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I was impressed how the topic got more rich and multi-faceted as we added in a number of the historical specifics, eg the relation of whaling to oil and food availability, and to specific cultural practices.  Maybe there's an interesting general lesson about the biological/culture interface here? Rather than focusing on generalities that would similarly affect lots of specifics, the effort ought to be to clarify all the different specifics involved in particular "controversies", look for ways to deal with each in its own terms, and let generalities emerge or not emerge from that?