At 10:07 PM 8/3/97 -0700, you wrote:

>Tom:
>Nature is not interested in your desire for simplicity. Nature simply IS.
>As has been discussed on this list, the first people were apparently
>non-vegetarian, eating wild game and wild p;ant foods. That is not the
>diet you want - you want raw vegan, with cultivated plant foods, including
>grain. Don't reference the "original" diet unless your diet is similar.

>Tom:
>I disagree that nature is perfect. Nature is a series of trade-offs, in
>which animals struggle to survive long enough to reproduce. In general
>terms, nature wants to kill you - via bacteria, viruses, predation,
>starvation.  Again, nature simply IS - best not to elevate it to
>the level of presumed perfection.

Walter:
I'll concur with that.  I do want to comment:  Male elephant seals "rape"
many female elephant seals in order to compete and reproduce.  A male
elephant seal is usually three times the size of a female, and can easily
suffocate a female by falling asleep while having sexual intercourse.  A
female black widow spider, eats her male partner after sexual intercourse.
Jane Goodall observed the chimpanzees and was appalled when one female chimp
attacked a mother and stole her baby chimp and ate it for dinner.  She also
commented that the female chimp seemed to have no regret over the whole
incident.

My point is:  If it happens in nature, it doesn't mean it should apply to
humans.

>(A recent post here on the reasons some fruits have toxins in them,
>provides an excellent example of trade-offs in nature. It is in the
>archives.)

Just went through the archives recently...use the power of the search engine!

Walter.