From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2009-04-11T08:50:28+09:00
Subject: Re: Goodbye Ruby - Hello Earth

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On Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 07:25:44AM +0900, Christophe Mckeon wrote:
>=20
> Some of you will have a very strong and angry reaction
> to this email. Please try to reflect on why you might be
> quite so angry.

I'm not angry.  I'm exasperated that people think adopting a nontechnical
agrarian existence where we lack decent medicine, open and easy
communications with more than a few dozen people, and a means to protect
ourselves from natural disasters will somehow "save" the human race.

News flash: nothing short of the end of the human race will completely
eliminate the "negative" (according to agrarian reformers) effects the
human race has on the environment.  I'm not much of a "burn the village
to save it" kind of guy.

I think that, if the human race is in as much trouble due to damage to
the environment as some people think, our best chance to save ourselves
will come from technological advancements.  Trying to reverse thousands
of years of advancement is not only doomed to failure, but doomed to
counterproductivity even if someone could magically wish it into
existence.


>=20
> In any case, please take my word that this is
> a sincere and heartfelt farewell. If any of you
> who are watching the world unfold and are experiencing
> similar feelings, or are starting to feel cracks in
> your shells, please feel free to contact me privately,
> and I will be glad to speak with you. I am not a
> psychotherapist but I may have something to contribute,
> besides we have Ruby at least in common.

I'd like to exhort anyone thinking along these lines to rethink.  A brain
drain isn't going to improve things.

I guess all I can hope for is that, when people remove themselves from
technological fields because they're trying to "save" the human race
getting everyone to become dirt farmers, they also remove themselves from
effective means of advocacy and the pool of voters.  I don't want
technological progress -- our best hope for a brighter future -- to be
outlawed any time soon.  Congress has already stood in the way of
technological progress (some of which could actually help with
environmental issues) in the name of environmentalism far more often than
I'd like for decades.

--=20
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
Quoth Larry Niven: "That's the thing about people who think they hate
computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers."

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