Re:The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
by antonvs on Monday April 17, 2023 @05:41AM
(#35598568)
> We (humans) just achieved fusion
There’s no sense in which that statement is true.
We’ve been doing fusion for 80 years. What was recently achieved was a small increase in efficiency of fusion. We’re really not all that much closer to being able to use it to generate useful power than the first fusion reactor 65 years ago. We’re still not even close to being able to produce more energy than we used to drive the reactor, and there’s a high probability that this won’t change in another 65 years.
> and that machine cost billions. It wasn't a toy. Money is the power to build the future.
Not if it’s wasted on impractical ideas like commercial fusion power, or colonizing Mars. Money without intelligence behind it wastes resources and destroys the planet.
> you can still win
The true cost of this alleged “winning” isn’t measured in money.
There’s no sense in which that statement is true.
We’ve been doing fusion for 80 years. What was recently achieved was a small increase in efficiency of fusion. We’re really not all that much closer to being able to use it to generate useful power than the first fusion reactor 65 years ago. We’re still not even close to being able to produce more energy than we used to drive the reactor, and there’s a high probability that this won’t change in another 65 years.
> and that machine cost billions. It wasn't a toy. Money is the power to build the future.
Not if it’s wasted on impractical ideas like commercial fusion power, or colonizing Mars. Money without intelligence behind it wastes resources and destroys the planet.
> you can still win
The true cost of this alleged “winning” isn’t measured in money.