When We Lose Antibiotics, Here’s Everything Else We’ll Lose Too

[Silent3]

34. Back when everything we consumed was "all natural" because we hadn't invented...

... the artificial stuff yet, human life spans were much shorter on average than they are now, and often plagued by many infirmities.

Yes, simple things like improved sanitation and an abundance of food in developed countries are a big part of longer lives and better health. I'm hardly suggesting we're living longer because of Xanax and cheese puffs.

On the other hand, the sum total of artificial drugs and processed food can't be, on the whole, so very, very terrible as some people make it out to be, or it would override and largely cancel out those other gains.

I don't doubt that there are some, maybe even many natural substances that could be equal to or better for people than many profit-making artificial alternatives. But each needs to be proven on a case-by-case basis. Deciding that "natural = good, artificial = bad" is a gross oversimplification that does not serve well us as a strictly followed issue of faith.

If I were forced to oversimplify with one rule, I'd probably favor natural over artificial -- so long as we kept improved sanitation and a productive, abundant food supply. But I'm not forced into such ridiculous oversimplification, and neither is anyone else.

Living a long and healthy life, free from diseases and parasites, is actually one of the most artificial, unnatural things one can hope for.