3 ms·

Man made diamonds greatly exceed the quality of the ones dug up from the ground, yet there is still a strong natural diamond market. People just form an emotio

• vidarh 5y ago
  Yes, but how long will that persist for diamonds? I also think this is a lot less likely to happen with meat. With diamonds part of the value is in signalling status. As such there is little incentive for customers to want to participate in driving down the price. With lab-grown meat there will eventually be a number of outright benefits.
  • Falling3 5y ago
    I think you're ultimately right, but let's not forget food has historically been used to signal status as much as anything else.
    • vidarh 5y ago
      To an extent, but you can do that with lab-grown meat too, by producing "limited edition" meats that are arbitrarily exclusive. Want a steak that is "designed molecule by molecule" by a top chef? That'll cost you.
      • scoopertrooper 5y ago
        As my parent comment quite rightly said, humans (like other animals) definitely use food to signal status and other social cues. Lab-grown meat will no-doubt eventually become a common ingredient once it is economically viable. However it'll likely start off in highly processed foods where consumers are not especially discerning or seeking to signal status through consumption. This would include products like ready-made frozen meals and fast food. It may eventually enter fine dining, but it won't obtain market dominance in our life times. People just get too set in their ways as they age, for instance the elderly in Japan drive demand for Whale meat. Older people tend to have the disposable income required for fine dining.