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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 30, 2023

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Uh, 400 years ago we were subsistence farmers. Which famously leads to malnutrition and stunted growth, as we can see with height rising in europe over the last centuries. People raised on non-organic lentils and meat are mostly substantially healthier than farmers who ate organic nongmo grain.

Entertainment is cheaper? Are the 2020s versions of Lord of the Rings equivalent to the 2000s? Are the 2010-20s versions of Star Wars equivalent to the previous ones?

Star Wars and LOTR are still available, and in fact cheaper. And we have anime now!

Does $1 million spent in real estate in SF or NYC give you the same quality of life than 20 years ago?

Yes which is bad but that has a specific identifiable cause (pervasive land use restrictions) rather than the economy being bad.

People raised on non-organic lentils and meat are mostly substantially healthier than farmers who ate organic nongmo grain.

Who is that? The average Westerner eats processed food and micro-plastics, and drinks artificial hormones and corn syrup. European farmers were not vegans, idk where you got this idea from.

Star Wars and LOTR are still available, and in fact cheaper. And we have anime now!

Avatar the last airbender came out in the 2000s, I'm not aware of any other successful Western-made anime. If anything the new Pixar and Disney cartoons are worse than the past ones.

Does $1 million spent in real estate in SF or NYC give you the same quality of life than 20 years ago? Yes which is bad but that has a specific identifiable cause (pervasive land use restrictions) rather than the economy being bad.

The mayor of NYC blames it on immigration. City-dwellers need to learn to tackle their crime problem before they preach to others about increasing population density.

European farmers were not vegans, idk where you got this idea from.

Vegan? I said their diets relied on grain, and that they had many more health problems than modern people, as demonstrated by lower heights caused by stunted growth.

The US doesn't make anime, but USians watch anime, so they aren't poorer by your standard. I don't like the current state of western media, but that's not super relevant to the point.

The mayor of NYC blames it on immigration

Yeah, he's wrong, Eric Adams is twitter famous for saying a ton of funny contradictory incoherent things.

as demonstrated by lower heights caused by stunted growth.

What evidence do you have this was caused by malnutrition? I haven't taken a direct look at the skeletal remains, but royal beds were tiny by our standards. And I don't know if they meant it to be accurate, but some museums I visited opted to portray the richest men at the time as pretty short as well.

It's the scientific consensus? This is a review on the topic.

In regard to your specific objection, a recent study found that those in higher social classes were taller: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8516076/

It's the scientific consensus?

So?

In regard to your specific objection, a recent study found that those in higher social classes were taller: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8516076/

There's a trend there, but not as massive as you're implying. The gentry is about the same height as the wealthier craftsmen. Also, what you said sounded like the difference in height between people now and then comes to malnutrition, and to my knowledge that simply cannot by supported. The aristocrats wouldn't be just a few centimeters above average, if that was the case, they would be towering giants.

It's the scientific consensus? So?

The (very broad) review I linked itself links to other reviews that go into the evidence for why nutrition was a component.

The gentry is about the same height as the wealthier craftsmen. Also, what you said sounded like the difference in height between people now and then comes to malnutrition, and to my knowledge that simply cannot by supported. The aristocrats wouldn't be just a few centimeters above average, if that was the case, they would be towering giants.

I imagine it saturates, you can't become a giant today by eating 4kcal/day. And I think some of the growth stunting was caused by disease.

The (very broad) review I linked itself links to other reviews that go into the evidence for why nutrition was a component.

It being a component does is not enough to prove the very broad point you were making earlier.

I imagine it saturates, you can't become a giant today by eating 4kcal/day.

Yes, my point exactly.

And I think some of the growth stunting was caused by disease.

Sure, but that's neither here nor there regarding the quality of their nutrition. No one denies the progress in hygiene and medicine.