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> I like an analogy I heard recently […] If a man is coming at you with the intent to do you harm, it hardly matters what technology he employs: hammer, gun, kn

> I like an analogy I heard recently […] If a man is coming at you with the intent to do you harm, it hardly matters what technology he employs: hammer, gun, knife, mace, sword. The technology is neither the problem nor the solution. The fundamental problem is the intent of the assailant. Unless we radically change our intent on this planet, “unlimited” energy—by any technological means—only accelerates our demise. I think of it this way: if every jackass on the planet has access to cheap and abundant energy, what do you think they’ll do with it? Will they use it to restore ecosystems, or hack more of it down for their own short-term gain? https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2022/09/a-climate-love-story/ https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2022/09/a-climate-love-story/

hypertele-Xii 4y ago
As they say, great power comes with great responsibility. Fortunately, we already have systems of mandatory education in place. Just add Responsible Energy Use 101 to the curriculum.
- manicdee 4y ago
  Why are there so many fatalities on our roads or from interpersonal violence? Did these people not attend the mandatory education about not killing people?
prepend 4y ago
This is interesting as free/cheap and abundant doesn’t mean unlimited. I think we’d have to work out systems where no one has to pay for an electricity bill and we have replicators but we don’t have enough energy to replicate a barrel of chlorine gas.
LatteLazy 4y ago
Of course, if the person with intent to do you harm is motivated by a dispute over energy then making energy much more available would change his intent. For instance, who will fight oil wars if the price of oil is 10x cheaper? Who will fund global terrorism if Saudi Arabia has to build an actual economy? Who will kill their neighbour to steal bread when the price of bread is much lower because cheap energy means cheap fertiliser, cheap irrigation, cheap transportation etc and the price of bread is suddenly very affordable? On the other hand, we could ignore energy and just hope for a sudden unexpected change in human nature and economics?

hypertele-Xii 4y ago

As they say, great power comes with great responsibility. Fortunately, we already have systems of mandatory education in place. Just add Responsible Energy Use 101 to the curriculum.

manicdee 4y ago
Why are there so many fatalities on our roads or from interpersonal violence? Did these people not attend the mandatory education about not killing people?

prepend 4y ago

This is interesting as free/cheap and abundant doesn’t mean unlimited. I think we’d have to work out systems where no one has to pay for an electricity bill and we have replicators but we don’t have enough energy to replicate a barrel of chlorine gas.

LatteLazy 4y ago

Of course, if the person with intent to do you harm is motivated by a dispute over energy then making energy much more available would change his intent. For instance, who will fight oil wars if the price of oil is 10x cheaper? Who will fund global terrorism if Saudi Arabia has to build an actual economy? Who will kill their neighbour to steal bread when the price of bread is much lower because cheap energy means cheap fertiliser, cheap irrigation, cheap transportation etc and the price of bread is suddenly very affordable? On the other hand, we could ignore energy and just hope for a sudden unexpected change in human nature and economics?