re: #263 Cato the Elder

My understanding of blind, groping, selfish, shortsighted humanity is that we can’t control ourselves, individually or in groups, long enough to consciously alter the planetary climate. To believe otherwise is hubris or at the very least pathological optimism.

We’ve already done so, though, with the hole in the ozone layer. We’ve already achieved this. We’ve achieved it in a thousand other ways, as well. That we’ve failed many times does not mean that we haven’t also succeeded.

We can clearly intentionally alter the climate.

Why think about things I can do nothing to change? It’s like worrying about that meteor that will eventually strike.

I leave it to the rest of you. Yes, I’m that selfish. At least I’m not blind to that.

I am concerned about the meteor. To avoid that, we’ll have to become spacefaring. To achieve that, we’ll need carbon-neutral technology in spades.

Humanity has always been moving towards the stars. Whether we make it is up to, well, humanity.

There are lots like you, who are not going to engage with this problem. I know that. I wish you would, but I cannot, and will not, force you to do so. The solution obviously needs to be one that can accommodate the position of people like you— or at least influence you to change in non-draconian ways.