Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Suppose the truck is a Tesla pickup?
Returning to less productive means of farming would be bad. Moving forward to vertical hydroponic robot grocery stores would be good.
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Smaller, more distributed farming might be feasible in the future, but as of right now it is not.
I suspect when we solve our electricity problem to the point of having it for practically free combined with advances in robotics and more sophisticated automation, we'll be able to utilize small spaces and get high yields while reducing negative externalities.
If labor was near zero marginal cost for things like pest control, we'd have no need for pesticides. The robots could be pulling weeds, applying just the right nutrients exactly where needed, and harvesting when each plant is at peak rather than needing to harvest everything at once. Perhaps crops wouldn't need to be plowed under every year too.
I haven't read Jeremy Rifkin's book yet, but I think it's probable that we'll continue technological progress that approaches zero marginal cost goods. Of course, that will present whole new problems, but at least it gives us mere humans something to do.