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Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by malvosenior on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @12:03PM (#21388684)
> On balance, cars -- at least our ability to use them -- has been a huge negative.

Honestly there's no way this is true. How many people would die if they couldn't use an ambulance? How many people are surviving on goods shipped to them via trucks?

Of course things can be improved, but there's no way the automobile was a net negative on humanity.

Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by pwthornton on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @01:29PM (#21389758)
You could have ambulances without personal cars. But a huge amount of ambulance rides are due to car accidents.

Also, our shipping system is backboned by freight rail and ocean shipping, not trucks. In particular, the US has a really robust freight rail system for moving massive amounts of goods across the country.

Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by joshklein on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @12:37PM (#21389095)
What if the larger story of the industrialization enabled by that trucking warms the planet to the point that humanity goes extinct? Something to at least consider; unintended consequences are still consequences.
Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by malvosenior on Wednesday October 30, 2019 @09:57AM (#21397764)
Humanity is not at risk of going extinct from global warming.
Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by manthedudeguy on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @12:57PM (#21389344)
"There's no way". What a compelling argument.

There's "no way" that 60 million people would have died in the 20th century if there was no such thing as an ambulance. I'm positive we would have invented a workable replacement.

Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by malvosenior on Wednesday October 30, 2019 @09:57AM (#21397759)
"I'm positive we would have invented a workable replacement." is also not a compelling argument :)

It's actually rather absurd to suggest automobiles were a net negative. They are one of the greatest inventions in the history of humanity. It's like saying electricity is a net negative.

Re:Leonard Kleinrock on what went wrong with the internet by wolco on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @03:13PM (#21390965)
Shipment of food / water / medicine might.