How has applied science made YOUR life better or worse somehow?

[JohnDBarrow]

Science is human technical knowledge. It can be applied for good or evil purposes.

I thank those very much who've applied science to bring me the air conditioner in my home and the one in my automobile so I don't die of a heat stroke or an asthma attack on very hot days. I appreciate those who are applying science to try to make cancer a thing of the past. I appreciate those who are applying science in the name of getting mankind off fossil fuels for good by substituting those nasty, dirty finite things for clean and safe renewable energy means.

I deplore those who have applied science to create weapons of mass destruction to cause widespread death and suffering. I appreciate those who are applying science to try to protect Americans from possible nuclear attacks from evil nations abroad.

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, JohnDBarrow said:

I deplore those who have applied science to create weapons of mass destruction to cause widespread death and suffering. I appreciate those who are applying science to try to protect Americans from possible nuclear attacks from evil nations abroad.

Your POV always seems like a parody to me, like you're just trolling to get people to comment on ridiculous statements. "I hate scientists who make weapons, but appreciate the ones who protect Americans!" Your reality has lots of noise and very, very little signal.

[dimreepr]

17 hours ago, JohnDBarrow said:

Science is human technical knowledge. It can be applied for good or evil purposes.

He said, from under his bridge, on a computer powered by the grid and connected to the web... And? Disclaimer 'not everyone that lives under a bridge is evil'... 😣

 

[JohnDBarrow]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

He said, from under his bridge, on a computer powered by the grid and connected to the web... And? Disclaimer 'not everyone that lives under a bridge is evil'... 😣

 

I live in middle America where the plains are swept with winds almost nonstop. I figured my local grid is powered by clean and green wind turbines.  I figured my posts here are brung to you by clean renewable energy. The wind, it seems, is the solution to pollution. As Bob Dylan once sang, "The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind." 

Edited October 26 by JohnDBarrow

[Phi for All]

21 minutes ago, JohnDBarrow said:

I live in middle America where the plains are swept with winds almost nonstop. I figured my local grid is powered by clean and green wind turbines.  I figured my posts here are brung to you by clean renewable energy. The wind, it seems, is the solution to pollution. As Bob Dylan once sang, "The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind." 

Your local grid is owned by a private company that bought your public utility some time ago. They're in business to make a profit, whereas your public utility was there just to provide power. If your town was like mine, it took about two years of hikes after the sale before the rates were about 40% higher. 

They have no incentive to do anything costly unless they can increase their profits. I think the sale of our public utilities was one of the biggest crimes capitalism has inflicted on us. Science teaches me that a public utility is far more efficient at meeting the needs of the public than a private company could ever be.

[JohnDBarrow]

Apparently, the government did nothing about it.  Apparently, some people favor acting upon emotions over sound reasoning. I can see my remark with the word "conservation" in it got scrapped. 

Edited October 26 by JohnDBarrow

[Phi for All]

1 minute ago, JohnDBarrow said:

Apparently, the government did nothing about it. 

The private company made an offer, your local politicians pitched it to the public, the public voted for the sale. I'm sure your local government made it seem like it was necessary, and the private company lied about being able to service accounts for the same money. The public forgets that private companies need the same operating costs as a public utility, plus they need to charge for profit.

[JohnDBarrow]

I agree. Businesses best serve the public when the public holds them. Why did stupid Americans vote otherwise to privatize utilities then complain about big electric bills?  Americans are indoctrinated that capitalism is always a "good" thing. 

[swansont]

1 hour ago, JohnDBarrow said:

I agree. Businesses best serve the public when the public holds them. Why did stupid Americans vote otherwise to privatize utilities then complain about big electric bills? 

Did stupid Americans do that, or was it their elected representatives, influenced by the people who would profit off of it?

1 hour ago, JohnDBarrow said:

Americans are indoctrinated that capitalism is always a "good" thing. 

Also to think that capitalism is the default system in the country and be afraid of other systems; socialism has become a bogeyman label (even though the Constitution describes a whole bunch of socialism)

[Mordred]

A question to ask " is science to blame for those weapons?" 

Science itself is what increases our understanding its purpose is not to determine how governments or the military or engineers apply the understandings that science provides 

Seems to me all too often ppl place the blame in the wrong court.

 

[swansont]

2 hours ago, JohnDBarrow said:

I live in middle America where the plains are swept with winds almost nonstop. I figured my local grid is powered by clean and green wind turbines.  I figured my posts here are brung to you by clean renewable energy. 

Is it, though? I get the impression that even though there’s a fair amount of installed capacity, wind is under-utilized in the midwest. Though the Biden administration’s infrastructure legislation may be helping with that.

According to this, no state got more than 40% of their electricity from wind this past July

https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/wind-generation-by-state/

South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma are the states that got over 30%

16 minutes ago, Mordred said:

A question to ask " is science to blame for those weapons?" 

Science itself is what increases our understanding its purpose is not to determine how governments or the military or engineers apply the understandings that science provides 

Seems to me all too often ppl place the blame in the wrong court.

 

Agree. It’s a version of shooting the messenger. Since physics and chemistry in particular deal with systems converting/liberating energy, just about any discovery of systems that do so quickly and/or efficiently is prone to be co-opted by the military. And similarly with enabling technology; you can’t effectively limit how people will use knowledge.