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> Why do HN comment threads always end up as Pedantry Pageants where all ye who dare comment must address all the fucking edge cases Gold mining isn't a fuckin
by panarky 5y ago
> Why do HN comment threads always end up as Pedantry Pageants where all ye who dare comment must address all the fucking edge cases
Gold mining isn't a fucking edge case if it uses more energy and produces far more environmental damage.
According to the principle you described, Bitcoin is the edge case we should ignore until we solve the gold mining problem.
- WorldMaker 5y agoGold mining isn't even an edge case in that specific example when the class of problem is explicitly defined as "What digital services use too much energy?" as it had been in the above conversation. Is Gold a digital service? No. Is Gold Mining wasteful? Perhaps. (Though again, as an aside, the better question with specific respect to Gold is: Is Copper Mining wasteful? Most gold is mined as a by product of copper mining.) It's not an edge case of the "electric waste of Digital Services", because it is an entirely different problem. So not only do we have "pedantry pageants" of edge cases, but we get to address the "pedantry pageants" of all the unrelated but seemingly related problems too?