Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

In Western culture, a dichotomy exists between meatarians (meat eaters) and vegetarians. Meatarians are often portrayed as hyper-masculine, while vegetarians depict themselves as morally superior. Around the world, rates of vegetarianism vary—about 40% of India’s population, 12% of Argentina’s, 10% of the UK’s, and 5% of the US’s, with an additional 3% identifying as vegan. Most individuals eat an omnivorous diet, and meat consumption has risen drastically. Although meat-eating is part of the natural world, many argue that humans have the capacity to avoid eating other sentient lifeforms. Tyson counters vegetarianism by suggesting that locally sourced foods are more environmentally friendly than vegetarianism and by arguing that the meat industry is efficient. He identifies hypocrisy in the general acceptance of eating fish and other water animals. Humans have supported Western omnivorous diets by citing the Bible, which assigned humans “dominion” over everything on Earth.

Tyson examines whether it is okay to eat seemingly less sentient animals, like mollusks, and then notes that they are complex creatures. He draws attention to the hypocrisy that people will avoid net-caught tuna because dolphins are sometimes killed, but they do not care that the tuna is killed. Valuing some species over others based on their genetic distance from humans is speciesism.