Liberals tend to be open minded but can't (or don't care to) do math.
Conservatives tend to be less open minded but they can do math.
Engineers tend to be open minded and they can do math.

That won't change in 100 years.

 

'Open minded' according to who?

I submit that the definition can and does change. So the definition must be explicitly stated before any comparison can be made.

The current definition of "Liberal" (in America anyway) is quite divergent from the 1918 definition.

In our current moment, a Liberal in the United States may not have the same political ideas and hierarchy of values as would a Liberal in say, Pakistan, France or Russia.

 

Well technically Conservatives like to maintain (conserve!) the status quo, so you could argue they're less open-minded, but it very much depends on the definitions!

Liberal gets thrown around a lot as an insult in some circles, which I think is unfortunate. Somehow the internet has caused us to be less understanding of each other. Arguments, or discussions, shouldn't really be about winning or losing, but about coming to a mutual understanding.

But that's wayyy easier said than done!

 

That is because people don’t listen to arguments to understand, they listen to counterargue and win.

What do you guys think the transportation would be like 100 years from now? Do you think airplanes will ever run on clean energy?

I think airplanes might be propelled by pulsed power, gathered from sun or wind energy then discharged at a time to propel the airplane forwards. The energy gained from sun by using solar panels can make small airplanes fly today, but they have to be very light and slow, and they need to have very large wings. Assuming every airport would have some sort of field from where a lot of solar energy would be conserved and by using that the airplane would take off. And as the airplane is flying it would generate energy from the wind passing by and it would be pulsed through to the engine (because continuously using the power wont be enough to propel the airplane). This might be one way the airplanes couple be green.

 

Perhaps battery tech will improve so that the weight can rival oil. However, I read that rising temperatures will make air travel harder and harder - more turbulence, more extreme weather etc. so maybe we'll all be travelling in Hyperloop tubes?

 

Hi @john12

I have been following Elon Musk for many years now and he is ahead of the game - arrogant and ignorant but well ahead of the game. The ability to be able to think outside of the box is priceless. I have a sneaking suspicion that EVs are but a stepping stone to the next generation of transport - whatever that may be.

We need to get smarter with our energy consumption.

 

Yeah, or we need fusion power that will remove a lot of these current issues. But it's always 'twenty years away'!

The next potential issue is all of these batteries that we're going to be using - billions in electronic devices and millions in cars. How are they going to be all manufactured, and - more importantly - disposed of in a clean and efficient manner?

 

Hyper loops would be perfect actually. However for transatlantic flights it would not be so feasible. Making tubes under water would be too large of a pressure and making a bridge that long isn’t possible right now. Only for land based travel its good. Also its not efficient at all if there are climbs more than 8 degrees. Tunneling through large mountains are also not an option for example from china to subasian countries. As temperature increases maybe engineers would come up with better vibration control for the aircrafts so that we can still be using airplanes. because they are the most practical and economical after all.

 

Yeah, and what happens when the hyperloop tunnel crosses a tectonic plate? I think for shorter distances (on a single continent) it's probably fine, but not worldwide.