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Perhaps that was a bad example since it's too much of a person-by-person thing (for myself I can definitely say I get more done if I don't have to spend hours o
by moffkalast 2y ago
Perhaps that was a bad example since it's too much of a person-by-person thing (for myself I can definitely say I get more done if I don't have to spend hours on chores), but the fact that we can as a society actually do anything at all beyond just surviving is down to tractors and combine harvesters, so 98% of us don't have to work in food production anymore. The base level of complete chore automation that we've apparently all forgotten about. The fact that a job at JPL even exists is down to that and to manufacturing automation afterwards.
- sunshinesnacks 2y agoMy chemical engineer friends like to point out that the Haber-Bosch process has doubled global food production, or something like that. In the same “industrial agriculture” category as tractors and combines.
- moffkalast 2y agoYes indeed, it's the main source of nitrogen for fertilizer. Otherwise we'd be back to leaving a third of the fields empty to regenerate with clover or similar plants that deposit nitrogen, plus having lower yields in general.
- sunshinesnacks 2y agoI guess tractors/combines made a much bigger difference than fertilizer. > The base level of complete chore automation that we've apparently all forgotten about. This is easy to forget. I try to occasionally remind myself that a safe office job, nearly unlimited food, and electric machines (boring robots?) to do work for me at home are all pretty incredible. The majority of my physical exertion is for fun and health reasons.