That’s fair. It would be cool if there was a way to measure this empirically. I don’t really see from my own experience that it has this effect: I’m sure I’ve alienated some people by seeming extreme, but I can also point to more people than I can easily count who have become vegetarian after talking to me about it, and I think we only got talking because I was strict—because being strict is more noticeable, and perhaps more impressive. And when I explain my reasons, I’ve never had the response “that seems overly dogmatic”.
But I’m not sure that this is even the main reason not to eat meat. Related to my point (1) above, I also don’t want to eat meat (or even want to desire it) for the sake of my own psychology: because I want to view animals similarly to humans, and I think eating dead people is gross. That might seem like less of a rational reason, but I think emotions are important motivators and reinforce our rational beliefs, at least for most humans.
That’s fair. It would be cool if there was a way to measure this empirically. I don’t really see from my own experience that it has this effect: I’m sure I’ve alienated some people by seeming extreme, but I can also point to more people than I can easily count who have become vegetarian after talking to me about it, and I think we only got talking because I was strict—because being strict is more noticeable, and perhaps more impressive. And when I explain my reasons, I’ve never had the response “that seems overly dogmatic”.
But I’m not sure that this is even the main reason not to eat meat. Related to my point (1) above, I also don’t want to eat meat (or even want to desire it) for the sake of my own psychology: because I want to view animals similarly to humans, and I think eating dead people is gross. That might seem like less of a rational reason, but I think emotions are important motivators and reinforce our rational beliefs, at least for most humans.