Taboo

http://food.oregonstate.edu/ref/culture/taboo_allen.html

Taboos are interesting things. They are social sanctions for humans to descend to an illogical animal level. Take for example the case of murder. Willfully killing humans is a taboo topic. Mention that and there is a very good chance that you'd be rejected outright for discussing it. In fact, the taboo against such killing is so strong that euthanasia is illegal in many (if not most) countries. However, people are far more willing to condone executions and wars. Clearly, killing is not really on the books as much as it is the notion of killing without what is perceived as a just cause. In other words, killing can be justified in some situations.

Extrapolate this to the taboo of cannibalism. Many would balk at the very consideration of this very taboo topic. Upon closer logical analysis, however, it seems a fairly mundane topic. Take an animal, kill it, then eat it. After all, many people do that to cows, pigs and chickens. Throw humans into the mix and logic goes clean out the window. Suddenly, the suggestion becomes massively repugnant.

Interestingly enough, the same response can be elicited from people when one suggests that they consume their dead pets. It is another gross violation of relationships, even though it now involves a non-human animal.

Now consider the realities of cannibalism. Contrary to popular perceptions of savages hunting down random people and slaying them for food, how about the ritualistic consumption of human meat as a sacrament? The flesh is regarded as sacred and treated with the utmost respect. No savagery here. Just something that may be experienced in any religious ritual.

This is where the taboo effect emerges. Most would immediately cut off their logic circuits at the very mention of the possibility that cannibalism is in some way acceptable. Those people have effectively moved down to a more visceral level of response governed purely by emotions. Clearly, they will not move on to realize that a (small?) number of cultures find absolutely nothing wrong with consuming human flesh. If anything, these cultures would be viewed as absolute outliers. Never would it be considered that human meat be the solution to world hunger. Such is unthinkable.

Unthinkable, perhaps, to an unthinking audience. While the purpose of this entry is not to highlight the possibility of using humans as meat, it does raise hackles by even suggesting that a taboo act be made mainstream and used to solve a very real worldwide problem. Taboo, anyone?