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We're erasing countless species to replace them with cows and soy. I've tried often to convince people to care more about biodiversity. I don't focus on the ch

We're erasing countless species to replace them with cows and soy. I've tried often to convince people to care more about biodiversity. I don't focus on the chemical/pharma angle because I'm not grounded in those sciences, and because while I think they're important, they're not what's most important. Biodiversity is simply the best thing in the known universe. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders. I've met people who agree, and people who disagree, but I've never seen anyone change their minds. On the bright side (if you can call it that), whereas the positive value of biodiversity doesn't seem to motivate much change, the negative value of potential catastrophic species collapse might ...

akudha 5y ago
I've met people who agree, and people who disagree, but I've never seen anyone change their minds. I've had the same experience. There are people who will not give up (or even reduce) meat no matter what - they are fully aware of the effects of the meat industry on the environment. It is pointless to even engage them in a conversation. Instead, it is better to spend the time and energy on people who are not aware of the effects, but I'd guess these are smaller numbers compared to the I know but I don't care group. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders. Much of the urban population hasn't seen this beauty, except on TV. I guess it is hard for them to have that personal connection to nature, when all the animals they know (except perhaps the ones they keep as pets and some urban dwelling birds) they have only seen on TV.
mediocregopher 5y ago
> Biodiversity is simply the best thing in the known universe. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders. If the beauty argument doesn't sway others, there's a very strong argument to be made that biodiversity is one of the biggest strengths life on earth (or anywhere else) has. To the extent someone cares about the process of life persisting onwards through time, they should care about biodiversity.

akudha 5y ago

I've met people who agree, and people who disagree, but I've never seen anyone change their minds. I've had the same experience. There are people who will not give up (or even reduce) meat no matter what - they are fully aware of the effects of the meat industry on the environment. It is pointless to even engage them in a conversation. Instead, it is better to spend the time and energy on people who are not aware of the effects, but I'd guess these are smaller numbers compared to the I know but I don't care group. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders. Much of the urban population hasn't seen this beauty, except on TV. I guess it is hard for them to have that personal connection to nature, when all the animals they know (except perhaps the ones they keep as pets and some urban dwelling birds) they have only seen on TV.

mediocregopher 5y ago

> Biodiversity is simply the best thing in the known universe. Nothing else holds a candle to the beauty, the wonder, the awe that the living world engenders. If the beauty argument doesn't sway others, there's a very strong argument to be made that biodiversity is one of the biggest strengths life on earth (or anywhere else) has. To the extent someone cares about the process of life persisting onwards through time, they should care about biodiversity.