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Hi Dan! 0. (We've met briefly; I work at a clean energy startup that relies on Utility API; I posted this.) 1. It is too late to prevent civilization-impacting

Hi Dan! 0. (We've met briefly; I work at a clean energy startup that relies on Utility API; I posted this.) 1. It is too late to prevent civilization-impacting warming, but it is not too late to have an enormous effect on how much impact happens how quickly. 2. "Optimism isn’t principally an analysis of present reality. It’s an ethic. It is not based on denial or rosy thinking. It is a moral posture toward the world we find ourselves in." [1] 3. Ken Caldiera thinks that the tool-building you have done is the right kind of work. [2] 4. Ya, HN has noisy nay-sayers. A lot of them simply have outdated mental models and excessive self-confidence. Can't do much about the latter, but posts like yours can chip away at the latter. 5. If you need a dose of fact-based optimism, check out recent editions of Chris Goodall's amazing mailing list. [3] Your work matters. Keep on keeping on! Best, Sam [1] https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/observations-on-the-day-after https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/observations-on-the-day... [2] https://kencaldeira.wordpress.com/2018/07/21/on-choosing-problems-to-work-on/ https://kencaldeira.wordpress.com/2018/07/21/on-choosing-pro... [3] https://us9.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=a336c39e55a6260d59adbffb0&id=ffb538443d https://us9.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=a336c39e55a6260d59a...

diafygi 8y ago
Howdy! Thanks for the links. I didn't mean to come off as so fatalistic. I'm still very optimistic about our future, whether or not other people in tech participate (it will just take longer, and we'll suffer more consequences). My point was to mostly to impress that problems exist outside of web tech, that web tech experts could help solve. The smartest people I know are in the oil industry. They know how to literally go into Nigeria, bribe the right gangs, and get the oil out. They are way better at "getting shit done" than anyone I know in silicon valley. These are the people those of us in cleantech are up against, so we're severely out-gunned. We truly do need all the help we can get, even if it is from tech elites. I'm willing to make that deal with Worry Free[1]. [1]: Reference to Sorry to Bother You: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/sorry-to-bother-you-has-an-eerily-familiar-villain/564698/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/so...
gepi79 8y ago
IMO the problem is not optimism but either ignorance or fatalism and insanity: - Most people know (at least I hope so) that drastic change is urgent. Why Hope Is Dangerous When It Comes to Climate Change http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/07/why_climate_change_discussions_need_apocalyptic_thinking.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/0... - Most people are not willing to change and to let the government invest in change. Most people are used to inertia and more of the same. Drastic change and massive public investments in science and useful technology is not what most people are used to. Daily news bombard the people but not what is really important. Harmful military budgets are increased. Trump even proposed that NATO members should spend 4% of their GDP for harmful military. Animal products are still allowed. Politicians and their voters argue against electric cars because they are expensive and enough electricity is not yet delivered by wind and solar. They do not realize that all related industries and practices must change ASAP. Politicians and their voters enforce monetary austerity because public ownership and public investments for a different world is the worst that could possibly happen in their imagined world. Annual global fossil fuel subsidies were amounting to $5.3 trillion in 2015 (6.5% of global GDP). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16304867 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X1... Why the 2C Target is Far Too High http://www.climate-change-emergency-medical-response.org/2-degree-target.html http://www.climate-change-emergency-medical-response.org/2-d... A degree by degree explanation of what will happen when the earth warms http://globalwarming.berrens.nl/globalwarming.htm http://globalwarming.berrens.nl/globalwarming.htm

diafygi 8y ago

Howdy! Thanks for the links. I didn't mean to come off as so fatalistic. I'm still very optimistic about our future, whether or not other people in tech participate (it will just take longer, and we'll suffer more consequences). My point was to mostly to impress that problems exist outside of web tech, that web tech experts could help solve. The smartest people I know are in the oil industry. They know how to literally go into Nigeria, bribe the right gangs, and get the oil out. They are way better at "getting shit done" than anyone I know in silicon valley. These are the people those of us in cleantech are up against, so we're severely out-gunned. We truly do need all the help we can get, even if it is from tech elites. I'm willing to make that deal with Worry Free[1]. [1]: Reference to Sorry to Bother You: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/sorry-to-bother-you-has-an-eerily-familiar-villain/564698/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/so...

gepi79 8y ago

IMO the problem is not optimism but either ignorance or fatalism and insanity: - Most people know (at least I hope so) that drastic change is urgent. Why Hope Is Dangerous When It Comes to Climate Change http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/07/why_climate_change_discussions_need_apocalyptic_thinking.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/0... - Most people are not willing to change and to let the government invest in change. Most people are used to inertia and more of the same. Drastic change and massive public investments in science and useful technology is not what most people are used to. Daily news bombard the people but not what is really important. Harmful military budgets are increased. Trump even proposed that NATO members should spend 4% of their GDP for harmful military. Animal products are still allowed. Politicians and their voters argue against electric cars because they are expensive and enough electricity is not yet delivered by wind and solar. They do not realize that all related industries and practices must change ASAP. Politicians and their voters enforce monetary austerity because public ownership and public investments for a different world is the worst that could possibly happen in their imagined world. Annual global fossil fuel subsidies were amounting to $5.3 trillion in 2015 (6.5% of global GDP). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16304867 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X1... Why the 2C Target is Far Too High http://www.climate-change-emergency-medical-response.org/2-degree-target.html http://www.climate-change-emergency-medical-response.org/2-d... A degree by degree explanation of what will happen when the earth warms http://globalwarming.berrens.nl/globalwarming.htm http://globalwarming.berrens.nl/globalwarming.htm