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Notes -
Technology as politics.
Feminism is more a product of the washing machine, the pill and air conditioning than it is political organizing. It is less an ideology than it is a set of opinions enabled by a certain level of technological advancement.
Anti-racism is more a product of the steam engine than it is of any moral progress. All of human history no one thought to free the slaves, until one day from out of nowhere.....the richest and most technologically advanced society on earth invented a way to turn fossil fuels into energy and all the sudden slavery and the racism that supported it isn't strictly necessary. Hence "moral progress".
Today, we all benefit from less-than-free labor in third world nations making us cheaper consumer products. In the most technologically backward parts of the world slavery still exists. That is not because those are worse people than those of us who can afford to pay for the labor that supports our first world lifestyles.
The "moral" arc of history bends toward whatever options technology provides.
What this means for the age of AI is anyone's guess.
The obvious extension to this is that vegetarianism/veganism will become much more popular if or when tasty and cheap cultured meat becomes available. It's the only (at least somewhat) likely path to "vegan cultural victory" I can see, and if they were strategic they'd invest as much money and clout as possible to make it happen.
And much like other technology-to-political thrusts, people will intentionally mistake technological capability with moral rectitude.
"We have an alternative to meet that's cheaper, more nutritious, and doesnt hurt the cows."
"Cool, I'm gonna eat this cow."
"Why wouldn't you want cheaper and better and no-harm-cow?"
"I just like what I like. It's tradition for me."
"JAIL!"
Exaggeration and hyperbole because I'm on an internet forum, but this is the blueprint of a Clear and Present Danger (great move, BTW).
To be clear, I'm a techno accelerationist who is incensed that we continually step on our own foot and prevent amazing human achievement for very vibes based reasoning (candidate 1: nuclear power) .... but I am a cultural traditionalist that believes that supporting tradition in culture - even when it falls out of vogue - is the only way to prevent the sky robots from reading our brainwaves. (I'm having fun today).
Here's an example you may not have thought of; e-mail addresses. E-mail addresses are now de facto on almost every legal document you will encounter. This was not the case well into the 2000s. Now, if you decide you do not want to use the "miracle" of Al Gore's internet, you are self-selecting out of a massive amount of economic opportunity in the western world. Nevermind a telephone number / cell phone.
It's fun for me to point and laugh at Vegans right now, but their moralistic hectoring and willingness to weaponized emotional propriety are the exact same strategy and tactics as the Transcult. They are coming not for my Big Macs, but my right to exist as a Big Mac enjoyer.
It also won't matter if the technology is any good. It'll be like light bulbs -- "Here, we have this perfect substitute which uses a lot less energy" (hands you flickering, over-large, buzzing, mercury-filled fluorescent emitting weirdly colored light). With meat it'll be "here's this disgusting slop in the vague shape of a steak... it's good enough, meat's banned".
And it was worth it. LED lights with good CRIs are better in every way that matters when compared to incandescents.
I think it's unfair to the Vegans to imagine that they want the quality of meat substitute to always remain slop, though given their purity politics I think it's only mildly uncharitable.
At any rate, they haven't won that culture war, just managed to carve out a niche from which they struggle to progress further, especially to the wider world that doesn't really give a shit about the conditions the chicken on their table lived in.
If I believe that incandescents are "better" in a "way" that you believe does not matter, is it alright for me to own and operate one?
Sure. Why should I care?
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Incandescents were banned before LEDs were available (and most LEDs have terrible CRIs)
I am aware of that, hence the whole passage that followed after about barely passable slop not staying that way.
You didn't seem to address the "mist LEDs have terrible CRIs" part.
And LEDs with great CRIs are available for those who care. The overwhelming majority of people don't, at most they dislike overly cool lighting, which is even easier to solve.
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