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446 comments on DrumBeat: August 28, 2006

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Dave Cohen on August 28, 2006 - 9:57am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Re: if we do want to appeal more to the mainstream, some technical writers, marketing types, or others used to translating difficult ideas for the masses might be useful...

Add to that journalists, which I see as my proper role. IMO, it's terribly important to communicate well to the mainstream. As for remaining a "geek" resource, I kind of disagree. I prefer a good mix -- both the graphs and the more easily accessible stuff that does an accurate translation.

Now, if we could only get everybody on board in understanding what an exponential function is and the implications of that... Al Bartlett does a great job there.

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Prof. Goose on August 28, 2006 - 12:35pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I agree on the mix, but I think our approach means a lot of self-selection into the TOD community.  There's very few people who have the ability to A) consume and produce research, B) see the forest AND the trees.  We lovingly call those people "geeks."

Finding "geeks" who can actually communicate and use A and B in their communication.  Well, there you have it.  That's TOD.

People will come here for the ideas and the research, but they might go elsewhere to spread that knowledge.  I am ok with that.  We can't do everything, but we can continue to do things that matter well.

That's why I haven't been averse to going down the ethanol path for a while.  It's an important and related debate.  There will be many other debates that come and go inside this much larger one.  

I guess my point is this: we need all types here, but most of all we need people who give a crap and can understand the scope of the problem, which is a really difficult thing to do.

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roel on August 28, 2006 - 2:24pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
What I haven't seen in the what is it good for thread is that TOD surely is a source that educates people. I 'm not sure how much of a scientist one needs to be to grasp certain things, and I don't believe that is the essence. People come here to find answers to problems. And there is no guarantee that they will more easily be found with a degree or experience in a field. You will have to remain open to the possibility that it is technology thet IS the problem, and not the solution. Which is sometimes hard to accept for those whop work in tech fields. Still, as Einstein said, you don't solve a problem with the same way of thinking that caused it. Energy may well be predisely what he meant.
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446 comments on DrumBeat: August 28, 2006

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