# The hippies are getting worse... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999 "2013-03-15T12:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/1 "2013-03-15T12:42:14Z")
I just bought a pack of bean sprouts at my local shop- they’re organically grown, as are most of the produce there; which is fine by me, I have no problem with reducing pesticides and fertilizer use especially on something like bean sprouts- but I just noticed this written on the label: > [@Hippy Bean Sprouts](#): > > These sprouts are grown with the conscious awareness of the interconnectedness of everything and all life 😕:dubious::rolleyes: Has anyone encountered anything dumber than that on a food label? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/2 "2013-03-15T12:46:07Z")
I believe, “All white meat, boneless chicken wings!”, to be far more stupid, to be honest. Your example reminds me of the pithy sayings on Starbucks cups, no big deal. Hardly worth mentioning, and completely ‘meh’, for me, anyway! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/3 "2013-03-15T12:46:11Z")
It’s not food, but have you ever seen a [Dr. Bronner soap label](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/904/why-the-weird-religious-ravings-on-dr-bronners-soap)? Because… damn, that whole thing is covered with that kind of stuff and more. It’s like reading the word-salad ravings of a happy hippie schizophrenic. (And considering that the linked article notes that he escaped mental hospitals three times before running off to California to make soap, that’s probably more or less true.) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/4 "2013-03-15T12:47:33Z")
In my mind I heard Bill Murray saying that sentence, followed by “which is nice.” ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/5 "2013-03-15T12:47:59Z")
Wait, the bean sprouts passed a Turing test? That’s the only way I’d be able to say they were consciously aware of the interconnectedness of everything and all life. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/6 "2013-03-15T13:19:07Z")
I’m hoping that the phrase in the OP was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. I’ve certainly seen other companies add humorous texts on the packaging (the people who make Innocent smoothies, for example). It’s just a bit of fun aimed at those people who bother to read the fine print on the label. If it’s serious, then those people need help. But I’d tend to go with “it’s a joke” first. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/7 "2013-03-15T13:23:31Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Wait, the bean sprouts passed a Turing test? That’s the only way I’d be able to say they were consciously aware of the interconnectedness of everything and all life. You can read it that way, though I’m sure it’s meant to be the farmer who’s consciously aware of “the interconnectedness of everything and all life”. For whatever good that might do him, the sprouts, or whoever eats them. Though it is interesting to see that Dirk Gently’s found a niche for himself in organic farming. This post was written with the conscious awareness that I ought to be doing some proper work. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/8 "2013-03-15T13:26:16Z")
Here’s the thing, though. How is everything in life NOT interconnected? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/9 "2013-03-15T13:51:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Here’s the thing, though. How is everything in life NOT interconnected? Mole people. You probably haven’t heard of them since they’re not..uh…interconnected. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/10 "2013-03-15T13:58:09Z")
You guys don’t understand agriculture. Statements like “these sprouts are grown with the conscious awareness of the interconnectedness of everything and all life” are useful for fixing nitrogen into the soil and helping plants grow. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/11 "2013-03-15T14:06:51Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Mole people. You probably haven’t heard of them since they’re not..uh…interconnected. Dammit, I forgot about the mole people. **Filbert** , can you clear something up for me? Do you think that they were saying that it’s the _sprouts_ that have the conscious awareness? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not what they’re saying. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/12 "2013-03-15T14:17:46Z")
What they’re saying, Brother **tdn** , is that there is no difference between you and a container of bean sprouts. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/13 "2013-03-15T14:20:56Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What they’re saying, Brother **tdn** , is that there is no difference between you and a container of bean sprouts. There’s a difference between interconnectedness and similarity. So no, that’s not what they’re saying. At all. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/14 "2013-03-15T14:50:26Z")
Look man, I was just trying to be nice. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/15 "2013-03-15T14:59:48Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Look man, I was just trying to be nice. Got it. And I, for one, do not feel similar to a bean sprout. I could really dig becoming as one with a chimichanga right about now, though. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/16 "2013-03-15T15:00:08Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What they’re saying, Brother **tdn** , is that there is no difference between you and a container of bean sprouts. So you’re saying **tdn** is a human bean? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/17 "2013-03-15T15:07:10Z")
It’s better than being a human dune. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/18 "2013-03-15T15:18:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **Filbert** , can you clear something up for me? Do you think that they were saying that it’s the _sprouts_ that have the conscious awareness? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not what they’re saying. I really hope not, I ate half the packet already, and now I’m worried the survivors will be plotting against me :eek: The rest of the packet was totally serious, which is the worrying thing- it didn’t look tongue in cheek at all. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/19 "2013-03-15T15:42:34Z")
I imagine it’s a serious effort to summarize the environmental basis for organic farming, as opposed to the product-quality one which is all about the poisons not present in that particular bunch of sprouts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999/20 "2013-03-15T16:03:39Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > So you’re saying **tdn** is a human bean? We’re all human beans. This should be a non-issue. And I certainly don’t understand how **tdn** can assume he doesn’t feel like a bean sprout, when he’s never been a bean sprout. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hippies-are-getting-worse/652999.md?page=2)