Meet Dr Meat |
3/09/2006
Meet Dr Meat
Dr Marc Wilson wrote back in response to yesterday's blog item...
Hiya Rick,
Golly! It warms my heart to know that my work has encouraged such debate (my thanks in particular to those who've taken the time to write me encouraging emails of the 'go back to the hole you came from' variety).
My position on the value of research such as that reported this morning is this - just because something is mundane and everyday, that does not mean that it is not worth investigating. Most people eat meat. Why? Most meat-eaters haven't even thought about it, and THAT is why I am interested. Might just as well ask straight people why they're heterosexual! We have a tendency to expect people who adopt a minority position to explain why they do so, without asking ourselves why the majority do something unthinkingly. At the same time the point of my research is not to link politics with diet - it's just the way that I do my research that allows me to do it :)
To soothe the savage beasts that question the value of their contribution to my salary - my research on diet is intended to allow a greater understanding of healthy diet decisions (meat consumption represents a single question out of many), or to understand a little about why people make the political decisions that they do. The fact that I tend to ask these questions at the same time means that I can have some fun and look at how they relate to each other - not that I'm actually intending to publish a paper on 'What your diet says about you!'
Deep in your hearts, you know the truth! When you go to a BBQ, who's standing around the fire, with a beer in hand? Of course masculinity is linked to meat-eating... It will come as no surprise, I'm sure, that meat-eating is associated (statistically, but not causally) with support greater NZ involvement in the Iraq war.
On that note,
Marc
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/psyc/staff/marc-wilson/index.aspx
P.S. Oh, and I am a committed meat-eater too :)
Hiya Rick,
Golly! It warms my heart to know that my work has encouraged such debate (my thanks in particular to those who've taken the time to write me encouraging emails of the 'go back to the hole you came from' variety).
My position on the value of research such as that reported this morning is this - just because something is mundane and everyday, that does not mean that it is not worth investigating. Most people eat meat. Why? Most meat-eaters haven't even thought about it, and THAT is why I am interested. Might just as well ask straight people why they're heterosexual! We have a tendency to expect people who adopt a minority position to explain why they do so, without asking ourselves why the majority do something unthinkingly. At the same time the point of my research is not to link politics with diet - it's just the way that I do my research that allows me to do it :)
To soothe the savage beasts that question the value of their contribution to my salary - my research on diet is intended to allow a greater understanding of healthy diet decisions (meat consumption represents a single question out of many), or to understand a little about why people make the political decisions that they do. The fact that I tend to ask these questions at the same time means that I can have some fun and look at how they relate to each other - not that I'm actually intending to publish a paper on 'What your diet says about you!'
Deep in your hearts, you know the truth! When you go to a BBQ, who's standing around the fire, with a beer in hand? Of course masculinity is linked to meat-eating... It will come as no surprise, I'm sure, that meat-eating is associated (statistically, but not causally) with support greater NZ involvement in the Iraq war.
On that note,
Marc
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/psyc/staff/marc-wilson/index.aspx
P.S. Oh, and I am a committed meat-eater too :)
posted by Rick #
10:20:00 AM 
