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Funny that we laugh at a flat-Earther who tries to shoot himself into orbit, but applaud this effort, when both are on equal scientific footing. https://www.f

Funny that we laugh at a flat-Earther who tries to shoot himself into orbit, but applaud this effort, when both are on equal scientific footing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/03/27/flat-earth-rocket-man-finally-blasts-off-in-homemade-rocket-to-prove-earth-is-flat/#38fdce599b6f https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/03/27/flat-eart...

cultus 8y ago
I work in ocean conservation, and this thread makes me sad. Anyone in ocean conservation can tell you this is BS, but sadly people in the tech industry have a tendency to discount the knowledge and opinion of experts in other fields.
- Baeocystin 8y ago
  I don't work in ocean conservation, but I spent my childhood in Southeast Asia, and saw very clearly how the plastic waste issue is more of a society wide garbage collection one. And having a proper waste management infrastructure would immediately improve the surrounding communities' health in addition to lessening the load on the world's oceans. Yet I find that whenever I mention this in Tech circles, it's like people don't even hear what I said, and just go back to beating the 'plastic is bad' drum. It's bizarre.
  - cultus 8y ago
    There's always this bizarre obsession with moonshot technological solutions to problems that are social in origin.
    - mreome 8y ago
      People so fall in love of the idea of the lone young genius who did something nobody else could, and will save the world so they don't have to change any part of their life. If you bring up the logistical, scientific and technical issues with the approach this project is taking, the response is "Well at least someone is doing something." It is so incredibly disrespectful to the countless people who have devoted their lives to studying and understanding these issues, ignoring that they have been trumpeting that this problem exists for decades and proposing changes that would help.
    - pq0ak2nnd 8y ago
      Is it the RealityTV mentality, where everyone wants to be famous, and building on solid foundations to solve problems with "boring" engineering isn't as sexy as being Tony Stark?

cultus 8y ago

I work in ocean conservation, and this thread makes me sad. Anyone in ocean conservation can tell you this is BS, but sadly people in the tech industry have a tendency to discount the knowledge and opinion of experts in other fields.

Baeocystin 8y ago
I don't work in ocean conservation, but I spent my childhood in Southeast Asia, and saw very clearly how the plastic waste issue is more of a society wide garbage collection one. And having a proper waste management infrastructure would immediately improve the surrounding communities' health in addition to lessening the load on the world's oceans. Yet I find that whenever I mention this in Tech circles, it's like people don't even hear what I said, and just go back to beating the 'plastic is bad' drum. It's bizarre.
- cultus 8y ago
  There's always this bizarre obsession with moonshot technological solutions to problems that are social in origin.
  - mreome 8y ago
    People so fall in love of the idea of the lone young genius who did something nobody else could, and will save the world so they don't have to change any part of their life. If you bring up the logistical, scientific and technical issues with the approach this project is taking, the response is "Well at least someone is doing something." It is so incredibly disrespectful to the countless people who have devoted their lives to studying and understanding these issues, ignoring that they have been trumpeting that this problem exists for decades and proposing changes that would help.
  - pq0ak2nnd 8y ago
    Is it the RealityTV mentality, where everyone wants to be famous, and building on solid foundations to solve problems with "boring" engineering isn't as sexy as being Tony Stark?