Conform to the Norm

A comment to the last post wondered why vegetarianism is viewed as odd and considered an abnormal choice.

Well, vegetarianism is considered an abnormal choice to make because it IS an abnormal thing to do, meaning that it deviates from behavioural norms. Most people eat meat.

And THAT (deviating from the norm) is considered worthy of a dismissive reaction because, despite our rhetoric of individualism, we are a conformist culture. This is true of every culture, they each have their own norms and accepted modes of behaviour.

Having moved in and out of Cuban, French and Canadian culture, it's something I've been able to confirm through my own experience. It can be quite funny to watch people do things which they are certain are THE one right and natural way to do things, but are in fact just a local standard.

Perhaps one irony is that in our culture, the idea of individualism is something to be conformed to.*

We interpret phenomena through the lens of our cultural norms. Behaviour that deviates from norms is automatically suspect, or at least difficult to understand. So vegetarianism is looked down upon precisely because it is not normal, and people haven't figured out why one ought to be one. Again, this comes down to the fact that our moral codes are generally based on actions we perform directly. Few would take food from the poor, but many buy foods such as meat which make food more expensive and scarce for the poor.

Sooner or later, events and reality will intrude, making it easier for people to reason their way around the various reasons why it could make sense to be vegetarian. Real world events can be a strong catalyst for the re-evaluation of moral codes.

For now, those that choose that path will just have to take comfort in the fact that there are at least enough of them to make a viable community for support. That, provided with health, cost and moral benefits hopefully can be enough for those inclined to do so.

p.s. Just in case anyone got the wrong impression, I'm not actually a vegetarian, though I do eat a fairly meat reduced diet, largely for cost reasons (I'm a poor student). I don't think it necessarily has to be an all or nothing proposition though. Any amount of meat reduction is environmentally beneficial.

* Now that I think about it, how would you go about NOT conforming to individualism?