9 ms·

One of the most consistent technological innovations throughout humanity's existence has been in improving how we eat, because eating is by far one of the bigge

One of the most consistent technological innovations throughout humanity's existence has been in improving how we eat, because eating is by far one of the biggest pleasures a person can have in life. The invention of fire revolutionized eating, the invention of agriculture revolutionized access to food at a fundamental level, the invention of refrigeration and freezing vastly expanded the reach and safety of food from point of harvest to dinner table, and the past century or so has dramatically democratized the kinds of food a person can choose to eat. This notion of sacrificing Quality of Eating(tm) is therefore a non-starter, humanity demands and strives for better eating. Any proposal to change how we produce food must accept it must co-exist with continued improvements to eating.

lm28469 3y ago
> eating is by far one of the biggest pleasures a person can have in life. With 70% of the west being obese or overweight I think the pendulum swung way too far. > This notion of sacrificing Quality of Eating(tm) is therefore a non-starter When did factory farms meat become quality ?? I think you're mistaking quantity and low price for quality. You'd have to be blind to not see how the quality of food decreased in the past decades, my grandparents ate much less meat but almost everything was local
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  Let me put it in terms of tech so the audience here can relate better: The computers we have at home and in our pockets are inferior in quality to enterprise servers and mainframes, but everyone has computers and nobody is willing to go back to simple Casio calculators and slide rules. The meats we have at home are inferior in quality to artisan meats, but everyone has meats and nobody is willing to go back to eating other people's refuse (I'm aware organ meats are perfectly fine food, but let's be real for a moment) and porridge every day. Our access to food today is nothing short of utterly insane to people just a century ago, and rightfully noone is willing to let it go.
  - skhunted 3y ago
    As a description of human behavior and how humans are local optimization machines I think you are spot on. This is where I disagree with you: …rightfully noone is willing… I don’t believe this is right in the moral sense or in a global optimization sense. The world’s people are getting richer and as the world’s population begins to live more and more like Americans the world becomes exponentially more polluted. This will eventually affect us all. The world is becoming a toxic shithole. The right thing to do is to make changes now. But for the reasons you stated this isn’t going to happen. As a species we are local optimization machines and we don’t seek to find the global optimum.
    - Dalewyn 3y ago
      >the world becomes exponentially more polluted. ... The world is becoming a toxic shithole. I would strongly advise easing off on your intake of mainstream news media, the real world is quite pleasant out here.
      - skhunted 3y ago
        I use Foxnews.com. Who should I use? Isn’t it a mathematical fact that if Americans consume exponentially more resources than others then as more people gain wealth commensurate with Americans then exponentially more resources will be consumed? Or do you think Americans are especially greedy in this respect? I had not considered that possibility. https://www.foxnews.com/health/forever-chemicals-found-us-drinking-water-map-shows-hot-spots-highest-levels https://www.foxnews.com/health/forever-chemicals-found-us-dr... https://www.foxnews.com/world/india-new-delhi-air-pollution-health https://www.foxnews.com/world/india-new-delhi-air-pollution-... https://www.foxnews.com/health/contaminated-beach-water-could-make-swimmers-sick-new-pollution-report-several-troubling-trends https://www.foxnews.com/health/contaminated-beach-water-coul... https://www.foxnews.com/world/global-air-pollution-persists-leading-health-risk-hitting-asia-africa-hardest https://www.foxnews.com/world/global-air-pollution-persists-...
        Dalewyn 3y ago
globnomulous 3y ago
> the invention of agriculture revolutionized access to food at a fundamental level And human health didn't recover for thousands of years

lm28469 3y ago

> eating is by far one of the biggest pleasures a person can have in life. With 70% of the west being obese or overweight I think the pendulum swung way too far. > This notion of sacrificing Quality of Eating(tm) is therefore a non-starter When did factory farms meat become quality ?? I think you're mistaking quantity and low price for quality. You'd have to be blind to not see how the quality of food decreased in the past decades, my grandparents ate much less meat but almost everything was local

Dalewyn 3y ago
Let me put it in terms of tech so the audience here can relate better: The computers we have at home and in our pockets are inferior in quality to enterprise servers and mainframes, but everyone has computers and nobody is willing to go back to simple Casio calculators and slide rules. The meats we have at home are inferior in quality to artisan meats, but everyone has meats and nobody is willing to go back to eating other people's refuse (I'm aware organ meats are perfectly fine food, but let's be real for a moment) and porridge every day. Our access to food today is nothing short of utterly insane to people just a century ago, and rightfully noone is willing to let it go.
- skhunted 3y ago
  As a description of human behavior and how humans are local optimization machines I think you are spot on. This is where I disagree with you: …rightfully noone is willing… I don’t believe this is right in the moral sense or in a global optimization sense. The world’s people are getting richer and as the world’s population begins to live more and more like Americans the world becomes exponentially more polluted. This will eventually affect us all. The world is becoming a toxic shithole. The right thing to do is to make changes now. But for the reasons you stated this isn’t going to happen. As a species we are local optimization machines and we don’t seek to find the global optimum.
  - Dalewyn 3y ago
    >the world becomes exponentially more polluted. ... The world is becoming a toxic shithole. I would strongly advise easing off on your intake of mainstream news media, the real world is quite pleasant out here.
    - skhunted 3y ago
      I use Foxnews.com. Who should I use? Isn’t it a mathematical fact that if Americans consume exponentially more resources than others then as more people gain wealth commensurate with Americans then exponentially more resources will be consumed? Or do you think Americans are especially greedy in this respect? I had not considered that possibility. https://www.foxnews.com/health/forever-chemicals-found-us-drinking-water-map-shows-hot-spots-highest-levels https://www.foxnews.com/health/forever-chemicals-found-us-dr... https://www.foxnews.com/world/india-new-delhi-air-pollution-health https://www.foxnews.com/world/india-new-delhi-air-pollution-... https://www.foxnews.com/health/contaminated-beach-water-could-make-swimmers-sick-new-pollution-report-several-troubling-trends https://www.foxnews.com/health/contaminated-beach-water-coul... https://www.foxnews.com/world/global-air-pollution-persists-leading-health-risk-hitting-asia-africa-hardest https://www.foxnews.com/world/global-air-pollution-persists-...
      - Dalewyn 3y ago

globnomulous 3y ago

> the invention of agriculture revolutionized access to food at a fundamental level And human health didn't recover for thousands of years