, literature, music, etc.

Chimps are a very close ancestor to us. They eat some meat, but not much. Is that why they didn't evolve as humans did?

As for not being able to catch our own food, of course we can. Some African tribes do run down their prey. I could certainly build a trap to catch game if I wanted. You don't grow your own veggies and grains.....why should I hunt my own meat? Typical veg*n double standard.

Same reason people say since we don't have claws and huge jaws we shouldn't eat meat. Many Herbivorous mammals have large jaws, claws, and fangs yet eat only vegetation. Would you tell a Panda that it SHOULD eat meat because of its characteristics?? Also humans do not have gills or fins but we still swim. Should that be argued as "unnatural"? Bottom line is, we are as unique of a species as any other species on the Earth and we do things according to how our species evolved. Humans are Omnivores and have been for millions of years and that just isn't going to change.

Honey, we didn't "evolve to develope weapons" the reasons we are natural near eaters is we evolved with teeth to cut through meat, and digestive enzymes to break down animal proteins.

So silly.