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Comment by akmittal | Hacker News Reader

We tend to think mankind is becoming smarter and effective. But in reality we just started caring about profits in just near future.

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Profits? The Green Revolution[1] is credited with widespread reduction of poverty and hunger. The Haber Process provided the fertilizer which was one of the keys to the revolution.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution

The green revolution is also responsible for turning farming in to an industrialized process that destroys soil and farmer well-being. Not everyone thinks it was a good thing for the world.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk9ZuB9YvpM

Farmer wellbeing? Would you rather be a modern farmer or a c17th farmer?

Also farmers were destroying soil well before that. The dust bowl for one.

The video is only three minutes long. I would love for you to respond to it.

When started reading your post, I was certain the end would be different:

- "We tend to think mankind is becoming smarter and effective. But in reality we just rely on birds' shit."

I've heard talk that we are getting dumber as individuals.

Delayed gratification is extremely beneficial and hallmark of personal well-being

"We tend to think mankind is becoming smarter and effective. But in reality we just started caring about profits in just near future."

Sri-Lanka decided to become smarter all of a sudden and ban all synthetic fertilizers. Now they don't have anything to eat.

Actually, the government banned synthetic fertilizers with a view to improving the country's highly negative trade balance. It was an extreme measure improvised in a rush by a country on borrowed time. Sri Lanka isn't even being supplied in oil now, nothing to do with the ban.

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