Wrong View
Another post because of something bothered me quite greatly today. Just a short update before going into what I wanted to write, work has been rather stressful the last few days (partly because I promised to finish something too early), and I am currently addicted to Fallout 3. It's a game from Bethesda, with open-world gameplay similar to Skyrim (more like the other way round because Fallout 3 came first but whatever..) but set in a post-apocalyptic world. This kind of game addiction has always been affecting my sleeping pattern so I hope this one will go away soon :/.
So today a friend of mine just tipped me about the thing I have been aspiring to do: doing something for the government of my home country. As it turns out, some people have started an initiative to do so at code4nation.org. Basically it is a platform for developers to discuss about (open source? not sure yet) projects that can be used to help Indonesian government. The help can be in any aspect, may it be transparency, efficiency, or simply convenience. I have not looked into it that much yet, but I notice that the community is still in its infancy stage, as there is no proper FAQ and About page yet. Also, apparently, the pioneer members have only met up twice! I am so glad that this friend of mine tipped me about this page; hopefully, when I have more time, I can participate in the projects/discussion there.
However, the main point of the blog is not that news. This same friend of mine, just told me that he plans to stop being a vegetarian because some article on the internet (and possibly some not-so-well-peer-reviewed papers being referenced in the article) claimed that plants are sentient too!
Okay before anyone starts yelling at me that it is true that "plants ARE sentient" or "since when you care whether someone is a vegetarian or not?", I will try to explain. Actually, not many readers (if any) here anyway so why do I bother? Well, at least I can refer to this again in the future and.. maybe could be useful.
So for the "Why do I care" question, I care because - even though I am not a vegetarian myself, I know that being a vegetarian is a step forward to achieve enlightenment (in Buddhism perspective, at least). So I was so impressed that this religion-less friend of mine (I don't call him atheist because I don't know if he believes in God or not) decided to be a vegetarian since last semester because he felt that killing animals is wrong and he wanted to do his part to reduce it by being a vegetarian. I should have felt ashamed of myself! (I was not lol, but I was happy that he gained that realization by himself and not by being taught like us Buddhists who know but still not becoming a vegetarian anyway!) Since then, I attempt to reduce my meat consumption, and attempt to be vegetarian at least twice a month (though it never really worked, as I was too lazy to keep track. Need to bulk up!).
Then one day, another friend of mine sent him (my vegetarian friend) that link to the article that claimed about sentience of plant. Then when I met him tonight for dinner, he told me that he wanted to stop being a vegetarian starting next year! Anyway, his point was that, because he was becoming a vegetarian to reduce killing of sentient beings (that sentient beings being animals) but since now he was told that plant is sentient too, then it is better to either avoid both by just eating fruit (apparently fruitarianism is a thing too nowadays, goodness) or just go back to eat meat, because by him being a vegetarian will not make a difference in reducing the number of killings. (Like, the decrease in the numbers from animals is transferred to the plants, so to speak). I was so hysterical by this turn of events, I think I almost made a scene at that coffee shop. I cried (rather loudly, perhaps) that it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my entire life (it probably was)! I mean, I don't know, stupid people are everywhere especially on the internet, believing about illuminati, 9/11 conspiracy theory, faking moon landing and whatnot, but I did not really expect that the stupidity would reach so close to me, in fact, just a few inches away! I mean, I don't know... I feel that stopping being a vegetarian because plants are sentient too ACCORDING TO SOME ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET is really overdoing it (it being stupidity).
Well, this vegetarian friend of mine is indeed rather naive, as I have witnessed in quite a few occasions. Perhaps him turning into a vegetarian was also a spur of stupidity that actually do him more good than bad, but this one.... Ah, now that I am writing this I was not sure why I was so hysterical at that moment. It was his personal choice after all, and for all I know he became a vegetarian because of some article from the internet too. Maybe it was the stress from work or whatever.
Anyway it is getting late now, and I wanted to attend the Sunday service tomorrow because the speaker, a direct disciple of Ajahn Chah, will be talking about his teacher. Not gonna miss it! So maybe I will edit this post to make it more complete. (unlikely, said many times but never did. Maybe show some demands and I may consider it? ;D )
All the best in your life's endeavours!
So today a friend of mine just tipped me about the thing I have been aspiring to do: doing something for the government of my home country. As it turns out, some people have started an initiative to do so at code4nation.org. Basically it is a platform for developers to discuss about (open source? not sure yet) projects that can be used to help Indonesian government. The help can be in any aspect, may it be transparency, efficiency, or simply convenience. I have not looked into it that much yet, but I notice that the community is still in its infancy stage, as there is no proper FAQ and About page yet. Also, apparently, the pioneer members have only met up twice! I am so glad that this friend of mine tipped me about this page; hopefully, when I have more time, I can participate in the projects/discussion there.
However, the main point of the blog is not that news. This same friend of mine, just told me that he plans to stop being a vegetarian because some article on the internet (and possibly some not-so-well-peer-reviewed papers being referenced in the article) claimed that plants are sentient too!
Okay before anyone starts yelling at me that it is true that "plants ARE sentient" or "since when you care whether someone is a vegetarian or not?", I will try to explain. Actually, not many readers (if any) here anyway so why do I bother? Well, at least I can refer to this again in the future and.. maybe could be useful.
So for the "Why do I care" question, I care because - even though I am not a vegetarian myself, I know that being a vegetarian is a step forward to achieve enlightenment (in Buddhism perspective, at least). So I was so impressed that this religion-less friend of mine (I don't call him atheist because I don't know if he believes in God or not) decided to be a vegetarian since last semester because he felt that killing animals is wrong and he wanted to do his part to reduce it by being a vegetarian. I should have felt ashamed of myself! (I was not lol, but I was happy that he gained that realization by himself and not by being taught like us Buddhists who know but still not becoming a vegetarian anyway!) Since then, I attempt to reduce my meat consumption, and attempt to be vegetarian at least twice a month (though it never really worked, as I was too lazy to keep track. Need to bulk up!).
Then one day, another friend of mine sent him (my vegetarian friend) that link to the article that claimed about sentience of plant. Then when I met him tonight for dinner, he told me that he wanted to stop being a vegetarian starting next year! Anyway, his point was that, because he was becoming a vegetarian to reduce killing of sentient beings (that sentient beings being animals) but since now he was told that plant is sentient too, then it is better to either avoid both by just eating fruit (apparently fruitarianism is a thing too nowadays, goodness) or just go back to eat meat, because by him being a vegetarian will not make a difference in reducing the number of killings. (Like, the decrease in the numbers from animals is transferred to the plants, so to speak). I was so hysterical by this turn of events, I think I almost made a scene at that coffee shop. I cried (rather loudly, perhaps) that it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my entire life (it probably was)! I mean, I don't know, stupid people are everywhere especially on the internet, believing about illuminati, 9/11 conspiracy theory, faking moon landing and whatnot, but I did not really expect that the stupidity would reach so close to me, in fact, just a few inches away! I mean, I don't know... I feel that stopping being a vegetarian because plants are sentient too ACCORDING TO SOME ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET is really overdoing it (it being stupidity).
Well, this vegetarian friend of mine is indeed rather naive, as I have witnessed in quite a few occasions. Perhaps him turning into a vegetarian was also a spur of stupidity that actually do him more good than bad, but this one.... Ah, now that I am writing this I was not sure why I was so hysterical at that moment. It was his personal choice after all, and for all I know he became a vegetarian because of some article from the internet too. Maybe it was the stress from work or whatever.
Anyway it is getting late now, and I wanted to attend the Sunday service tomorrow because the speaker, a direct disciple of Ajahn Chah, will be talking about his teacher. Not gonna miss it! So maybe I will edit this post to make it more complete. (unlikely, said many times but never did. Maybe show some demands and I may consider it? ;D )
All the best in your life's endeavours!
Comments
Post a Comment