Stupid Questions About Stuff I'm Ignorant About...
- Thread starter scottspfd82
- Start date
I don't know all that much, but here is a stab:
Your are right. But there is a flip side. The centralization of power also created the wonders you see. Internet? Yeah, it was developed in the US, the central power of the world, and by Academia/Government. The very fact that we can interconnect was thanks in great part to the standardization of the TPC/IP protocol. Cell phones? Microwave? Mostly military breakthroughs allowed for this. Satellites? Gov. If you notice a common trait, all these were created thanks to the centralization of power. Resources would not be available for this kind of shit if the world was made up of 1000s of competing powers, each with low budget, each very equally matched, and each constantly fighting each other.
So while you decry the centralization of power, you are doing so over a medium developed in great measure thanks to the centralization of power. Nothing good comes without something bad, and nothing bad comes without something good. You can't eat your cake and have it at the same time.
Not exactly. Decentralized makes a harder target but not an impossible one. Bitcoin can be taken down given enough computing power is thrown at it.
You are forgetting the state has:
1- For practical matters of competition, unlimited resources
2- The ability to put you in jail if you don't obey
They don't even need to use the law. There is no law as far as I'm concerned in the criminal code that says you must file income taxes. But you do it because you don't want to be loved tenderly by bubba in an 8x10
Plenty of people are energy independent. The problem isn't that it can or can't be. The problem is that the benefits of joining centralized systems for 99.999% of people far outweigh the negatives.
It would not be that cheap. The reason is energy is a price inelastic commodity. So if it came out, those who control the current energy markets can purchase any new start up, and either retain it, or release it in such a way that they have control over its production (like nuclear energy, where economically retrievable uranium is in the hands of a few)
Nope and nope. They would change their business model, but they have enough weight to basically purchase any newcomers/lobby them out of existence.
You don't seem to understand why wars happen. It is because of power. Controlling energy is a manifestation of that. But there will always be power struggles.
Think of nation states like a pack of wolves. The Alfa eats first (USA in our world). He has established himself as Alfa based on previous conflic (think WW2) - But the other second and 3rd strongest wolves will constantly challenge the Alfa in small skirmishes to see if they can take his spot (Syria) - The Alfa fights over food because it is food, yes, but the real underlying thing is that he wants to maintain Alfa status, and that has more benefits than just eating first.
Icahn fees don't exist? Payment processing costs don't exist?
Yes, they aren't high, yet, but they are there. And have been for a long time.
The barrier to entry to make a living is low. But not to set up a scalable, highly profitable business. Much lower than Brick and Mortar yes, but that has to do with consolidation and the fact that it is nascent market.
That is as far as I can answer (some of your other questions I'm clueless about too, others, are repetitive based on the answers provided.
Your are right. But there is a flip side. The centralization of power also created the wonders you see. Internet? Yeah, it was developed in the US, the central power of the world, and by Academia/Government. The very fact that we can interconnect was thanks in great part to the standardization of the TPC/IP protocol. Cell phones? Microwave? Mostly military breakthroughs allowed for this. Satellites? Gov. If you notice a common trait, all these were created thanks to the centralization of power. Resources would not be available for this kind of shit if the world was made up of 1000s of competing powers, each with low budget, each very equally matched, and each constantly fighting each other.
So while you decry the centralization of power, you are doing so over a medium developed in great measure thanks to the centralization of power. Nothing good comes without something bad, and nothing bad comes without something good. You can't eat your cake and have it at the same time.
Not exactly. Decentralized makes a harder target but not an impossible one. Bitcoin can be taken down given enough computing power is thrown at it.
You are forgetting the state has:
1- For practical matters of competition, unlimited resources
2- The ability to put you in jail if you don't obey
They don't even need to use the law. There is no law as far as I'm concerned in the criminal code that says you must file income taxes. But you do it because you don't want to be loved tenderly by bubba in an 8x10
Plenty of people are energy independent. The problem isn't that it can or can't be. The problem is that the benefits of joining centralized systems for 99.999% of people far outweigh the negatives.
It would not be that cheap. The reason is energy is a price inelastic commodity. So if it came out, those who control the current energy markets can purchase any new start up, and either retain it, or release it in such a way that they have control over its production (like nuclear energy, where economically retrievable uranium is in the hands of a few)
Nope and nope. They would change their business model, but they have enough weight to basically purchase any newcomers/lobby them out of existence.
You don't seem to understand why wars happen. It is because of power. Controlling energy is a manifestation of that. But there will always be power struggles.
Think of nation states like a pack of wolves. The Alfa eats first (USA in our world). He has established himself as Alfa based on previous conflic (think WW2) - But the other second and 3rd strongest wolves will constantly challenge the Alfa in small skirmishes to see if they can take his spot (Syria) - The Alfa fights over food because it is food, yes, but the real underlying thing is that he wants to maintain Alfa status, and that has more benefits than just eating first.
Icahn fees don't exist? Payment processing costs don't exist?
Yes, they aren't high, yet, but they are there. And have been for a long time.
The barrier to entry to make a living is low. But not to set up a scalable, highly profitable business. Much lower than Brick and Mortar yes, but that has to do with consolidation and the fact that it is nascent market.
That is as far as I can answer (some of your other questions I'm clueless about too, others, are repetitive based on the answers provided.
Yea, you can store energy in bonds between molecules as in fossil fuels, or in potential energy, like a car at the top of a hill, but electricity is the movement of electrons... imagine you had a water powered mill, how would you store the current of the river?
Electricity is a specific form of energy. Electricity can be created and destroyed (electrons start or stop moving), even though the energy might continue on as heat or movement of something else.
When did I say without the gov? I said without centralized power.
I don't believe in gov and I don't believe in corporatism, voluntarism, capitalism, communism, socialism, anarchy, or others. I see power and human nature for what it is, regardless of the ideology it is hiding behind. I do have preference withing these ideologies, but I don't think it affects human interaction as much as most people would like to believe, since human nature and cultures are there regardless of any official systems. Saying that if I'm not with you I'm against you is powerful rhetoric, but it doesn't have a logical basis.
But never mind me; anarchy will solve all problems, can I jerk you while you jerk me and we can chant together:
Hail Anarchy,
Full of un-regulation,
The mouth breathers are with thee.
Blessed art thou among non-systems,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, utopia.
Holy anarchy,
Mother of economic systems,
pray for us with a government now,
and at the hour of tax.
Amen.
Try Binging this "middle east oil war."
Neodym is a transition material.
If people cared and didn't just "market" solar, the speed of other technologies would emerge and they are emerging, like iron nitride.
Such Limbaugh, big lament.
Neodym is a transition material.
If people cared and didn't just "market" solar, the speed of other technologies would emerge and they are emerging, like iron nitride.
Such Limbaugh, big lament.
From a friend of mine on the topic of Net Neutrality:
Luckily for us, Decentralization is a true Cure-All miracle medicine. In a decade these will be problems that could only exist in history books.
Only in "the land of the free" is it so hard to start one up... FCC regulations and our wide-open spaces make it nearly impossible. -But many people are working on doing so... Frankly we just need a new wifi protocol that has longer range and we'll be in great shape.
The bottleneck has always been batteries. Electric cars existed and ran on great batteries before the Model T, over 100 years ago:
Ford made a deal to put ICE in all his cars and the oil industry has been lobbying congresses around the world to suppress battery development ever since.
Heck, the first battery is at least a Thousand years old, dug up in Baghdad...
Like Hemp and cancer cures, Energy storage has been a technology that the ruling elites keep finding useful to suppress from us. That's all about to end as we decentralize everything.
It's an awesome time to be alive. /popcorn.gif
Doug Hawks said:
Luckily for us, Decentralization is a true Cure-All miracle medicine. In a decade these will be problems that could only exist in history books.
Of course. The planet is chocked full of wide-area Mesh networks already. The eastern half of Spain is on a mesh network that is the world's largest, and Athens is on a bunch that are each smaller but together have the majority of the countries' residents using them!
Only in "the land of the free" is it so hard to start one up... FCC regulations and our wide-open spaces make it nearly impossible. -But many people are working on doing so... Frankly we just need a new wifi protocol that has longer range and we'll be in great shape.
Because we aren't allowed to have nice things.
The bottleneck has always been batteries. Electric cars existed and ran on great batteries before the Model T, over 100 years ago:
Ford made a deal to put ICE in all his cars and the oil industry has been lobbying congresses around the world to suppress battery development ever since.
Heck, the first battery is at least a Thousand years old, dug up in Baghdad...
Like Hemp and cancer cures, Energy storage has been a technology that the ruling elites keep finding useful to suppress from us. That's all about to end as we decentralize everything.
It's an awesome time to be alive. /popcorn.gif
I'm still waiting for advances in this:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuHrUnCOWWo"]NanoTech: Graphene 'SemiConductor, UltraCapacitor' Super Batteries - YouTube[/ame]
This bit is starting to happen already in Europe, thanks to EU directives (which the electricity companies are complaining about bitterly because of course it's not in their interests). In this case it's happening because the EU is more paranoid about being energy dependant on Russia than it is concerned about utilities moaning, so it's being forced through.
On 21st December, 17% of electricity in England was generated by wind power (we've been having cracking storms lately!). It's the highest wnd power achieved so far.
As more wind farms come online and people take up grants to have solar panels put on their houses (where they sell their excess power back to the grid), we should become less and less dependant power stations built on coal and gas.
Why isn't it happening in the USA? Because all your representatives can hear are the utility companies shouting in their ears - there's no Russia on your doorstep to create a separate fear about energy independence that cancels out the voices of the utilities.
I love my British brethren, but you guys gotta stop with these irrelevant comparisons. All due respect, your little island could fit inside one of our 50 states. Comfortably, and with room for another European country of your choosing. The logistics of what you're talking about is far beyond what you're probably imagining.
bumping this epic thread.
actually, most of the issues you're concerned about can be solved with decentralization. greenleaves is right that centralization of power is required first, but that doesn't mean power must be kept in the center. decentralization is the next step in order for society to progress.
1. the internet's awesome. let's not fret over little namecheap fees and nonexistent licensing fees.
2. as for energy, OP, you've been chosen for the human race to create a self-sustainable and inexpensive energy system that will completely decentralize the energy industry and destroy the majority of the top 50 revenue producing companies (most of which are oil and gas) in the world. pursue your destiny now or the human race is doomed to fail my friend. /end. anyway, you're right. there's nothing to do but wait. what you foresee will happen. it will happen as time passes and energy (in terms of information processing between humans) transfers. people will soon come to understand that what you've proposed in terms of decentralization in general (which applies to internet and energy) is necessary. unfortunately we're not there yet. as of right now we are observers in the world, just watching as things progress (or temporarily dip).
@teatree, the reason why it's happening in Europe is simple. it's because of decentralization of administration which allows the EU to have their alternative energy fun. Russia/Ukraine is fucked because everyone wants to keep power in the center, and no one is willing to hand power over to the regions.
actually, most of the issues you're concerned about can be solved with decentralization. greenleaves is right that centralization of power is required first, but that doesn't mean power must be kept in the center. decentralization is the next step in order for society to progress.
1. the internet's awesome. let's not fret over little namecheap fees and nonexistent licensing fees.
2. as for energy, OP, you've been chosen for the human race to create a self-sustainable and inexpensive energy system that will completely decentralize the energy industry and destroy the majority of the top 50 revenue producing companies (most of which are oil and gas) in the world. pursue your destiny now or the human race is doomed to fail my friend. /end. anyway, you're right. there's nothing to do but wait. what you foresee will happen. it will happen as time passes and energy (in terms of information processing between humans) transfers. people will soon come to understand that what you've proposed in terms of decentralization in general (which applies to internet and energy) is necessary. unfortunately we're not there yet. as of right now we are observers in the world, just watching as things progress (or temporarily dip).
@teatree, the reason why it's happening in Europe is simple. it's because of decentralization of administration which allows the EU to have their alternative energy fun. Russia/Ukraine is fucked because everyone wants to keep power in the center, and no one is willing to hand power over to the regions.
Interesting read.
Side affect of the lack of government regulation/control many hate?
"As more factories sprang up, the banks grew higher, the lake grew larger and the stench and fumes grew more overwhelming.
‘It turned into a mountain that towered over us,’ says Mr Su. ‘Anything we planted just withered, then our animals started to sicken and die.’
People too began to suffer. Dalahai villagers say their teeth began to fall out, their hair turned white at unusually young ages, and they suffered from severe skin and respiratory diseases. Children were born with soft bones and cancer rates rocketed.
Official studies carried out five years ago in Dalahai village confirmed there were unusually high rates of cancer along with high rates of osteoporosis and skin and respiratory diseases. The lake’s radiation levels are ten times higher than in the surrounding countryside, the studies found."
The lake of toxic waste at Baotou, China, which as been dumped by the rare earth processing plants in the background
‘It turned into a mountain that towered over us,’ says Mr Su. ‘Anything we planted just withered, then our animals started to sicken and die.’
People too began to suffer. Dalahai villagers say their teeth began to fall out, their hair turned white at unusually young ages, and they suffered from severe skin and respiratory diseases. Children were born with soft bones and cancer rates rocketed.
Official studies carried out five years ago in Dalahai village confirmed there were unusually high rates of cancer along with high rates of osteoporosis and skin and respiratory diseases. The lake’s radiation levels are ten times higher than in the surrounding countryside, the studies found."
The lake of toxic waste at Baotou, China, which as been dumped by the rare earth processing plants in the background
I wonder who owns/regulates/controls that land in the People's Republic Of China?
Private land ownership isn't exactly common in China. In practical terms it's non-existent. That's not a result of a lack of Government regulations. That's a side-effect of centralized state power. I agree, interesting read.