Why do we not eat dead humans?

[her209]

I was thinking something along the same lines not too long ago. But my line of thinking is, why is it bad to eat people? I mean, we eat ourselves, ie., swallow dead/loose human cells daily.

 

[infoiltrator]

Basically too many dead peoplecan harbor diseases.

Second, with meat prices what they are, someone would start stocking up early.

Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" covers the matter very well.

I suppose to some extent the Donner party comes to mind.

 

[lxskllr]

Why don't cannibals eat politicians?

Spoiler

They taste like shit.

ftfy

 

[SSSnail]

Because there aren't enough Chianti and fava beans to go around.

 

[jman19]

What a delightful thread topic.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Because you touch yourself at night.

Clearly this what ever can ejaculate but can't get it up.

 

[PaxMaulus]

Because its against human nature (now that i think about it, its against all mammals nature)! Look up a modest proposal by jonathan swift.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I wonder if we taste like chicken.

 

[Miramonti]

If it becomes necessary in order to survive, people absolutely will (and have many times in the past.)

 

[crashtestdummy]

Two reasons come to mind. One is that a species that eats their own in large numbers isn't likely to compete well against other species. (There are some exceptions in nature such as males that eat the young of other males, but these are fairly rare and not about sustenance.)

Perhaps just as important is the issue of disease. Most infections don't cross over well from one species to another. For example, eating cow meat infected with cowpox is a lot less dangerous than eating human meat infected with smallpox. Live vaccines generally take advantage of this fact.

 

[Lummex]

My university's dining center is named after a notorious cannibal, Alfred Packer. I'm pretty sure they serve human flesh in all of their dishes.

 

[Lifted]

Because live humans are fresher?

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Because med students need them to dissect instead of live people.

 

[Jeff7]

Because med students need them to dissect instead of live people.

Couldn't they learn dissection and anatomy at the same time they're learning how to properly slice off some tasty cuts of meat?


The expression "You're a doctor and a butcher!" would actually be fairly accurate.

Because its against human nature (now that i think about it, its against all mammals nature)! Look up a modest proposal by jonathan swift.

Chimpanzees will sometimes eat other chimps.

 

[dawp]

I eat my GF in a regular basis and she seems to enjoy it. (obviously she isn't dead)

 

[Cogman]

Morality aside, a big issue would be the butchering of the meat. Meat rots FAST when the animal dies. That is why one of the first steps in butchering is to start draining the blood as soon as possible.

So right away, all people that die accidents of any sort will be disqualified from being eaten.

What does that leave us with? The diseased and the old (usually one and the same). Unfortunately, diseased meat doesn't taste good and has health issues associated with it. And old meat is, well, old. Meat from an old animal is just not very tasty.

Pretty much the only meat that would be eatable would be that from people who die on the operating table from a non-viral/bacterial infection who are younger than 40 (heart failure, brain aneurysm, etc. Not cancer).

And even then, Humans don't have the large amounts of muscle like other eating animals do (cows, pigs, etc) Even the strongest of us are pretty bony compared to other animals. So really, you save nothing. Most of the meat would be inedible (like 99&#37 because it is old, diseased, or couldn't be drained properly. The portion that would be edible will likely come from fatties with low muscle mass (not tasty). And then there is the whole morality issue. For some strange reason, people don't like the idea of having loved ones served up on a platter after their death.

 

[feralkid]

like with sheep, pig, and cow, people are tastier when young.

preferably in the suckling stage.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

prions

 

[Oyeve]

think about it, once people acquire a taste for human flesh, what will stop them from chopping up each others for fresher meat?!

This.

 

[Jeff7]

Morality aside, a big issue would be the butchering of the meat. Meat rots FAST when the animal dies. That is why one of the first steps in butchering is to start draining the blood as soon as possible.

So right away, all people that die accidents of any sort will be disqualified from being eaten.
...

Ambulance-chasing lawyers will be joined by ambulance-chasing butchers.

And then there is the whole morality issue. For some strange reason, people don't like the idea of having loved ones served up on a platter after their death.

What about people you don't like?

 

[BladeVenom]

You can get that from cows and sheep too.

Because they fed cows and sheep offal. That has been stopped.

 

[Baked]

I eat my GF in a regular basis and she seems to enjoy it. (obviously she isn't dead)

Manly man don't eat their SO.

 

[cavemanmoron]

It seems like a waste to bury a dead body in a casket or turn it into ash. And housing death row inmates is certainly a waste. Why not just cook and eat them instead?

What makes you think we don't?

Soylent Green is people

Well said.

 

[Shawn]

prions

this

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I already have it written into my will, that the edible parts of my body will be served as food.
Nothing of my dead body will go to waste when I'm gone!