[Art]

A robot with a task of roving through rows of corn to help provide farmers better data for increased production, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/science/farm-agriculture-robots.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

[krayvonk]

This is more like what im into, rather than cyborgism and biotech,  i hate that crap.  Its a real nightmare only god can save you from, like smoking too many cigarettes.

[Art]

Yeah but ultimately, those farmers will take that data and introduce some newly devised formulations into the corn kernel to create a modified GMO. What do you really think you've been eating for decades? Genetically Modified Organisms. All manner of science goes into plants and animals to produce a bigger, stronger more resistant to disease, Larger beef and chicken meat, plants with blight resistance, insect infestation or to be more resistant to periods of very little rain or lots of sun or to produce more crop yield with tighter spaces between rows, etc.

The old adage of "You are what you eat" rings ever so true. I'm glad you like the good robots instead of the ones who silently kill you in your sleep like the HAL9000! 

[krayvonk]

Yes, and there is hydroponics, is it safe?   I feel helpless in a world I dont understand.

[Art]

Perhaps...

Morpheus: Let me tell you why you’re here. You know something. What you know, you can’t explain, but you feel it. You felt it your entire life. There’s something’s wrong with the world. You don’t know what, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Neo: The Matrix.

Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
[Neo nods]

Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind.

[krayvonk]

I know that too,  and its very bothersome,  how am I supposed to protect myself?  or should I even bother [protecting myself] or even bother locking my door?
With something so powerful there that isnt you,  theres even a pointlessness about existing at all.

[HS]

It might be worse if there was a supreme point to everything. At least now you can relax and have a measure of peace, with the universe not relying on you to succeed at the point. It could be nice of the universe to be overarchingly indifferent, instead of placing you in a situation where you feel harassed like that.

[infurl]

I had a pretty good hydroponics garden once upon a time. The potential for automation (robotics) held a lot of appeal, in addition to the quality of the produce and the efficiency with which it could be grown. Hydroponics needs only one tenth of the water that traditional horticulture uses, although the water supply does have to be much more pure.

https://asmith.id.au/hydroponics.html

[WriterOfMinds]

With something so powerful there that isnt you,  theres even a pointlessness about existing at all.

I'm cool with things that are more powerful than me.  If we were all just the same, it seems to me the world would be more boring.

Here's something I've learned: you don't always get to control what happens to you, but you do get to control who you are and how you react.  And that by itself is a priceless treasure -- if you choose well, at least.

[Art]

@ krayvonk,

Your latest response reminds me of that well-worn song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
Think about the last part of it...

"Life is but a dream."

Perhaps it is...

[krayvonk]

Might as well jump in front of a bus.   

[OllieGee]

Interesting how this post turned from an agrii-tech field monitoring robot to us questioning whether we're trapped in matrix type dream.
Both highly pressing A. I debates 
I just dream of the day I can go out and buy a juicy vegetarian/mushroom steak that tastes just as good as a juicy serloin but at a fraction of the cost... I suspect someone's already working on that...

[Art]

OR...you could try (at least in the USA) the Impossible Burger, at Burger King. Their ads try their best to convince the rest of us that their (plant-based) burgers look and taste the same as real beef burgers. The jury is still out for now.

I know there are several locations in the UK that have Burger King restaurants but whether they serve those veggie burgers is a mystery to me. Anyone?

[OllieGee]

Not seen those in the BKs here yet Art, but something I did try there recently was the rebel whopper. A vegan burger. And it was.... EXCELLENT!