From: Eugene Leitl (eugene@liposome.genebee.msu.su)
Date: Tue Dec 09 1997 - 08:20:55 MST
On Tue, 9 Dec 1997, Damien Broderick wrote:
> >The evidence for an ice age is as good as the evidence for global
> >warming.
>
> > the usage of fossil fuels might be why we AREN'T
> >having problems.
>
> I see this doublet quite often, and my face has developed a rueful tic of
> recognition. `There's no good evidence for global warming, and besides,
> you fool, it's the only thing holding back the glaciers.'
Very true. Whatever we are doing, we do not know what we do. Even worse,
given process' dynamics (climatic history gleaned from palaeoice records
do not forebode well) it will be too late when we have arrived at an
informed consensus. In fact the argument that at our current level of
technology the sustainability of progress can be assured for only a few
decades (estimates vary, but you got my meaning) should be a major pro for
an R&D bost. Singularity imminent or not, thin-film photovoltaics and
electrochemical forms of energy storage should range very high on the
international agenda. Singularity may be delayed, or it may be altogether
a comforting myth. We are risking too much here, imo.
> >while there have been fluctuation in shorelines all over the place
>
> Yes. And until recently they were not anthropogenic. On the other hand,
> cities full of vulnerable human beings, and their agricultural and pastoral
> and industrial life-support systems, were not jammed on those littorals.
Yes. Whatever we should be, we should not be complacent, we bipedal
primates with our rich snafu tradition.
ciao,
'gene
> Damien Broderick
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