ah thank you , you too ! Be safe <| sep |> Yeah someone in my playgroup got invent superiority , and I was very interested in breed lethality , mainly it ' s ability to evolve into a nasty infect commander <| sep |> Our moral code is based on self interest . Before you think I ' m going to go off on Ayn Rand just hear me out . People often say we live by a golden rule , whereby we treat others as we wish to be treated , but I would posit that this is looking at the issue too narrowly . We live in societies that are guided by subjective moral principles and we recognize our small but important role in deciding what those principals are . We want those principals to protect us , and , because we are capable of envisioning the future , we also want them to protect whoever we may become E . g . I ' m not old now , but I think the elderly should be treated well because some day I will be elderly too . This protection does not only apply to our bodies but to those we care about and our possession as well . Here ' s where killing animals to eat them comes in . None of us can ever be a pig , and very few will ever have an emotional connection to one . Therefore , as a society , we don ' t care if pigs are protected . On the other hand , in the case of pets or people who have suffered brain damage , it is immoral to kill and eat them because we either are in , or recognize the future possibility of , the position of caring for them . It may not be wrong to kill someone in a perpetually vegetative state , but it hurts their relatives . As to why it seems wrong to kill a pig for no reason , this is because of empathy , but is nonetheless selfish . We simply do not like suffering and attempt to mitigate it whenever possible . If that empathy is overcome by a reward in the other direction , such as a juicy rack of short ribs , then it ceases to be a factor . Ultimately the only reason why pigs are on the plate and we ' re not is because we have a voice to advocate for ourselves . In societies in which people ' s voices are taken away they are invariably treated like pigs , because they are no longer truly a part of that society . However , this is a failed moral system for the remaining members of the society because it does not ultimately protect them . If one day they treat someone else like a pig , the next day they may be treated like one . The true golden rule is this creates moral absolutes that protect you and will continue to protect you in the future , even if circumstances change . Nothing more .