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Debate Info

12
14
Yes No
Debate Score:26
Arguments:17
Total Votes:26
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 Yes (9)
 
 No (8)

Debate Creator

PassionFruit(307) pic



Cannibalism is a superior alternative to burial and cremation

Cannibalism of a non-diseased human...

Honestly, I don't if I would be able to eat a human. Therfore, forget about eating a human and think about whether it is better to eat a human than bury or burn them. Think of the environnmental, spiritual, practical aspects.

Yes

Side Score: 12
VS.

No

Side Score: 14
1 point

Well, as I put it in a debate recently:

I would hope for my body to be reused appropriately. Buried or burned just seems... wasteful.

The dead are a valuable resource, and to just dispose of bodies (be it in sacrements or just routine elimination) is waste, to me.

Bodies should be harvested for every source they have. Be it for food, medicine, transplants, research, etc.

Of course, this then brings the question: can we correct this issue with government interference? Surely it would be an injustice if government forced loved ones to give up their deceased family members, but is it more of an injustice to allow people to waste such a valuabel resource?

In the end, it comes down to how much you trust government in that issue.

Superior? Well, it's more practical.

Side: yes
hhioh(454) Disputed
3 points

How is being buried wasteful? It allows the human body to be absorbed into the Earth and provided nutrients for the soils.

Side: No
ThePyg(6738) Disputed
3 points

Considering that the body is embalmed and put into a coffin, not really.

If we just put people in the ground, it would take quite a few hundred years for them to make any difference to the Earth.

Instead... we could use them for now.

Side: yes
1 point

What we currently do to our deceased is wasteful, and it takes up useless time and money and resources. How much does it cost for a burial or cremation? And for what? Just so the body is in the ground wasting space, or just completely gone and wasted.

Cannibalism, though distasteful for many, is a good way to not waste our dead.

Side: yes
hhioh(454) Disputed
2 points

And you are saying eating them wouldn't waste time? Think about the whole process involved: finding the dead person, verifying their body, autopsy etc. etc. and then you have to chop up the body, preserve it, package it... seems like a lot longer than sticking them in the ground.

Side: No
Saurbaby(5581) Disputed
1 point

Yeah, it may be. But then what? The body is in the ground and that's it. If we take the time to do other more useful things then I see it as a good thing.

Side: yes
Calcifer(140) Disputed
2 points

What about for those who have died at an old age? Are you saying that it would actually be useful to eat someone who is 98 years old, skinny, and wrinkly? The idea is just inhumane, and we have to realise that we aren't the only creatures on the planet. When we bury or cremate the bodies, they go to other organisms, such as bacteria decomposing the body over years and years, and when we cremate them, the ash is used in soil to fertilise it. That's not wasteful, because there is no way we could live without other organisms.

Also, I would just like to say that it is distasteful for not just many, but most. The idea that I would be consumed by others because my body in death is a "waste" is horrible. Also, what would happen to the bones if you ate someone? Surely those would have to buried, as I can't really think of any other use for them, so then burial would most likely take place anyway, raising the costs of it overall!

Side: No
Saurbaby(5581) Disputed
1 point

Other creatures get their nutrients from other dead creatures that die naturally. And still get eaten by something else before being left to give nutrients to the earth and such.

It may be distasteful to you but really it doesn't have to be. Bones can still be used for other things.

Side: yes
1 point

AHA! This was a debate I've done once before! and yes I'd absolutely eat people. A human is a huge recourse of energy. Eating humans could solve world hunger for Cthulhu's sake!

Side: yes

Haha you actually have a point! As disturbing as it is to think about it, you could end world hunger!

Side: yes
2 points

No, no, no, no, no.

For one, it is simply impractical. In order to make this viable we would have to scrap any hopes of an autopsy and finding out who the person is (thus bringing police forensics to its knees). We would also have to set up industries devoted to packaging the bodies, cutting them up - not very dignified and do we really want to be remember for that? And more importantly than all it will create a sense that cannibalism is OK and that the Government encourages it - where would the line be drawn? Could somebody kill another to eat? The whole process of putting this into effect and ACTUALLY doing it is too messy and would simply be inviable.

It should also be noted that burying bodies in eco-friendly coffins is good for the environment.

Supporting Evidence: Cannibalism isn't even good for you (scienceline.org)
Side: No
2 points

Should also be noted that this could potentially cause huge frictions between society as the meat would have to taken on board by businesses and sold but HOW would they price it? Would some type of meat be worth more than others? Not only is this degrading to a human (treating them like an animal) but it could also lead to racial problems - one race could be 'worth' more than others. It should also be noted that once commercialized, businesses could become shady and 'increase' the 'supply' through obvious methods - what is to stop them? We would just be turning humans into products.

Side: No
1 point

It seems pragmatic on the surface but even disregarding all cultural taboos, I don't think it would be healthy or feasible.

We mostly eat animals that were raised in a controlled environment and slaughtered at the peak of their health, hopefully in sanitary facilities. This is not how people die: they die slowly in hospitals, because of disease. Or they die 'in the wild,' in messy situations and unsanitary conditions. So cannibalizing corpses would require one or both of the following: eating meat that comes from a diseased creature or forming teams that go to scenes of deaths and salvage edible bodies. Considering that autopsies may need to be done, crime scenes may need to be examined and most bodies are probably not discovered within a time range conducive to consumption, these efforts would not yield much.

Especially in places like America, where there is more than enough food to go around if properly managed, it's not prudent.

Side: No
ThePyg(6738) Disputed
1 point

Proper cooking of bodies is not improbable.

Sure, could we eat every person who dies? most likely not. But it's not like disease is something that's hard to get rid of, not to mention the different organs and fleshy parts that are untouched by disease.

Really, we should leave it up to the people, but if humanitarian efforts wanted to harvest the dead to feed starving countries, I wouldn't just say "well... it's not healthy". Human beings have all the necessary nutrients. If an organization wanted to cleanse and serve the body, I would find it a better use than burial and cremation.

Side: yes
zombee(1026) Disputed
1 point

Yes, it's better than starving, but almost anything is. Eating something that died from illness and was kept in a building full of other sick things is still just riskier than it's worth unless there's nothing else to eat. Hospitals infect a significant chunk of their patients, and this is in America; imagine how much worse it might be in poorer places. Plenty of infections may go undetected if the deceased was admitted for something else. There's a reason cannibalism is relatively rare in humans and the rest of the animal kingdom, and even more rare when it's not a matter of life and death. Part of that is because cannibalism a great vector for species-specific pathogens, like the Prion diseases in humans. Cannibalism spread mad cow in cows and the kuru epidemic that almost destroyed the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea.

So I wouldn't deny a starving person a meal, but I think it's generally safer to dispose of bodies in other ways.

Side: No