GRA
Well-known member
It was a slow summer day, so my mind strayed from purely factual matters.GetOffYourGas said:How existentialist of you, Guy. <snip> But we digress. There's probably a better thread for discussing reasons for considering EVs. But I'm just following the conversation where I found it.GRA said:OTOH, most human actions are based on short or long-term self-interest, so as long as it's not going to impact him or anyone he cares about, why should he care? The earth will survive regardless. It's certainly arguable that on the whole it might be better off without us, and given the unlikelihood that we're the only sentient species in the universe let alone a particularly critical one, our survival is probably of no importance (except to us). <snip>GetOffYourGas said:What a wonderful attitude :roll:
You are as entitled to your opinions, such as that we all have souls, as he is entitled to his, which I assume include the idea that such a thing as a soul doesn't exist (unless it's made by Kia), and that when we die, that's it.GetOffYourGas said:I, on the other hand, believe in a much deeper reality. This physical world, while important, is only part of our reality. We are spiritual creatures as much as physical ones, and our souls matter too. And by "our", I am including every single person: you, me, NavyCuda, all 8 billion of us sharing the earth today. I have never met you guys and probably never will. But your physical and spiritual well being are just as important to me as my own. And so in support at least of the former, I will work to preserve our Earth's capability of supporting human life to the best of my ability. It saddens me that NavyCuda feels the way he does, but there's nothing I can do about it. <snip rest>
Selling off-grid AE equipment way back when, while most of my customers were fairly normal, and were buying the stuff for a wide variety of social, political, economic or other reasons, I had the full spectrum from uber-left greens who wanted to disconnect to a greater or lesser extent from society and live in the back of beyond, to uber-right survivalists preparing for an NBC Armageddon or an anti-government rebellion, and everything in between. Rather than trying to impose my choices and values on them, I'd give them a variety of options and let them make up their own minds as to their priorities.
As for the reasons they wanted to go off-grid, most of them had already figured that out for themselves, and I didn't try to convince them that my reasons were better, only point out where they were factually wrong (such as the idea that going off-grid would save them money compared to paying a utility for electricity, when they already had the utility service right there). I have the same attitude towards EVs - I don't much care why someone chooses one (or decides they aren't for them), but I want to give them the best factual advice I can about their options (and if asked, what options I recommend for them), and let them make their own decision. And that's enough OT.