I was vegetarian for twelve years for ethical reasons: both to avoid killing sentient beings, and because I was concerned about the environmental externalities associated with meat production. My utility function definitely always valued the taste of meat very strongly.
Maybe I incorrectly extrapolated too much from myself in my model of other vegetarians, but I always assumed that most of them had similar reasons. I think it is likely that a lot of them lie to themselves about not liking meat, in order to make it easier to live within their ethical constraints. There is a widespread belief among vegetarians that, after several years of not eating meat, your body adapts such that eating meat may make you physically ill. I don’t know whether this is true, it certainly never happened to me, and I suspect it may be a meme that is retained because it helps keep people in the fold.
I think it is likely that a lot of them lie to themselves about not liking meat
It’s pretty clear there is variation :-) I know some non-vegetarians who don’t like meat. Their ethics are perfectly fine with eating meat and they actually do eat it once every couple of weeks or so, but, again, it does not seem that the taste of meat is ’in their utility function”.
I was vegetarian for twelve years for ethical reasons: both to avoid killing sentient beings, and because I was concerned about the environmental externalities associated with meat production. My utility function definitely always valued the taste of meat very strongly.
Maybe I incorrectly extrapolated too much from myself in my model of other vegetarians, but I always assumed that most of them had similar reasons. I think it is likely that a lot of them lie to themselves about not liking meat, in order to make it easier to live within their ethical constraints. There is a widespread belief among vegetarians that, after several years of not eating meat, your body adapts such that eating meat may make you physically ill. I don’t know whether this is true, it certainly never happened to me, and I suspect it may be a meme that is retained because it helps keep people in the fold.
It’s pretty clear there is variation :-) I know some non-vegetarians who don’t like meat. Their ethics are perfectly fine with eating meat and they actually do eat it once every couple of weeks or so, but, again, it does not seem that the taste of meat is ’in their utility function”.