kersplomp

I didn’t mean my opportunity cost from the toilet.

I did, that’s literally what I’ve been talking about this whole time. I’m asking you to stop wasting yours and my time.

Honest question, you used the word opportunity cost, but do you not understand what that is? With an opportunity cost, you compare two possible actions that you can take. It doesn’t make sense to compare your action (supporting those that propagate misinformation) to the actions of an entire economy (investing in ai infrastructure), because the actor is not the same in both.

With an opportunity cost, you can only compare the actions that you can take, and you alone. I listed a few comparable actions in my previous comment: research climate change, research the climate effects of ai, post about factory farms, read up on solar, invite others to donate money to clean water causes. These can all be done on the toilet. Any of these is a better use of your time than joining a mob of people against a cause you don’t even fully understand.

And you as a commenter have an opportunity cost too. You could be spending your time raising money for PETA or Oxfam, or researching climate change, or commenting about the effects of factory farms, but instead you’re just griping about the current popular thing to gripe about.

I donate 100% of my salary (I’m retired but still work) to fighting income inequality, climate change, animal abuse, and transphobia. It’s so frustrating to see people waste their time hating on things they don’t even understand just to fit in. Maybe this doesn’t describe everyone commenting, but if it does maybe they should get off their high horse. Sometimes the best thing a person can do for the world is shut up and give space for an actual expert to talk.

Please people, you need to stop spreading this misinformation.

AI is not killing the environment. If you track the sources of these claims, you will find that they first were spread by McKinsey and Bloomberg, who have a vested interest in publicly traded oil companies and other polluting corporations. They love to spread this misinformation because it distracts from the REAL environmental harms being caused by fossil fuels, meat farming, and concrete production. See drawdown.org for the specific numbers.

We need to stay focused on climate change and not get distracted. Our efforts should be focused on stopping new coal plants and factory farms. Datacenters, and especially the one in indianapolis which wouldn’t even have used water for cooling, have minimal environmental impact compared to trump’s coal, oil, and farming policies which will kill tens of millions in the long run and have already sparked wars.

We can fix climate change. We were so close to replacing fossil fuels that oil companies got scared; we can’t afford to give up at the last mile.

Ah if only I had self control

PSA: Don’t buy a gaming laptop. They are trash. The plastic case will melt, the wifi card will come loose, the battery will die within minutes. A steam deck is truly your best option.

And never ever buy alienware. Screw them in particular.