Interesting take! I found myself having 3 objections when I read it
1. The chart showing meat <> GDP per capita doesn't prove much. We can get similar charts for obesity, or alcohol. Revealed preferences don't reveal everything.
2. The "happiness hit" of a chicken sandwich (or falafel) seems way out of proportion. I'd bet that these things don't replicate, or hold steady, or even be always positive, even for the same person over time. This means the compounding doesn't necessarily happen. i.e., you can't say she was x% more productive today because she was happy, and this compounds for her whole life. More likely being point-happy gives a one time tiny boost, which is nice but decays like diminishing marginal utility.
3. The link of self-proclaimed happiness to productivity is interesting but I'm a tad suspicious of a Said b school article to be honest. Even if its true in a ceteris paribus condition, these things have crazy number of confounders. For instance, if we'd done this same analysis twenty years ago we might've said the same about smoking (makes me happier, happier people are more productive, productivity compounds).
Regarding your comment on carbon offsets, I'd echo Scott Alexander and others in noting that while the existence of an optional ethical offset price can br useful, it is only relevant **if you actually commit to pay it**.
Once the low hanging fruit in GHG offsets are cleared, those prices should start going up and, assuming you are fully committed to lifestyle offsets, the cost tradeoff might encourage your veganism anyway.
I have a few objections to this but the most obvious one is that it seems totally crazy to think that eating a chicken sandwich rather than a falafel wrap (or whatever) is likely to make a worker 5% more productive, even for someone who loves chicken sandwiches. Is there any evidence at all that adopting a vegetarian/vegan diet reduces productivity?
The point about happiness increases for animals being a one shot gain vs happiness levels for humans compounding is an excellent one. I hadn't really considered it before, and it is apparently too subtle for others, but it seems almost certainly true given how productivity is linked to mental state. Given that as the case, how much of a compounding hardly matters, so long as it is greater than zero it will be immense over time and population.
I enjoyed the argument - Connor never fails to find an interesting angle!
One thing I'd add is I don't think plant-based diets are fixed, I think cultures can basically make them better or worse. Vegan options were pretty limited and bland when dining out 20 years ago (and still are in some parts of the country) but today in some places they're plentiful and tasty and that appears to be a youth-driven trend that will keep increasing, but who knows.
You can probably see this with meat too - BBQ options are a lot more varied and enjoyable in parts of the south than say Boston or DC.
(Side note - and maybe I'm alone in this - but I find Potbelly's so bland and disappointing, yet they are everywhere in DC, that I don't think people regardless of veganism are maximizing their utility in the food arena.)
I think you'd also have to bet against plant-based foods never being able to be indistinguishable from animal-based products down the road. I would love to see more blind taste testing.
Interesting take! I found myself having 3 objections when I read it
1. The chart showing meat <> GDP per capita doesn't prove much. We can get similar charts for obesity, or alcohol. Revealed preferences don't reveal everything.
2. The "happiness hit" of a chicken sandwich (or falafel) seems way out of proportion. I'd bet that these things don't replicate, or hold steady, or even be always positive, even for the same person over time. This means the compounding doesn't necessarily happen. i.e., you can't say she was x% more productive today because she was happy, and this compounds for her whole life. More likely being point-happy gives a one time tiny boost, which is nice but decays like diminishing marginal utility.
3. The link of self-proclaimed happiness to productivity is interesting but I'm a tad suspicious of a Said b school article to be honest. Even if its true in a ceteris paribus condition, these things have crazy number of confounders. For instance, if we'd done this same analysis twenty years ago we might've said the same about smoking (makes me happier, happier people are more productive, productivity compounds).
Regarding your comment on carbon offsets, I'd echo Scott Alexander and others in noting that while the existence of an optional ethical offset price can br useful, it is only relevant **if you actually commit to pay it**.
Once the low hanging fruit in GHG offsets are cleared, those prices should start going up and, assuming you are fully committed to lifestyle offsets, the cost tradeoff might encourage your veganism anyway.
I have a few objections to this but the most obvious one is that it seems totally crazy to think that eating a chicken sandwich rather than a falafel wrap (or whatever) is likely to make a worker 5% more productive, even for someone who loves chicken sandwiches. Is there any evidence at all that adopting a vegetarian/vegan diet reduces productivity?
The point about happiness increases for animals being a one shot gain vs happiness levels for humans compounding is an excellent one. I hadn't really considered it before, and it is apparently too subtle for others, but it seems almost certainly true given how productivity is linked to mental state. Given that as the case, how much of a compounding hardly matters, so long as it is greater than zero it will be immense over time and population.
Great essay!
I enjoyed the argument - Connor never fails to find an interesting angle!
One thing I'd add is I don't think plant-based diets are fixed, I think cultures can basically make them better or worse. Vegan options were pretty limited and bland when dining out 20 years ago (and still are in some parts of the country) but today in some places they're plentiful and tasty and that appears to be a youth-driven trend that will keep increasing, but who knows.
You can probably see this with meat too - BBQ options are a lot more varied and enjoyable in parts of the south than say Boston or DC.
(Side note - and maybe I'm alone in this - but I find Potbelly's so bland and disappointing, yet they are everywhere in DC, that I don't think people regardless of veganism are maximizing their utility in the food arena.)
I think you'd also have to bet against plant-based foods never being able to be indistinguishable from animal-based products down the road. I would love to see more blind taste testing.