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October, 2024

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"I'm a young earth kind of guy"

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Will_
Posts: 271 - Karma: 110
I was having a conversation with my Uncle today about energy policy. I'm an appropriate tech major and we eventually got to the topic of solar energy. My uncle is a Vanderbilt graduate and a successful doctor. Smart guy. I start talking about the potential of solar energy to replace fossil fuels and he interrupts. He says,"now don't talk like oil is a finite thing. its being made all the time. Im a young earth kind of guy, i know this planet is only a few thousand years old and oil doent take very long to make."

Now i know there are some crazies out there that ignore science in favor of religion, but seriously? This guy is a neurosurgeon. He makes his (very good) living off of science. It blew my mind.

The way I see it, we are on the verge of what will either be an energy revolution or an environmental catastrophe. We still have people like this? Really? Gah. Its frustrating. I sincerely hope that we, the people of this generation, will alleviate this sort of stupidity and start building a civilization that wont burn the earth to a toxic crisp. How do we do this? How do we convince people it even needs to be done? Discuss.
Sep 28 2013 6:37PM
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chickenonabun
Posts: 461 - Karma: 285
Good thread. Some people are retarded.
Sep 28 2013 6:39PM
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elinde
Posts: 1467 - Karma: 3,052
I'm sorry sir, it seems to me the problem here is that you have AIDS. Enjoy your final months.
Sep 28 2013 6:40PM
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Mr.LemonPie
Posts: 4100 - Karma: 1,625
He's right though, I got a great batch of oil being made right now back home.
Sep 28 2013 6:43PM
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Broken_Rides
Posts: 334 - Karma: 224
Corn makes ethanol, You can also make engine oil out of vegetables.

Unless everyone starts throwing the dirt on Earth into space, I think we're good for a long time.

Also Op's a dumbass!
Sep 28 2013 6:51PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Ethanol is a dream and a dumb one
Sep 28 2013 6:57PM
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MilaKunis
Posts: 1480 - Karma: 3,646
And nuclear is better then solar in my opinion
Sep 28 2013 7:07PM
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cosmia
Posts: 46 - Karma: 62
Typical doctor. They do it for the money. They don't give a shit about science.
Sep 28 2013 7:17PM
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Mr.LemonPie
Posts: 4100 - Karma: 1,625
What do you call a c average med student?


Doctor.


Sep 28 2013 7:19PM
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louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,029
OP I hear ya!

Apparently the 15yr olds dont agree so much
Sep 28 2013 7:23PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
Yea. Everyone says it dangerous but they obviously never took (paid attention) in a basic Chem or Physics class.
Sep 28 2013 7:33PM
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elinde
Posts: 1467 - Karma: 3,052
But forreal I agree with you. It astounds me that some people who are supposedly at the forefront of scientific progression nowadays still believe in this "young earth" theory, blindly following religion. Pisses me off.
Sep 28 2013 7:35PM
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the.hellion.
Posts: 861 - Karma: 698
This. I'd go nuclear any day of the week. Would be nice to find an easier/more sure fire way to get rid of it fairly safely though. Or not at all, never ending nuclear fission ftw ! Except, I'm not a scientist and I doubt this is possible..... We just need that Higgs-boson ...........
Sep 28 2013 7:52PM
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Spic-N-SpaN
Posts: 2002 - Karma: 1,465
I see what your doing.
Sep 28 2013 8:01PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
I work at a beach and a quarter mile down the road is a small 2 Mw research reactor that almost no one knows about and i told my boss, he was genuinely concerned for everyone's safety until i told him its been there for 53 years.
Sep 28 2013 8:06PM
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cosmia
Posts: 46 - Karma: 62
I think it's widely considered true that people generally have there minds made up about such huge topics while they are still young. The big problem with this is that which ever adults they chose to look up to, they accept many of the same opinions.

It's a vicious cycle, and I'm not sure education, in itself, will ever be able to confront that problem. I.E. highly educated people such as neurosurgeons being totally ignorant of things that go against their deeply held beliefs that essentially are the ONE AND ONLY TRUTH to them. It's a cycle that nobody has figured out how to break. There are interesting ted talks on the subject, but nothing ever comes to fruition.

I'm sure I'm just preaching to a choir. And unfortunately the choir is us, and that is the reason that our generation doesn't care about trying to change the world.

In spite of this, I think that young conservatives are starting believe that environmental issues are real issues that we will have to confront. It's too bad that we will inevitably be too late to the cause.

END MY HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY. Yessssss.
Sep 28 2013 8:12PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
why did germany abandon nuclear energy in 2011?
Sep 28 2013 8:28PM
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MilaKunis
Posts: 1480 - Karma: 3,646
No clue why my post was downvoted so much but if you want a good unbiased opinion on the future of energy on our planet go read the book Physics for a future president.
Sep 28 2013 8:29PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
they abandoned it because of at Fukishima, there were triple redundant backups that failed because a tidal wave and earthquake hit the plant. Men lost there lives when they were manually turning the pumps. In Germany they had almost 20% nuclear energy with only around 10 plants. There have been only 3 devastating nuclear power incidents, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukishima,
Sep 28 2013 8:39PM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,507
yeah he's only been studying one thing for the last 14 years.
Sep 28 2013 8:44PM
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the.hellion.
Posts: 861 - Karma: 698
There are literally thousands of nuclear reactors in the world. There have been a handful of nuclear disasters. The oil sands tailings are probably worse than the nuclear plant down the road from you.
Sep 28 2013 9:13PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
Actually there are about 450 with about 100 in the us followed by france with around 50
Sep 28 2013 9:25PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
The way to do it is to do what I'm doing. Convince businesses and people that it's about saving money, and how helping the environment is just an added benefit tossed in the pot that can make them feel good about themselves.

In reality, I believe the case is vice versa, but People love hearing that they can save money.
Sep 28 2013 9:30PM
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the.hellion.
Posts: 861 - Karma: 698
Really ?! interesting ...are these functional reactors only ?
Sep 28 2013 9:32PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
http://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/n/nuclear-power-plant-world-wide.htm I found the source, says 68 others are being built right now
Sep 28 2013 9:38PM
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Brule.
Posts: 3920 - Karma: 6,206
Great read, OP. So many bigoted and closed-minded people out there in the world today.

IMO I hope that within the next ten years that we realize that religious beliefs can not compare to science, therefore religion is full of B.S. The earth is tens of thousands of years old and science has proven that, thanks to archaeology. We use fossil fuels and oil every day, yet we think it's infinite but it's not. Other sources of energy like solar power, geothermal, wind, and other sources of energy are expensive to install and nobody wants to risk that. I know this because I did a presentation in my Biology class in my Freshman year of high school and my class had to do a presentation about alternative energy, and I chose to do a presentation about geothermal energy because it fascinated me about how the earth's core can heat an entire house compared to using kerosene.
Sep 28 2013 10:02PM
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YoungJ
Posts: 447 - Karma: 883
Very Reliable
Sep 28 2013 10:07PM
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bigbromskier
Posts: 1175 - Karma: 330
I think the best way of going about a paradigm shift of energy/power will have to include improving these renewables to create energy in conjunction with designing our products and the way to use them to better conserve the energy.

The San Francisco school district hired a 'sustainability director' and just by making it a priority to conserve energy (turning off lights, turning down the heat, harvesting rainwater, etc) the school district saved $363,000 in its first fiscal year or whatever alone. So far in its second year, which I think is almost over, they've saved something like $450,000.

pretty compelling evidence that just by altering the way we use energy will have a big impact.
Sep 28 2013 10:28PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
What? Try multiplying that by 4.6 Million and you'll arrive much closer to the correct age.
Sep 28 2013 10:47PM
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SteevJee
Posts: 1916 - Karma: 144
So I guess you're a young earth kind of guy also.
Sep 28 2013 10:54PM
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Brule.
Posts: 3920 - Karma: 6,206
I don't know exactly how old the earth is. All I know it's older than they say in religion.
Sep 29 2013 12:05AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
and then we wouldn't have any corn
Sep 29 2013 12:08AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
My SUV doesn't run on corn
Sep 29 2013 12:10AM
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Brule.
Posts: 3920 - Karma: 6,206
Apparently french fry oil can be converted to fuel, but the oil in french fries are finite.
Sep 29 2013 12:12AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
screw moving one hour forward, lets go big, 10 hours forward!
Sep 29 2013 12:22AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Anal sex is like spinach, if you're forced to have it as a child you probably won't like it as an adult
Sep 29 2013 12:27AM
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elinde
Posts: 1467 - Karma: 3,052
I'm sorry about my failed attempt at humor. Now those are my real opinions, i agree with OP
Sep 29 2013 12:28AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
i don't think i could stab someone, cause Im like really bad at capri sun
Sep 29 2013 12:30AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Fuck you. I was gonna say that one next

You are a sick freak who should be beaten
Sep 29 2013 12:31AM
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cydwhit
Posts: 5070 - Karma: 43,007
I think you might be surprised by how many "really smart people" disagree with "established facts", it's just always a bit surprising, especially when they are a family member you look up to. Incidentally I am also a young earth kind of guy and I agree that we need to move on from fossil fuels for a plethora of reasons. I also realize that what I just posted is going to be attacked by a bunch of teenagers on the internet and a few people who know a lot more than I do and are much smarter than I could ever hope to be.
Sep 29 2013 12:32AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
"hey, at least Im not pregnant!"
Sep 29 2013 12:33AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Babies aren't dishwasher safe
Sep 29 2013 12:39AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
My mom lives by one rule, and its the rule of the sea
Sep 29 2013 12:40AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
I can't wish for more wishes? Then I want to fuck that baby again
Sep 29 2013 12:42AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
Puffins are more of an almond milk cereal, but live your dream
Sep 29 2013 12:43AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
whatever queer
Sep 29 2013 12:44AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
Thats a hate crime!
Sep 29 2013 12:46AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Being an ugly woman is like being a man. You're going to have to work
Sep 29 2013 12:47AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
Im a baller on a budget, bitch
Sep 29 2013 12:53AM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
The national anthem blows
Sep 29 2013 12:55AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
seriously, do you have it on your ipod?
Sep 29 2013 12:58AM
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