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Climate change disaster timelines are longer than AI timelines. Geometric growth doesn't feel like much until you slam into the wall.

defrost 3y ago
> Climate change disaster timelines are longer than AI timelines. Sure ... and we've already let Koch and Co. piss 50 years of lead time up against the wall since the first global recognition of the problem in the 1970s. Now that it's starting to bite and properly ramp up there's far too many that are stretched out lizard like on Titanic deckchairs asking AI Jeeves for another drink.
- ETH_start 3y ago
  The biggest contributor to climate change was widespread protests against nuclear power, which arrested what had been rapid growth in a safe non-CO2-emitting base load power source that could have replaced hydrocarbon generators within two generations. The Green parties in Europe successfully stopped the expansion of every nuclear energy program in the EU. Greenpeace engaged in a number of terrorist attacks to sabotage nuclear energy.
  - defrost 3y ago
    Seems unlikely given the expansion in standard of living in developing countries, the use of fossil fuels in ICE's .. and elsewhere outside of power generation in the EU. It's a factor, sure, but "biggest" .. not so much.
    - ETH_start 3y ago
      The rate of growth in nuclear power was putting on a trajectory to replace all or nearly all hydrocarbon based base load power sources. And it was political opposition to nuclear power that put a stop to that. No other factor comes close as a contributor to climate change in my estimation. The transition from ICEs to electric battery cars is largely orthogonal to base load power, but even electric battery cars depend on a base load source, so the extent that CO2 emitting energy sources have been replaced by non-emitting ones is highly dependent on the base load sources.
__loam 3y ago
I don't think you understand climate change timeliness if this is what you think.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 3y ago
  Climate change will became very bad possibly as soon as 5-10 years. Widespread starvation, resource war, bad. At the rate AI is accelerating we may not get even 3. It's the final force multiplier. If we end create runaway automation feedback loops, there may not be much of a recognizable planet left to have a climate in ten years. A spot of hull rust quickly consumes the entire ship once it takes root. I grasp the looming disaster of climate-driven global collapse. We simply found a way to speedrun disaster even more efficiently.

defrost 3y ago

> Climate change disaster timelines are longer than AI timelines. Sure ... and we've already let Koch and Co. piss 50 years of lead time up against the wall since the first global recognition of the problem in the 1970s. Now that it's starting to bite and properly ramp up there's far too many that are stretched out lizard like on Titanic deckchairs asking AI Jeeves for another drink.

ETH_start 3y ago
The biggest contributor to climate change was widespread protests against nuclear power, which arrested what had been rapid growth in a safe non-CO2-emitting base load power source that could have replaced hydrocarbon generators within two generations. The Green parties in Europe successfully stopped the expansion of every nuclear energy program in the EU. Greenpeace engaged in a number of terrorist attacks to sabotage nuclear energy.
- defrost 3y ago
  Seems unlikely given the expansion in standard of living in developing countries, the use of fossil fuels in ICE's .. and elsewhere outside of power generation in the EU. It's a factor, sure, but "biggest" .. not so much.
  - ETH_start 3y ago
    The rate of growth in nuclear power was putting on a trajectory to replace all or nearly all hydrocarbon based base load power sources. And it was political opposition to nuclear power that put a stop to that. No other factor comes close as a contributor to climate change in my estimation. The transition from ICEs to electric battery cars is largely orthogonal to base load power, but even electric battery cars depend on a base load source, so the extent that CO2 emitting energy sources have been replaced by non-emitting ones is highly dependent on the base load sources.

__loam 3y ago

I don't think you understand climate change timeliness if this is what you think.

HeatrayEnjoyer 3y ago
Climate change will became very bad possibly as soon as 5-10 years. Widespread starvation, resource war, bad. At the rate AI is accelerating we may not get even 3. It's the final force multiplier. If we end create runaway automation feedback loops, there may not be much of a recognizable planet left to have a climate in ten years. A spot of hull rust quickly consumes the entire ship once it takes root. I grasp the looming disaster of climate-driven global collapse. We simply found a way to speedrun disaster even more efficiently.