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Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

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Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#51

Post by BaseballPhysics »

tomp wrote: post #44
ricktyler wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Fair" is just an arbitrarily-applied constant in your sentence. Why is meritocratic more "fair" than equitable? Perhaps more precisely, why do you deem meritocratic to = fair? Someone could just as easily (and supportably) deem equitable to = fair. Hearts!

Because “equity” (communism) requires violence. Taking away from those who create more and giving to those who create less. Something that is non-consensual and requires violence is by definition unfair (unless you’ve a wicked moral compass).

I dunno, in the real world, the kind of libertarian society you seem to be advocating for has descended into its own unique form of violence:

https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-int...

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#52

Post by rajanaccros »

tomp wrote: post #43
rajanaccros wrote: post #27

Reports released by IPCC and other organizations [0] indicate that we have 15 years to take drastic action on the environment. This tracks with the extremely accurate prediction from The Limits to Growth [1] published in 1972. If we do not take action on climate _now_ then _nothing_ is going to matter. We will enter into an irreversible feedback loop that causes human extinction, yet it won't be apparent until it is…

The world will not end, just change. Maybe for the better? E.g. Siberia becoming fertile. Maybe even Sahara becoming green again! We know what needs to be done. Build nuclear! But unfortunately anti-growth “green” parties and activists (like you I presume) have been pushing anti-nuclear propaganda for decades, stopping progress. Nothing can be done on an individual level, so quitting your job or not having kids is co…

I really don't agree with this. And I am not against nuclear. I am for any action that will restructure our society that is more reciprocal with the environment. The world will not change for the better with 60+% of species extinction, wet bulb temperatures and not enough power to cool will affect and kill millions of people N/S 30deg of the equator.

My alarmist talking points it to actually engage people like you and who have similar thoughts that think they can't do anything. You absolutely can. And it is time to be alarmist. Not being so is not working.

My point is to work to restructure society at any level you can, to educate, and to stop this myth of perpetual growth GDP as the only indicator of success. It is killing everything.

> E.g. Siberia becoming fertile. Maybe even Sahara becoming green again!

We have a perfectly good world as is, and you want to gamble everything on this?

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#53

Post by atmosx »

ferociouskite56 wrote: post #22

Xanax/benzos are the most effective psych medicine, deserve to be over the counter, but can be fatally overdosed. All mental drugs and others such as chemotherapy need to be precisely targeted at limited part of an organ. 2030 4 high-NA EUV fabs will have 1.4 nano RiscV chips; rollable microLED; solid state battery. That's still not paper thin all day phones. 1 passenger, only autopilot drones should transport snakeb…

No.

These are harmful drugs if not taken with care. In the long run they can very easily have the opposite effect, like cause or accelerate depression.

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#54

Post by JohnFen »

kfrzcode wrote: post #23
eimrine wrote: post #12

A lot of a billionaires which: 1. Exist 2. Actively making us not noticing their existance by shitting us with some fake problems like gays, drugs, foreigners, terrorists, etc (different set of fake problems per country).

[flagged]

It seems doubtful. Extremely wealthy people have a very poor track record for solving societal problems, and a very good track record of perpetuating problems that lead to them increasing their power.

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#55

Post by erik_seaberg »

mynonameaccount wrote: post #47
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #19

The biggest problem domain worth pursuing is figuring out fusion. If we can unlock what is effectively limitless power a lot of problems become far more tractable. Everything else is a distraction. We need cheaper and more available power. Every physicist and engineer in the world should probably try dedicating at least one or two month of their life to figuring out fusion. If humanity could pay a trillion dollars to…

"We need cheaper and more available power." Based on your requirements, this is already solved. Pull more oil out of the ground. Burn more trees. AND, throwing money at a problem will definitely solve fusion. Give people cheap energy and people will use it up. Just look at cryptomining. Then you are back to needing more energy. People will do just fine with expensive energy. They will adapt.

Every existential problem is downstream from having dramatically more energy--carbon capture, desalination, food beyond remaining arable land and healthy soil.

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#56

Post by tomp »

rajanaccros wrote: post #52
tomp wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world will not end, just change. Maybe for the better? E.g. Siberia becoming fertile. Maybe even Sahara becoming green again! We know what needs to be done. Build nuclear! But unfortunately anti-growth “green” parties and activists (like you I presume) have been pushing anti-nuclear propaganda for decades, stopping progress. Nothing can be done on an individual level, so quitting your job or not having kids is co…

I really don't agree with this. And I am not against nuclear. I am for any action that will restructure our society that is more reciprocal with the environment. The world will not change for the better with 60+% of species extinction, wet bulb temperatures and not enough power to cool will affect and kill millions of people N/S 30deg of the equator. My alarmist talking points it to actually engage people like you an…

Well if we built more nuclear, we’d have more power to run more A/C. Actually even with solar we can do that (it’s night power that would remain a problem).

No solution that requires degrowth, less energy, lower GDP or lower human quality of life, is acceptable to me. Degrowth means less food, less medicine, less power, less transport, more death.

Alarmism and promoting degrowth and/or stupid policies (paper straws, anyone?) just further increase the public backlash against “green” movement, so I guess it’s a good thing?!

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#57

Post by mynonameaccount »

kfrzcode wrote: post #23
eimrine wrote: post #12

A lot of a billionaires which: 1. Exist 2. Actively making us not noticing their existance by shitting us with some fake problems like gays, drugs, foreigners, terrorists, etc (different set of fake problems per country).

[flagged]

+1

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#58

Post by camdenlock »

eimrine wrote: post #12

A lot of a billionaires which: 1. Exist 2. Actively making us not noticing their existance by shitting us with some fake problems like gays, drugs, foreigners, terrorists, etc (different set of fake problems per country).

So having >= 1,000,000,000 USD is somehow bad?

How about 999,999,999? Still bad?

How about 900,000,000? No?

Hm. How much is too much, and why?

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#59

Post by mynonameaccount »

rajanaccros wrote: post #40
leksak wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you quit your job? And how are you working on climate change now? > If you are not quitting your job and working to advance the existential threat of climate change and the main driver of the catastrophe (capitalism and perpetual growth) then you are wasting your (and your children's) time. Or did you decide to waste your time (and possibly the time of your children?)

Yes. I did quit my job and am looking for climate careers actively through climatebase.org and climacareers.com (not associate with either but where I have been searching). I have transitioned to veganism, raise the AC of my house to a very high level to where I am spending $7 per week, bought a bike to commute around the city, have stopped buying clothes and am now buying only through thrift stores, reading (and try…

You use AC? I just went through 107 last week without AC. How do you even call yourself an environmentalist? Only when if affects your comfort level right?

Re: Ask HN: Problems for the next decade?

#60

Post by samuellevy »

ferociouskite56 wrote: post #22

Xanax/benzos are the most effective psych medicine, deserve to be over the counter, but can be fatally overdosed. All mental drugs and others such as chemotherapy need to be precisely targeted at limited part of an organ. 2030 4 high-NA EUV fabs will have 1.4 nano RiscV chips; rollable microLED; solid state battery. That's still not paper thin all day phones. 1 passenger, only autopilot drones should transport snakeb…

How big of a problem are "snake bite victims"? I live in Australia, one of those countries that people would class as "dangerous" with regards to snakes, and... There's only been about 40 deaths in the past 20 years...

It's just a really strange thing to ping as a "big problem to solve", and such a bizarrely expensive solution to the problem, too. I think that a much better solution would be improving development and access to antivenin

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