Mastodawn

John Carlos Baez

I'm not a "foodie". I like eating as much as the average mammal. But unlike most, I'm not on the brink of starvation, so eating is not a major focus of my life. So I'd never sail to a remote isle in the Inner Hebrides just to eat at a fancy restaurant like Café Canna. But the idea of sailing to a remote island *does* intrigue me - and I like the perverse idea of a restaurant that's really hard to reach.

It's probably enough to just read about it while I stay home and eat a banana for breakfast:

"The next morning we left the shelter of the bay and forged into a far less hospitable ocean – not quite bad tempered, but not far off. “Lumpy,” said Watson, who never seemed to run out of words to describe the sea: pitchy, squally, swirly. Passing the moleskin-grey volcanic peaks of Rum, one of the Small Isles, on our starboard side, the boat lolloped towards another, Canna, where we went ashore and hiked to its eastern tip to watch puffins before looping back to the bay for a beer at Café Canna, a tiny, remote restaurant that draws sailors from across the archipelago."

That's Alexander Barlow from his decadent tale of sailing the Inner Hebrides, eating and drinking:

https://www.cntraveller.com/article/sailing-through-inner-hebrides

Here is Café Canna's website:

https://www.cafecanna.co.uk/

Even better may be the most remote pub in the mainland of Scotland, or for that matter the UK. Read on, my friend....

(1/2)

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

The Old Forge Pub is the most remote pub in Scotland. The only ways to get to it are by taking an 11-kilometer trip by sea or a 27-kilometer hike across the Scottish Highlands.

There's a village there, called Inverie, not connected to the rest of the world by roads. The population was 120 when last recorded. The pub was very important in the life of this village. But in the 2010s, the owner started closing it down for 6 months every winter. Bad!

As a local explained, "When it's dark and windy and horrible, you need somewhere you can go and relax, meet up with your friends, celebrate stuff together."

Business kept getting worse. When the Old Forge was finally put on sale in February 2021, someone got the idea that the community could buy it. They raised over £320,000 with the help of crowdfunding, the Scottish Land Fund, and the Community Ownership Fund. The pub now has 90 shareholders - about 75% of the local population!

This is what I like: people with skin in the game who own their own business, not rich investors trying to squeeze money out of something until it dies.

For more read this:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/29/locals-secure-buyout-mainland-britain-most-remote-pub-old-forge-inverie

By the way, I said most mammals in the world are constantly on the brink of starvation, but that's not true because nowadays most mammals are people and farm animals. I meant most mammals throughout the course of history. But even there I don't know if what I said is true. Sure they had to worry about eating, but maybe for some the food sources were so reliable they could focus attention on other things - reproduction of course, but also social dominance and even just play.

I want to know how hungry, on average, various species of mammals tend to be!

(2/2)

ma𝕏pool Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez

Fact-checked ✅

Livestock make up 62% of the world’s mammal biomass; humans account for 34%; and wild mammals are just 4%.

Global poultry weighs more than twice that of wild birds. 71% of bird biomass is poultry.

https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass

Wild mammals make up only a few percent of the world’s mammals

Livestock make up 62% of the world’s mammal biomass; humans account for 34%; and wild mammals are just 4%.

Our World in Data

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@maxpool - I don't *like* the idea of humanity expanding like a bloated balloon, squeezing out all life forms except those that we eat. I find it very depressing. That's one reason I'm glad to hear about the fertility crash, even though it will be annoying for humans in many ways.

"Our species is not done multiplying, to be sure. But, to quote the UNPD, “More than half of the projected increase in the global population between 2022 and 2050 is expected to be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.” That is because already “close to half of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman.”

Not many people foresaw the global fertility collapse. Nor did just about anyone expect it to happen everywhere. And I can’t recall a single pundit predicting just how low it would go in some countries. In South Korea the total fertility rate in 2023 is estimated to have been 0.72. In Europe there is no longer a difference between Roman Catholic and Protestant countries. Italy’s current TFR (1.21) is lower than England’s (1.44). Nor is there a difference between Christian and Islamic civilizations — those great historical entities whose clashes the historian Samuel Huntington worried about. The US total fertility rate is now 1.62. The figure for the Islamic Republic of Iran is 1.54."

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-03-10/global-population-collapse-isn-t-sci-fi-anymore-niall-ferguson

Global Population Collapse Isn't Sci-Fi Anymore: Niall Ferguson

We used to worry about the planet getting too crowded, but there are plenty of downsides to a shrinking humanity as well.

Bloomberg

@johncarlosbaez I recently added “After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People” to my reading queue but probably won’t be getting to it any time soon. See linked post for a short endorsement:

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:o72ypk5c474zqklkukaphuy3/post/3ltho2o57nk22

I tend to think we’re way overpopulated with humans, especially given all our coming challenges with climate change. I figure reading a contrary point of view will be good for me.

Zach Weinersmith (@zachweinersmith.bsky.social)

I really enjoyed this. Separate from how you feel about population, I repeatedly had assumptions overturned by their really deep stats. Maybe my favorite pop sci read during the last year. This is one of those "most of your intuitions are wrong" books. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

Bluesky Social

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@4raylee @maxpool - the only ones I've ever heard say we need a lot of people are *people*.

Prof Lutz Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez @4raylee @maxpool for a geeky (and out of the box) population growth analysis, Tom Murphy from dothemath has interesting takes: https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2024/06/peak-population-projections/

#demographics #worldpopulation

Peak Population Projections | Do the Math

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@pr_ret_lutz - this is really fascinating. Thanks for showing me! Like Murphy, this brings me some hope.

Prof Lutz Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez ya but Murphy is probably entering his "Telling other fields they're wrong about everything" phase... he's a not so young physicist 😏

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-03-21

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2012-03-21

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2012-03-21

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@pr_ret_lutz - I'm a not so young physicist too. 😜

But I think he may be on to something here when he points out how the UN's fertility rate projections have been consistently off, for example here in Finland. (Blue line is reality, dashed lines are UN projections done in various years.)

“You don’t really mean to do what you’re doing: just stop this nonsense and get back on the corrective track we think you should be on.”

https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2024/06/whiff-after-whiff/

ma𝕏pool Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez

Almost nobody can predict how culture, preferences, and values will change. The decision of having children is one of those things.

One of my all-time favorite essays is John Maynard Keynes's "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren" (1930). http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf

The article is insightful in two ways.

First, Keynes is correct when he extrapolates economic possibilities. The developed world reached the era of plenty he envisioned in the mid-1980s.

Second, his value assumption is probably even more insightful. "Of course there will still be many people with intense, unsatisfied purposiveness who will blindly pursue wealth—unless they can find some plausible substitute. But the rest of us will no longer be under any obligation to applaud and encourage them."

He assumes that the upper-class lifestyle and virtues of the 1930s were kept out of reach only by a lack of wealth. He believed we would all engage in "the arts of life as well as the activities of purpose."

What happened is that we have "means-testing" for the poor, while even the rich work hard and try to stay busy making money because bourgeois values have taken over.

Victor Gijsbers Jul 10

@maxpool @johncarlosbaez But that's biomass. I suspect that the *number* of mice, rats, and other small rodents might equal or surpass that of humans and livestock? Not sure, but it doesn't seem unlikely.

Prof Lutz Jul 10

@victorgijsbers @maxpool @johncarlosbaez for biomass visualization, it's here 👉 https://www.behance.net/gallery/146949057/Visualizing-the-Biomass-of-Life/modules/830167501# (but it's in mass, not in numbers...)

Visualizing the Biomass of Life - Mark Belan | artsci studios

Infographic,Education,Illustration,Maxon Cinema 4D,Adobe Photoshop,Adobe Illustrator

Behance

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@victorgijsbers @maxpool - it's hard to estimate the number of small mammals in the world, but here is one data point:

"For a long time, the number of rats in New York City was unknown, and a common urban legend declared there were up to five times as many rats as people. However, a 2023 study estimates that there are approximately 3 million rats in New York, which is close to a third of New York's human population."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rats_in_New_York_City

Irene on Biology Stackexchange writes:

"The population of mice is often estimated per hectare - 0.25-60/ha in buildings and 1-200 in the field, over 1000/ha during outbreaks. 10^9-10^10 hectares of habitable land means that populations of mice and men are, probably, of the same order of magnitude."

https://biology.stackexchange.com/a/1346

Rats in New York City - Wikipedia

Elias Mårtenson Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez I knew spy this pub, since some time ago I stumbled across this video. It's about the hike rather than the pub. https://youtu.be/0WVOSmWKbgw

We tried hiking 3 days to Britain's most remote pub - The Old Forge, Knoydart

YouTube

Colin the Mathmo Jul 10

@loke Spotting "spy" ...

I'm guessing you used a Swype-style keyboard to create this comment.

(random drive-by observation)

CC: @johncarlosbaez

Elias Mårtenson Jul 10

@ColinTheMathmo @johncarlosbaez hah, you are 100% correct. 😀

Colin the Mathmo Jul 10

@loke Woo Hoo !!

😁

CC: @johncarlosbaez

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@ColinTheMathmo - "Knew spy" looked very weird to me, but I don't know what @loke was trying to see. The mechanism of the failure mode is beyond me.

Elias Mårtenson Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez @ColinTheMathmo the intended word was 'about'.

The swipe style input in the Samsung keyboard is pretty awful.

Colin the Mathmo Jul 10

@loke I figured from the sentence that it should have been "about". The Swype-style keyboard has you run your finger from the first letter, through the middle letters, to the final letter.

The "A" and "S" are close on a keyboard;
The "B" was "missing";
The "OU" of "about" are close to the "P";
The "T" and "Y" are close on a keyboard.

Hence in this swype-type keyboard metric, "about" and "spy" are "close", just missing a diversion for the "B".

It's an interesting metric.

CC: @johncarlosbaez

(Edited for clarity)

GrumpyDad 🇺🇦🇵🇸Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez Wow. I'll have to add that to the bucket list as well.
Might as well, since I'm planning to go past Shieldaig to see some of the scenery @GetCarter photographs.

Ross Duncan Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez Have been to The Old Forge several times. A trip to Knoydart is always very enjoyable. One of my favourite parts of Scotland.

418 I'm a Teapot Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez Knoydart is a wonderful place. The story is even more remarkable. First there came community ownership of the land. Then infrastructure: they built their own hydro-electricity generation and local grid. It is also not connected to the national grid. Then comms. Knoydart was one of three initial places in the area to use the community wireless network pattern that we developed. (the other two being Tegola in Loch Hourn that started it, and Hebnet in the Small Isles). And finally, perhaps the culmination of all these efforts, the pub!

Pozorvlak Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez I've been to the Old Forge! We walked from the railway station at Glenfinnan, taking several days and bagging all the Munros en route, then got the ferry back to Mallaig. Great place, though that was under the previous owner so I can't comment on the food now.

Diffgeometer1 Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez I’ve walked more than 17 miles in a day. I would totally do the 27 km hike ib the Scottish highlands. Walking heaven for people who love long walks.

bazzargh Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez a while ago I cycled the north coast 500 - a route around the north of Scotland - which includes going over the Bealach na Ba, a steep, narrow climb over one of the highest passes in Scotland to the village of Applecross and the inn there where I hoped to eat. It's pretty remote.

https://applecrossinn.co.uk/

It was mobbed with people off boats. I guess that kind of thing is more popular than you'd think.

Home - Applecross Inn

RESERVING A TABLE WITH US?Please remember to book your tables with us as soon as possible as we are usually very busy! We are open 12pm - 8pm Thursday - Monday, Closed on Tuesday's and reopen 3pm Wednesday's OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR OUR RESIDENTS RESERVE YOUR TABLEBOOK YOUR STAYRESERVE A TABLE WELCOME TO

Applecross Inn -

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@bazzargh - that sounds like a great adventure. So you didn't book ahead of time? Did you not manage to get in? 😢

bazzargh Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez I didn't book ahead, no; on the bike with the wee tent I'm never sure how many or few miles I'll be going depending on the weather and my legs; I carry some emergency food just in case.

However, a table freed up and I was told I could sit if I would be out in 30 mins or so, that suited me-I think I wolfed down the haddock&chips and was off again.

But the food highlight of the trip for me were the pies at Lochinver Larder https://www.lochinverlarder.com/

Lochinver Larder - Pie shop in the heart of the Scottish Highlands

Our Lochinver pie shop has been baking pies since 1986 and are so popular that they are delivered straight from our larder to yours through Pies by Post Restaurant on NC500 Lochinver restaurants

GrumpyDad 🇺🇦🇵🇸Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez Kinda reminds me of Koks Restaurant in the Faroe Islands (https://koks.fo/). Never been there myself, but it's on my bucket list.

John Carlos Baez Jul 10

@grumpydad - interesting! It sounds way out of my league - when eating gets this fancy it makes me very uncomfortable:

"KOKS is a restaurant located in Leynavatn, located 24 km north of Tórshavn and 23 km east of the airport in the Faroe Islands. It offers a 17-course tasting menu and won its first Michelin star in 2017. KOKS’ head chef is Poul Andrias Ziska, a 28-year-old chef and native of Tórshavn. The restaurant has nine chefs, each of whom is from a different country, and five waiters. The restaurant serves only 30 customers a night and has a scenic view over a lake. The Michelin star that KOKS won was the first to be awarded in the Faroes."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOKS_(restaurant)

KOKS (restaurant) - Wikipedia

GrumpyDad 🇺🇦🇵🇸Jul 10

@johncarlosbaez Yeah. Now that I think of it, it all seems a bit "The Menu"-ish :/