Science Memes

10818 readers

2577 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
Keep it rooted (on topic).
No spam.
Infographics welcome, get schooled.

Research Committee

[email protected]

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

397

shrimp is bugs (mander.xyz)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

69 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I draw the line at "overpopulated" when our resource consumption is unsustainable to the point where we are becoming the sole consumer of the planet.

It's commonly stated that we would need 2 planets the same size to sustain our current population in a way that doesn't result in eventual collapse.

We've cleared vast land areas and scoured the sea of fish in our quest for calories. Eating bugs will not be the solution that makes us sustainable.

It's been proven our population increases every time we increase our carrying capacity, such as through the invention of nitrogen fertilizer, mechanized agriculture etc. And there has never been a time that there were not people starving somewhere.

If we carry on this path we will be eating bugs and people will still be starving while ecosystems continue to collapse. It sounds like there is no net gain, IMO.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

It's almost all about resource allocation. We can easily support a much larger population, but we have so much waste.

If we carry on this path we will be eating bugs and people will still be starving while ecosystems continue to collapse. It sounds like there is no net gain, IMO.

Yeah, I don't get this. The bad thing in this sentence seems to be emphasizing the eating of bugs. I could write the same sentence and say corn instead. I still haven't seen a reason of why eating bugs is a bad thing, besides you just thinking it's gross. I eat raw oysters. Gross is relative, not intrinsic.

The carrying capacity of Earth is based on how efficiently we use resources. We could feed everyone on earth today if we didn't have waste, and we aren't even using all the arable land that's available, let alone using it efficiently. Farming bugs would easily multiply our efficiency.

I can only see that as a good thing. More people means more ideas. More ideas mean more innovations and things that could move us forward. I see Humans, assuming we survive the next century or so, as a multi-planet species. If we can get to the point that life as we know it isn't stuck to one rock I see that as a good thing to seek. If we have more innovations, that can only speed up that process and increase the chance we make it.