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Nobody cares about humanity 600 generations from now. We're only truly concerned about our immediate family. I'd sacrifice my life for my son, but I could give

Nobody cares about humanity 600 generations from now. We're only truly concerned about our immediate family. I'd sacrifice my life for my son, but I could give a shit about my great great great great great great great great great great grandson. I would say 90% of our environmental problems stem from this one fact. I mean we all drive cars and are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to stop.

suzzer99 9y ago
99-year leases cost about the same as outright purchase. That tells you how much people really care about their grandkids and beyond.
abpavel 9y ago
Define "stop". Like VHEMT? On a not more serious note, most people on this planet do not drive cars. 947M registered passenger cars for 7350M people in 2015 is 12.8%.
- crimsonalucard 9y ago
  Stop driving. Move closer to work. Bike, etc, etc. It can be done, but most of us are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to do it.
tzs 9y ago
> I'd sacrifice my life for my son, but I could give a shit about my great great great great great great great great great great grandson. That makes sense from a "maximizing your descendants" point of view--maybe. Assuming a normal sized family losing your son knocks out from 25 to 100% of your living descendants. Assuming that your descendants on average have average sized families then by the time you have a great^10 grandson you should have a large number of living descendants. Losing one barely makes a dent. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine a scenario where you could take an action now that would greatly affect (positively or negatively) a great^10 grandson without similarly affecting hundreds of your other great^10 grandchildren.
chriswarbo 9y ago
> Nobody cares about humanity 600 generations from now. We're only truly concerned about our immediate family. Please don't project your own personal thoughts and opinions on to the entire human population. It's possible that some, even many people do not think this way. I would claim to be one, although of course I can offer no evidence other than my word. > I would say 90% of our environmental problems stem from this one fact. I mean we all drive cars and are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to stop. Again, that seems like a projection of yourself on to the whole population. This ones easier to refute though, since it's an objective fact that I don't drive a car (and haven't even bothered learning). Concern for the environment is certainly a large part of the reason.
- crimsonalucard 9y ago
  Sometimes humans talk in terms of self evident generalities derived from common sense instead of solely relying on scientifically verified facts. This is actually a very typical scenario when you communicate with other humans.
  - bjl 9y ago
    Except your generality is not at all self-evident.
    - crimsonalucard 9y ago
      I agree, it is not at all self evident to anyone who isn't human or doesn't have normal human communication skills.

suzzer99 9y ago

99-year leases cost about the same as outright purchase. That tells you how much people really care about their grandkids and beyond.

abpavel 9y ago

Define "stop". Like VHEMT? On a not more serious note, most people on this planet do not drive cars. 947M registered passenger cars for 7350M people in 2015 is 12.8%.

crimsonalucard 9y ago
Stop driving. Move closer to work. Bike, etc, etc. It can be done, but most of us are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to do it.

tzs 9y ago

> I'd sacrifice my life for my son, but I could give a shit about my great great great great great great great great great great grandson. That makes sense from a "maximizing your descendants" point of view--maybe. Assuming a normal sized family losing your son knocks out from 25 to 100% of your living descendants. Assuming that your descendants on average have average sized families then by the time you have a great^10 grandson you should have a large number of living descendants. Losing one barely makes a dent. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine a scenario where you could take an action now that would greatly affect (positively or negatively) a great^10 grandson without similarly affecting hundreds of your other great^10 grandchildren.

chriswarbo 9y ago

> Nobody cares about humanity 600 generations from now. We're only truly concerned about our immediate family. Please don't project your own personal thoughts and opinions on to the entire human population. It's possible that some, even many people do not think this way. I would claim to be one, although of course I can offer no evidence other than my word. > I would say 90% of our environmental problems stem from this one fact. I mean we all drive cars and are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to stop. Again, that seems like a projection of yourself on to the whole population. This ones easier to refute though, since it's an objective fact that I don't drive a car (and haven't even bothered learning). Concern for the environment is certainly a large part of the reason.

crimsonalucard 9y ago
Sometimes humans talk in terms of self evident generalities derived from common sense instead of solely relying on scientifically verified facts. This is actually a very typical scenario when you communicate with other humans.
- bjl 9y ago
  Except your generality is not at all self-evident.
  - crimsonalucard 9y ago
    I agree, it is not at all self evident to anyone who isn't human or doesn't have normal human communication skills.