Agriculture - The biggest mistake in human history?

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Winston
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Agriculture - The biggest mistake in human history?

Post by Winston »

The notion that the invention of agriculture being the biggest mistake in human history might sound absurd, since farming has allowed food to be produced much faster and more efficiently. But there are practical consequences related to agriculture you never considered. And the lives of hunters-gatherers were not as bad as its been made out to be. See this article:

http://discovermagazine.com/1987/may/02 ... human-race

This part at the end of the article says it all:

"Archaeologists studying the rise of farming have reconstructed a crucial stage at which we made the worst mistake in human history. Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny."
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Taco
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Post by Taco »

I agree with this comment.

"This is just about the dumbest article I've ever read. Arguing that we would be better off as primitive people. If we were still primitive hunter-gatherers, we, and this author would not be making this argument in the first place. We would not have technology and computers to write with. Only chalk and large clubs. What a moronic backward logic viewpoint."
Mr.Darcy
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Post by Mr.Darcy »

Winston, you scared me there for a moment. I thought you were saying that.
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Cornfed
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Post by Cornfed »

Taco wrote:I agree with this comment.

"This is just about the dumbest article I've ever read. Arguing that we would be better off as primitive people. If we were still primitive hunter-gatherers, we, and this author would not be making this argument in the first place. We would not have technology and computers to write with. Only chalk and large clubs. What a moronic backward logic viewpoint."
Given that the comment is a non sequitur, you would appear to be saying that you are a complete idiot and that nothing you say should ever be taken seriously again. OK.
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Cornfed
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Re: Agriculture - The biggest mistake in human history?

Post by Cornfed »

Winston wrote:The notion that the invention of agriculture being the biggest mistake in human history might sound absurd, since farming has allowed food to be produced much faster and more efficiently.
Eh? Agriculture is much less efficient in terms of calories in vs. calories out and obviously it is going to be much faster to kill a deer than grow olives or rice or whatever.
Renata
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Post by Renata »

Every action has a reaction; plants & food grow naturally in the wild, the lush green forests are evidence of this ... but man always tries to create his own version of what already exists in nature with good intent most of the time. Unfortunately everything has it's pros & cons.

Take for instance people who wear glasses. If it weren't for the intervention & invention of the spectacles then all the poor sighted would have succumed to accident & died off quicker. But no, they live on & are passing on the poor eyesight genes ... I've seen toddlers with glasses, that's rediculous. Even the balance of natural selection is way out of wack due to modern science, but this is our nature. It's normal for us to exist this way.
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Post by momopi »

Coming from Taiwan, our pre-modern indigenous tribesmen kept each other's population down by head hunting until the early 20th century.

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