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you are comparing against the entire us military budget (which includes funding its own fusion research), an entire category of consumer spending (ie, money tha

you are comparing against the entire us military budget (which includes funding its own fusion research), an entire category of consumer spending (ie, money that the government can't spend to begin with), and an intelligence agency that employs tens of thousands of people. how are any of those valid comparisons against a single (albeit important) research project that may never bear fruit?

ClumsyPilot 5y ago
All these efforts are less important that global survival of organised civilisation, to which fusion research is key. Also what kind of argument is "an intelligence agency that employs tens of thousands of people"? Does headcount mean its okay to spend money on NSA and not ITER? Has NSA born more fruit than ITER has in some tangiable way, besides violating our privacy and freedom? You seem to be encouraging the largest possible and least efficient bureocracy.
- leetcrew 5y ago
  > Also what kind of argument is "an intelligence agency that employs tens of thousands of people"? my point is that, however you may feel about the NSA, you are comparing the budget of an entire government agency to that of a single research project. ITER is (AFAIK) the largest fusion research project, but it isn't the entire field. furthermore, fusion is an important piece of the sustainable energy puzzle, but it seems an exaggeration to call it the singular key. I just don't see how this comparison makes sense. why not compare ITER against other research projects? I suspect it is because you know that $4 billion is already a huge budget for a single project, maybe not the largest ever, but among those. > You seem to be encouraging the largest possible and least efficient bureocracy. the only thing I am encouraging is a reasonable apples-to-apples comparison.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    Your yardstick is totally wrong - we know how much funding is needed, and we underinvest: https://amp.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/5gi9yh/fusion_is_always_50_years_away_for_a_reason/ https://amp.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/5gi9yh/fusion_i... The laws of physics have bo obligation to us to be 'researcheable' on a level of funding you deem sufficient. This should be priority number 1, it should be funding fusion on the same level as we fund the military and healthcare, not some second rate government agency, our future depends on it.

ClumsyPilot 5y ago

All these efforts are less important that global survival of organised civilisation, to which fusion research is key. Also what kind of argument is "an intelligence agency that employs tens of thousands of people"? Does headcount mean its okay to spend money on NSA and not ITER? Has NSA born more fruit than ITER has in some tangiable way, besides violating our privacy and freedom? You seem to be encouraging the largest possible and least efficient bureocracy.

leetcrew 5y ago
> Also what kind of argument is "an intelligence agency that employs tens of thousands of people"? my point is that, however you may feel about the NSA, you are comparing the budget of an entire government agency to that of a single research project. ITER is (AFAIK) the largest fusion research project, but it isn't the entire field. furthermore, fusion is an important piece of the sustainable energy puzzle, but it seems an exaggeration to call it the singular key. I just don't see how this comparison makes sense. why not compare ITER against other research projects? I suspect it is because you know that $4 billion is already a huge budget for a single project, maybe not the largest ever, but among those. > You seem to be encouraging the largest possible and least efficient bureocracy. the only thing I am encouraging is a reasonable apples-to-apples comparison.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  Your yardstick is totally wrong - we know how much funding is needed, and we underinvest: https://amp.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/5gi9yh/fusion_is_always_50_years_away_for_a_reason/ https://amp.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/5gi9yh/fusion_i... The laws of physics have bo obligation to us to be 'researcheable' on a level of funding you deem sufficient. This should be priority number 1, it should be funding fusion on the same level as we fund the military and healthcare, not some second rate government agency, our future depends on it.