electric cars.

[inferno]

Does anyone have an electric car?
Do you like it?
whats good and whats bad?

on my job all the paper pushers are getting teslas, apparantly. basically the company leases the car for them and they get a raise, to pay for the cars lease-cost which is drawn on the salary. i really loooove this scheme.

i used to live in norway, and they have lots of teslas there.
it was not because of "the environment" (its an oil producing country...)
on my street there was 3 teslas.

In norway the gov wanted to push electric cars so there was some benefits with electric cars:

*park for free whereever you wanted pretty much.
*no tolls going into the citys (about 2-3€$ each time)
*no VAT
*No horsepower added cost, and in norway you pay like 100 €/$ per HP over 130-150hp or so on a new car.
usually any 4-500Hp car cost about 150-250k €/$ with all the environmental crap payed.
*you can drive in the bus lane (saving 2h a day in oslo)

But i think most of these benefits no one really cared about. its was the driving in the bus lane that was the big seller, save time.

do these benefits exist in other countries too?

i have a few bicycles. i ride them every day to and from work. about 25km in total. its very environmentally friendly. my company doesn't even want to pay for my studded winter tires.
or give me any extra money for me staying healthy. but they can gladly pay for your gym membership that you use once a month... because it makes you healthy...

 

[ma_sha1]

I am slow in adopting the electric car, missing the sound of a good engine too much. But if I get a raise just to pay for the tasla, I’d probably be on board, sounds like too good of a scheme to pass up.

 

[Random]

I owned a Prius (Hybrid gas/electric) for about three years and it was a trouble-free car. 70 mpg.

Only traded it because I needed a pickup for work. The difference in fuel costs was shocking.

 

[bahamaroot]

In the US you get a one time federal tax credit of $2500-5000 when you purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle. In certain states there are also other benefits such as lower vehicle registration rates, low cost loans and driving in carpool lanes among others.

If I was given a raise to cover the cost of a lease if I got a Tesla I'd be all over that!

 

[inferno]

me 2. but i'm a "worker" so i dont get these benefits. i dont even get tires for my bike.
if i'm lucky i'd get to suck a dong. I dont feel lucky though. but you never know.

 

[inferno]

i just sms:ed my boss telling him i needed a 1k €$£ raise a month.

and that i would also need a tesla from now on. but none of these fagg0t ones with only 400hp, but the real ones with 700hp.

its only 4 in the morning here. we'll se how it goes. i think i have a good bargaining standpoint. he's gonna love this.

 

[WildBoar]

as long as he doesn't screw you over by giving you a Prius instead...

 

[inferno]

we dont have any contracts with toyota. so i guess itas not gonna happen. i actually dont give a f what shows up. as long as its free. gotta set the bar high though. they always weasel themselves out of most things.

 

[rob]

If your gonna set the bar high, ask for (demand). Porsche Taycan.

750 HP. 1050NM Tourque 0-100 in 2.6.

Nothing wimpy about those figures.

 

[inferno]

sounds reasonable. however even our president drives a volvo now so it might not be welcomed very much. and its very obvious with a porsche since it says porsche on it...

 

[rob]

Don't like ya chances.

 

[inferno]

its all i do.

 

[inferno]

if i could be fired, in practice, i would have been fired like 10 times by now.

we start working at 7. i usually show up at 8.30. people get pissed off. and i get it. but i'm tired in the morning. so what can i say.

i have at least been on time 2 times since 2017! and thats quite good i think. for me. one time i even came 6.30.

 

[lancep]

I just purchased the Tesla 3. Prior to that I had a 2017 BMW i3 Rex, which I leased.

I really like the electric cars. They are a ton of fun to drive given their instantaneous torque and low center of gravity. They are also quiet.

It is also quite nice that you can charge at home, overnight, and pretty much always have a full charge when you leave in the morning.

The BMW's electric range was only around 110 miles, and less in cold weather. For me, that was fine. It also had a small motor and gas tank, so running out of power was never a concern. But going on long drives with the BMW was not really an option, because the gas tank was tiny and rapid recharging wasn't all that widely available.

The Model 3 has about 250 miles of range, which is a lot, and with the prevalence of superchargers, I can easily see taking it on road trips, unlike the BMW.

The electric vehicles also require less maintenance. In 3 years, I didn't require any service on my BMW.

So, in general, the electric vehicles are really very convenient. They also have much lower operating costs, as their efficiency really can save you money. The model 3 is the most efficient car currently made, which is a function of the inherent efficiency of electric vehicles, plus a lot of intelligent engineering by Tesla.

One downside to these vehicles is their tires seem to wear out pretty quickly (at least this was certainly the case with my BMW). Also, cold weather does reduce their range, and so does high-speed driving (air resistance, which is the major energy consumer at speed, increases proportional to the square of speed, so driving at 85mph uses a lot more energy than driving at 65).

The fact of the matter is (imo) we are running out of time to avoid massive disaster from global warming. A transition to EV's is one part of the solution to that problem, albeit only a part.

 

[Dave Martell]

Do these electric cars come with a diesel generator to tow behind them for re-charging?

 

[Michi]

Range anxiety is pretty much a thing of the past now. On a full charge, a Model 3 (performance version) goes about as far as the average petrol car on a single tank. And superchargers are being added all the time. It's not quite the flexibility right now that you get with a petrol car for long trips, or trips to remote areas but, in most situations, the range is plenty good enough.

 

[Barmoley]

The range is one thing, but how long it takes to recharge to 100% is another, still not as convenient as a normal car, getting better though. For me the greatest benefit of electric is the power delivery, instant torque just can't be matched with anything else. The environmental impact is so confusing and difficult to figure out because of politics that it is not clear if these are any better over all. Also, at least in the US, if everyone switched to electric, the electric grid would go kaput the first night everyone plugged in.

Does anyone know why they don't make diesel/electric hybrids, seems like that would work really well. There was a test of a prototype MB that was such a hybrid and it ran very far on one (extended capacity) tank.

 

[daveb]

In the 90's I was project mgr for the USAF electric and hybrid electric vehicle program. Did a 12M acquisition of some diesel hybrids that challenged the technology available at the time. Biggest hurdle was the regenerative braking system. Batteries were not easy either.

Ended up with modified aircraft tow tractors where the instant torque helped a lot with precise placement. And with some DV vans on a F350 frame (like a rental car shuttle but fancy) that we used in shows. Was kind of cool to drive from the Pentagon into DC and switch to all electric when crossing the bridge. Did find out quickly that when you turned the diesel off, that people around you assumed the vehicle was stopped. Evolution in action.

Politics started the program and in the end killed it. I remember doing a break-even analysis using gas as one of the variables. I plotted up to $3/gal (gas was cheaper than water at the time) and was told gas would never be that high.

Somewhere I have a picture of my dog, the first dog to ride in the back of an electric pickup truck.

 

[Matus]

In my opinion - with the current technology level when it comes to batteries - the best use are small (and possibly light-weight) electric car with short to medium range, as that requires less of the batteries (which are energy- intensive in production and, unfortunately, also very non-ecological). When long range electric cars are compared to cars with combustion engine - there is either little or none CO2 reduction (at least here in Germany), as most electricity in the world is still made from burning fossil fuels.

On energy economy - the already mentioned Tesla is not any particularly good - based on tests in real conditions the car need around 20 kWh per 100 km - what is a rather average value today.

I do think that electric cars are - looking at the options today - the future of automobile industry and will not be taken over by hydrogen anytime soon (energy efficiency of producing / storing it), but it could happen in the future. One of the potential issues is safety.

Our next car (planned acquisition is next year) will most likely not be electric, though I am attracted by the idea. I am just not interested in 1+ tonne heavy car as the weight is the main factor in fuel efficiency in the city (the recuperation efficiency is far from 100%, so the weight matters)

 

[Michi]

The overall CO2 footprint of a car, including manufacture of the car and its batteries, the CO2 it causes to be emitted during its use, and CO2 emission during decommissioning (disassembly, recycling, and disposal) varies a lot depending on country and how the electricity that is used by the car is generated.

I have seen various figures. As a rough guide, over its entire life cycle, an electric car has about half the CO2 footprint of a petrol car. As I said, this can vary up or down depending on lots of factors. But, looking forward, I think it is the future of the car in the near term. Long term, I think we'll be looking at less travel, more mass transportation, and "clouds" of cars that are shared instead of being owned individually.

Here is a fairly short article that provides an overview:

http://theconversation.com/climate-...otprint-of-electric-versus-fossil-cars-124762

 

[Luftmensch]

whats good and whats bad?

Whats good:

• 'instantaneous' torque for faster acceleration than internal combustion
• Mechanical simiplicity - fewer moving parts
• Potentially more eco
• It is easier to engineer tightly integrated safety/control systems in electric systems - aka the potential for more driver 'features'
• Quiet
• Some regions offer subsidies for purchasing/running/parking them

Whats bad:

• Not as fast (top speed) as internal combustion - back EMF reduces the torque available at high RPM
• Heavy
• Limited range

on my job all the paper pushers are getting teslas

Urgh... Tesla... dont get me started. It bothers me that Musk is lionised - I view him as a bit of a Charlatan. Very sick of him being hailed as some modern Edison. I can see how middle management would be self congratulatory about being part of this hype. Don't get me wrong, there is some cool engineering at Tesla. They make great batteries. Take all the glamour and hype away and I am not so sure the value of engineering purchased is amazing.

I'll give Tesla and Musk this... pushing the technology early and winning public support is making it difficult for the automotive giants to ignore electric vehicles. So Tesla is helping spur competition and catalysing demand for these products. In a world that needs to be more green... this is a good thing... a very good thing!

i have a few bicycles. i ride them every day to and from work. about 25km in total. its very environmentally friendly. my company doesn't even want to pay for my studded winter tires.
or give me any extra money for me staying healthy. but they can gladly pay for your gym membership that you use once a month... because it makes you healthy...

Good for you! I don't know why companies will have employee oriented policies but then be completely rigid because 'it isnt policy'. Well... I guess I do... but so be it...

 

[Michi]

Mechanical simiplicity - fewer moving parts

^ This.

Besides being more friendly to the planet, an electric car has around 3,000 fewer parts than a petrol car. Just reeling off a few things, without doing any proper research, an electric car does not have any of these things: engine (probably around 1,500 parts or thereabouts right there), radiator, cooling fan with motor or fan belt, alternator, turbo or supercharger, oil filter or air filter, oil cooler, carburettor or fuel injectors, distributor, fuel pump, clutch, transmission, exhaust system.

That alone would be sufficient for me to buy an electric car, even if it weren't ecologically better than a petrol car. There is very little to go wrong with a car that doesn't have all these things. The things that are there last longer and are almost completely maintenance free, and the things that are not there cannot possible fail. Even brakes last way longer due to regenerative braking from the motors. The main wear items on an electric car are tyres and batteries (which have a limited number of charge cycles). There is almost nothing else that will need attention during the 10–15 year expected lifespan of the vehicle, other than windscreen wipers and the odd pollen filter for the aircon.

Yes, an electric car is comparatively expensive right now. But it is also hugely more reliable than a petrol car because there a so many fewer things to go wrong, especially as the car ages.

I'm planning to buy a Tesla Model 3 in the next few months. It's better for the planet, it's better for my wallet once I actually own the car, and it's the ethically and environmentally correct thing to do, in my opinion. To boot, I get performance that can only be bettered by supercars that cost north of $200,000. (I know that a Tesla isn't a performance car in the same way that a Lamborghini or Koenigsegg is. But that's beside the point: a Tesla costs only a fraction of those and, for anything a normal person will do on a normal road—not a racetrack—a Model 3 runs rings around all but the most extreme of cars.)

Oh yes, I can also do a 0–100 run in 3.5 seconds in the middle of the night without waking up everyone within 200 meters of me. In other words, I can be a hoon without actually being recognised as one

Right now, electric cars have moved from the lunatic fringe to the early adopter phase. Five years from now (at the latest), they will be early majority. Ten years from now, anyone with a petrol car will be moving from late majority into the laggard phase.

It's inevitable.

 

[da_mich*]

3 months ago i tried to buy a hybrid Volvo but it´s a joke! It´s a 2t kombie with tiny luggage space. The luggage space of a VW Lupo is bigger.

 

[Luftmensch]

There is very little to go wrong with a car that doesn't have all these things. The things that are there last longer and are almost completely maintenance free, and the things are not there cannot possible fail.

1000% percent. Woe betide your friendly mechanic who is not considering this future!

I am very pleased this thread has not conflated autonomous driving with electric vehicles. I am all for electric cars yesterday! But am super-conservative about autonomous cars tomorrow.... It is good to separate the two. Tesla blurred the lines a little. Speaking of things that can fail - high level software is one of them.

I have little doubt that there is a pretty solid separation between basic control systems and higher autonomy or gimmicks in Tesla vehicles. It is unlikely superficial changes to the vehicle software will impact basic control but this is a new frontier that regulators are not necessarily being bearish enough about. That said, they have been pretty aggressive in getting 'autopilot' out there and changing the dashboard interface. Pushing over the air updates can be brilliant in the best case and lethal in the worst. I am not so sure I want an automotive company pushing Easter eggs and entertainment into their cars on an evolving basis....

I'm planning to buy a Tesla Model 3

Good for you! Perhaps you'll let us know how it goes. I'm willing to be you'll have a blast!

Oh yes, I can also do a 0–100 run in 3.5 seconds in the middle of the night without waking up everyone within 200 meters of me. In other words, I can be a hoon without actually being recognised as one

Michi! I never took you for the summernats type

 

[Oui Chef]

.. Tesla... dont get me started. It bothers me that Musk is lionised - I view him as a bit of a Charlatan.

Gotta ask how you find him to be a charlatan
(Sorry for off topic)

 

[WildBoar]

That alone would be sufficient for me to buy an electric car, even if it weren't ecologically better than a petrol car. There is very little to go wrong with a car that doesn't have all these things. The things that are there last longer and are almost completely maintenance free, and the things are not there cannot possible fail. Even brakes last way longer due to regenerative braking from the motors. The main wear items on an electric car are tyres and batteries (which have a limited number of charge cycles).

I'm the opposite. Mechanical things wear out and can be fixed/ replaced. When electronics crap out they can rarely be trouble-shot in an economical manner. The less electronics the better for me. One dang 5 cent surface-mounted part on a control board goes bad, and they tell you you need to replace the $1,500 board. A capacitor in a control unit goes bad? Easy fix for any electronics technician, but car repair shops will not screw around with that and will only sell you/ install new/ reconditioned modules. Want to get that car with a bad control board back on the rod when it is 20 years old? Sorry, that board is no longer made; throw the car out and buy a new one. The worst thing is lower quality parts are being spit out in some parts of the world, assuring that in the future the electronics in the car will likely have more problems, not less. More people will be at the mercy of dealerships, and have less opportunity to keep their cars in good shape by working on them themselves. Maybe not much of an issue with young urbanites who do not really want cars anyway, but people who live out in rural areas with no dealerships, etc. for hundreds of miles will have a rough time if the local Cooter's Garage cannot deal with all of the electronics.

 

[Michi]

I'm the opposite. Mechanical things wear out and can be fixed/ replaced. When electronics crap out they can rarely be trouble-shot in an economical manner.

I hear you on this. I'm pissed off by that, too.

When I'm not cooking, I'm a competitive pinball player. Pinball machines are expensive, have lots of parts, and break down often. When they do, I have to take a screwdriver, soldering iron, or whatever, and fix them. Up until a few years ago, that was easy. Because everything was discrete components, and I didn't need a hot air soldering station to deal with surface-mount components.

Now, it's not just surface-mount, it's that a modern pinball machine has the playfield populated with node boards that have their own CPU, run ethernet through the machine back to the main CPU, and also have (surface mounted) LEDs on them. When one of those LEDs fails, I get to replace the entire node board. At $200 a pop. In order to make a light work that is driven by a 5 cent LED.

Yet, this is the exact same thing that cars have been doing for decades. Once upon a time, I could buy the cover glass for the left rear break light and the left rear indicator separately—for a few dollars. Today, break light, driving light, and indicator are all part of one integrated unit, including the assembly that holds the the whole shebang together, and I can't fix anything, except replace the entire thing. For around $500.

Why did people decide to do this? Simple: because it's better and because it is cheaper. Not just for the manufacturer, but also for the consumer. The cost of a car today in real terms (both purchase price and cost of maintenance) is a small fraction of what it was thirty years ago. All the waste and the inability to fix things irk me, too. But, objectively, that's better than me going back to my Fiat 127 from 1975, where I could fix absolutely everything with a handful of tools.

And I did fix absolutely everything on that Fiat. Usually once every month or two. Because that's how often something in that car stopped working. We complain about the complexity of modern cars, while conveniently forgetting how much better and how much more reliable they are.

The car I drive today (VW Golf R32) is around ten years old and has had a breakdown exactly once in all that time. That breakdown was caused by a mechanic incorrectly installing a drive belt during a routine service. In other words, my car never has had a real breakdown in more than ten years.

As for the autonomous driving thing, as a software engineer, I am extremely certain that I won't be using that. Not in my life time. I'm not going to be a beta tester for Tesla, informing them that they have a bug by potentially being dead.

Besides, even if I shell out $8,000 for the future upcoming autonomous driving update, I may never be allowed to use it. Because the whole notion of autonomous driving is a legal minefield, and there is no guarantee that, by the time Tesla decide to deliver the update, my government will even allow me to use it.

 

[Luftmensch]

Gotta ask how you find him to be a charlatan
(Sorry for off topic)

Oh man... I can't not bite - not because I shouldnt be baited... but because I raised it and you asked: fair game.

Let me preface this with the following observation. I love that he is pushing green technology into the consumer market. I love that he is helping to commercialise space (and hate it at the same time). He has done VERY well bootstrapping his wealth from one company/idea to another. And that takes skill. Either way you cut it he must be business savvy and imaginative.

What sort of made me throw in the towel was raking through morsels on Netflix. Im pretty sure it was two sci-fi programs. Both set in the future where they referenced Musk in the same breath as the likes of Edison.

<rant>

He has not changed physics or made any personally made any technological leaps. He is a super wealthy guy who has channelled his wealth into pet projects. These projects are supported by massive armies of engineers (I guess in this regard he is like Steve Jobs). Wealth does not buy you intelligence. Has he actually done anything fundamental enough to be regarded as a great innovator of our time? Personally; I just don't believe he is as smart as people fluff him up to be... imaginative; maybe - but that is easier when you are worth >$20B and can surround yourself with the smartest minds.

Did he create PayPal? No... he co-founded a company that merged with another to eventually form PayPal Did he create Tesla? No... he joined on the board of directors as an investor and eventually assumed leadership (CEO). I don't know if he propagates these ideas but he is certainly happy to let the zeitgeist run away with them. Did he create SpaceX? Yes... this is a project he started from the ground up. Props to him!

Literal meaning of the word charlatan? At Tesla they have always been one year off mass production despite massive delays (Model X & Model 3). I believe these statements were made as known falsehoods - either that or top level management thought they could flog their staff into unreasonable deadlines. Choose your preferred poison. The whole "funding secured" tweet?

Running a car company like a tech business? Seriously? Reserving/pre-ordering a car from the new kid on the block? How about you give me $100 interest free for un-unknown period for un-known results... Or how about I actually just sell you a functional car now? People would scorn GM for doing this.

Taken as a whole, this guy is brilliant at manipulating public sentiment to bump up share price or corporate optics.

Grey areas in pushing technology 'out there'? Tesla deliberately blurred the lines between autonomous driving and lane following++. Why is it that all the other major car companies and massive technology companies are 'behind'? Are they? Or are they more conservative and just dont want to end up on the front page for killing or maiming people? Again with the tech business... Your phone might update every month... do you want your car to do this? No actually? Think about it. How do you know that cute little dance your car now does wont cause your brakes to fail at highway speeds (ok... highly unlikely but the level of 'testing' is extremely opaque to the consumer). Minimally... how do you feel about your car 'dashboard' changing every 12 months because it is now 'better'.

And on just being a ****** human. When you have an ego the size of tha galactic core why not use a situation on the brink of tragedy as a PR stunt. Imagine all your 'brilliance' and wealth being reduced as a "surplus to requirements". If some "nobody" actually provides a real skill and informed opinion... slag them off as a "pedo". Then double down... of course!

Finally... the whole AI existential threat thing? Yes. The impact of AI on humanity has the potential to be profound. We should be as forward looking as possible. Existential threat? I may as well write a scifi series that taps into the end of days prophecy meme. General intelligence is so far off it is like worrying about "overpopulation on Mars". There are some present existential threats - why not tackle them? How about you use your extraordinary wealth to de-carbonise our economy, maximise nuclear disarmament or minimise the spread of disease?

</rant>

But kitchen knives are cool (<- I mentioned this so the thread should be kosher. Right? Also I didnt mention politics or religion! Unless you think Musk is a God )

 

[Luftmensch]

When I'm not cooking, I'm a competitive pinball player. Pinball machines are expensive, have lots of parts, and break down often. When they do, I have to take a screwdriver, soldering iron, or whatever, and fix them. Up until a few years ago, that was easy. Because everything was discrete components, and I didn't need a hot air soldering station to deal with surface-mount components.

Now, it's not just surface-mount, it's that a modern pinball machine has the playfield populated with node boards that have their own CPU, run ethernet through the machine back to the main CPU, and also have (surface mounted) LEDs on them. When one of those LEDs fails, I get to replace the entire node board. At $200 a pop. In order to make a light work that is driven by a 5 cent LED.

You never cease to surprise. So cool!

And I did fix absolutely everything on that Fiat. Usually once every month or two. Because that's how often something in that car stopped working.

As for the autonomous driving thing, as a software engineer, I am extremely certain that I won't be using that. Not in my life time. I'm not going to be a beta tester for Tesla, informing them that they have a bug by potentially being dead.

Besides, even if I shell out $8,000 for the future upcoming autonomous driving update, I may never be allowed to use it. Because the whole notion of autonomous driving is a legal minefield, and there is no guarantee that, by the time Tesla decide to deliver the update, my government will even allow me to use it.

Smart.

It is a really sticky messy for the regulators... Certifying these things is not going to be easy. I just hope it doesnt go down the way Uber did business: force a position into the public sphere, regardless of the law, and pressure consumers and government to give it public license.

 

[Oui Chef]

Oh man... I can't not bite - not because I shouldnt be baited... but because I raised it and you asked: fair game.

Let me preface this with the following observation. I love that he is pushing green technology into the consumer market. I love that he is helping to commercialise space (and hate it at the same time). He has done VERY well bootstraping his wealth from one company/idea to another. And that takes skill. Either way you cut it he must be business savy and imaginative.

What sort of made me throw in the towel was raking through morsels on Netflix. Im pretty sure it was two sci-fi programs. Both set in the future where they referenced Musk in the same breath as the likes of Edison.

<rant>

He has not changed physics or made any personally made any technological leaps. He is a super wealthy guy who has channelled his wealth into pet projects. These projects are supported by massive armies of engineers (I guess in this regard he is like Steve Jobs). Wealth does not buy you intelligence. Has he actually done anything fundamental enough to be regarded as a great innovator of our time? Personall; I just don't believe he is as smart as people fluff him up to be... imaginative; maybe - but that is easier when you are worth >$20B and can surround yourself with the smartest minds.

Did he create PayPal? No... he co-founded a company that merged with another to eventually form PayPal Did he create Tesla? No... he joined on the board of directors as an investor and eventually assumed leadership (CEO). I don't know if he propagates these ideas but he is certainly happy to let the zeitgeist run away with them. Did he create SpaceX? Yes... this is a project he started from the ground up. Props to him!

Literal meaning of the word charlatan? At Tesla they have always been one year off mass production despite massive delays (Model X & Model 3). I belive these statements were made as known falsehoods - either that or top level management thought they could flog their staff into unreasonable deadlines. Choose your prefered poison. The whole "funding secured" tweet?

Running a car company like a tech business? Seriously? Reserving/pre-ordering a car from the new kid on the block? How about you give me $100 interest free for un-unknown period for un-known results... Or how about I actually just sell you a functional car now? People would scorn GM for doing this.

Taken as a whole, this guy is brilliant at manipulating public sentiment to bump up share price or corporate optics.

Grey areas in pushing technology 'out there'? Tesla deliberately blurred the lines between autonomous driving and lane following++. Why is it that all the other major car companies and massive technology companies are 'behind'? Are they? Or are they more concervative and just dont want to end up on the front page for killing or maiming people? Again with the tech business... Your phone might update every month... do you want your car to do this? No actually? Think about it. How do you know that cute little dance your car now does wont cause your brakes to fail at highway speeds (ok... highly unlikely but the level of 'testing' is extremely opaque to the consumer). Minimally... how do you feel about your car 'dashboard' changing every 12 months because it is now 'better'.

And on just being a ****** human. When you have an ego the size of tha galactic core why not use a situation on the brink of trajedy as a PR stunt. Imagine all your 'brilliance' and wealth being reduced as a "surplus to requirements". If some "nobody" actually provides a real skill and informed oppinion... slag them off as a "pedo". Then double down... of course!

Finally... the whole AI existential threat thing? Yes. The impact of AI on humanity has the potential to be profound. We should be as forward looking as possible. Existential threat? I may as well write a scifi series that taps into the end of days prophecy meme. General intelligence is so far off it is like worrying about "overpopulation on Mars". There are some present existential threats - why not tackle them? How about you use your extraordinary wealth to de-carbonise our economy, maximise nuclear disarmament or minimise the spread of disease?

</rant>

But kitchen knives are cool (<- I mentioned this so the thread should be kosher. Right? Also I didnt mention politics or religion! Unless you think Musk is a God )

Thanks for elaborating
I agree and disagree with bits and pieces
Back to knives