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Comment by onionisafruit | Hacker News Reader

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the only reason meat is delicious is because we evolved to think meat is delicious.

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Animals love meat too, so it's not just a human thing. Many of them will prefer meat as well.

otoh, not many people believe vegetables are delicious. That preference should be stronger, from an evolutionary perspective, since it's less work to hunt plants.

It is less work to "hunt plants" but it also carries far more risk from a consumption standpoint due to the biological defenses that plants have evolved to defend themselves and their seeds from undesirable predators. Identifying the correct plants that are safe to eat raw vs those that are safe if prepared properly vs those that are unsafe is pretty knowledge-intensive, and it tends to be geographically limited since flora can vary dramatically based on microclimates.

> the biological defenses that plants have evolved to defend themselves and their seeds from undesirable predators

Hunting and gathering meat doesnt traditionally involve going out into a field and picking up a strip of meat wrapped up in plastic.

Of course, it requires setting up a trap before you harvest the meat fields.

The "trap" in the meat fields being a refrigerator.

Foraging for plants is actually quite difficult. You can try it, go into the woods for a weekend and try feeding only on plants. There are very few edible plants outside of fruit in tropical places. It is easier to catch small birds and rodents, for example.

I think an assortment of roast veges can be as delicious as meat. But a roast spud and a piece of pork crackling are delicious in different ways. The pleasure of eating meat if defiantly more carnal.

> Many of them will prefer meat as well.

This intuitively didn't seem correct. I'd guess that the majority of animals would be herbivorous. What'd odd is I can't find online a referenced percent breakdown of animal kingdom eating habits in terms of herb/omni/carni-vorous.

Anyone know where to find that or something similar?

Not only that. Give a baby vegetables, and they will do everything in their power to avoid eating it. They prefer meat too ;)

I'm at the age where lots of friends are having babies,and this has not been my experience. They love all sorts of vegetables - beetroot, carrot, artichoke, you name it. And at least one toddler really doesn't like meat.

Reductively can you honestly say there is anything we enjoy or dislike that isn't true for?

Anything that didn't provide an evolutionary or reproductive advantage, or liking it / disliking it is simply a side-effect; e.g. adrenaline pumps / extreme sports, puzzles, modern creative work.

You didn't say anything.

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