3 ms·
farm animals are more productive, and spread quickly look at how many cows there are. on the downside, look at how they live. I'm afraid this comment isn't up
by mark_edward 9y ago
farm animals are more productive, and spread quickly look at how many cows there are.
on the downside, look at how they live.
I'm afraid this comment isn't up to HN standards, but i've always thought the teleological end of humanity was something that resembles an ant colony more than pack wolves, i'm not sure there's anything to be done to avoid it.
- coldtea 9y agoI find both the ant colony and pack wolves to be bad outcomes -- and something in between, an actual community that doesn't solely "exist to produce", but its also neither "each man for themselves", much better. It's also funny how "ant colony" seems to be the direction of both the now deceased USSR-style socialism and modern capitalism -- with elites on top, total surveillance, and everything, just with different names.
- tomrod 9y agoDavid Brin calls this drive by the elites a meme of feudalism in his essay _Otherness_: > Feudalism is one of the oldest. It may appear to be rare nowadays, but some philosophers and historians have called it the “most natural” of human societies, simply because it cropped up in so many places throughout the millennia -- everywhere, in fact, that metallurgy and agriculture combined to let close-knit groups establish and enforce inherited aristocracies.
- coldtea 9y agoEven companies are basically feudal kingdoms, with the owner/CEO as ruler.
- macawfish 9y agomore productive in what sense? the rainforest itself is incredibly productive, although not in a monocultural way.
- mark_edward 9y agowell productivity in terms of reproduction. there wouldn't be as many cows or chickens or pigs, etc. without use breeding them, is what I meant. sorry for lack of clarity