Category: Society

According to a 2016 BBC report, if the world were to go vegetarian by 2050, it could result in approximately seven million fewer deaths per year. This thought experiment reveals the profound and complex impacts that would follow if we stopped eating meat, reshaping society, health, and the global ecosystem.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the average person will use over a million pounds of minerals in their lifetime. The importance of minerals in our life and society cannot be overstated, as these naturally occurring resources form the fundamental building blocks of modern civilization and are vital for our biological health.

Over 30 different minerals are used to create a single mobile phone, illustrating just one of the countless ways in which minerals affect society and shape our daily lives. These natural resources are the hidden foundation of our technological advancements, economic systems, and even our biological functions. From the microchip to the food on our plates, our civilization is built upon the extraction and use of minerals.

The modern diet industry, valued at approximately $76 billion in 2022, didn't appear overnight, with the roots of diet culture in America tracing back to 19th-century moral movements and medical developments that first linked body size to character and virtue.

In 1907, statistician Francis Galton observed that the average guess of a butchered ox's weight by a crowd at a fair was astoundingly accurate. This famous anecdote poses a central question: is people's choice good, and can it be trusted? The answer is far more complex than a simple yes or no, balancing the potential for collective wisdom with the dangers of popular fallacies and social pressures.