yeah if it was about empathy they'd be trying to give them a good environment in the real world instead of developing VR for cows...
this shit is more dystopian than the Matrix because the machines were at least doing the rational thing
humans can't stop irrationally draining our only planet of life
this cow VR is only rational in the narrow view of only maximizing profits, but it comes at the obvious expense of the externalities wasting resources on cow VR instead of making a real pasture ecosystem that can make happy cows, capture carbon, and regenerate topsoil (research the rate of topsoil erosion in the world, it's scary and seriously underreported)
Disagree. There's no way this is cost effective and it's basically just theater that anthropomorphizes what a human thinks would make a cow happy.
Cows don't know what VR is, and having visual input that is at odds with the rest of their sensory input is more likely to be stressful that calming.
They're prey animals. If they hear a noise coming up on them or feel an unexpected touch they're going to want to look at it or may get freaked out if they can't identify the source.
They risk injury if they walk on uneven ground or past obstacles without awareness.
They can't eat or smell the "pretty" grass which is really what motivates cows to seek it; they're not after pastoral views.
Basically this whole idea is foolishness and sounds more like it was designed to be appreciated by cattle welfare sympathizers, not something that a cow actually benefits from.
I agree with both. The farmers are trying to be efficient at maximizing profits, and failing because humans simply aren't smart enough, in many situations. Example: dairy farmers don't fully understand their cows' basic needs/fears/milk production.
To make matters worse, "environmentally-friendly" marketing is now profitable, regardless of a business' actual practices or intent. One could insert any group there: LGBTQ-friendly, women-friendly, African American-friendly, and the principle holds. This is why capitalism/business will never solve our most important social and environmental challenges. And why the U.S. government must remove $$ from politics-- it produces greedy, inefficient solutions.
On the bright side, those cows look pretty cool though, am I right?
236
u/Faglerwagen 26d ago
That, and having too much empathy for a career in the food industry