Vegetarian Era
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Witten’s most famous protégé is Brian Greene, who has refuted Einstein’s theory that space can stretch but not tear. By the age of nine Greene could multiply thirty-digit numbers in his head, and of course, he is also a vegetarian. Below are excerpts from an exclusive interview on science, morality and vegetarianism that Mr. Greene conducted for The Supreme Master Ching Hai News.
Q: Why do you think so many of the greatest geniuses have been vegetarian?
B: From my limited experience, vegetarians typically are people who are willing to challenge the usual, accepted order of things. Moreover, they’re often people willing to sacrifice their own pleasures in pursuit of what they believe is right. These same qualities are often what’s needed to make great breakthroughs in the arts and sciences.
Q: Why do you think other scientists are still not vegetarian?
B: I would ask, more generally, why the vast majority of people are not vegetarian. I think the answer is that most people don’t question the practice of eating meat since they always have. Many of these people care about animals and the environment, some deeply. But for some reason—force of habit, cultural norms, resistance to change—there is a fundamental disconnect whereby these feelings don’t translate into changes of behavior.
Q: What inspired you to become a vegetarian?
B: Quite literally, it was a dish—spare ribs—that my mother cooked when I was nine years old. The ribs made the connection between the meat and the animal from which it came direct; I was horrified and declared I’d never eat meat again. And I never have. Going vegan happened later. I visited an animal rescue farm in upstate New York and learned much about the dairy industry which was so disturbing that I could not continue to support it. Within days I gave up all dairy.
Nowadays, even non-vegetarian scientists also understand the physical bases for vegetarianism and how it can contribute to the Earth’s environmental well-being. For example, UK physicist Alan Calverd recently made headlines with the following statement about global warming and the vegetarian lifestyle: “Adopting a vegetarian diet would do more for the environment than burning less oil and gas.”
From the examples above we can see that eminent scientists throughout history have affirmed the advantages of a vegetarian diet from the standpoint of morality and compassion and also from the perspective that it is necessary to ensure the welfare of our planet. So, merely by changing our eating habits we can bring infinite benefits to humankind.
Note: String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects (strings) rather than the zero-dimensional points (particles) that are the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the leading candidate for a “theory of everything” stating that the universe is ultimately composed of vibrations.
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