> We would have discovered poisonous or second order effects long ago...Here's an easy counterpoint to that:...mushrooms
Enh. Not so much. Just the fact that we know mushrooms are often poisonous is useful, actionable knowledge by itself.
Traditional diets generally work. They have stood the test of time. The extent to which they are harmful long term can be studied effectively because we have potential access to lots of data.
> the history of identifying dangerous mushrooms have amply demonstrated that people have trouble connecting cause and effect in terms of diet
Folklore isn't perfect, but it is effective to some extent. Given enough time in a large enough population, it does well enough. I have no fundamental problem with engineered foods. It's the complexity of the systems involved, the potentially high stakes, the questionable incentives of the producers, and the comparative paucity of data that bother me. Now that we have billions on the planet and many hundreds of millions living 1st world lives, maybe we'll make some inroads here as well.
Enh. Not so much. Just the fact that we know mushrooms are often poisonous is useful, actionable knowledge by itself.
Traditional diets generally work. They have stood the test of time. The extent to which they are harmful long term can be studied effectively because we have potential access to lots of data.
> the history of identifying dangerous mushrooms have amply demonstrated that people have trouble connecting cause and effect in terms of diet
Folklore isn't perfect, but it is effective to some extent. Given enough time in a large enough population, it does well enough. I have no fundamental problem with engineered foods. It's the complexity of the systems involved, the potentially high stakes, the questionable incentives of the producers, and the comparative paucity of data that bother me. Now that we have billions on the planet and many hundreds of millions living 1st world lives, maybe we'll make some inroads here as well.