Nuclear Power

[watercooled]

Hmm just had another depressing discussion on this subject with someone who was saying how dangerous all nuclear power is, she has no scientific background whatsoever but hey that's irrelevant, right? Said person also thinks having the local council install solar panels on every roof is a green, economical idea (for what it's worth we're talking Merseyside here, so even less sunlight on average than London, for instance) and that there's little difference between direct sunlight and heavy cloud.

:sigh:

Seriously, is there any Campaign for Common Sense out there? We seriously need one, and fast!

[aidanjt]

Seriously, is there any Campaign for Common Sense out there? We seriously need one, and fast!

Unfortunately common sense is none too common nowadays.

[Sputnik]

Solar panels seem fantastic, Again the people who rave about them have no idea how small the amount of electric they generate for their cost and I bet half of them don't even realise that they still need some other form of generation for night time.

Sadly there is a large portion of the general public that are just too stupid to understand and to make an informed opinion. You know the ones, Like the pikey lad who stole the copper water pipes from the house he lived in so he could sell them for scrap.

Maybe the only way you could get people to understand the advantage of nuclear power is to show them how much coal you'd need to burn to produce the same amount of power as a single fuel rod.

[kalniel]

Education, education, education!

Seriously - we massively suck at knowledge transfer - be that communication from scientists to fellow adults or a lack of scientists in teaching, who are good at teaching.

[melon]

Unfortunately common sense is none too common nowadays.

Common sense is the whole reason the world is the way it is and why systems like capitalism work and fail , if it werent people would realise whats at stake instead of allowing themselves to be enslaved into the systems because it appears the " rational " thing to do.

Unfortunately this doesnt alter peoples egos or sense of self importance - esp when they see saw much hypocrisy and corruption now in those very systems they rationally obeyed for so long , so of course people arent going to care about being reasonable any more than the bankers etc who exploited them. ( Although tbh im surprised its not a lot worse )

I think some people still think something will improve or change , but once reality sets in it will be different ball game - there will come point something hits a " no-going back point " and then the **** will really hit the roof .

We're already there now in fact.

m

[watercooled]

Yeah that's exactly what I mean, but it's a real problem because these are the people who are voting for our future and tying themselves to tractors. Of course, one solution for the latter would be to announce a construction site, put a bit of equipment there then go and build elsewhere. xD

It really is quite scary though the sheer lack of knowledge displayed by what seems to be the average person. Enough effort goes in to complaining about stuff, the scientific community really needs to start giving explanations for claims to win back the public. I can't remember where it was I heard people were saying they were against GM crops because they didn't want to eat food with genes in it (either a TV program or this forum IIRC).

[melon]

Education, education, education!

Seriously - we massively suck at knowledge transfer - be that communication from scientists to fellow adults or a lack of scientists in teaching, who are good at teaching.

I agree, but thats because language itself is largely crap at transferring knowledge imo, no one really knows any more what any one else means - much less wants to listen without hearing themselves first.

m

[watercooled]

I agree, it takes quite a bit of effort and/or a strong interest in order to learn something properly. However, if as much time was spent on the news and in the tabloids outlining the benefits of technology and disproving some of the 'myths' created by opposition in the knowledge that they won't be corrected, there would be much less of a fear of anything with chemical or nuclear written on it...

[melon]

I agree, it takes quite a bit of effort and/or a strong interest in order to learn something properly. However, if as much time was spent on the news and in the tabloids outlining the benefits of technology and disproving some of the 'myths' created by opposition in the knowledge that they won't be corrected, there would be much less of a fear of anything with chemical or nuclear written on it...

Self awareness increases self interest in changing your self, once you do that everything is interesting in a very profound and personal way , and not as something casual or conditioned through chance or social surroundings.

m

[BobF64]

Education, education, education!

Seriously - we massively suck at knowledge transfer - be that communication from scientists to fellow adults or a lack of scientists in teaching, who are good at teaching.

The trouble is, when faced with the reaction of the vast majority of the "ignorant" public, all willing to throw stones, bricks and flames at anyone who dares to say bad things about "green power", can you see many wanting to do it?

Its like "Science vs Religion" during the Dark Ages all over again.

The light of reason only works when people arent blind already.

[aidanjt]

We don't even try to transfer knowledge anyway, schools only ram factoids down kids throats. It's all training for exams by rote, rather than real problem solving.

[melon]

The trouble is, when faced with the reaction of the vast majority of the "ignorant" public, all willing to throw stones, bricks and flames at anyone who dares to say bad things about "green power", can you see many wanting to do it?

Its like "Science vs Religion" during the Dark Ages all over again.

The light of reason only works when people arent blind already.

Can you blame them ?

Isnt Capitalism ,a form of social engineering which is itself part of science ?

m

[directhex]

"Nuclear Power" is tainted, and the chattering masses will never support those two words together. Too many decades of media scares, and failures of 1960s technology. If a successful rebrand of the latest technology made it into the public consciousness, that'd be another matter.

That might sound facetious, but it could work. Thalidomide is being used again, fr'example.

[directhex]

I'm surprised that the Japanese made such a mistake as they generally engineer things so well.

1960s American design. Only rated to a certainl level of quake damage. Due for decommissioning.

Basically, a mix of unfortunate circumstances.

[watercooled]

Which unfortunately give the anti-nuke crown more fuel for their argument. People don't see vastly different reactor designs, they just see an accident and tarnish everything with the same brush, and again this can only be remedied with education. Things aren't going to improve if the public are only fed with negatives of any technology.

Lets just hope we have a government with enough of a backbone to not let rumours stop progress.

[Knoxville]

Good to see Godwins law still applies...