Re: OT: Still waiting for the magic solution

"John the Savage"

I believe in sufficiently-advanced technology.
Me too ... always glad to agree with a reasonable point.
To suggest that technology will simply solve any problem, no matter how
difficult, without us even having to think about it, is plainly stupid.

I can't tell exactly who you refer to there, as people who believe
that technology will come about without us even having to think about
it.

Let's start with you. Boundless faith in the "market" to figure out
"something" that will fill the role of oil throughout our economy without
any severe hiccup. If you are thinking about it, I haven't noticed.


Almost too much in one thought to swallow all at the same time. "Energy" is
a very important subject. There are hiccups all along the way in all
technological development. The "market" (along with government assistance
where it does not get in the way more than it helps) will indeed provide
"the masses" with the energy they need in the most efficient way ... if it
is possible. You see, this whole area is much broader than you seem to want
to acknowledge. It is not just "replace oil" that is important. There are
so many other considerations that it boggles the mind. The question is
whether "you" or some committee can predict with any accuracy that
"something" that you seem to believe is the magical solution to the
"problem" you have assumed to be something that everyone should be thinking
about as hard as you are.

There are many of us that believe that committees of experts are not
necessarily the best solution to perceived problems. Some of us believe,
believe it or not, that the "market" (when it remains competitive and as
free as possible) has indeed proven itself to reorganize and produce what
people want and need better than preplanning. There are always hiccups, but
they seem to be better moderated by markets rather than politics.


My nomination is what I would term the "greenies".
They seem to think that we can produce energy without ever having to
drill anywhere, dig anywhere, build anything anywhere, and introduce
no C02 anywhere.

There used to be a term called BANANAs.
"Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anybody"

(Formerly called NIMBYs)

Scientifically, technologically and economically illiterate on top of
it all.

Great. There are idiots on all sides. I am trying to convince them all.


Convince them all of what? You sound a lot like chicken little ... a
little. I know you believe that oil will eventually "run out" and you seem
to think that no one is listening to you as you shout that out. No one does
not believe that "oil" will not be here forever (well, maybe there are some
that might believe [and I would not deny them their thought] that we might
figure out a way to turn sand into oil, but I digress. There are many ways,
most of which I have no insight about, than might replace the energy stored
in petroleum with some other method of storing energy. I am not hopeless
and I do not believe the world will be worse off in the future because we
are using up the oil. There are many things that might cause TEOTWAWKI and
the depletion of oil reserves is not at the top of my list. It appears to
be at the top of your list. Good luck with your quest.


You can do better than this, Pickle. Or maybe, you can't. Nobody can
even make a rational argument that I'm wrong anymore, instead we are all
just counting on Harry Potter to come through with, well, a magic
solution. "Technology" is the reasonable thing to call it, but in this
case, it is no more real.


From what I remember, your argument is that we're screwed unless the
government throws massive amounts of money around, to anyone who can
write a grant application promising to use it to develop energy
production.

I am not here to make an argument. I am here to state facts, expert
opinions, and raise awareness about a subject EVERYONE IS COMPLETELY
OBLIVIOUS TO. That's all. I don't have the solutions. I just want more
people to understand that we need solutions, and we need them yesterday.
Who can predict what would happen if everybody really believed that.


It sort of sounded like you wanted to make "that argument" ... sorry if we
misunderstood. You do seem a little hysterical with the shouting. And you
do seem to want that "something" to happen yesterday ... and we now discover
that you don't know what you want EVERYONE to do.


There will be a time in ten, twenty years when everybody will want to know
how this could happen, how nobody was talking about it, and how we could
have been so incredibly stupid to suck up all the oil with no exit
strategy. I'm just wondering this already, and aloud.


Well, you are not alone. A little more reading and study will allow you to
learn that many other people are in complete agreement with you. There are
many groups dedicated to the cause you aspire to worry about. I suggest
that there are many different strains of those that believe as you do. You
have a choice to join many different cults of believers. You might be
surprised to learn that once you hitch up with one, you might be shunned by
the others.


Agreeing with Clave's three minute one-liner is your offering, nice!
How's the oil business?

3 minutes?
From what I've seen from him, he never spends any more than 20 seconds
before typing the first thing that comes to mind..

Well, that was the difference in the timestamps between my post and his
reply. He is a waste of time, but apparently sometimes useful to Pickle.


It was not "useful" ... it was just quite clever and exactly the right
comment at the right moment. Again, I am always ready to recognize a good
point made by someone who is usually opposed to my world view.

Seriously, spend some time with Arthur C. Clarke ... he was a genius.


.

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