The World's Most Elite Libertarian Scientist on Global Warming...

Submitted by ka1igu1a on Fri, 2007-05-18 03:44.

Sorry for the bombastic title. But I'm not sure any of you have heard of David Deutsch, so "David Deutsch on Global Warming" doesn't have the same bite as say, "Stephen Hawking on Global Warming."

Deutsch is the intellectual father of quantum computation, the viability of such likely validating his Multiverse, Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics--a paradigm to be the most radical since the overthrow of classical physcis with relativity and quantum mechanics at the turn of the 20th century. And he is a libertarian--probably, no doubt, the only one at Oxford.

Deutsche believes in "liberty as an essential human value, the abolition of victimless crimes, favors entrepreneurship and takes the view that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing at a profit."

Deutsche rejects carbon taxes, regulations, centralized control of output, arguing, that, firstly, it is too late for carbon dioxide emissions controls to work, anyways, and secondly, mankind is better off focusing on ways to adapt to a constantly changing environment, rather than spending huge sums on attempting to prevent that change.

Here's the video of his talk

that's a good point

#3808 On Fri, 2007 05 18 07:39 adam ricketson said,

I've been thinking of writing up a summary of how we could deal with climate change. I see three strategies:

  1. Attack the actions causing change
  2. Buffer the change on a global level (i.e. Geo-engineering, such as putting sulfer dioxide in the upper atmosphere)
  3. Deal with the symtoms directly. 

not James Watson?

#3809 On Fri, 2007 05 18 07:41 adam ricketson said,

I thought you were referring to James Watson.

Ah, I thought he was dead...

#3811 On Fri, 2007 05 18 22:13 ka1igu1a said,

nm

as I have said before...

#3814 On Sat, 2007 05 19 12:36 BillG said,

we already have a "carbon tax" it is just called another name - negative externalities.

the problem is the wrong people are benefiting from using our sky as a carbon sink and the wrong people are paying the "carbon tax".