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  • Originally posted by astralis View Post
    my disagreement with brooks is that this is not a "culture" issue, this is a political structure issue.
    Totally disagree.


    When you basically see a culture that's not trying to win competition vigorously and civilly and respectfully, but rather trying to shut down competition by any means necessary, that’s like an economy that's going from free enterprise to mercantilism. That’s basically what’s happened. We’ve gone from free enterprise of ideas to mercantilism of ideas. That’s what’s happening on both right and left today.

    When you’re shutting down the competition like this you don’t solve problems. You perpetuate problems, and you simply build up power structures. So all politics becomes a rent-seeking mechanism: my tribe, your tribe. I’m going to get power, I’m going to deny you power as opposed to colluding within the kind of the noble cause of solving ideas by competing at the head. What’s always disappointing to me is when we’re moving in the wrong direction and right now we’re moving in the wrong direction on that by moving to intellectual mercantilism. I want to move to intellectual free enterprise. That’s what I want.
    We see this in a certain "science" every day. Where websites are run for the sole purpose of attacking and slandering opposition. Where editors are threatened if they publish certain works. Where universities are pressured to remove those with "wrong" views... anything but engage in reasoned debate with those who disagree. We see the same mentality on college campuses all the time... shout down the opponent and protest and riot... anything but engage in civil discourse, or even let them speak.

    It's very much a cultural issue.

    Comment


    • yes, yes, i'm sure the folks at The Blaze and at Liberty University and Breitbart are pure Enlightenment rationalists engaging in thoughtful, reasoned, civil discourse. they have nothing but respect for the opposition, whom are just misguided but can surely be brought to the light through an even, moderate presentation of the facts in the marketplace of ideas.

      and Trump won the Republican primaries and the Presidency because of his heartfelt insistence on intellectual free enterprise, compromise, and logical arguments that he presented calmly to the American voter.
      Last edited by astralis; 17 May 18,, 21:15.
      There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

      Comment


      • Originally posted by astralis View Post
        yes, yes, i'm sure the folks at The Blaze and at Liberty University and Breitbart are pure Enlightenment rationalists engaging in thoughtful, reasoned, civil discourse. they have nothing but respect for the opposition, whom are just misguided but can surely be brought to the light through an even, moderate presentation of the facts in the marketplace of ideas.

        and Trump won the Republican primaries and the Presidency because of his heartfelt insistence on intellectual free enterprise, compromise, and logical arguments that he presented calmly to the American voter.
        Typical. I though we were talking about whether it was a cultural or political problem. This little partisan whataboutism has what to do with that exactly? Did you think I was going to defend, or quite frankly even give a shit about, any of the above actors? Can you EVER address anything I actually said instead of expecting me to defend a strawman?

        No wonder you think the issue is political. To you everything is political it seems.
        Last edited by Wooglin; 17 May 18,, 22:14.

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        • because the examples you gave of "cultural mercantilism" are one-sided. so my interpretation of your argument is essentially "look at the liberal snowflakes shutting down discussion, this is a cultural issue". if that's not your argument, then i apologize.

          in any case, the original post has Brooks asserting that "culture" is what creates political tribalism, and that for some strange unknown reason Americans changed to favor "intellectual mercantilism", and that if only people didn't try to shut each other up and debated each other freely, then of course we'd find some sort of compromise solution.

          this is hog-wash. humans by default are tribal creatures. tribalism doesn't arise because of some sudden change in culture, it is innate. the function of any government is to tamp it down or to modulate it so that there is peace and concerted action.

          the reason why political tribalism runs amok in the US today is because the political institutions, traditions, and strictures we've put into place to modulate tribalism-- the party system, the elites, the role of the media, etc-- have been worn down over time.
          Last edited by astralis; 17 May 18,, 22:47.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

          Comment


          • Originally posted by WABs_OOE View Post
            The point remains that renewables is not going to replace nor even reduce hydro-carbon fuels to an insignifcant degree.

            Because gas and oil is cheaper.
            The only point that remains is that renewables will probably not be used in blast furnaces. So what?

            Originally posted by WABs_OOE View Post
            The complaint is that coal produces a lot more CO2 than other sources. Clean coal burning was developed as an answer to acid rain, not CO2 production. This new technique is the answer to that. You asked why someone would build such a thing. The answer is simple, if they can make a profit. If not, they won't.

            Again, if it's economical to retrofit a coal plant for a cleaner burn or not. I doubt the CO2 solution is applicable to India since she lacks the exhausted natural gas fields to pump the CO2 into.
            How does any of this help reduce particulate matter pollution, which is the main problem in India?
            "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" ~ Epicurus

            Comment


            • Originally posted by antimony View Post
              The only point that remains is that renewables will probably not be used in blast furnaces. So what?
              No. Thed point remains that renewables are not as efficent nor as cheap as you think. Again, upfront costs and maintenance far surpasses hydro-carbon fuels. If burning coal is cheaper, then it will come back into vogue. Anywhere there is snow winter, renewables are out the window.

              Originally posted by antimony View Post
              How does any of this help reduce particulate matter pollution, which is the main problem in India?
              Then I don't know why India is not scrubbing her stacks. That technology has been around for decades.
              Last edited by Officer of Engineers; 18 May 18,, 15:41.
              Chimo

              Comment


              • the main difference between renewables and hydro-carbon fuels now is energy storage efficiency, not in generation.

                given the exponential increase in energy efficiency from renewables, as well as the rapidly expanding market, i expect this is going to be a solved problem quite soon. solar proliferation and efficiency has enormously beaten even the most wildly optimistic projections of even 3 or 4 years ago.
                There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                Comment


                • Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  the main difference between renewables and hydro-carbon fuels now is energy storage efficiency, not in generation.

                  given the exponential increase in energy efficiency from renewables, as well as the rapidly expanding market, i expect this is going to be a solved problem quite soon. solar proliferation and efficiency has enormously beaten even the most wildly optimistic projections of even 3 or 4 years ago.
                  I live in an area where is cloudy during winter and ice freezes all windmills, especially throwing all those blades off balance. Renewables is an extremely unreliable and in fact dangerous energy source for my needs.

                  And anyone who ever had to scrape ice off their windshields know that you can't and won't do that everyday just to heat your house; especially if you don't know if there is enough sun to charge the batteries through the night.
                  Last edited by Officer of Engineers; 18 May 18,, 15:47.
                  Chimo

                  Comment


                  • right, which is why the technical challenge is storage and transmission. in any case i don't think anyone is talking about running 100% on renewables.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by astralis View Post
                      right, which is why the technical challenge is storage and transmission.
                      I'm not going to pay a solar farm in Texas to heat my house when I got 20 chords of wood to burn. There's a reason why the majority of the Northern US and Canada burn propane, gas, and oil for winter heating. It's a lot cheaper than electricity. Given the upfront and mainteance costs of solar and wind farms, that is not coming down anytime soon no matter what battery technologies are coming down the pipe.

                      Hell, even people who put solar panels on their houses and stored up on batteries up here in Ontario needs to buy electricity during winter. Their hope was that they could be electric net zero by selling back the generated electricity back to Hydro-Ontario. Only problem is that Hydro-Ontario alone determines how much they will pay for that electricity. No one is going net zero without spending $100K+ for a single home up here and then making sure that snow and ice problems are taking care of.
                      Chimo

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                      • Apparently, an investigation into alleged Obama era FBI infiltration of the Trump campaign is to be forthcoming.
                        http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44192025

                        Comment


                        • prediction: the investigation will find nothing, Trumpsters will begin pointing to this as further evidence of deep state.
                          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                          Comment


                          • His spaghetti never sticks to the wall...

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by surfgun View Post
                              Apparently, an investigation into alleged Obama era FBI infiltration of the Trump campaign is to be forthcoming.
                              http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44192025
                              Allow me to do a modified "Carnac the Magnificent" impression:

                              The FBI was investigating, correctly, any connections of the campaign to foreign governments.
                              And, it turns out that 4 persons (and counting) in the campaign had connections to a foreign government.

                              Trump is like one of those Mafioso bosses that screams about how the government had no right to "spy" on his illegal operations.

                              Hey Donald: Get fucked you worthless piece of shit.
                              “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                              Comment


                              • Moving on to lighter news:

                                That arshloch extraordinaire Don Blakenship is threatening a third party run for the WV Senate seat, probably breaking the "sore loser" law (though apparently West Virginia's sore loser law is badly worded enough that Blakenship could run on a technicality).

                                https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politic...es-senate-seat

                                Now I love see Mitch McConnell squirm much as the next guy, and am a partisan Democrat to boot, but I'd rather have Blakenship not run as the Constitution candidate because of how vile the man is (though even if the sore loser rule held, I wouldn't put it past him to run some sort of write in campaign anyways).

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