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GliderGuider

(21,088 posts)
8. I agree wholeheartedly. Humanity is not genetically equipped to handle unlimited amounts of energy.
Fri Aug 23, 2013, 08:58 AM
Aug 2013

My perspective on that aspect of the question is here:

Paradise Lost

The main difficulty I have with all the technical, political, economic and social reform proposals I've seen is that they run counter to some very deep-seated aspects of human behavior and decision-making. Mainly, they assume that human intelligence and analytical ability control our behavior, and from what I've seen, that’s simply not true. In fact it’s untrue to such an extent that I don’t even think it’s a “human” issue per se.

I have come to think that most of our collective choices and actions are shaped by physical forces so deep that they can’t even be called “genetic”. I haven’t written anything definitive about this yet, but the conclusion I have come to in the last six months is that a physical principle called the "Maximum Entropy Production Principle”, which is closely related to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, actually underlies the structure of life itself. Its operation has shaped the energy-seeking, replicative behavior of everything from bacteria to humans. All our intelligence does is makes its operation more effective.

This principle is behind the appearance of life in the first place, has guided the development of genetic replication and natural selection, and has embedded itself in our behavior at the very deepest level. Like all life, our mandate is simple: survive and reproduce so as to form a metastable dissipative structure. All of human behavior and history has been oriented towards executing this mandate as effectively as possible. This “survive and reproduce” program springs from a universal law of physics, much like gravity. As a result it even precedes genetics as a driver of human behavior. And lest there be any lingering doubt about the connection to our current predicament, the survival imperative is what causes all living organisms to exhibit energy-seeking behavior. Humans just do this better than any other organism in the history of the planet because of our intelligence.

In this context, the evolutionary fitness role of human intelligence is to act as a limit-removal mechanism, to circumvent any obstacles in the way of making make our growth in terms of energy use and reproduction more effective. It’s why we are blind to the need for limits both as individuals (in general) and collectively as cultures. We acknowledge limits only when they are so close as to present an immediate existential threat, as they were and are in hunter-gatherer societies. As a result we tend to make hard changes only in response to a crisis, not in advance of it. Basically, the goal of life is to live rather than die, and to do this it must grow rather than shrink. This imperative governs everything we think and do.

My current reading in the field of evolutionary psychology indicates that EP findings completely support this position.
Cheap fusion would be among the worst things that ever happened to earth. hunter Aug 2013 #1
That's completely backwards - the demographic transition is happening. nt bananas Aug 2013 #2
Really? hunter Aug 2013 #3
How much of what you’re talking about is due to constrained resources OKIsItJustMe Aug 2013 #4
We haven't stopped expanding since we started burning coal. hunter Aug 2013 #5
“Suddenly we have no incentive to change anything in our society…” OKIsItJustMe Aug 2013 #6
I'm not so optimistic. hunter Aug 2013 #7
Why on earth would we do that? OKIsItJustMe Aug 2013 #9
Why would we do that? Because most of the infrastructure already exists, but mostly because we can. hunter Aug 2013 #10
I know it's hard, but assume, just for the moment, that people have some sense OKIsItJustMe Aug 2013 #11
A Polywell would generate not hydrogen but electricity FogerRox Aug 2013 #12
Same thing at higher temps... hunter Aug 2013 #14
Proton Boron 11 fusuion creates alphas and helium. FogerRox Aug 2013 #16
I agree wholeheartedly. Humanity is not genetically equipped to handle unlimited amounts of energy. GliderGuider Aug 2013 #8
Super cheap energy would be a boon to the planet. joshcryer Aug 2013 #17
Self promotion type. FogerRox Aug 2013 #13
Thanks for that evaluation. bananas Aug 2013 #15
Thanks for the warm welcome The Polywell Guy Aug 2013 #18
Video Covering All Fusion Research in 5 Min The Polywell Guy Aug 2013 #19
Polywell Guy Here - Sorry I have not been around! The Polywell Guy Feb 2014 #20
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