CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

 

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) is a learning process in which an innate response to a potent stimulus comes to be elicited in response to a previously neutral stimulus; this is achieved by repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus with the potent stimulus. (definition from Wikipedia)

 

In 1901 Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate at the sound of a metronome. This is called classical conditioning or respondent conditioning.  We as consumers have been conditioned by corporations our whole lives. We believe their advertising to be true, even when it isn’t. We believe the government would remove ads that aren’t true to protect us. 

Can we reverse conditioning? Yes, we can. If we repeatedly sounded the metronome and did not feed the dogs, gradually they would stop salivating at the sound. Likewise, as consumers, if we are aware of what advertisers are doing and seek out the truth, we can reverse our conditioning.

Advertisers like to use an advertising technique sometimes called “the warm fuzzies”, especially at the holidays. This technique is used to target your heart, and make you buy a product because it reminds you of your mother, or your dog, or your childhood, etc., Once you are aware of this, the “warm fuzzy” commercials actually start to seem nauseating.

Likewise, with the meat, dairy, and egg industry. Once you see the truth behind them, once you see what they don’t want you to see, once you learn what they don’t want you to know, it’s easy to overcome their conditioning.

Take the dairy industry as an example.

In 1974 the dairy industry promoted milk as being healthy and needed to build strong bones. The FTC told them to stop as the ads were false, but they still imply that today, even though almost 80% of the population has milk allergies or are lactose intolerant. Studies have shown people who consume dairy are at a higher risk for bone fractures. Yet they continue to imply that milk is needed by the human body to build strong bones. They try to show people that dairy cows are happy cows. They even try to fool people into thinking that a cow will give milk without having calves.

Dairy cows are one of the most abused animals in the industry. The dairy industry will show you cows in a field eating grass on a small family farm, but that is far from the truth. Most of our dairy comes from huge factory farms. The industry will call a factory farm a “family farm” if most of the stock is owned by a family.  Organic milk isn’t any nicer to cows.

The industry would like you to believe dairy cows live a stress free life. Nothing is further from the truth.

Dairy cows are repeatedly raped because the only way they can give milk is to have calves.  The industry will call this “artificial insemination”, but they have to use equipment to hold the cow still. This equipment is referred to as a “rape rack.”

Shortly after giving birth, the calf will be taken from its mother. After all, the milk is for consumers not for calves. There isn’t any profit in giving milk to calves. These calves are either killed for their skins, used in rodeos, used to make cheese (cheese is made with rennet, which is a calf stomach) or used for veal. Veal calves are chained in small crates so they can hardly move. They are fed a very unhealthy diet. This makes their flesh pale in color and brings a higher price for the corporation. They are killed in just 6 short months.

Cows naturally live for up to 20 years, but in the dairy they average 5-7 years. That’s 5-7 years of repeatedly being raped, having their babies stolen and killed, being fed massive amounts of hormones and chemicals, and having the life milked out of them.

Once you learn the truth about dairy, you will never look at a glass of milk, or a piece of cheese the same. You will be repulsed by the very presence of dairy. Dairy ads will make you angry as you become aware of how they are trying to fool the public.

I encourage you to research your food. You only have one body for your life. Know what you put into your body, where it comes from, how it’s made, and what it contains. I encourage you to be AWARE. Make educated choices for how you spend your money.

Once you learn the truth about dairy, meat and egg industries you will become outraged at how they are trying to brainwash us. Once you see how they are not only destroying people’s health and torturing animals, but also causing planet destruction and world starvation, you will become more outraged.  Once you see how they are keeping these secrets from the public you will become outraged enough to stop buying their products. Then and only then will you know that your choices are your own and not the product of conditioning. Then and only then will you know true freedom. Veganism isn’t extreme, it’s informed and being aware.

WE WERE MEANT TO EAT MEAT

WE WERE MEANT TO EAT MEAT

After years of advocating veganism, one of the arguments that I hear the most is “We were meant to eat meat.”

Looking closely at our bodies and how we function, we can see we were meant to be herbivores, not carnivores.

First, look at our teeth. We have mostly flat teeth meant for grinding, not ripping skin and flesh. Our teeth are small and soft. We have only two pointed teeth and those are incisors, meant for plant food. When you look at a true carnivore’s teeth, like a wolf or a lion, they have all pointed teeth.  Their teeth are meant to rip through skin and raw flesh. Humans are unable to do that. We have to skin flesh first and cook it. Despite what you see on TV, we do not have the teeth that can rip through skin. Our jaws move side to side, while true carnivore jaws clamp down. We are unable to easily tear through fur and skin. We need to cut pieces of flesh off with tools like knives. If humans could only eat animal flesh with our teeth and no instruments, we would all be vegan.

True carnivores have claws that can tear through skin with one stroke. Our nails are soft and without using tools we cannot rip through flesh or fur.

Our stomachs do not have strong acids to dissolve flesh like true carnivores. The acid in our stomachs is weak, meant to dissolve plants. Carnivores have shorter intestines, while ours are longer. We need high fiber diets to keep our intestines functioning properly.  High cholesterol isn’t a problem true carnivores have. Yet, humans suffer from high cholesterol by consuming meat and dairy products. High cholesterol isn’t a problem on a plant based diet either.

If we were meant to eat animal flesh, we would not be getting so many diseases from it. Cancer, obesity, diabetes, are not part of nature. If we were eating the diet nature intended for us, these diseases would hardly exist. They are an epidemic in our society today and studies trace them back to flesh eating. Animal flesh and dairy products have a high acid content. This high acid eats away at our bones. Studies have shown countries with low meat and dairy consumption have lower rates of osteoporosis.

We were born to be peaceful, non-violent creatures. It is very hard for humans to handle violence. Many vets returning from war, come home with PTSD. We don’t like conflict, and the meat, dairy, egg industry takes advantage of that. By pushing their products on us, society has accepted it as the norm. People just follow others, because to be different creates conflict.

Our decision to eat animal flesh was inherited from our parents. We did not make the choice, but we can change. Any vegan will tell you, the only regret they have is that they didn’t start sooner. Going vegan and leaving the violence behind, lifts a great weight off your shoulders.