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We are rational creatures but we have imperfect knowledge. It's in our nature to advance through search and competition rather than attempt to preplan everythin

• mensetmanusman 6y ago
  But we do occasionally stop competing when we know it harms our own chance of survival, e.g. nuclear testing. I wonder if filling the skies with over 1-10 million satellites will pose similar types of self-reflection, or if the risk is too low for anyone to care that much.
  • pharke 6y ago
    The problem with a reactionary halt in some area due to a perceived sense of danger is that we often go too far. The campaign against nuclear arms also leaked out into a campaign against all things nuclear. We're only now starting to restore some sanity to the discussion and begin tentative funding of promising technologies in that industry. If you look at the broad history of nuclear power you'll realize that we are far behind where we should be. Power plant design hasn't changed in decades and nuclear power generation is nowhere near as widespread as it should be. Given that the largest contributors to CO2 emissions are electrical power generation and industry you could even make a case that the anti-nuclear movement of the 1960s, which resulted in the drying up of funding and academic interest in nuclear science as well as rampant NIMBYism and political opposition to nuclear reactors, is the reason we are now suffering from the effects of excessive CO2 in the atmosphere. Ironic.