Why We Aren't Stopping Climate Change
Added 2024-12-04 21:05:54 +0000 UTCHowdy, friends! If you're anything like me, it's more than a little frustrating to watch government officials weasel their way out of acting on climate change. How do they get away with this? Easy: math. Let's take a look at the formula governments use to avoid doing anything about climate change. Hope you enjoy!
Comments
The class I took years ago was called Engineering Economics. It’s all about evaluating how much to spend on projects today that will generate an income stream in the future. As I recall, this whole field was developed when they were building the trans continental railway. It was such a hugely expensive project they had to invent a way to evaluate how the future annual returns would balance the near term expense of building it. The problem with it is that almost nothing is worth building 20 years out, the return goes to zero, projects have to return there investment in 3-5 years usually to be considered profitable. Turns out most big projects are passion projects that break the ‘logic
Connie L Waddell
2025-01-17 13:49:06 +0000 UTCWhere can I get more information about how the Discounting Function, and specifically the Discounting Rate are used to estimate the future value of a human life and how it is used to decide on policy?
Paul
2025-01-15 02:24:21 +0000 UTCBecomes really obvious when we consider the original phrasing was "life, liberty, and property."
Lefty In Training
2024-12-06 02:56:10 +0000 UTC"Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things." And I think treating them as numbers with dollar signs is no better.
Linda B.
2024-12-05 04:13:26 +0000 UTCWelcome to Capitalism!
John D Clark
2024-12-05 02:39:17 +0000 UTCLife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is for companies now, not people.
Jeremy Krall
2024-12-05 01:20:44 +0000 UTCNever mind. We are already killing by the millions through war, exploitation, pollution,horrible working and living conditions, impoverished childhoods, etc. so what are a few more million lives anyway? Never mind, ole Musk is going to make a place on mars for the 1 per cent (and those they value), so why bother about exquisitie Earth and exquisite true human beings? "We" are now working on being able to make digital copes of ourselves which can go on even after we die "learning and growing and interacting with those still around." (Not our unique bodies whichapparently are analog and not copieable--poor future planning on the part of the Creator. We are smarter...
Acode7940
2024-12-04 23:32:45 +0000 UTCCrazy how short term interests of such a tiny group is willing—eager even—to destroy life on this planet forever. How is that not a violation of our innate morality? The idea that life should continue existing on earth. Is this why they’re all investing in space?!
max murphy
2024-12-04 22:31:22 +0000 UTCAll human lives are valuable. There’s no price that you can put on human lives either now in the present or in the future.
Phantom Rose
2024-12-04 22:08:10 +0000 UTCGreat video. I knew about discount functions, but didn't realize how widely they were used in the government. I hate when people try to use supposedly "objective" measures to cover up their biases in how they're using science, math, etc.
Lefty In Training
2024-12-04 21:58:36 +0000 UTCAwesome video. Can't wait for it to be released publicly
Tripp Johnson
2024-12-04 21:29:48 +0000 UTC
