Comments on: The Non-Radical Environmentalist http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/05/the-non-radical-environmentalist/ Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:28:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Colin http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/05/the-non-radical-environmentalist/#comment-47448 Colin Sun, 15 Aug 2010 02:33:07 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11467#comment-47448 Nuclear energy is all well and good. I certainly think it should be part of any plan to lessen reliance on fossil fuels. However, the environmental impacts of uranium mining and the disposal of the waste are huge issues that cant be ignored. Nuclear energy is all well and good. I certainly think it should be part of any plan to lessen reliance on fossil fuels. However, the environmental impacts of uranium mining and the disposal of the waste are huge issues that cant be ignored.

]]> By: Lindsay http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/05/the-non-radical-environmentalist/#comment-47447 Lindsay Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:24:08 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11467#comment-47447 I saw Brand talk last year in San Francisco at the Long Now Foundation. It was a great talk, and he was blunt in presenting his thesis that environmentalists need to start looking at these demonized technologies for what they can do instead of treating them with disdain. It didn't go over very well with everyone, he even got some boos from the audience, but a lot of people at least listened to what he had to say. He also said something that I really remembered during the Q&A (to paraphrase): there are two types of people based on how they treat ideas, porcupines and foxes. Porcupines make a decision on an idea and hold tight to it. If they are presented with conflicting information, they curl up and refuse to budge. Foxes hold onto ideas lightly and are quick to change their minds if new evidence comes along that refutes it. He likes to think he is a fox, and so do I. I saw Brand talk last year in San Francisco at the Long Now Foundation. It was a great talk, and he was blunt in presenting his thesis that environmentalists need to start looking at these demonized technologies for what they can do instead of treating them with disdain. It didn’t go over very well with everyone, he even got some boos from the audience, but a lot of people at least listened to what he had to say.

He also said something that I really remembered during the Q&A (to paraphrase): there are two types of people based on how they treat ideas, porcupines and foxes. Porcupines make a decision on an idea and hold tight to it. If they are presented with conflicting information, they curl up and refuse to budge. Foxes hold onto ideas lightly and are quick to change their minds if new evidence comes along that refutes it. He likes to think he is a fox, and so do I.

]]> By: Sorbit http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/05/the-non-radical-environmentalist/#comment-47446 Sorbit Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:56:08 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11467#comment-47446 I remember Steve Jobs saying in his Stanford commencement speech how much the Whole Earth Catalog inspired him way back. I remember Steve Jobs saying in his Stanford commencement speech how much the Whole Earth Catalog inspired him way back.

]]> By: Rhacodactylus http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/08/05/the-non-radical-environmentalist/#comment-47445 Rhacodactylus Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:39:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/?p=11467#comment-47445 I couldn't support Brand more in this effort. Whenever I get into a debate with an environmentalist about nuclear power, their objections are usually to misconceptions from 40 years ago. Good science and making use of tech are the things that are going to save the environment, not destroy it. I couldn’t support Brand more in this effort. Whenever I get into a debate with an environmentalist about nuclear power, their objections are usually to misconceptions from 40 years ago. Good science and making use of tech are the things that are going to save the environment, not destroy it.

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