Page 3 - Conscience

I call it Stardust.

??? You believe that Stardust gives us conscience?

A lot of things we do just need to be changed and we can survive much longer.

Solar energy should be harvested more effeciently. Remove coal, nuclear, and other power plants (even hydroelectric harms the environment) and use solar panels and store energy in giant batteries. As far as energy goes, that'd be solved.

Cars are another problem. The diesel engine has been around for a long time. A less known fact is that "biodiesel" has been one of the first engines designed. "biodiesel" engines run on vegetable oil, corn syrup, etc. Running cars on that would reduce CO, and other exhausts, in the air and render gasoline (a carcinogen) useless. Unfortunately, this breeds a problem of producing fuels. It requires a lot of vegetable oil.

Agriculture is a huge problem with our pesticides and such. With my proposed car solution a lot more agriculture will be required. That means a lot more run-offs. I don't have much of a solution for that other than have drainage for the run-off water and then treat it before it goes to the water source. But run-off doesn't just go into lakes, it goes into aquifers (underground lakes). That's what wells pump from. That water isn't easily treatable. What I'd suggest is a drinkable water source be developed and treat run-off water so that it's drinkable and then put it into the man-made lakes.

These are just some of my ideas, please put some of your comments in

I'll post again and say something on-topic I must be approaching the char-limit.

Conscience is deteriorating in many places I think. People don't take time out to help other people. This could also be a result of too much to do. Example, I was going to school and someone's car went dead. I couldn't spend time to help them but I felt terrible about it. Though what helped me clear my conscience was that I went to the police station (my school has a town police department in it) and asked them if they could go help them. That was just the other day and I hope they got help. Like I said, I was busy (I was late for class as it was) and I couldn't afford the time to help them. I'm sure someone could have stopped to help but they were alone.

Conscience isn't just when you do something wrong, it's also the result of apathy. If you see someone getting hurt or killed and you just turn the other way you should feel guilty. If you don't, that's bad. Even if all you can do is dial 911, that's better than pretending it never happened.

I still feel somewhat guilty because I probably could have done more, but I also didn't have any jumper cables. Eh, I still did more than other people did. I'd also like to think I'm not alone in a situation like that. Unfortunately, I probably would be.

Gecko, I like your ideas. I'd be all for that, but there are two things I notice that could be problematic (aside from the need for more agriculture that you already mentioned).

Batteries are in themselves toxic. What do we do with the leftover batteries? Also, solar is great, but does not provide a consistent source of energy, nor does it provide enough power to drive vehicles (as an example). There is no doubt that using more solar power will help, but it will probably have to be in conjunction with the traditional sources to be practical. If we combine the use of solar, wind and natural gas, we might ultimately begin using less of the fossil fuels.

Biodiesel is a great idea too, but only diesel engines can use it. Most of us do not drive diesel vehicles, so the effect is limited to trucking companies and individuals that drive that kind of car. It is at least, a step in the right direction. Personally, I hope we can move more towards hydrogen. The only by-product of that reaction is water. Of course, this requires a lot of research and time, and figuring out where to get the hydrogen is a problem, since the creation of hydrogen may have toxic by-products.

Your comment on conscience is appropriate as well. It speaks to the fact of not having viable alternatives. Unfortunatley our society at times forces us to make decisions that seem to counter the "right thing" because there do not appear to be any other viable solutions. Your example of wanting to help but being late for class is a perfect example of that concept. You did what you could, but not as much as you wanted to, because your need to get to class was greater than you desire to help the person (not that your choice was bad, it was perfectly reasonable). But, that is not to say that you had no consicence (after all.. you did feel bad about it).

So conscience == jumper cables

Whew! I'm going to Heaven

conscience = "going to heaven"?

Sounds more like pop-science to me.

LOL!! I just have to laugh at that one!

Thanks for the laugh Doug, I guess we all better not take ourselves too seriously

Can you disprove it?

the argument "it can't be disproved so therefore must be true" is wrong. It can't be proved sure, but it can't be disproved either. Therefore, the only logical thing to do is suspend judgement.

Also, someone said that batteries are bad for the environment. I think they confused batteries with cells (which make batteries) The batteries used in storing solar energy last quite long and are recyclable. Therefore they are a safe alternative to other wasteful sources of energy. Combine wind and solar powers and store the energy and the energy crisis could be easily solved. Economically however, that would reduce the need for many nuclear power plant employees and, since solar energy is mostly self-sufficient, displace the workers. One solution breeds more problems.

Nah, that would be from a neutral 3rd parties perspective. From your perspective, since you can't prove me wrong, you must allow me to believe whatever I wish -- until you can prove me wrong.

No proof, you have to let me be