vpecinka on Nostr: Well :) I believe the "mainstream knowledge system" is biased when it comes to the ...
Well :)
I believe the "mainstream knowledge system" is biased when it comes to the environment and fossil fuels. That doesn't mean we are not in trouble. We, as a society, should definitely do something, change our attitude, and be aware. However, it sometimes resembles a religion.
For instance, I don't believe we should decrease the amount of energy we consume. Since the time we left caves, controlled fire, and started using tools and machines, we have sought more energy. We will continue to use more and more as new machines and inventions come to help us. The related "energy efficiency" issue is being addressed in parallel by the free market, which is not easy because energy has been too cheap. In some areas, such as transportation, this doesn't create incentives to move forward. Nevertheless, Musk's Tesla vision is, I hope, a result of the free market and has definitely changed something in the automotive industry, at least.
We also tend to forget the benefits of fossil fuels and the millions of years during which the sun converted CO2 gas into something we are now using as a very cheap and versatile source of energy. Nothing has surpassed this yet. Even with all the hype about photovoltaic, wind power, etc., these technologies have been known for a century, and we are where we are today thanks to fossil fuels. Developing countries have the right to access such a cheap and versatile source of energy. We shouldn't forget a century of innovations in this space and try to throw it away or naively believe we can replace it very quickly. Instead, we should think about how to combine sources of energy.
Generally, I am optimistic. We live in an era full of accelerated innovations and vastly shared knowledge, enabling us to deal with most threats, even imminent ones.
I believe the "mainstream knowledge system" is biased when it comes to the environment and fossil fuels. That doesn't mean we are not in trouble. We, as a society, should definitely do something, change our attitude, and be aware. However, it sometimes resembles a religion.
For instance, I don't believe we should decrease the amount of energy we consume. Since the time we left caves, controlled fire, and started using tools and machines, we have sought more energy. We will continue to use more and more as new machines and inventions come to help us. The related "energy efficiency" issue is being addressed in parallel by the free market, which is not easy because energy has been too cheap. In some areas, such as transportation, this doesn't create incentives to move forward. Nevertheless, Musk's Tesla vision is, I hope, a result of the free market and has definitely changed something in the automotive industry, at least.
We also tend to forget the benefits of fossil fuels and the millions of years during which the sun converted CO2 gas into something we are now using as a very cheap and versatile source of energy. Nothing has surpassed this yet. Even with all the hype about photovoltaic, wind power, etc., these technologies have been known for a century, and we are where we are today thanks to fossil fuels. Developing countries have the right to access such a cheap and versatile source of energy. We shouldn't forget a century of innovations in this space and try to throw it away or naively believe we can replace it very quickly. Instead, we should think about how to combine sources of energy.
Generally, I am optimistic. We live in an era full of accelerated innovations and vastly shared knowledge, enabling us to deal with most threats, even imminent ones.