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It is the good kind of growth, the dematerialization of the economy is a major factor in the lower energy elasticity in developed countries...
by seirl 7y ago
It is the good kind of growth, the dematerialization of the economy is a major factor in the lower energy elasticity in developed countries...
- mrpopo 7y agoIt's absolutely not obvious whether digital technologies reduce energy consumption globally. E-mail reduced the amount of letters, but Amazon increased the amount of packages. Over-the-air TV broadcasts consumed way less energy than FHD personalized YouTube streams. Americans own more than 20 electronic products per household. etc.
- ckastner 7y agoWhat dematerialization? Facebook's entire business model is advertising, in other words: getting you to buy things. It used to be Google's and Amazon's entire business model, too, until they diversified into cloud services. It's the exact opposite of dematerialization. Edit: To clarify, I'm not at all against these things. On the contrary. My point is that among those people most vocal in demanding (sometimes radical) change from others, I frequently see a complete lack of self-reflection.
- tonyedgecombe 7y agoIt doesn't really matter whether the people calling for radical change are hypocrites or not. That has no material affect on whether there really is a need for radical change. It does make them rather annoying and gives those resistant to change something to criticise them over but it doesn't alter the facts of the situation.
- ckastner 7y agoIt affects the discussion of the situation and, by extension, the politics surrounding it, and thereby ultimately the one force that might actually effect the necessary change.