That’s the point of the article: agriculture allowed the Earth to support a vastly larger human population than it could have otherwise, but at a cost.
Personally I’m more optimistic than the author of the article I linked that the median quality of life of a human on Planet Earth will ultimately exceed the median quality of life of a human on an Earth where agriculture had never been developed—in fact I think there’s a good chance that that’s already the case. But I don’t think it’s completely obvious, for reasons the author describes in detail.
Your claim was that it “remains to be seen” (whether agriculture turned out pretty well). I don’t think it stands. Everything has a cost.
I am aware of the Jared Diamond arguments, but note that they are based on comparison between ancient hunter-gatherers and ancient farmers. Contemporary agriculture is a wee bit different—in particular, note the diversity of food it provides, as well as its ability to deliver food out of local season.
Well, that remains to be seen.
No, I don’t think it remains to be seen.
How large a human population can Earth support without agriculture, do you think?
That’s the point of the article: agriculture allowed the Earth to support a vastly larger human population than it could have otherwise, but at a cost.
Personally I’m more optimistic than the author of the article I linked that the median quality of life of a human on Planet Earth will ultimately exceed the median quality of life of a human on an Earth where agriculture had never been developed—in fact I think there’s a good chance that that’s already the case. But I don’t think it’s completely obvious, for reasons the author describes in detail.
Your claim was that it “remains to be seen” (whether agriculture turned out pretty well). I don’t think it stands. Everything has a cost.
I am aware of the Jared Diamond arguments, but note that they are based on comparison between ancient hunter-gatherers and ancient farmers. Contemporary agriculture is a wee bit different—in particular, note the diversity of food it provides, as well as its ability to deliver food out of local season.