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Or retrofit the old buildings? Or go visit a friend living in a cold building for a day? Or bike to a nearby lake and enjoy the swim? There are so many things

by srrr 7y ago

Or retrofit the old buildings? Or go visit a friend living in a cold building for a day? Or bike to a nearby lake and enjoy the swim? There are so many things we can do if we just want to... do we really need to put our personal comfort before the healthyness of our planet?

scrollaway 7y ago
This hippie idea that if only we weren't so selfish we'd be better off isn't exactly useful. Yes, if only we weren't so selfish, we'd be better off. What's the action item here? People are selfish and self-centered and are going to put their personal comfort above the health of the planet. And since the health of the planet is important, and you can't change human nature, then we better figure out real ways to make personal comfort be less harmful to the planet, rather than rely on "friends living in colder buildings".
- srrr 7y ago
  If you are certain that "make people less selfish" is no goal for actionable items and people are only comfort driven, there is another simple solution: Reduce the comfort. Make them pay more money every time they show descructive behaviour. Tax them for it.
  - dahfizz 7y ago
    There's an even better solution: make the "destructive" behavior not destructive. Instead of taxing elderly people for selfishly installing AC so they don't die, we should focus on improving technology such that running AC is not harmful to the planet. Using taxes to reduce bad behavior can slow down climate change, but it could never stop it. Technology is the only real solution.
qball 7y ago
Heat waves are not personal comfort matters. That's why they're a big deal. If they were, they wouldn't be heat waves. For those with compromised thermoregulation systems, primarily the elderly and the sick, and especially those who also lack an appropriate support network, most of the heat mitigation techniques other than "be in a cold enough environment" will not work. They'll just figure it's a normal but unusually hot day. Then they get heat stroke and die. It's very easy to not notice it's happening to you until it's too late; there are known cases of people dying at (or after) sporting events on hot days due to this. Yeah. That's totally just a "personal comfort" problem.

by srrr 7y ago

scrollaway 7y ago

This hippie idea that if only we weren't so selfish we'd be better off isn't exactly useful. Yes, if only we weren't so selfish, we'd be better off. What's the action item here? People are selfish and self-centered and are going to put their personal comfort above the health of the planet. And since the health of the planet is important, and you can't change human nature, then we better figure out real ways to make personal comfort be less harmful to the planet, rather than rely on "friends living in colder buildings".

srrr 7y ago
If you are certain that "make people less selfish" is no goal for actionable items and people are only comfort driven, there is another simple solution: Reduce the comfort. Make them pay more money every time they show descructive behaviour. Tax them for it.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  There's an even better solution: make the "destructive" behavior not destructive. Instead of taxing elderly people for selfishly installing AC so they don't die, we should focus on improving technology such that running AC is not harmful to the planet. Using taxes to reduce bad behavior can slow down climate change, but it could never stop it. Technology is the only real solution.

qball 7y ago

Heat waves are not personal comfort matters. That's why they're a big deal. If they were, they wouldn't be heat waves. For those with compromised thermoregulation systems, primarily the elderly and the sick, and especially those who also lack an appropriate support network, most of the heat mitigation techniques other than "be in a cold enough environment" will not work. They'll just figure it's a normal but unusually hot day. Then they get heat stroke and die. It's very easy to not notice it's happening to you until it's too late; there are known cases of people dying at (or after) sporting events on hot days due to this. Yeah. That's totally just a "personal comfort" problem.