PowerSwitch

Hutton said, growth - permanent economic growth was inevitable and he was not worried about growth nor sustainability and neither should we be, because - and I kid you not - "we will solve our problems by getting resources from other planets, having huge spaceships for people and economic growth." I thought I was getting radio interference from Children's Hour.

http://golemxiv-credo.blogspot.com/2011 ... s-are.html

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:

Hutton said, growth - permanent economic growth was inevitable and he was not worried about growth nor sustainability and neither should we be, because - and I kid you not - "we will solve our problems by getting resources from other planets, having huge spaceships for people and economic growth." I thought I was getting radio interference from Children's Hour.

http://golemxiv-credo.blogspot.com/2011 ... s-are.html

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that most so-called intellectuals don't actually think. They just memorise and regurgitate clever-sounding stuff by other people who don't think.

Mind you, I've always thought Will Hutton was a meretricious twat.

Children can spot crap better than a lot of adults, says Ben Goldacre.

I think it's the need to earn a living that does it for most adults: Fille recently collapsed in helpless giggles reading a flyer we got for a "happiness centre" offering (among other things) "Hopi Ear Candling"...

(erm btw if this actually works, tell us, we're all ears...)

RenewableCandy wrote:Children can spot crap better than a lot of adults, says Ben Goldacre.

I think it's the need to earn a living that does it for most adults: Fille recently collapsed in helpless giggles reading a flyer we got for a "happiness centre" offering (among other things) "Hopi Ear Candling"...

(erm btw if this actually works, tell us, we're all ears...)

Undoubtedly true. Most adults are so wound up in the perceived need to be taken seriously, and in their vain conviction that they know how the world works, that they'll overlook glaring absurdities if there's a risk of not appearing "wise" in doing otherwise.

It's not irrelevant that in "The Emperor's New Clothes", it takes a child to point out the Emperor's nakedness.

Ludwig wrote:the perceived need to be taken seriously

what a brilliant turn of phrase. And a very good explanation of why I've never fancied a career as a consultant, no matter how much I may know.

Ludwig wrote:meretricious twat

Artful juxtaposition of intellectual and coarse there, Ludwig.

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:and I kid you not - "we will solve our problems by getting resources from other planets, having huge spaceships for people and economic growth."

I did post this once before
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Or ... ropulsion)

Outsystem is probably pushing it, but mining the moon would be a piece of cake, a base on mars wouldnt even be difficult.

Evacuating 6bn people via ark ships is out of the question, but assuming some sort of solution to the 0g embryo development problem could be created, we could certainly colonise a few nearby systems.
In theory we could even "send a letter" every generation or so.

DominicJ wrote: "I'm a Realist...."

I've just heard on the radio that the residents of the space station thingy are going to try growing cucumbers and tomatoes (no mention of bean sprouts ), but didn't know if they'd be allowed to eat them. So maybe turning space into a garden would work!

DominicJ wrote: Evacuating 6bn people via ark ships is out of the question...

We could get rid of a few, maybe....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOZWYDXaQLs

Relative to colonising space, artificial gravity in the ship is the least of our problems. Think Space 2001 - a giant flywheel.

Once put in space it just needs a counter weight to rotate against, and enough solar panels or ion drives to overcome frictional forces. The only problem would be leakage in the joints.

Solar panels only work in the proximity of stars. Not too close mind. Neutron stars, quasars, super novae and black holes all best avoided for the aspiring colonists.

Make it so, Number One.

Aye, Cap'n.

You would have thought that, at his age, Will Hutton would have stopped reading Dan Dare in the Eagle and got onto something more practical.

kenneal wrote:You would have thought that, at his age, Will Hutton would have stopped reading Dan Dare in the Eagle and got onto something more practical.

Another hysterical drama queen.

Like dear old Monbiot he seems a tad overextended and possibl tired and emotional. Probably in need of chilling out a bit and reading less pulp science fiction.

Why do professional pundits go on an on and on even when they have little of any sense left to say? I guess listening, especially to the quality of s***e they come out with on occasions, is not one of their strong points.

kenneal wrote:You would have thought that, at his age, Will Hutton would have stopped reading Dan Dare in the Eagle and got onto something more practical.

You'd be surprised: there's a shelf labelled "Nostalgia" in the bookshop where I volunteer, full of that kind o'thing. The punters who peruse it are all blokes of A Certain Age (and indeed type).