3 ms·

This is so patently false it's scary. There is an enormous demand for a cure for cancer, dementia, heart disease etc. Yet they haven't even close to materialize

This is so patently false it's scary. There is an enormous demand for a cure for cancer, dementia, heart disease etc. Yet they haven't even close to materialized. There is an enormous demand for room environment super conductors yet it isn't fixed. It's all sunflowers and rainbows to think like you are thinking but it's just not reality.

yonaguska 4y ago
There is an enormous demand for a cure to cancer, but why should it be pursued over enormously profitable cancer treatments? I'm just being pedantic though, I agree with your point.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
Some of the techno-optimism on this site would get you laughed out of the room in some academic circles.
zdragnar 4y ago
To be fair, most of the problems are not technical but scale. We know how to build stronger grids, and how to produce more electricity, and how to refine lithium. We haven't got a clue what to do about dementia or room temp superconductors or cold fusion. That said, I am also quite a bit more pessimist than OP that we will see a full conversion in the near future. It will be a long, and quite possibly painful, process.
- anikom15 4y ago
  Integrating things at a certain scale is a technical problem.
  - zdragnar 4y ago
    It's really more about production than integration. We simply don't have the supply volume or production capacity on hand to rapidly replace existing ICE cars. Things are improving, but overall cost is going to stay high until lithium battery and other costs come down. Then, you have the issue of rolling out updates to grids. There's a variety of options, all well technically understood, and little movement in many areas. California, for example, ought to have buried a lot of its electrical lines. Construction work during droughts seem like a good way to start a wildfire, as is installing new overhead lines.

3 ms·

This is so patently false it's scary. There is an enormous demand for a cure for cancer, dementia, heart disease etc. Yet they haven't even close to materialize

by rowanG077 4y ago

yonaguska 4y ago
There is an enormous demand for a cure to cancer, but why should it be pursued over enormously profitable cancer treatments? I'm just being pedantic though, I agree with your point.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
Some of the techno-optimism on this site would get you laughed out of the room in some academic circles.
zdragnar 4y ago
To be fair, most of the problems are not technical but scale. We know how to build stronger grids, and how to produce more electricity, and how to refine lithium. We haven't got a clue what to do about dementia or room temp superconductors or cold fusion. That said, I am also quite a bit more pessimist than OP that we will see a full conversion in the near future. It will be a long, and quite possibly painful, process.
- anikom15 4y ago
  Integrating things at a certain scale is a technical problem.
  - zdragnar 4y ago
    It's really more about production than integration. We simply don't have the supply volume or production capacity on hand to rapidly replace existing ICE cars. Things are improving, but overall cost is going to stay high until lithium battery and other costs come down. Then, you have the issue of rolling out updates to grids. There's a variety of options, all well technically understood, and little movement in many areas. California, for example, ought to have buried a lot of its electrical lines. Construction work during droughts seem like a good way to start a wildfire, as is installing new overhead lines.