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Going on vacation to Europe is a totally reasonable thing to do. Don’t let people guilt you into believing it’s an outrageously selfish act that contributes to

by gizmo 3y ago

Going on vacation to Europe is a totally reasonable thing to do. Don’t let people guilt you into believing it’s an outrageously selfish act that contributes to the destruction of our planet. Millions of people listen to Tim Ferriss’ podcast because they enjoy it, or think they can learn from it. At that scale you necessarily attract some crazy people, just like pop stars and politicians do. Your suggestion that he could just abandon his life’s work is bad and judgmental.

voisin 3y ago
> Going on vacation to Europe is a totally reasonable thing to do. Don’t let people guilt you into believing it’s an outrageously selfish act that contributes to the destruction of our planet. Reasonable by what standard? How is it not outrageously selfish to add extra carbon to the atmosphere which absolutely does “contribute to the destruction of the planet”. Do you honestly think there are zero consequences to burning further fossil fuels?
- iLoveOncall 3y ago
  This is a ridiculous and hypocritical statement. Posting on HN generates extra carbon, eating out generates extra carbon, everything generates extra, unnecessary, carbon.
  - voisin 3y ago
    You would agree that there are different quantities of carbon for each of the things you listed and air travel, right? Like, you recognize that it isn’t binary generate/not generate?
- andersa 3y ago
  It makes no sense to worry about this as an individual while entire countries are failing to act, making the problem worse by refusing to use clean nuclear power and building new coal power plants instead. Or you could see some corporation wasting a million times more carbon than you produce every day because they save a few dollars over a more responsible process. Whether you take that flight or not has no impact on the world at all. While you worried about this guy going on a vacation, Germany approved dismantling a wind turbine farm to make space for a new coal mine :)
  - cribbles 3y ago
    Air travel accounted for 2.5% of CO2 emissions in 2020, and its total contribution to global warming was probably closer to around 3.5%.[1] Only 11% of the world's population travelled by air in 2018, with at most 4% taking international flights, and 1% of the world's population accounting for more than half of total emissions.[2] Passenger air travel is projected to grow by about 44% by 2050,[3] and will probably take up an even more substantial slice of overall emissions by then because technologies to decarbonize air travel (other than direct carbon capture) do not yet exist. The argument you are making is probably least compelling when applied to air travel compared to any other form of consumerism, and HN's readership (generally speaking) is uniquely culpable here. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307779 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937802... [3] https://www.eurocontrol.int/article/aviation-outlook-2050-air-traffic-forecast-shows-aviation-pathway-net-zero-co2-emissions https://www.eurocontrol.int/article/aviation-outlook-2050-ai...
    - nerdawson 3y ago
      People aren’t going to give up travel and it’s unrealistic to expect them to do so. If we rule that out, what alternatives remain? I assume the answer is going to come in the form of reducing emissions from a typical flight and extracting CO2 from the air.
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    This is a responsibility Dodge at best. You wouldn't say that murdering someone is ethical just because there are many murders worldwide and one more person is just a minor contribution. If you believe the total carbon emissions pose a problem, then you have to believe your personal contribution is a problem as well if you you are intellectually honest. The sum of the parts add up to the whole. You can make an argument that maybe it's not the highest priority for public action if you were to stack rank issues, fine. However, to to claim an individual contribution is exactly zero is incorrect.
  - jacooper 3y ago
- jimmydddd 3y ago
  I was surprised to see comments stating that flying to a vacation destination is selfish? Are there many people who think this?
ramraj07 3y ago
I'm not letting people guilt me, I can do my own math. I can make my own choices on what my personal effect on this planet is and how I should feel about it. As Tim can. Saying I formed my opinions out of hyperbole from others condescending don't you think?
- gizmo 3y ago
  Anecdotally, comments like yours come from people with major anxiety disorders. So I'm not surprised to find that just last week you wrote: > So ever since lockdown I've pretty much spend like 18 hours a day on my bed: I sleep there and I do most of my work from there, including meetings, debugging and mild coding. [1] You judge others for traveling, but you don't leave your bed for 18 hours each day? I'm just at a loss for words. You're free to live how you like, but if a friend of mine decided to live your lifestyle I would stage an intervention. Not out of condescension, but out of concern. Mental health issues, when left unattended, can spiral out of control. When your brain is sick everything gets warped and twisted and you might wake up a decade later not knowing what happened or where all the time went. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35939554 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35939554
  - ramraj07 3y ago
    Lol thank you armchair psychologist stalker, for your concern. I have generally found the contrary to be true in my anecdotal experience that people who travel all over, constantly go on hikes and seek out "nature" are the ones trying desparately to find purpose in life. I just decided I don't need to tour Italy to sense purpose in mine. I'm happy to lie down do my work make my money and decide what I'll do with the rest of my life.
    - ithinkso 3y ago
      > and decide what I'll do with the rest of my life. Travel?

by gizmo 3y ago

voisin 3y ago

> Going on vacation to Europe is a totally reasonable thing to do. Don’t let people guilt you into believing it’s an outrageously selfish act that contributes to the destruction of our planet. Reasonable by what standard? How is it not outrageously selfish to add extra carbon to the atmosphere which absolutely does “contribute to the destruction of the planet”. Do you honestly think there are zero consequences to burning further fossil fuels?

iLoveOncall 3y ago
This is a ridiculous and hypocritical statement. Posting on HN generates extra carbon, eating out generates extra carbon, everything generates extra, unnecessary, carbon.
- voisin 3y ago
  You would agree that there are different quantities of carbon for each of the things you listed and air travel, right? Like, you recognize that it isn’t binary generate/not generate?
andersa 3y ago
It makes no sense to worry about this as an individual while entire countries are failing to act, making the problem worse by refusing to use clean nuclear power and building new coal power plants instead. Or you could see some corporation wasting a million times more carbon than you produce every day because they save a few dollars over a more responsible process. Whether you take that flight or not has no impact on the world at all. While you worried about this guy going on a vacation, Germany approved dismantling a wind turbine farm to make space for a new coal mine :)
- cribbles 3y ago
  Air travel accounted for 2.5% of CO2 emissions in 2020, and its total contribution to global warming was probably closer to around 3.5%.[1] Only 11% of the world's population travelled by air in 2018, with at most 4% taking international flights, and 1% of the world's population accounting for more than half of total emissions.[2] Passenger air travel is projected to grow by about 44% by 2050,[3] and will probably take up an even more substantial slice of overall emissions by then because technologies to decarbonize air travel (other than direct carbon capture) do not yet exist. The argument you are making is probably least compelling when applied to air travel compared to any other form of consumerism, and HN's readership (generally speaking) is uniquely culpable here. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307779 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937802... [3] https://www.eurocontrol.int/article/aviation-outlook-2050-air-traffic-forecast-shows-aviation-pathway-net-zero-co2-emissions https://www.eurocontrol.int/article/aviation-outlook-2050-ai...
  - nerdawson 3y ago
    People aren’t going to give up travel and it’s unrealistic to expect them to do so. If we rule that out, what alternatives remain? I assume the answer is going to come in the form of reducing emissions from a typical flight and extracting CO2 from the air.
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  This is a responsibility Dodge at best. You wouldn't say that murdering someone is ethical just because there are many murders worldwide and one more person is just a minor contribution. If you believe the total carbon emissions pose a problem, then you have to believe your personal contribution is a problem as well if you you are intellectually honest. The sum of the parts add up to the whole. You can make an argument that maybe it's not the highest priority for public action if you were to stack rank issues, fine. However, to to claim an individual contribution is exactly zero is incorrect.
- jacooper 3y ago
jimmydddd 3y ago
I was surprised to see comments stating that flying to a vacation destination is selfish? Are there many people who think this?

ramraj07 3y ago

I'm not letting people guilt me, I can do my own math. I can make my own choices on what my personal effect on this planet is and how I should feel about it. As Tim can. Saying I formed my opinions out of hyperbole from others condescending don't you think?

gizmo 3y ago
Anecdotally, comments like yours come from people with major anxiety disorders. So I'm not surprised to find that just last week you wrote: > So ever since lockdown I've pretty much spend like 18 hours a day on my bed: I sleep there and I do most of my work from there, including meetings, debugging and mild coding. [1] You judge others for traveling, but you don't leave your bed for 18 hours each day? I'm just at a loss for words. You're free to live how you like, but if a friend of mine decided to live your lifestyle I would stage an intervention. Not out of condescension, but out of concern. Mental health issues, when left unattended, can spiral out of control. When your brain is sick everything gets warped and twisted and you might wake up a decade later not knowing what happened or where all the time went. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35939554 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35939554
- ramraj07 3y ago
  Lol thank you armchair psychologist stalker, for your concern. I have generally found the contrary to be true in my anecdotal experience that people who travel all over, constantly go on hikes and seek out "nature" are the ones trying desparately to find purpose in life. I just decided I don't need to tour Italy to sense purpose in mine. I'm happy to lie down do my work make my money and decide what I'll do with the rest of my life.
  - ithinkso 3y ago
    > and decide what I'll do with the rest of my life. Travel?