When my childhood friends came to learn that I’d become an author of materials of environmental sustainability, they sometimes asked for my opinions on climate change. I explain that because climate change is a science, it’s inappropriate to apply the term “opinion” or “belief” to the subject. We have opinions on things like politics, art, sports figures, justice, literature, and philosophy–but not chemistry, physics, or math.
When someone says that he doesn’t believe in AGW (anthropogenic global warming, aka climate change), all he’s really saying is that he doesn’t understand the science. And that’s fine; there are huge swaths of science that lie far outside my knowledge base. But we need to keep in mind that one of the good things about science, as Neil deGrasse Tyson likes to say, is that “it’s true whether you believe in it or not.”
Renewable Energy
Metaphysics
Here’s a very short video on the subject of metaphysics, the philosophy of being and reality.
It’s a great example of what I mean when I say that it has been a terrible last few centuries for philosophers.
In ancient times, if you wanted to know what the fundamental building blocks of the universe, you asked a philosopher, perhaps the ancient Athenian Democritus, who propounded the theory of the atom, which was, by definition, indivisible. Now we refer this question to the realm of particle physics.
Far more recently, those who struggled to know the ultimate nature of reality asked a metaphysician. Now, once again, we’ve put our trust in science.
I hope you’ll check out the video linked above.
Renewable Energy
Invest in Small Wind … At Your Peril
As a PhD colleague once told me, “If you don’t care how much of pay for electricity, I’ll get you all the renewable energy you could ever ask for.”
They want you to invest. Have you ever asked why people with their own money at stake have abandoned these ideas 20 years ago?
Renewable Energy
The U.S. Civil War Didn’t Need to Happen
At left we see why Lincoln would have done well to let the Confederacy cede from the Union. He could have simply written a letter to Robert E. Lee stating:
Keep your slaves and your land…for now. Wait until you experience the effects of near-zero industrial and military technology development and the civilized world’s refusal to trade with you barbarians. By the end of the 19th Century, a stiff breeze will blow you away. Maybe some future U.S. president will invade you with a troop of Boy Scouts with slingshots, or maybe a handful of banditos will ride up from Mexico.
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Climate Change11 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
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Greenhouse Gases11 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
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Renewable Energy8 months agoSending Progressive Philanthropist George Soros to Prison?
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Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
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Greenhouse Gases12 months ago
嘉宾来稿:探究火山喷发如何影响气候预测
