One of these is extreme global heating. The other is the massive death toll resulting from air pollution. The unintended consequences of the use of fossil fuels is enormous, perhaps the greatest problem facing humanity. Nuclear energy is not risk free, nor is it without consequences, but that said, it is vastly superior to all other options and we ignore this clear reality at extreme danger to ourselves and future generations.
A problem that the nuclear industry has faced is the elevation of potential risks, and observed risks, over the massive benefits of clean energy it might provide. I believe firmly, and will not be dissuaded after decades of consideration, that the maintenance and building of nuclear reactors is the last best hope we have of saving what is left to save, and restoring what can be restored.
The use of energy is hardly limited to the use of computers or high end computational systems. We all use energy, and do so irrespective of the social and economic systems in which we live. Our conversation right now is energy intensive. Without energy neither you nor I would know what the other thinks.
It is unrealistic, and I think, unwise, to condemn any technology because it can be, or even is, abused. The question is ethical, not technical.
I agree that ethics are complicated in a culture which values money above all other values, but that said, I'm not about to become a luddite. I believe we need to be aware of both the risks and rewards of any technology and, as a society, choose to embrace the good while rejecting, or at least minimizing the bad. This of course, is not easy, and will not be addressed by any glib commentary I, or anyone else, might offer.
I have been involved in the use of high technology that has been used to save human lives. I would be equally capable of working on technology that could cost human lives. I have made a choice of which path to follow by virtue of my ethical training. I do believe that all engineering and science education should involve ethical training, but sadly it often doesn't.
This said, almost any high technology will involve people harmed by it, even if the overall benefit to society as a whole is huge.
There was a time at DU when the likes of Elon Musk was seen as a hero because of his stupid electric car. I remember this period here with some jaundiced amusement.
Now of course, he's been recognized as a racist thug, something he always was. He didn't morph into a racist thug. He started as one, a child of apartheid South Africa who did not make any effort to reject his upbringing.
The belief that electric cars are clean is at best dubious, as I've noted:
A paper addressing the idea that electric cars are "green."
Nevertheless the belief was and is widely held on the left because we haven't looked into the details. In technology, the details matter a great deal.
Thanks for your comment.
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