3 ms·
As sci-fi writers cottoned on to long ago, energy is the driver of progress. With energy, anything is possible, any lifestyle. With enough of it, you could buil
by dTal 8y ago
As sci-fi writers cottoned on to long ago, energy is the driver of progress. With energy, anything is possible, any lifestyle. With enough of it, you could build diamond space towers for a hobby. Without an artificial source, we're reduced to collecting it the old fashioned way - subsistence farming, with hand tools.
There is indeed no limit to how much energy a single person could use, if available.
- api 8y agoUltimately you're probably right about there being no demand limit, but I think there is context here. There probably are demand limits on Earth, and demand limits certainly exist at any point in time. I disagree that without an "artificial" source we are reduced to "collecting it the old fashioned way" unless these are elaborated upon. Do photovoltaic panels count as an artificial source? The fusion reactor is a natural gravitational confinement one, but the collection apparatus is artificial. Of course farming with hand tools is artificial too. Anything but bare hunter gatherer life with virtually no tools is artificial.
- jbay808 8y agoYou would be limited by your heat sinking ability. That energy doesn't disappear when you consume it, it disperses. At the point where you're 3D printing diamond towers, you're going to have to start being concerned about how quickly you can shed heat into space.