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When it comes to dietary-centered discussions
between non-vegans and vegans, things can

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easily become heated. From academic one-upmanship
of the most recent research to the far more

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informal frenzied exchange of sardonic memes
and crafty YouTube comments,

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it's safe to say: “words are had.”

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Well, one team of international scientists
decided to analyze the arguments from

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the meat-eating camp by bringing out the big guns: 
the N-Words.

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Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. Humans have a wide

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array of reasons for eating animals. From
taste to tradition to nutrition, to the absurd

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assertion that animals want to be eaten—yes
that’s a thing and it’s far more common

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than you may think.

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But what’s behind this need to justify,
explain and rationalize the consumption of animals?

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Why do omnivores often offer up unbidden
impassioned defenses of their dietary practices

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upon learning someone is vegan—whether they
be passive apologies for consuming meat in

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their presence or outright attacks and challenges?

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Well, nothing provokes our knee-jerk defenses
or highlights our human capacity for award-worthy

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rationalizations, and impassioned justifications,
quite like the perceived judgment

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of behaviors we’re already insecure about.

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Despite the seemingly endless iterations of
meat-eating defenses, a similar refrain has

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been coursing through them for thousands of
years. (Yes, thousands).

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In 2015, an international team of researchers
produced the first empirical systematic study

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of meat-consumption rationalizations, more
or less corralling the multitudes of justifications

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into four main categories, denoted by what
they call the 4N’s:

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that it’s Natural, Normal, Necessary, and Nice.

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Building off of the 3N’s presented in Dr.
Melanie Joy’s landmark text

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Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows, the team added the 4th N of “Nice” to capture “the

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enjoyment people derive from eating meat,”
which they said “is a major barrier to reducing

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meat consumption and/or adopting a vegetarian
diet,” as they found that, “meat-eaters…often

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appeal to the tastiness of meat, or the hedonic
pleasure that they derive from it, as a justification

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for its continued consumption,” a rationale
not encompassed within Joy’s original 3 strata.

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In this video, I’ll be presenting an overview
of this particular study, the drive behind

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the human need for rationalization, as well
as touch upon the broader implications of

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the 4Ns—which reach far beyond the realm
of dietary dissonance into

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“Many historical practices, from slavery to sexism.”

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Perhaps most controversially, the study strove
to address the question: are omnivores inherently

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more tolerant of social inequality within
their own species?

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Let’s start with a quick look at the 4N’s
as defined within the study’s parameters,

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again with the first 3 taking inspiration
from Dr. Joy’s Three N’s of Justification.”

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N #1: Eating Meat Is Natural

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Our first N “Appeals to biology, biological
hierarchy, natural selection, human evolution,

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or the naturalness of eating meat.”

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Examples include: It is natural for humans
to eat meat; Humans are carnivores; We’ve

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always eaten meat and/or have evolved to do
so; We have canine teeth; Animals eat other

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animals; Animals are here for us to eat; et
cetera

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N #2: Eating Meat Is Necessary

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The 2nd N “Appeals to the necessity of meat
for survival, strength, development, health,

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animal population control, or economic stability.”

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Examples include: Humans need meat to survive;
Meat provides good nutrients; Our bodies need

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the protein; Protein is a necessary part of
our diet; and, one of my personal favorites:

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Because if we didn’t, there would be an
overabundance of certain animals.

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I made a video about that. A while ago. I dance in
it.

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N #3: Eating Meat Is Normal

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The 3rd N “Appeals to dominant 
societal norms, normative behavior,

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historical human behavior, or socially constructed food pyramids.”

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Examples include: Society says it’s okay;
I was raised eating meat; Meat is culturally

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accepted or an important part of tradition;
A lot of other people eat meat;

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It’s abnormal NOT to eat meat; et cetera

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And finally the additional N #4: Eating Meat
Is Nice

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This new N was introduced to capture “Appeals
to the tastiness of meat,

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or that it is fulfilling or satisfying.”

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Examples include: It tastes good; It’s delicious;
Tastes great (I mean bacon...come on)

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[yes, that’s actually in the official study. Table1];

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Meat adds so much flavor to a meal it does not make sense to leave it out”, “The best tasting food

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is normally a meat-based dish; Meals without meat would just be bland and boring; et cetera

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It’s important to note that a number of
objections and diversion tactics fall a bit

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outside the realm of the 4Ns. In the first
two studies, wherein respondents offered spontaneous

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justifications, categories of Humane Slaughter,
Religion, Sustainability, Various Miscellany

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and the outright rejection of the study’s
premise were recorded.

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While they subsequently included concepts
of religion, hierarchy and fate within the

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“Natural” category and health arguments
within the “Necessary,” at the study’s

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outset, the team clarified that while “there
are numerous strategies available to omnivores

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to bring their beliefs and behavior in line,
including denying that animals used as food

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suffer or that such animals are worthy of
moral concern,” their goal was to focus

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on the “common, yet under-studied mechanism
[of] rationalization.”

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Unlike straight up denials of animal sentience,
willful ignorance or passive avoidance of what

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we do to animals—essentially the “I don’t
see it so it doesn’t happen” mentality—“

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rationalization involves providing reasonable
justifications for one’s behavior when it

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comes under scrutiny or criticism, or when
one’s behavior is perceived as discrepant

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with an integral aspect of one’s character.”

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So what were the results? To go in depth,
please see the blog post for this video linked

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in the description, but some of the main
findings were as follows:

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Overall, as expected, “omnivores had the
highest 4N scores, followed by semi-vegetarians.”

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(meaning people who only eat some animals…apparently).

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“Vegetarians and dietary and lifestyle vegans had the lowest 4N scores.”

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Men endorsed the 4Ns more strongly than did
women.

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Men also engaged in more direct justification
strategies, while women tended towards “indirect

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strategies of dissociating or avoiding thoughts
of animal suffering.”

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In regards to whether “individuals…who
consume higher quantities of meat…tend to

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be more supportive of inequality in group
relationships” and “endorse anti-egalitarian values,"

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they found, as did previous research,
that “meat justification appears to be related

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to inequality justification.”

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The researchers invoked Dr. Joy’s examples
of the 3Ns employment across others issues,

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from slavery to women’s suffrage. “Opponents
of women’s suffrage… appealed to the necessity

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of denying women the vote to prevent ‘irreparable
damage’ to the nation, to the natural superiority

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of male intelligence, and to the historical
normalness of male-only voting as

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“designed by our forefathers.”

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In the end, it’s the reasons behind the
rationalizations, the very need for them at

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all that are the most profound aspect of this
entire issue. It’s something I’ve gone

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into in depth in many of my videos, including
this revealing speech, along with others I’ve

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listed in the video description below.

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Living in a state of cognitive dissonance
wherein our actions directly conflict with

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our own professed morals and values, causes
extreme dis-ease within us.

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Eating animals is, in essence, living a double life. Attempting to be animal lovers and animal killers.

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To see ourselves as good people while we pay
others to carry out barbaric acts of cruelty

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we would never directly inflict upon another being.

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This is what the study’s creators termed
the “meat paradox.”

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Omnivores are left with the choice of either changing their behaviors to align with their values by ceasing

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to eat animals and their byproducts, or manipulating
their perception of reality in such a way

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that it at least appears that their behaviors
align with their values.

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Not surprisingly, the majority of the world
chooses the latter. Because changing our behavior

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when it comes to eating animals means confronting
head-on our complicity in their enslavement,

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torture, and murder. It means facing the horrors
we’ve supported and vehemently defended.

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It means looking ourselves in the mirror with
outright honesty.

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And brining up protein, desert islands, canines,
traditions, the wisdom of the masses, and all

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the litany of rationalizations, justifications and
avoidances, is by far an easier and safer choice.

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There is bliss in ignorance. 
For the ignorant.

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I hope that this video was helpful, and perhaps
even prompts the slightest moment of reflection

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at the aspects of our behavior we strive so
ardently to justify.

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Please share it around to spark discussion
and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the

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comments below. Do give the video a like if
you liked it and subscribe for more vegan

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content every Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays.
To support messages like this, see the support

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links below or join us in the Nugget Army
on Patreon via the link in the sidebar.

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Now go live vegan, own up to your actions,
and I’ll see you soon.

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There's a stink bug that keeps flying. He's haning out on the light right now.

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Whoop! There he goes!

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Ahh!

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Dude, you're freaking me out!

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You're making me feel very unvegan. When you fly at me and it scares me

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because I'm supposed to love all creatures and you're scaring me a little bit, when you do that.

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Alright little dude, I'm taking you outside.