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The key point here is that when food or energy is scarce, innovation is limited. Why? Because innovation engenders risk. When the stakes are high, no one in their right mind would dare try something new. Makes one wonder who was the brave individual who tried rotating crops in Flanders?

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Yes, anyone who experimented with agricultural improvement in the past was taking a grave risk of their family dying of starvation in the following year. I think that it is a key reason why rural regions tend to be conservative.

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