Anyone reading this blog - naturally I hope someone does! - will have noticed me banging on about technology. 

That is quite deliberate. The war in Ukraine has for now brought the West together. But long seated divides can be expected to reappear as technology exerts its influence. For instance, the alarms about the nuclear power stations in Ukraine will ensure that nuclear power is even more controversial than hitherto (unless fusion comes to the rescue).

Another case is the animal rights movement, which runs alongside developing alternatives to (animal) meat. In one sense, this is not new as vegetarianism and prohibition on eating meat have been widespread in Indian cultures for millennia. But, instead of old religious ideas of non-violence, the new global movement draws heavily on scientific research revealing the sentience of many animals, including capacity for suffering and at least episodic consciousness. That provides a new case for basic rights for animals. Further, commercial development of cultured and plant-based meats enables people (and cultures) with no past history of vegetarianism or veganism to adopt these if they wish.

I would venture the prediction that food technology will continue to expand our choice of morality, perhaps even to the point of excluding plants so that we rely entirely on synthetic foods.

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