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Alternatively, I would argue that much harm has been done to agriculture by the 'information' sector in general. Commoditizing and industrializing food producti
by jiveturkey42 4y ago
Alternatively, I would argue that much harm has been done to agriculture by the 'information' sector in general. Commoditizing and industrializing food production (a reduction to data and numbers) has caused most of the issues collectively known as the 'modern American diet'
- kickout 4y agoKind of agree. I don't think ag was malicious in that regard. No different than any business trying to maximize profits by any* means necessary (tm). Just so happens it affects human health.
- true_religion 4y agoOkay, but I don't think anyone of us are part of the information sector that's commoditizing food production. OP said we are unaware of agriculture, and I mostly agree unless you're in an agrarian area or country, you simply won't learn about these things. Additionally what you're talking about sounds more like actions prompted by business 'leaders' and not IT staff making databases.
- jiveturkey42 4y agoI don't blame the individual IT staff or engineers for being foot soldiers of corporate mandate. I do blame the mindset of 'every problem can be solved with enough data'
- cinntaile 4y agoIf you have the right data, I don't see why not?
- onemoresoop 4y agoIn theory yes but.. How do you know when you have the right data and how do you know you're solving the right problem and not causing others? So far confidence and hubris came with myopia.
- cinntaile 4y agoThat's a problem you have even when not relying on "enough" right data to base your decisions off of. With data you can at least have a more scientific approach to it all. It is correct that science and data gets hijacked for political goals as well, so it's not necessarily a road to success.
- salawat 4y agoWhat heppens when you think you have the right data but don't? How about when everyone else thinks they have the right data, but don't, you do, but can't scale because of institutional inertia and risk? Q.E.D. Farming and logistics are infuriatingly hard problems, toghtly coupled with the fundamental problems of signaling and distributed systems.
- cinntaile 4y agoYou can't ask 2 questions and then claim it's been proven?
- true_religion 4y agoIt seems you have a broader compliant, so let me ask you: What's the alternative to using scientific process to solve problems? Agriculture effects the environment, uses shared resources, and is necessary for the continuation of human life. I would be really wary about going with a gut feeling to solve such a large important problem.