Hackers tribes:42 questions

42 questions about deep future

How is the triple-e crisis influencing the Internet Community?

energy economy environment ecology evolution education exponentials extra ethics extinction

energy

• How much energy is Cloud using?

http://www.tech-pundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cloud_Begins_With_Coal.pdf

• Is your ISP green - is it using renewable energy, green electricity?

• Will there be enough electricity available for all the computing & networking we do, in 2020?

• What are the innovations to decrease the energy consumption?

http://gizmodo.com/seattle-wants-to-heat-itself-using-waste-heat-from-data-1446977944

• Is the new fB datacenter in Greenland part of the solution or part of the problem?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-03/facebooks-new-data-center-in-sweden-puts-the-h eat-on-hardware-makers

• Is someone going to the Telecom Energy Efficiency conference?

http://telcoenergyefficiency.com/

economy

• How to save the costs by using less energy?

• Would you be attracting more customers if you stress "green products" in your marketing campaign?

• Are you aware of the existing EU regulations for the ICT market, regarding energy consumption?

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sustainable_growth/ict_sector/index_en.htm

environment

• What is the footprint of 300 engineers flying all over the world from conference to conference?

• How much pollution is caused by all the laptops, mobile phones, tablets… and other equipment being thrown away every year?

• How much damage to the environment is caused by producing all that equipment?

• How much carbon is released by warming & cooling needed for all the datacenters?

ecology

• Do we realize that the unlimited growth is unsustainable and physically impossible?

http://www.albartlett.org/presentations/arithmetic_population_energy_transcript_english.html

• Did you read the latest IPCC scientific report, from 10 days ago?

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/27/2681861/15-things-ipcc-report/

• Are you aware of the "reinforcing feedback loop" of the melting Arctic ice? (the more it melts, the more sunshine is absorbed, the faster the melting becomes)

• Are you aware of the "reinforcing feedback loop" of the melting Greenland, Siberian & Alaskan permafrost? (the more it melts, the more CO2 & methane is releasing, faster the warming)

• Are you aware of the "reinforcing feedback loop" of the acidifying oceans? (the more acidic water, plankton releases less DMS, oceans warm up more, less plankton growth)

evolution

• Do you know what happens to the species who disturb the balance in their environment, for example by over-breeding above the numbers that the environment can sustain?

• Do you know what happens to the species who disturb the balance in their environment, for example by burning more wood then the environment can replenish?

education

• Have you read books by Daniel Quinn: Ishmael, the Story of B, Beyond Civilization?

• Have you heard about "Silent Spring", the book from 1969 that sprang the Greens Movement?

• Have you seen the video of the lecture on "Arithmetic, Population and Energy" by Al Bartlett?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI1C9DyIi_8

and transcript http://www.albartlett.org/presentations/arithmetic_population_energy_transcript_english.html

exponential

• Do you know how long it takes for a "doubling" to occur, if the growth rate is 1% ? (

• Do you know how long it takes for a "doubling" to occur, if the growth rate is 7% ?

• If the bacteria is doubling their numbers every minute, and we put them in an empty bottle at 11AM, at what time is the bottle half-full? (11:59)

• If the bacteria in the bottle is doubling their numbers every minute, starting at 11AM, and they find 3 more bottles to expand to, at what time will they fill all 4 bottles? (12:02)

extra

• Are you part of the hackerspace?

• Do you prefer to work for food, or to play for food?

• Do you believe that death is part of life?

• Do you think that the "civilization" is the best way for humans to live?

ethics

• Do you believe that the world belongs to the humans?

• Do you believe that humans are part of nature, that humans belong to the world, and get to share the world with the rest of the living beings on this planet?

• Do you believe that the laws of ecology apply to humans?

• How should we behave in the year 3000?

• What do we need to change in our mindset, to make sure that the world-as-we-know-it even exists in the year 3000?

• How come that we came to the point when we even have to ask this question??

extinction

• Has runaway greenhouse guaranteed near-term extinction?

https://program.ohm2013.org/event/180.html http://guymcpherson.com/2013/01/climate-change-summary-and-update/

• Can we stop runaway climate change before it drives our species to extinction?
• Do you agree that we can do something to FUNDAMENTALLY change our way of thinking, in order to prevent the SECOND cataclysm, and save this world for the rest of the living species and for grandchildren of our grandchildren?
• 42. What is the meaning of life, universe and everything?

(with kudos to Axel Arnbak, who asked 30 different questions at BBA of BoF this year)