4 ms·

lawn care invites exorbitant water consumption, pesticide use, creates smog from lawn mowing, and induces a mono-culture ecosystem. I for one would like drough

lawn care invites exorbitant water consumption, pesticide use, creates smog from lawn mowing, and induces a mono-culture ecosystem. I for one would like drought tolerant (in CA anyway) native plant species to fill our lawn spaces...especially the ones that get rarely used.

Waterluvian 7y ago
Yeah. I'm not debating the specific case here. I generally think this is good advice. My back yard is 100 foot maples and artificial grass because normal ground cover will not grow under that canopy. But broadly speaking, I'm skeptical of taking advice from a domain expert rather than some form of generalist who synthesizes understanding across the board. I want to know what the civil engineer has to say. I want to hear from the urban planner, the child psychologist, the sports medicine expert, etc. My yard is used in a lot of ways.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  Well, you say you're skeptical of taking advice from a domain expert, but then you list a lot of, apparently, domain experts you want to hear from. I agree with the latter sentence - I want to hear from a lot of people with narrow expertise and different perspectives on anything important, but I probably don't care what a generalist thinks, because why should they be better at synthesizing the experts than me?
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    If you want to take on the cognitive load of being the generalist for everything, all the power to you! For me I pick and choose. I pretty much leave my car and rooftop to the experts but I dabble in electrical, plumming, carpentry, landscaping, etc. Etc.
    - perl4ever 7y ago
      It doesn't matter what I want. Your second sentence is about when you defer to experts and when you don't, so apparently you too are your own generalist. There are no "expert generalists"! If you wanted one, you'd need an even more general generalist to choose which generalist was trustworthy...
      - smichel17 7y ago
        Would that not be a generalist expert? -- specializes in determining whether a generalist is trustworthy.
        perl4ever 7y ago
        My point is, the comment saying "I pick and choose" doesn't make any sense in context, because it's referring to choosing whether to use an expert, not delegating the choice of experts to someone, i.e. a generalist. You can choose between experts all you want, and since none of them are generalists, you are still the generalist. I think my comment was misinterpreted, but it's not clear how.
labster 7y ago
Every drought-tolerant landscape I’ve seen looks passable for about two months and becomes an overgrown mess after that. I know we need to change, but if we can’t come up with a yard people will maintain, lawns and giant driveways with a soul patch will keep winning.
- asdf333 7y ago
  i've seen some really good ones in my neighborhood. it does require maintenance but choosing the right plants can do wonders

Waterluvian 7y ago

Yeah. I'm not debating the specific case here. I generally think this is good advice. My back yard is 100 foot maples and artificial grass because normal ground cover will not grow under that canopy. But broadly speaking, I'm skeptical of taking advice from a domain expert rather than some form of generalist who synthesizes understanding across the board. I want to know what the civil engineer has to say. I want to hear from the urban planner, the child psychologist, the sports medicine expert, etc. My yard is used in a lot of ways.

perl4ever 7y ago
Well, you say you're skeptical of taking advice from a domain expert, but then you list a lot of, apparently, domain experts you want to hear from. I agree with the latter sentence - I want to hear from a lot of people with narrow expertise and different perspectives on anything important, but I probably don't care what a generalist thinks, because why should they be better at synthesizing the experts than me?
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  If you want to take on the cognitive load of being the generalist for everything, all the power to you! For me I pick and choose. I pretty much leave my car and rooftop to the experts but I dabble in electrical, plumming, carpentry, landscaping, etc. Etc.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    It doesn't matter what I want. Your second sentence is about when you defer to experts and when you don't, so apparently you too are your own generalist. There are no "expert generalists"! If you wanted one, you'd need an even more general generalist to choose which generalist was trustworthy...
    - smichel17 7y ago
      Would that not be a generalist expert? -- specializes in determining whether a generalist is trustworthy.
      - perl4ever 7y ago
        My point is, the comment saying "I pick and choose" doesn't make any sense in context, because it's referring to choosing whether to use an expert, not delegating the choice of experts to someone, i.e. a generalist. You can choose between experts all you want, and since none of them are generalists, you are still the generalist. I think my comment was misinterpreted, but it's not clear how.

labster 7y ago

Every drought-tolerant landscape I’ve seen looks passable for about two months and becomes an overgrown mess after that. I know we need to change, but if we can’t come up with a yard people will maintain, lawns and giant driveways with a soul patch will keep winning.

asdf333 7y ago
i've seen some really good ones in my neighborhood. it does require maintenance but choosing the right plants can do wonders