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Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

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Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#241

Post by maxerickson »

CountSessine wrote: post #239
maxerickson wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but now we've gone from habitable to sufficiently Earth-like to meet an unspoken definition of Earth-like.

No, he really didn't - he said specifically, "So many, many things can be wrong and make a planet uninhabitable". What if Proxima B has chlorine in its atmosphere? Uninhabitable. Proxima B is a tidal-locked eyeball planet - what if the equatorial stable zone still shifts enough to not provide a stable environment for life? Uninhabitable. What if Proxima B encounters too much ionizing radiation? Uninhabitable. Use you…

You've managed to ignore the sentence in the post that I did reply to. You know, the other one.

You've also apparently not payed much attention to Sure, we don't know a whole lot more about it, so it is quite likely to not be a nice destination for humans, but it seems to be at least remotely Earth like. that I said above (surely my making that statement implies some use of my imagination prior to your suggesting it).

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#242

Post by dec0dedab0de »

astrodust wrote: post #213
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sometimes think they reject the idea that the whole point of existence is human flourishing and happiness. Yes, many people reject this idea. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone express this idea.

You have spent way too much time on Hacker News. Gross Domestic Happiness was coined in 1972 and the idea exists way beyond that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness For example, the US Constitution proudly proclaims that "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" are unalienable rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_...

You have spent way too much time on Hacker News.

That's probably the most truthful statement I've ever read on here.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#243

Post by duaneb »

bpodgursky wrote: post #226
jdmichal wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Come back to me when battery technology has gotten even close to that. Define "battery". Pumped-storage hydro is literally hydro as a "battery". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricit... Also completely ignoring the fact that every joule provided by solar is one less joule that hydro needs to provide, which in turn extends their stored energy life.

... Pumped-storage hydro is pumping water behind a dam. You can TRY to hollow out the top of a mountain and put the water there (yeah, that's also suuuuuuper environmentally friendly), but it's incredibly difficult to do it at reasonable scale, and when it fails it wipes out towns. You'll find the only reasonable way to store enough water to make a difference it is to put it in a valley, where the terrain helps you.…

You don't necessarily need water: http://www.aresnorthamerica.com/

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#245

Post by [deleted] »

dkural wrote: post #233
astrodust wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have spent way too much time on Hacker News. Gross Domestic Happiness was coined in 1972 and the idea exists way beyond that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness For example, the US Constitution proudly proclaims that "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" are unalienable rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_...

Gross Domestic Happiness is enhanced by caring about things beyond human flourishing for many people. Many people care about the environment. GDH was in fact invented precisely to capture dimensions beyond that of human material improvement (more dams, more houses, etc.)

[deleted]

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#246

Post by grb423 »

sabertoothed wrote: post #76
dec0dedab0de wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sometimes think they reject the idea that the whole point of existence is human flourishing and happiness. Yes, many people reject this idea. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone express this idea.

Especially "_human_ flourishing and happiness". Why only human? Why not the well-being of all conscious creatures?

human supremacism!

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#247

Post by grb423 »

mhurron wrote: post #122
jfaucett wrote: post #19

Notice this is because 80% of the energy obtained was from Hydroelectric power, which is a great energy source because it is reliable - unlike wind and solar which in this case provided 7% and 0.01% respectively and are not reliable. It frustrates me that so many environmentalists are still against hydro because it alters ecosystems when nature itself is inherently violent, dangerous and in a constant state of flux.…

Dams are an ecological disaster, just as much as burning fossil fuels. Dams have directly caused or are causing the extinction of several species around the world, that is not counting all the permanent environmental impacts a dam creates. Hydro is a green energy source if you define green as simply not burning fuel.

Hydro power is literally nothing but the exploitation of Mother Gaia for the narrow-minded human race without concern for the marginalized annelid community. Check your privilege!

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#248

Post by r-w »

maratd wrote: post #227
metaphorm wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it was unthinkable in the original Aristotelean framework. They had no notion of being capable of destroying the environment in the way that we can now.

I don't think that's true at all. They could have easily over-fished, exhausted the land through improper farming, or cut down all the trees in a particular area. And they had a very good idea that they could do this and screw over future generations.

I don’t think that model takes ignorance into account. You would be unhappy if you knew you were doing a disservice to future generations, but you might accidentally do something stupid that screws things up for generations to come.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#249

Post by r-w »

forthefuture wrote: post #205
metaphorm wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you serious? that reads like satire.

I guess I'm coming from the wrong side. I think happiness for its own sake is really meaningless. I'd much rather struggle and advance than be happy doing nothing until I die, but I guess I'm in the minority. Happiness, to me, is a choice to not let negative things make you unhappy. You can acknowledge negativities and not be consumed by them. Fighting for happiness is like fighting for peace. You win by not fighting…

> I'd much rather struggle and advance than be happy doing nothing until I die

Clearly you’re not capable of being happy doing nothing; otherwise, you would prefer it over anything else.

Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity

#250

Post by r-w »

tgb wrote: post #217
DougN7 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

# theres also atheist folks who believe they answer to nobody and can do whatever feels good. # I find it a rather disgustingly self centered ideology. Sweeping generalizations can go both ways and are rarely helpful.

There aren't just two ways to go in this possibility space, I'm quite happy ruling out both of these ideologies.

Atheism is the lack of a religious ideology. It’s strange to assign an ideology to a group of people simply because they reject all religious ideologies.
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