Why Eating Human Beings is Not a Good Idea

The teaching of all major religions and cultures forbid the consumption of human being. Usually the reasons for not doing so are tied to some concept of ethics and related to an assumption than human being have a special place that supposed to be higher than other animals. Such assumptions however – while have its own merits – can not be considered as scientific.

Today most accepted scientific theories, Darwinian theory of evolution, assert that human being is merely another product of billion years of evolution. As the theory assert, human is not really considered special in the big scheme of things. Human is just another evolved animal species. Therefore other kind of reasoning for why major cultures forbid the practice of eating human being is required to explain this phenomena.

It is interesting to note that while Darwinian theory of evolution is widely believed to displace human from the proverbial high place, the theory itself actually capable of confirming some aspects of major religious teachings. For example, the Darwinian theory of evolution consider that the practice of eating human being as something that doesn’t fit with other treat of human being.

Human Beings Are Not a Good Source of Food

When foraging or hunting for food, a creature have to make a risk-benefit calculation. The benefit gained successful hunting, should not exceed the expected probability of losing one life. In case of hunting animals for food, the probability of losing one life lies in mistakes that result in failure of hunting attempt. In case of hunting fellow human being, the probability of losing one life is amplified by the obvious future attempt of victim kins to take revenge even if the hunt was a success.

Human Beings Are Intelligent

Before taking the probability of kin revenge, one should also account on the difficulty of hunting a human being. Human being are more intelligent than other available preys. The more intelligent your preys are, the harder it is for the hunter to plan and make a trap to hunt the prey. Once a rabbit enter a simple bamboo trap, there is nothing it can do. Chimps on the other hand are more cunning. The also have prehensile limbs they could use to unlock the simple traps.

Human being are more intelligent than that. Experienced human beings are capable of detecting traps intended to catch them. In case they understood that the traps were intended to catch them, they are going to hide and wait until the hunter show themselves. Then the ambush begin. Even if a cannibal manage to catch an inexperienced human being for their BBQ, the victim kins may come and take revenge.