Bob Metcalfe discusses a 'squanderable abundance' of energy

Bob Metcalfe, founder of 3Com and co-inventor of the ethernet, discusses a 'squanderable abundance' of energy during a lecture at Singularity University (www.singularityu.org).

Copyright Notice: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Filmed on Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Bob Metcalfe
• Singularity University
• energy
• car
• transport

[PENNA65000]

@rbairos:  I am not making it into a debate. I happen to think Mecalf (he's a neighbor of mine) missed the mark in his comparison. As to you: I think you're missing *my* point. But that's OK -- it's not that important anyway. Breathe deeply.

[rbairos1]

@PENNA65000 I don't think you understand. Variable Ratio Steering doesn't stop people from making mistakes, no matter how smoothly they make them. He is discussing computer-driven cars in which the interface won't kill you by and your family by momentarily waving your arm one way or the other. Why are you making this a debate?

[PENNA65000]

True that variable ratio steering may not prevent one from driving into a telephone pole every time, it may well prevent over-steering and losing control, which was part of the idea behind the invention (the other part was making parallel parking easier). So I stand on my comment that he missed the mark. But, that said, it was a lousy parallel in the first place....

[PENNA65000]

Sorry, but try as you will I still think that Bob's comparison of communication use to energy use is spurious. Seems to me it's all too easy to back into the argument, as he has.  If "A", then obviously "B" is not obvious to me. Your argument that we'd have to limit communications without the internet also doesn't pass muster for me. Why wouldn't we have invented other technologies for carrying more phone traffic? Seems obvious that we likely would have, no?

[rbairos1]

@PENNA65000 Variable ratio turning doesn't stop you from driving into a telephone pole, I think was his point there...

[wjfox2006]

Um... peak oil anyone?

[roman883]

@PENNA65000 - more and turn their energy (no pun intended) to figuring out where else to create abundances. At least, that's what I took away from Bob's lecture. Quite an interesting perspective and one grounded in historical equivalents.

[roman883]

@PENNA65000 - What Bob is getting at, I think, is that a new technology can (likely will) at some point, barring burdensome and misguided legislation or regulation, come along that entirely changes our conception of energy generation and transmission. When that happens, humans will be freed to consume every increasing amounts of energy and this will be a good thing. Energy use will rise and so will activity, creativity, and prosperity. This energy abundance will allow human beings to create

[roman883]

@PENNA65000 - So communication increased, not decreased, by leaps and bounds it increased. With energy, we can continue to produce energy through all the means we've already invented (just include all currently invented technologies, renewable or otherwise), but because they all have various limitations (environmental, cost, transmission, non-dispatchable, storage, etc.) we have to continue to reduce and conserve and pursue efficiency, not because efficiency is good, but as an energy source.

[roman883]

@PENNA65000 - Say we would have all limited ourselves to 4 calls per person per day (a comparison to energy conservation). As a result, communication would suffer. But that didn't happen because a new and better, and entirely different, technology came along, shifting the whole concept of HOW to communicate away from phones, came along. The internet was an entirely NEW method of communication. As a result, communication no longer had to be rationed because the internet continued to grow.