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humanity in general is in deep shit and yet, we waste (and make no mistake, it is a complete waste) our best minds and the bulk of our resources on making peop

humanity in general is in deep shit and yet, we waste (and make no mistake, it is a complete waste) our best minds and the bulk of our resources on making people click ads or other similar excursions in nihilism what is needed is a multinational manhattan project for climate change... instead, we move the deck chairs around on the titanic. it's clear we can expect no leadership from governments or corporations on this issue.

meddlepal 10y ago
The problem is that it's very hard to get people to give a shit about macro problems like climate change. People generally own care about a narrow set of issues between the age of 20 and the 55/60 years most of us survive after that. Another problem is that democracies are poorly setup for solving this problem. Democracy responds mostly to the needs of now without concern for the future (different politicians problem, different generation etc, kick the football down the field because someone else can deal with it once I've got mine.) So yea, we're fucked. This along with the coming robot/AI revolution we are likely to see in the middle or later part of the century creates a pretty bleak future for human beings.
sp527 10y ago
I'm a computer scientist and software engineer with experience at some of the largest companies whose businesses are about making people click on ads. I now work as an independent contractor and part time on my own startups. Give me a living wage and tell me how I can help and I'm in. (srs) I think there are a lot of people who might feel the same way.
- cryoshon 10y ago
  step one is gaining political power, so find a campaign team and run on the platform of fixing climate change step one will take a good while then, step two: carbon tax at a rapacious rate. this will likely cause economic meltdown, which is unavoidable if we want to survive. step three is developing active methods of scrubbing our atmosphere of the shit we've polluted it with inventing that will take a while also anyways, let's get going.
- taliesinb 10y ago
  I feel the same way. As history has shown, when presented with an existential threat to the group, humans are often willing to drop their immediate plans and sign up to fight. Perhaps we're wired that way. Bring on UBI. And bring on a global 'war economy' to transition us to a zero carbon energy infrastructure.
  - cryoshon 10y ago
    >And bring on a global 'war economy' to transition us to a zero carbon energy infrastructure. yes, this is what is needed. unfortunately, the imaginations of our "leaders" are far too small-- too small to see beyond the horizon of their next election. if we want to continue existing, they've gotta go.
    - cel1ne 10y ago
      > if we want to continue existing, they've gotta go. what do you mean by that?
      - cryoshon 10y ago
        we can't afford bureaucrats prevaricating and ultimately doing nothing on the issue of climate change; they have to be removed from power such that we can effect a future where we survive.
        jsz0 10y ago
        Overthrowing democratically elected governments is not a carbon neutral process.
        cel1ne 10y ago
        While I understand where that notion comes from, I don't see an answer. Generally the people who are in favour of "removing people from power" aren't the ones who like to take part in the arduous and complex task of rebuilding governance, which is the real issue. The overthrowing is easy. The making-it-better-afterwards is so hard, you should skip the overthrowing step and work at that problem right away. Sadly there are no fire-and-forget answers for issues like this.
- edoceo 10y ago
  Basic Income Guarantee?
  - zdkl 10y ago
    That's a great point for basic income, but I don't think it wouldn't be the main factor, behind a variation on apathy like we currently have.
analog31 10y ago
Let's re-think whether those people are really our best minds.
int_19h 10y ago
Manhattan Project, and similar massive infrastructure/engineering/scientific developments, are possible because there is a single government that can drive them. To do something like that on a multinational scale, you'll need One World Government. Otherwise you'll just have a bunch of nations bickering over who is paying for what, and who is gaining what in return, without a final arbiter to break up ties and deadlocks and say "okay, you all had a say, now we're doing it this way".

meddlepal 10y ago

The problem is that it's very hard to get people to give a shit about macro problems like climate change. People generally own care about a narrow set of issues between the age of 20 and the 55/60 years most of us survive after that. Another problem is that democracies are poorly setup for solving this problem. Democracy responds mostly to the needs of now without concern for the future (different politicians problem, different generation etc, kick the football down the field because someone else can deal with it once I've got mine.) So yea, we're fucked. This along with the coming robot/AI revolution we are likely to see in the middle or later part of the century creates a pretty bleak future for human beings.

sp527 10y ago

I'm a computer scientist and software engineer with experience at some of the largest companies whose businesses are about making people click on ads. I now work as an independent contractor and part time on my own startups. Give me a living wage and tell me how I can help and I'm in. (srs) I think there are a lot of people who might feel the same way.

cryoshon 10y ago
step one is gaining political power, so find a campaign team and run on the platform of fixing climate change step one will take a good while then, step two: carbon tax at a rapacious rate. this will likely cause economic meltdown, which is unavoidable if we want to survive. step three is developing active methods of scrubbing our atmosphere of the shit we've polluted it with inventing that will take a while also anyways, let's get going.
taliesinb 10y ago
I feel the same way. As history has shown, when presented with an existential threat to the group, humans are often willing to drop their immediate plans and sign up to fight. Perhaps we're wired that way. Bring on UBI. And bring on a global 'war economy' to transition us to a zero carbon energy infrastructure.
- cryoshon 10y ago
  >And bring on a global 'war economy' to transition us to a zero carbon energy infrastructure. yes, this is what is needed. unfortunately, the imaginations of our "leaders" are far too small-- too small to see beyond the horizon of their next election. if we want to continue existing, they've gotta go.
  - cel1ne 10y ago
    > if we want to continue existing, they've gotta go. what do you mean by that?
    - cryoshon 10y ago
      we can't afford bureaucrats prevaricating and ultimately doing nothing on the issue of climate change; they have to be removed from power such that we can effect a future where we survive.
      - jsz0 10y ago
        Overthrowing democratically elected governments is not a carbon neutral process.
      - cel1ne 10y ago
        While I understand where that notion comes from, I don't see an answer. Generally the people who are in favour of "removing people from power" aren't the ones who like to take part in the arduous and complex task of rebuilding governance, which is the real issue. The overthrowing is easy. The making-it-better-afterwards is so hard, you should skip the overthrowing step and work at that problem right away. Sadly there are no fire-and-forget answers for issues like this.
edoceo 10y ago
Basic Income Guarantee?
- zdkl 10y ago
  That's a great point for basic income, but I don't think it wouldn't be the main factor, behind a variation on apathy like we currently have.

analog31 10y ago

Let's re-think whether those people are really our best minds.

int_19h 10y ago

Manhattan Project, and similar massive infrastructure/engineering/scientific developments, are possible because there is a single government that can drive them. To do something like that on a multinational scale, you'll need One World Government. Otherwise you'll just have a bunch of nations bickering over who is paying for what, and who is gaining what in return, without a final arbiter to break up ties and deadlocks and say "okay, you all had a say, now we're doing it this way".