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Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by gdubs on Sunday February 21, 2021 @06:03PM (#26218261)
I read Pinker’s book — I’m familiar with the argument. I also think it looks at a data point (now) and compares it to the long tail of history, and says, “things are great!” I’m not sure if you look at the curve’s derivative since, say, 1995, it’s clear we’re heading in a good direction. And I’m an optimist.

There have been warning signs flashing “systems failure” for a little while now, like a “check engine light” people just learn to ignore. I don’t think there’s been a year in modern history like 2020 since 1968, and even that pales in comparison.

We’re in the midst of a global pandemic with nearly 500k dead in America alone. We’ve suffered two deep, major financial crises in roughly a decade. The entire west coast was on fire this fall, and not in the gentle way it was when Native American’s used to do controlled burns every year. Texas completely fell apart this week.

Living in a bubble?

Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by throwawaygulf on Sunday February 21, 2021 @06:58PM (#26218652)
>I'm not sure if you look at the curve’s derivative since, say, 1995, it’s clear we’re heading in a good direction.

Crime was near all-time highs in the US, Europe's deadliest war since WWII was raging, numerous civil wars in Africa and elsewhere were claiming millions... It's clear it's way better, and definitely got better since your arbitrary timeline.

>I don’t think there’s been a year in modern history like 2020 since 1968, and even that pales in comparison.

Of course 2020 was a weird year, but to compare that to the height of the Vietnam and Cold War, with nuclear mutually assured destruction just inches away, among the many other things boiling is just naivete. 2020 was NOTHING like 1968, not even a close comparison.

>We’re in the midst of a global pandemic with nearly 500k dead in America alone.

Indeed, but we're rounding it out, things are slowly opening back up, and vaccines are out.

>We’ve suffered two deep, major financial crises in roughly a decade.

And mostly recovered.

>The entire west coast was on fire this fall

Objectively false. Less than 50 people died. If the entire coast was on fire, that number would be several orders of magnitude larger.

>Texas completely fell apart this week.

And recovered this week.

>Living in a bubble?

Correct, you're not living in reality. You're living in a constructed delusion that doesn't match with facts, has no context for history, and is just neurotic/alarmist.

Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by pvaldes on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:09PM (#26219354)
> Less than 50 people died.

The number of people dying in a wildfire is not a good measure of its impact in the life or properties of everybody living in the area.

Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by throwawaygulf on Sunday February 21, 2021 @08:31PM (#26219590)
San Francisco, LA, Seattle, etc. are all still magically there. Those "properties", where most of the GDP and people are, were relatively untouched.

So to say that "the entire West coast" was burning is objectively false, alarmist dribble.

Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by gdubs on Sunday February 21, 2021 @07:24PM (#26218871)
And here I was thinking we were having an honest debate and not just hurling insults behind a throwaway account.
Re:Activists who embrace nuclear power by throwawaygulf on Sunday February 21, 2021 @07:30PM (#26218923)
It was an honest debate. Your naivete just got called out by a throwaway account, and you then proceeded to throw in the towel.