[ExI] Why farmers? was more deaths

[Keith Henson]

Will Steinberg <steinberg.will at gmail.com> wrote:

> Why don't the coastal elites move to Kansas and become farmers?

> Because it sucks.  Those votes are the prize for being farm slaves for the
entire country.  Not worth it in my opinion, and most people I know agree.

This can be understood from evolution.  For the last 12,000 years or
so, most of our ancestors were farmers--mine were up to a couple of
generations ago.  That's enough time for selection to have acted on
genes for whatever psychological traits are important for being a
successful farmer.

There are a fair number of such psychological traits.  I can't name
all of them, but I remember reading about some people who did not have
the genetic (and cultural) background for being a farmer.  Even
*given* a working farm, it was beyond them.  They could not grok that
cows have to be milked twice a day.

The people who are farmers in the current world are the result of
12,000 years of selection.  They are highly self-motivated and *like*
farming.  That's fortunate for us who live in cities and like that.

Keith