4 ms·

In 1950 we expected to get, and use, most of our energy from space. In 2020 we expect our 2050 fellows to be bean counting. How is that solar shade coming alo

In 1950 we expected to get, and use, most of our energy from space. In 2020 we expect our 2050 fellows to be bean counting. How is that solar shade coming along?

B1FF_PSUVM 4y ago
Hah, but we sure are showing those medieval bumpkins how self-flaying is done. Take that, sinful consumption!
Tade0 4y ago
I'm firmly in the "energy from space" (just not via death ray) camp, but I acknowledge the fact that there's more than three times as many of us today comparing to 1950 and that produces additional problems. Case in point: air conditioning in cities. One would think that with enough units and energy everyone would be comfortable. But what about those who are outside? They get blasted with all that heat. We could build pipes or enormous fans to transfer it out, but that is also not ideal. Ultimately where there's energy, there's also waste energy and too much of it in one place is bad, so it makes sense to use less of it for the sake of avoiding such issues.
networked 4y ago
This view is a combination of technical pessimism and unjustified moral optimism: we are not going to have the energy and the technology to do climate engineering, but we will have overcome the tragedy of the commons through individual awareness. Planetary engineering and government coercion (even including Western nations forcing Asia to decarbonize) are more likely outcomes than people voluntarily internalizing their externalities. (All of this probably assumes too much business as usual in 2050. It looks increasingly unlikely we will get there without inventing recursively self-improving artificial intelligence, abandoning the pre-AI course of history.)
- thriftwy 4y ago
  Yes, I can't imagine that billions of citizens of China and India are going to signal the same amount of economic virtue as EU and USA currently does. In additions, the recent revelations about how USA's ecological norms led to ever larger, power- and fuel-hungry vehicles effectively multiplies the USA's claims of ecological awareness by zero.

In 1950 we expected to get, and use, most of our energy from space. In 2020 we expect our 2050 fellows to be bean counting. How is that solar shade coming along?

B1FF_PSUVM 4y ago

Hah, but we sure are showing those medieval bumpkins how self-flaying is done. Take that, sinful consumption!

Tade0 4y ago

I'm firmly in the "energy from space" (just not via death ray) camp, but I acknowledge the fact that there's more than three times as many of us today comparing to 1950 and that produces additional problems. Case in point: air conditioning in cities. One would think that with enough units and energy everyone would be comfortable. But what about those who are outside? They get blasted with all that heat. We could build pipes or enormous fans to transfer it out, but that is also not ideal. Ultimately where there's energy, there's also waste energy and too much of it in one place is bad, so it makes sense to use less of it for the sake of avoiding such issues.

networked 4y ago

This view is a combination of technical pessimism and unjustified moral optimism: we are not going to have the energy and the technology to do climate engineering, but we will have overcome the tragedy of the commons through individual awareness. Planetary engineering and government coercion (even including Western nations forcing Asia to decarbonize) are more likely outcomes than people voluntarily internalizing their externalities. (All of this probably assumes too much business as usual in 2050. It looks increasingly unlikely we will get there without inventing recursively self-improving artificial intelligence, abandoning the pre-AI course of history.)

thriftwy 4y ago
Yes, I can't imagine that billions of citizens of China and India are going to signal the same amount of economic virtue as EU and USA currently does. In additions, the recent revelations about how USA's ecological norms led to ever larger, power- and fuel-hungry vehicles effectively multiplies the USA's claims of ecological awareness by zero.