tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005339752957379026.post2265683738520011970..comments2023-10-29T07:15:21.919-04:00Comments on Intelligent Falling: Eating cows is not bad for the environmentJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15115112001151182281noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005339752957379026.post-75406253917217008562010-01-13T12:52:54.908-05:002010-01-13T12:52:54.908-05:00Fair enough... I don't recall your exact state...Fair enough... I don't recall your exact statement either.<br /><br />I guess my take-home point is that there is no intrinsic good or bad. When one uses a word like "good", "bad", "terrible", or "wonderful", they should qualify it with a specific purpose (ie. something that could, in principle, be measured). At least, that's my understanding of the scientific outlook.<br /><br />Of course, that doesn't make the statement right. Indeed, it becomes harder to make accurate statements when you're held to this kind of standard.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15115112001151182281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005339752957379026.post-89632301573531954132010-01-13T11:41:35.990-05:002010-01-13T11:41:35.990-05:00I realize I completely forgot to respond to the &q...I realize I completely forgot to respond to the "eating beef is bad for the environmenet."<br /><br />I don't think I used those exact words, and if I did, they were in error. What I believe I said was that eating too much beef (and I don't have the answer to how much "too much is") is bad for the environment. ;)Billhttp://onekci.com/bulmernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005339752957379026.post-41404833827347840342010-01-13T11:38:15.973-05:002010-01-13T11:38:15.973-05:00Thanks for writing about this Jeff. I've been...Thanks for writing about this Jeff. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. <br /><br />In response to your comment, I actually couldn't agree more.....<br /><br />"Raising cows to eat is terrible for the purpose of water conservation."<br /><br />"... terrible for the purpose of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions."<br /><br />Both of those examples are completely true. <br /><br />I think our difference in opinion appears to be around the term "environment" here. True, the environment is a hugely complex system. But as complex as it is, it relies on all parts to be an effective system. Being a closed system, if you affect one part of the system (either through contaminating/using up too much water or disrupting the natural cycles of atmospheric CO2 as in your examples) you affect the system as a whole. No water, no livable environment; no clean air to breathe, no livable environment.<br /><br />So, to split hairs, I don't think it's too much of a leap to say if it's bad for a part of the system, it's bad for the whole.<br /><br />So, if I may use your example of sugar, eating excessive sugar or having a high fat diet is not only bad for your weight, but also causes cancer, hardened arteries, diabetes.....it can cause the whole system to shut down.Bill Bulmerhttp://onekci.com/bulmernoreply@blogger.com