A new look at the Hylotl/Floran conflict: Do Hylotl eat Florans?

Hylotls society in general is Pacifists, but not every individual in a culture acts/thinks alike. Criminals or desperate people (like us players) could be willing to do more than the average citizen.
Come on, i bet not even one Hyloti player has restrained he/herself from killing the monsters attacking them.

 

Attachment was broken so I FIFY

 

Wow there's a lot of misinformation in this thread.

On 'Hylotl are vegetarians'

False. They are Herbivores. Eating plant matter isn't a choice to them, it's simply how they are built and what they are capable of properly digesting.


On 'Vegetarians wouldn't eat another sentient being'.

False. An 'Ethical' or 'Moral' Vegetarian would not eat another sentient being. A health-based vegetarian, someone who was raised vegetarian and merely lacks the enzymes to properly digest meat, or people who merely prefer not to eat meat for a myriad of other reasons may very well eat a sentient being. Ethical vegetarianism (and veganism) is far from the only kind, and most kinds of vegetarianism don't have ethical or moral weight (or preconceptions) attached to them.

On 'Vegetarianism is Healthier/You Can't Get All You Nutrients From Plants'

Both are false. It's entirely possible to get a full range of nutrients, build up your immune system, reduce arterial plaque, etc. etc. in a diet that both includes, and precludes meat. Vegetarians tend to be healthier in general because it's HARDER (but far from impossible) to get a full range of vitamins, amino acids, protein, and everything else by eating a purely vegetarian diet. This results in vegetarians being more likely to actually know what it is they're jamming into their gobs and put thought into ensuring they're getting proper nutrition (at least until it becomes second nature). Meanwhile 'fad' vegetarianism can lead to malnutrition, iron deficiencies, and various other maladies, and people with certain diseases are generally recommended away from vegetarianism at all due to the difficulty in finding proper nutrients in large enough quantities. That said, meat diets have about the opposite relationship. It's very easy to get the necessary nutrients, and you can--with no threat of malnutrition--just shove whatever you want into your mouth, for the most part, on an omnivorous diet. However, it's very easy to over eat, and end up with, rather than deficiencies, an over abundance of things (mostly fats and cholesterol) leading to early heart disease, greater risk of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and various other ailments. But, because these are things that set on late in life and not within a few months of starting your new diet (for the most part), people on an omnivorous diet are less likely to pay attention and ensure they are receiving proper nutrition.

Or TL;DR neither diet is really inherently superior so far as health goes, but the average person eats much more meat than they need.

Also, just on ethical vegetarianism in general, if you really care you should worry less about eating meat and more about eating products created outside of the large agriculture business. Free range and locally grown, even if they slaughter animals for meat, are generally killing fewer animals in less horrific ways than the vegan soy milk that was grown on a farm owned by Monsanto.

 

Brilliant! I play a Hylotl, and this is what I'm RPing from now on. Delicious vegetables!

 

Florans remind me too much of wood elves to be honest. Also...

 

Not the kind of ranch dressing I was thinking of but hey if she's into it...

 

I'm not even a vegan/vegetarian... And I wouldn't eat a sentient being. If the thing can say "Don't eat me!", or at least sound like it is trying to say something like that (even if I can't understand them), then I'm not going to eat it/them. That also includes if its adorable looking (no veal or lamb/other young animal for me thanks).

 

(Skip to 6:27)

 

Players don't represent lored, unless they choose to rp it but they are a minority. As for the rest of their culture we ont have that much info, maybe they generally choose not to seek conflict but will defend Themselves as needed.

 

That's not really what pacifism is. Besides which, if they're not seeking conflict, why are they traveling to all these planets where they must know that 3/4ths of the native life will attack them?

I think the Hylotl are a proud species that choose to present themselves to others as wise space sages... but their actions don't really match their ideals in any way.

 

Or maybe they are peace sims...Hated those guys.

 

Always punching me with their fists.... and sometimes very, very, very rarely, breaking their code and shooting me in the back with a laser. So yeah they actually do match the Hylotl.

 

Pacifists? Don't you mean Hylotls are pacifish.

 

I think that everyone knows Florans are delicious. Hytotl eat Florans. Heck, Florans eat Florans.

 

Heh, that was a good one ^^

 

Ehm, but the player IS able to eat meat. May be for the sake of consistency among the races, but I'm not sure honestly.

 

The point of vegetarianism is to not eat organisms that have some form of consciousness. The only reason vegetarians have a name derived from "vegetable" is because on Earth, there are no conscious plants (and technically, vegetarians don't exclusively eat vegetables, or even plants, but also eat other non-conscious things like fungi (e.g. mushrooms) and inorganic matter (e.g. salt)). Florans are not merely conscious, but sapient. Therefore, vegetarians would not eat Florans.

Now the Hylotyl being herbivorous (i.e., physically unable to eat meat rather than unwilling) is a different issue, although it would still conflict with their pacifism (unless perhaps they only ate Floran who had already died of other causes).

And, yes, Hylotyl eating Florans wouldn't technically be cannibalism, but it would carry almost all of the same moral problems.

 

the hylotl likely do eat floran, because the floran seem to despise them WAY more then the other races, and the only explanation i have is the "secret" they talk about is some horrible thing such as reversing the order of eating. the floran also specifically call them "slimy beasts".
http://starbounder.org/NPC
Edit: also, isn't it strange that the floran just "decided" to attack their homeworld? other races don't seem to have that kind of looming threat of florans over them, id say the floran have a reason they are spiteful and attacked the homeworld of the hylotl

 

I am amused that in every game or work of fiction where there is a more-or-less "token good guy race", some people will immediately suspect that they have a dark and horrifying secret.

I don't believe that the Hylotl ate Florans, however, the Florans are quite aggressive, and the Hylotl PC is a "Missionary", while their inspection dialogue shows much of the trademarked Hylotl arrogance. If someone came to your planet to "enlighten you" while lookin down their nose and judging your entire culture, you'd likely want to stab them too.

That's how I see it, at least.