Epictetus comments on Stupid Questions June 2015 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Gondolinian 31 May 2015 02:14AM

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Comment author: Epictetus 02 June 2015 01:49:47AM 0 points [-]

I see two failure modes for agriculture:

  1. Unsuitable land. A tundra or desert would be an extreme example. Something like a steppe could lack arable land and almost require a nomadic lifestyle.

  2. Land of plenty. If food is easy to come by and hunger almost non-existent, agriculture might not be worth the effort in the short-term.

Comment author: Elo 02 June 2015 02:03:45AM 0 points [-]

in mode 1: those who can conserve food resources and potentially grow food where it would be naturally scarce will survive.

in mode 2: the population should expand to meet the available food and force scarcity eventually.