On 1/27/22 10:01 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
< Musk is trying to kick our cans from fossil fuel
extraction/combustion/spills to Lithium (and heavy metals)
extraction/discarding as well as the can of an out of-balance
biosphere on earth to terraforming Mars (with care and thoughtful
intention and no unexpected side-effects?). >
https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk#prize-activity
yes to electrolizing water into hydrogen (and even creating ammonia as a
more easily stored/transported/cracked "carrier" for hydrogen, up to
ammonia fuel cells, etc.) technically very likely and "doable" with a
somewhat limited *known* downside. Though the fossil fuel and battery
industries have a long enough list... but clearly biased. We
neo-luddites have long lists as well, with similar caveats. I was
raised by Calvinists so I recognize in myself when I am generally just
being negative about anything that might be "fun", but that doesn't
stop me from being skeptical anyway. I am also of the "if it feels
good, do it" generation... extreme Hedonism and Calvinism only polarize
an otherwise complex and rich space. TANSTAAFL in my (post-Libertarian)
vocabulary is "there aint no such thing as a free lunch, but that
doesn't mean you can't eat someone else's when they aren't looking".
And yes to Musk being a puzzling and mixed hero/villain. I don't doubt
his *intentions*, I think they are (by his values and view of the stakes
at hand) righteous. That doesn't preclude him being an egomaniac with
an exponentially growing clout/sense ratio. I can't see any of his
earth-focused tech as anything but a (very well crafted) double-pronged
strategy... gathering the economic leverage of doing "useful" things on
the earth (electrifying and solarizing)... whilst developing technology
useful for colonizing/terraforming mars. CO2 harvesting is an obvious
one, as is tunneling and broad electrification (are his residential
heat-pumps on the market yet?)... perfect for taking to Mars.
I believe that GeoEngineering is inevitable, given who we are (Homo
Faber) but I also believe our future exercises in this realm will
"rhyme" with all of our previous engineering "miracles". Maybe we *can*
rhyme our way out of the corner we rhymed ourselves into... but I fear
that most if not all of our R&D is biased toward short-term and narrow
goals (Glen's rant about "values" and corruption), and defined by
confirmation biases...
I'm probably just barking at the church choir here...
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