4 ms·

This is one of my favorite comments I've read here. Thanks for each of those offsetting points.

• zepto 6y ago
  They are good points, but they aren’t offsetting.
  • neltnerb 6y ago
    The point of facts isn't to offer a point and counterpoint that fits anything in particular. As best I can see all the things above and in the OP are simply true? The number of times I've had to explain that our food comes from natural gas... these things are important, like the amount of petrochemicals we use for fertilizers is many many power plants worth but they're also integral to our survival but that's also because of history and the complexity of it is really just kind of important to grasp. At least in a science class. It's not that reality is especially good or bad, but it is reality. We are reliant on monocultures that are mostly produced by one company with absolutely ridiculous IP policies to resist pesticides also made by the same company that we fertilize with oil. That is how it is. It should probably be different, but any deviation from the local stable point is terrifying.
    • zepto 6y ago
      Yes - they are simply true. But they don’t ‘offset’ anything about the points in the original piece. Both are important to understand, and are important in being ‘industrially literate’.
      • neltnerb 6y ago
        Right, there's not a "counterpoint" to the fact that agriculture is dependent on fossil fuels for fertilizer. Not mentioning it just means kids aren't aware that it is even true, when it should be utterly non-controversial and commonly known.