About artificial meat, robots and future redistribution of the food market

Ten thousand years ago, humans and domesticated animals occupy 1% of the Earth's biomass. Today, if we take 100% all living things, the following picture: 32% we occupy 65% ​​- animals that we eat (Mainly cows, pigs, chickens, geese, sheep, and rabbits), and only 3% - the rest fauna, together taken. At this point I recommend to make some coffee, to comprehend the magnitude of these numbers and only then read on.

Over the last two thousand years we have destroyed 98% of all existing in the world of animals, of which 50% destroyed in the last 40 years. And not only and not so much due to changes in carbon dioxide emission volumes from mills and factories. The main reason of mass genocide is in violation of the natural balance, the perversion of the composition of the biomass of the planet: animals that are on this planet does not need in such numbers from an evolutionary point of view, today it dominate. And the only reason for that - our love wings BBQ, stew and steaks (which we cultivate and guard against natural population controls such as predators and diseases).

According to the Humane Society of 2015, only clog 9.2 billion animals in the United States for food each year. For global statistics, this number can be easily multiplied by 100: the US population - 321 million people, if they eat carcasses 9.2 billion in year, the whole world (including uneven availability of food can be roughly interpolated) will consume approximately one trillion animals a year by 2020 year.

To ensure that the whole chain of "food" of life - from mass insemination and incubators to recycling - Humanity has built an enormous cost several trillion dollars of infrastructure, which employs tens of millions of people. Raising animals on such a scale is impossible without the development of farming and production profile: pasture, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, packaging and so on. And then - an unexpected turn. :)

About it, few people know, but so far in social networks dominated by Elon Musk with Mars, and unmanned vehicles artificial Intelligence (Or rather the danger of monopoly), several large venture capital funds such as New Crop Capital, SOSV, Fifty Years, KBW Ventures, Inevitable Ventures and some individuals (for example, Sergey Brin, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Kimball Musk, the brother of Ilona) systematically invested in the industry of synthetic meat.

What it is? Before you there is a healthy cow, reared selected grain for slaughter in the most expensive steaks. She has taken DNA samples and stem cells. Further, in the laboratory are grown meat, which is present in taste by not different. Moreover, it is healthier and tastier - it is artificially enriched with trace elements, vitamins, collagen and so on, and all unnecessary and harmful take away as many risks, because of which, for example, to the modern meat used antibiotics and growth hormones, there are virtually no relevant. Well, no living creature is no longer killed by current barbaric blow to the head, before you get on the plate.

These experiments commenced yesterday: Brin invested more in 2013, about the rest of the Internet is very little information.

It is known that the first results are already there: the world there are a few startups that have managed to to achieve virtually indistinguishable similarity of their products in the real meat taste, color and texture.

While synthetic meat is very expensive, but the price is falling rapidly: synthetic meat cutlet in the beginning was worth about 300 thousand dollars today, I have already met the price of $ 12 for the same cutlet. Moreover, developers are confident that will be able to set a price significantly lower than the average for the market of the meat - which is about $ 8 per kilogram at retail in the United States. According to experts, we are talking about the market in a few trillion dollars a year.

If they manage to do this, the world will become more beautiful at times we stop killing animals army, gradually refund balance composition fauna shorten incredible amount of toxic and harmful emissions (significant often with₂ and others - including product livestock farming and industry), and the food will be useful, Affordable, nutritious and manufactured on automated robotic factories - the so-called replicators, invented by visionaries in the last century - and it will be magical!

Stop... stop, stop. Will it? There are also at least three reasons for concern.

1. Workplaces

Many professions due to the development of services like Uber, Airbnb, and TripAdvisor is already disappearing or disappeared tens of thousands of people are forced to seek a new job, and not always successful. Just in the news do not write about it. unmanned vehicles and all nailed up nail in the coffin with the words "taxi" and "private cargo transportation."

Relative to the livestock industry, we've been talking about tens of millions of people around the world who can really stay on the street.

Technologies like this are implemented immediately, in a matter of years, because the profit is clear. What will be doing all of these people, whose services will not be needed now? Of course, some of them find work in the new factories replicated food, but they are almost completely automated and jobs will be there with gulkin nose. Therefore, this decision should not be in the hands of a few companies. It should be a public dialogue.

2. Monopoly and control

Replication food - knowledge-intensive and technology-based task. It may decide only those countries / companies that possess the know-how, patents and expertise, as well as have the opportunity to deliver an educated work force. Of course, some things are eventually licensed, will be parallel to the "open" other researchers, in addition to the US, but the fact is as follows: Third World countries whose governments do not able to build underground in the center of the city, not to mention the replicators, will fall at the mercy of the "Big Eight", which will be available replicators as well as it is today - a peaceful nuclear energy.

One of the factors of pressure one country to another will not be military sanctions in the UN, and the threat of reducing the food supply, to reduce them to the minimum subsistence level.

Already, the world is a country entirely dependent on farming, animal husbandry and the external supply of water and food. This dependence will increase. And potentially it could end up with blood.

3. System of values

In an ideal world, replicating food system - a piece is very good and correct, especially if the main value of the company - getting of new knowledge and creation, culture and collaboration, and money every inhabitant of the Earth receives every month, free of charge, in the right itself volume and spends not hoarding, not a luxury, but that he needs and wants, but does not interfere with basic life goals.

But our society is far from these values, while the world is dominated by the consumer society and the cult erected no knowledge, no creation, no happiness, and possession of something.

Therefore, there is a real chance that the world we do not Save the: all that is grown in a replicator, will be available, but "bespontovye" for the elite. As a consequence, will increase demand for the "elite" food, which is inaccessible to clone grown "old way." Not because it tastes better, but because it is banal "prestigious". And there's a chance for the golden billion will continue to kill animals, perhaps other rare. For values ​​in society are - nothing to do with proteins, fats and carbohydrates are not available.

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The bottom line is not clear, what more harm or good. I'm not saying that this is what happens. But I decided to contact you to share these thoughts and ask what you think yourself.