Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s only certain parts of the body (ie, the brain) that are dangerous. I think the rest is fine if you cook it properly. Although I’m not a cannibal, so I could be wrong
Those cannibal tribes that get sick are also famous for eating the one thing they shouldn’t: human brain. Most cooking doesn’t get high enough to kill prion disease which is what kills someone with cannibalism, prion disease only exists in the brain. Everything else is fine because it can be cooked to a high enough temperature to kill anything that’d be dangerous.
Also, anything saying the people of North Sentinel Island are cannibals is an unproven rumor. They don’t let us close enough to determine if they culturally interested in cannibalism
So, there are different kinds of non-survival cannibalism. (Survival cannibalism is basically the old “we’re trapped in this life raft and need to eat the cabin boy” move, which isn’t generally what societies who regularly engage in the practice are up to.) Exocannibalism refers to the eating of people “outside” of one’s group or tribe, and “endocannibalism” which is for members of one’s group or tribe.
I don’t know if we know for certain the exact nature of the Sentinelese’s cannibalism specifically (I’m not sure that we even know if they truly do it, or if it’s just more of the LOOK SCARY WILD MEN stuff that gets said about them, but i digress) but generally tribes and human groups who engage in either type of cannibalism do so in specific, ritualized ways. An endocannibalism ritual that’s seen among some Amazonian tribes is performed after a member of the tribe dies: the body is burned, and the ashes are mixed into a fermented drink, which the tribe all drinks as a way to “retain” the dead person with them. Exocannibalism in that area was usually to do with enemy intimidation and/or power absorption, and could involve eating the heart, flesh, and sometimes the brain. The latter is where the “deadly” part comes in, as prion diseases are a factor when eating brains, but frankly most societies who once engaged in exocannibalism with their enemies no longer do so (though plenty of them have told white anthropologists and scholars that they definitely do, because they think it’s funny or it lends to the visual of their tribe as strong and makes a good reason to leave them alone.)
So the short answer is: subsistence cannibalism of any kind, aside from survival cannibalism (we’ve got to eat the cabin boy or we’ll starve) has never been a regular part of any long lasting culture that we know of, and those groups who still engage in funerary endocannibalism generally aren’t eating brains, just blood or ashes. That’s why they don’t all get sick and die.
If a society habitually cannibalized others, I have to assume that some DO die but maybe some genetics in the gene pool are less likely to get the prion disease?
But the short answer is: they eat stuff OTHER than people. Most cultural cannibalism is about the symbolic/spiritual aspect of consuming the person, whether it be respected family or an enemy. If it’s symbolic and they’ve been doing it for many generations, they probably prepare and share the meat in a way that makes prion fuckery less likely.
There are way more documented cases of individual cannibals than you’d think, though, so you might find more info there, even if it’s not about an entire community.
alright, alright. to clarify, human flesh isn’t ‘deadly’ by any means. animals can eat people and be fine, yes?
cannibalism itself, isn’t usually a problem.
what you’re confusing ‘cannibalism = death’ idea with, is something called a prion – basically, misfolded proteins that can build up in your system and turn your brain into swiss cheese – literally (no, not fucking literally. it makes holes in your brain matter)
prions are most famously passed by consuming the flesh of something WITH a prion disease, therefore spreading it to multiple people instead of that one dead dude.
and that’s happened most famously, basically twice, with a tribe that practiced ritualistic cannibalism, called kuru disease, and when we were feeding dead cows to other cows to reduce costs on feed, aka mad cow disease.
neither of these are strictly speaking, BECUASE of the cannibalism. a person who eats an infected cow, will essentially get kuru/mad cow disease as well.
it was just the best way for it to spread, since it’s not like a bacteria or virus.
Eating the humans isn’t fatal if you steer clear of the waste filtering organs and the brain. Also, most cannibals aren’t eating humans exclusively, they eat other meats as well as fruit, vegetables, nuts, and so on.
It’s like fucking a goat. It only needs to happen once and then the label sticks.
Generally speaking cannibals in that context don’t rely solely on eating people every day. It usually has a ritualistic or religious aspect, like after a battle, or on important dates. They might eat normal food 364 days a year, and they’ll still be called cannibals.
In some historical cases canibalism rumours are just due to misunderstandings. Like how Christians practice religious cannibalism every sunday in church, but with a cracker.
Or it’s due to meat coming from animals that others might not consider hunting, like squirrel and pidgeon and toad. You don’t see any regular farm animals around, and then mystery meat soup is served and nobody talks about where Bobby went, and people might assume it’s Bobby soup instead of Bobby died in the swamp and you’re eating squirrel soup.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s only certain parts of the body (ie, the brain) that are dangerous. I think the rest is fine if you cook it properly. Although I’m not a cannibal, so I could be wrong
Why should it be deadly to eat.
Brains are deadly the rest isn’t
Those cannibal tribes that get sick are also famous for eating the one thing they shouldn’t: human brain. Most cooking doesn’t get high enough to kill prion disease which is what kills someone with cannibalism, prion disease only exists in the brain. Everything else is fine because it can be cooked to a high enough temperature to kill anything that’d be dangerous.
Also, anything saying the people of North Sentinel Island are cannibals is an unproven rumor. They don’t let us close enough to determine if they culturally interested in cannibalism
So, there are different kinds of non-survival cannibalism. (Survival cannibalism is basically the old “we’re trapped in this life raft and need to eat the cabin boy” move, which isn’t generally what societies who regularly engage in the practice are up to.) Exocannibalism refers to the eating of people “outside” of one’s group or tribe, and “endocannibalism” which is for members of one’s group or tribe.
I don’t know if we know for certain the exact nature of the Sentinelese’s cannibalism specifically (I’m not sure that we even know if they truly do it, or if it’s just more of the LOOK SCARY WILD MEN stuff that gets said about them, but i digress) but generally tribes and human groups who engage in either type of cannibalism do so in specific, ritualized ways. An endocannibalism ritual that’s seen among some Amazonian tribes is performed after a member of the tribe dies: the body is burned, and the ashes are mixed into a fermented drink, which the tribe all drinks as a way to “retain” the dead person with them. Exocannibalism in that area was usually to do with enemy intimidation and/or power absorption, and could involve eating the heart, flesh, and sometimes the brain. The latter is where the “deadly” part comes in, as prion diseases are a factor when eating brains, but frankly most societies who once engaged in exocannibalism with their enemies no longer do so (though plenty of them have told white anthropologists and scholars that they definitely do, because they think it’s funny or it lends to the visual of their tribe as strong and makes a good reason to leave them alone.)
So the short answer is: subsistence cannibalism of any kind, aside from survival cannibalism (we’ve got to eat the cabin boy or we’ll starve) has never been a regular part of any long lasting culture that we know of, and those groups who still engage in funerary endocannibalism generally aren’t eating brains, just blood or ashes. That’s why they don’t all get sick and die.
If a society habitually cannibalized others, I have to assume that some DO die but maybe some genetics in the gene pool are less likely to get the prion disease?
But the short answer is: they eat stuff OTHER than people. Most cultural cannibalism is about the symbolic/spiritual aspect of consuming the person, whether it be respected family or an enemy. If it’s symbolic and they’ve been doing it for many generations, they probably prepare and share the meat in a way that makes prion fuckery less likely.
There are way more documented cases of individual cannibals than you’d think, though, so you might find more info there, even if it’s not about an entire community.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you only die when you consume the nervous system, more specifically when it has prions.
I guess they just eat stuff that’s not the brain
well, it’s not.
so your whole premise is false.
alright, alright. to clarify, human flesh isn’t ‘deadly’ by any means. animals can eat people and be fine, yes?
cannibalism itself, isn’t usually a problem.
what you’re confusing ‘cannibalism = death’ idea with, is something called a prion – basically, misfolded proteins that can build up in your system and turn your brain into swiss cheese – literally (no, not fucking literally. it makes holes in your brain matter)
prions are most famously passed by consuming the flesh of something WITH a prion disease, therefore spreading it to multiple people instead of that one dead dude.
and that’s happened most famously, basically twice, with a tribe that practiced ritualistic cannibalism, called kuru disease, and when we were feeding dead cows to other cows to reduce costs on feed, aka mad cow disease.
neither of these are strictly speaking, BECUASE of the cannibalism. a person who eats an infected cow, will essentially get kuru/mad cow disease as well.
it was just the best way for it to spread, since it’s not like a bacteria or virus.
Eating the humans isn’t fatal if you steer clear of the waste filtering organs and the brain. Also, most cannibals aren’t eating humans exclusively, they eat other meats as well as fruit, vegetables, nuts, and so on.
It’s like fucking a goat. It only needs to happen once and then the label sticks.
Generally speaking cannibals in that context don’t rely solely on eating people every day. It usually has a ritualistic or religious aspect, like after a battle, or on important dates. They might eat normal food 364 days a year, and they’ll still be called cannibals.
In some historical cases canibalism rumours are just due to misunderstandings. Like how Christians practice religious cannibalism every sunday in church, but with a cracker.
Or it’s due to meat coming from animals that others might not consider hunting, like squirrel and pidgeon and toad. You don’t see any regular farm animals around, and then mystery meat soup is served and nobody talks about where Bobby went, and people might assume it’s Bobby soup instead of Bobby died in the swamp and you’re eating squirrel soup.