Write a 300 word or so essay that examines one of the questions listed below. (Again, 300 words is NOT a word “limit,” but just a guideline, something to shoot for when you are writing.)
Here are the topics. Pick one to answer:
1. Why is it, according to Pollan, that “every new step in the direction of simplification…leads to unimagined new complexities” (185)?
Look at this as a general principle as it relates to agriculture.
2. Pollan breaks down modern agricultural into two opposing “paradigms,” the monocultural paradigm and the biodiversity/organic paradigm.[1] What characterizes each group, as Pollan sees it? How do culture and cultural values play into the monocultural paradigm? How does economics play into the monocultural paradigm? How does desire play into this? In Pollan’s view, what paradigm does biotechnology support? How does it support it? How do these things look when viewed through the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy? (You don’t have to answer all of these subquestions. These are just aspects that could be explored.)
