Give up AC to save future generations?

[coberst]

Give up AC to save future generations?

I am inclined to think that each human generation must consider itself as the steward of the earth and therefore must make available to the succeeding generations an inheritance undiminished to that received.

In this context what does "careful and responsible management" mean? I would say that there are two things that must be begun to make the whole process feasible. The first is that the public must be convinced that it is a responsible caretaker and not an owner and secondly the public must be provided with an acceptable standard whereby it can judge how each major issue affects the accomplishment of the overall task. This is an ongoing forever responsibility for every nation but for the purpose of discussion I am going to speak about it as localized to the US.

Selfishness and greed are fundamental components of human nature. How does a nation cause its people to temper this nature when the payoff goes not to the generation presently in charge but to generations yet to come in the very distant future? Generations too far removed to be encompassed by the evolved biological impulse to care for ones kin.

How is it possible to cause a man or woman to have the same concern for a generation five times removed as that man or woman has for their own progeny? I suspect it is not possible, but it does seem to me to be necessary to accomplish the task of stewardship.

Would it be possible to cause the American people to reject completely the use of air-conditioning so that generations five times removed could survive? Is it possible to create in a person a rational response strong enough to overcome the culturally developed nature of greed and selfishness? The motivation force must be instinctually based, i.e. based upon moral instinct honed through reason in the form of a science of morality.

I claim that a compelling sense of stewardship must come through a comprehension of the science of morality (yet to be developed).

[Roadam]

At first i thought you were talking about Alternating Current .
Anyway, I dont think anyone in the modern world would ever just want to live without AC as temperatures can get very high at some places. Thing is that most of that conditioning could be done trough better design of buildings, and getting rid of some stupid habits.

Like driving in the hot desert with ac set to 15°C and wearing a business suit with a tie.

[Moontanman]

If indeed i thought that giving up the AC would be the key to human survival I would do it in a heart beat and I live in the deep south but when you consider how much AC costs in energy expended were 50 years ago compared to today I would have to say that 50 years from now the AC will not be a major factory in human survival.

[coberst]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

If indeed i thought that giving up the AC would be the key to human survival I would do it in a heart beat and I live in the deep south but when you consider how much AC costs in energy expended were 50 years ago compared to today I would have to say that 50 years from now the AC will not be a major factory in human survival.

I suspect that most people will say the same thing about any suggestion of sacrifice. Is it possible to save future generations with such an attitude?

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by coberst

I suspect that most people will say the same thing about any suggestion of sacrifice. Is it possible to save future generations with such an attitude?

Actually it might not be that bad of an idea, how big an impact would giving up the ol AC be? Maybe all those Yankees who come here and then complain about how hot and humid it is would go back home?

[Zythryn]

Don't equate knowledge with a lack of being capable of sacrifice.
There is no need for people to give up AC. Use it less perhaps, change a few light bulbs, drive less (even when the economy isn't in a tailspin).
Most people will sacrifice if they are confident that the results of their sacrifice will avert said disaster.
The less confident they are that the disaster is pending or the sacrifice will mitigate it, the less likely they are to make the sacrifice (in my opinion).
And yes, there are some people that won't sacrifice for their own children, much less descendants 4 or 5 generations down the line. And there are some people that will happily sacrifice for some person they don't know on the other side of the world.