Mad Swedish Scientist Proposes Cannibalism to Tackle Climate Change

How far are you willing to go to reduce your carbon footprint? You’re recycling, you’re cutting down on how much power you use, and you’re even willing to go vegan for the cause. How about eating human flesh though? That’s what one Swedish scientist is suggesting. 

Dr. Magnus Söderlund caused a bit of a stir when he advocated that one way for humans to curtail the effects of climate change would be for us to start using humans as a food source. He didn’t go so far as to call it cannibalism though. Instead, he believes that as long as humans were willing to get past the obvious taboos of eating human flesh, we’d perhaps be willing to try it out. 

While appearing on Swedish TV to discuss the Gastro Summit on “food on the future”, behavioral scientist Magnus Söderlund from the Stockholm School of Economics proposed the idea that to tackle climate change once and for all we had to “awake to the idea” that eating human flesh should be considered and discussed as a viable option. 

Söderlund used his time on Swedish state television channel TV4 to give a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Can you Image Eating Human Flesh?” The presentation included topics such as “Are we humans too selfish to live sustainably?” and “Is cannibalism the solution to food sustainability in the future?”

For his part, Söderlund was willing to acknowledge the “conservative” taboos passed down from ancient times that go against eating human flesh. He considers these taboos to be the main thing stopping the spread of cannibalism as a viable option. He also argued that food sources are only going to become scarcer and scarcer in the future. People would have to think outside the box to get the food they need, such as being willing to eat grasshoppers, worms, insects, and even their own pets. They must also consider eating humans. Söderlund believes that if people were slowly introduced to eating human flesh, they would be more open to the idea. 

Söderlund claims that the main thing humans have to overcome to consider eating other humans is linked to selfishness. He is an expert in behavior though, so perhaps his ideas that people could be “tricked” into “making the right decision” could hold merit. 

After Söderlund gave his presentation, some 8% of the audience raised their hand when asked if they would consider trying human flesh. Söderlund also said he would be open to “at least tasting it.”

Until the “mannisko-kötts branschen” or “human flesh industry” gets off the ground though, Söderlund plans to give more seminars on the idea.