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It sounds like you may hold a common misconception about rare-earth minerals. IIUC, they're not (extremely) rare in the traditional sense; it's more that it's

It sounds like you may hold a common misconception about rare-earth minerals. IIUC, they're not (extremely) rare in the traditional sense; it's more that it's hard to economically extract them from ore. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#:~:text=The%2017%20rare%2Dearth%20elements,%2C%20and%20yttrium%20(Y) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#:~:text=The....

pydry 6y ago
Even harder and even more expensive to extract if you give a damn about the environment.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  Good point! Your comment has made me curious about the total lifecycle of the waste products from these processes.
- paulcole 6y ago
  This is an unpopular opinion here on HN but essentially everything the largest nations have done show that they don't give a damn about the environment at all. Like my dad said, "when someone shows you who they are, believe them."
  - clairity 6y ago
    your two sentences led to some cognitive dissonance... yes, institutions like governments can be amoral/immoral on longer timescales (in fact, i'd posit institutions are employed specifically for this purpose), but people rarely exhibit such attributes statically, as your dad's quote alludes. it's at best "believe them in the moment". rare is the "bad" person; more common is the "bad" institution. expect the best of people (which is not the same as "be naïve").
    - paulcole 6y ago
      It doesn't matter if the people are bad or the institution is bad. The end result is the same: > everything the largest nations have done show that they don't give a damn about the environment at all. I do expect the best of people. It's just been shown that the "best" a very large group of people can do re: climate change is pretty fucking pathetic.
- wtracy 6y ago
  One of the arguments for thorium-based nuclear power is that we're already digging up tons of thorium as a byproduct of rare earth mining. This is radioactive material that currently we're just dumping.
lalos 6y ago
Not worried about them running out (it sounds like you assumed that). I was more worried about geopolitical factors and having a huge online usage (companies want to make money and keep growing) be a forcing function to keep extracting them in a non-sustainable way.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  > Not worried about them running out (it sounds like you assumed that). Sorry, my mistake. The point your were trying to make is very interesting too.

pydry 6y ago

Even harder and even more expensive to extract if you give a damn about the environment.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
Good point! Your comment has made me curious about the total lifecycle of the waste products from these processes.
paulcole 6y ago
This is an unpopular opinion here on HN but essentially everything the largest nations have done show that they don't give a damn about the environment at all. Like my dad said, "when someone shows you who they are, believe them."
- clairity 6y ago
  your two sentences led to some cognitive dissonance... yes, institutions like governments can be amoral/immoral on longer timescales (in fact, i'd posit institutions are employed specifically for this purpose), but people rarely exhibit such attributes statically, as your dad's quote alludes. it's at best "believe them in the moment". rare is the "bad" person; more common is the "bad" institution. expect the best of people (which is not the same as "be naïve").
  - paulcole 6y ago
    It doesn't matter if the people are bad or the institution is bad. The end result is the same: > everything the largest nations have done show that they don't give a damn about the environment at all. I do expect the best of people. It's just been shown that the "best" a very large group of people can do re: climate change is pretty fucking pathetic.
wtracy 6y ago
One of the arguments for thorium-based nuclear power is that we're already digging up tons of thorium as a byproduct of rare earth mining. This is radioactive material that currently we're just dumping.

lalos 6y ago

Not worried about them running out (it sounds like you assumed that). I was more worried about geopolitical factors and having a huge online usage (companies want to make money and keep growing) be a forcing function to keep extracting them in a non-sustainable way.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
> Not worried about them running out (it sounds like you assumed that). Sorry, my mistake. The point your were trying to make is very interesting too.