4 ms·
A lot of these suggestions bear the hallmark of that endearing village crank (pun intended). But at least two things are worth considering: 1. The tendency to
by stareatgoats 7y ago
A lot of these suggestions bear the hallmark of that endearing village crank (pun intended). But at least two things are worth considering:
1. The tendency to have electric appliances for every thinkable mundane task does our bodies no good (nor the environment). While we can go to the gym once in a while to alleviate some of the ill effects, it is much better to incorporate some physical exercise into our daily routines.
2. To be totally dependent on a centralized grid is a recipe for disaster. Many million can be put at risk by a single hacker in a basement as it stands, not to mention when state actors are involved. Electricity should really be supplied by local semi-independent grids fed by local renewable energy sources that are resilient to a collapse of the centralized system. Pedal power could play one (minor) part in such resiliency.
- oblio 7y agoI'm not saying that disasters aren't possible, but we've using centralized grids for over a century. They've held up decently. And they're pretty good at scaling human activity since they can route/draw power from other places. About pedal power, it's nice to look for alternatives but if there's one thing I learned, convenience trumps everything else. We literally die for convenience (drugs, alcohol, being overweight, not exercising, etc.).
- masklinn 7y ago> Pedal power could play one (minor) part in such resiliency. It's less "minor" and more "insignificant". A healthy and motivated laborer can sustain ~75W mechanical over a continuous work day, that's an entry mat worth of solar cells, or a small turbine / windmill. You can derive some productivity from your exercise, but humans as power source is inane unless you have literally no infrastructure worth speaking of and no other options (e.g. no wind or water streams).