> From: Jed Rothwell ...
> Oh come now. You mean they would be phallic symbols, > like the Washington Monument. Believe me, that > represents the same psychic archetype to people > in every society. It is unmistakable. Jed, Do not put words in my mouth. It is you and you alone who has suggested they might represent "phallic symbols". Where is your mind these days? Towers represent a lot more than just "phallic symbols" and you know that. Nuf said on that subject. FWIW: I'm NOT arguing we SHOULD build a thousand solar towers, even though I've obviously taken the side that maybe they might not be such a bad thing considering what the alternatives might be. I'm arguing what the POLITICAL and CULTURAL ramifications might be if we were to pursue this kind of a project on the same scale we pursued the Apollo project. > > If these structures were built by the thousands > > they would obviously become some of the most > > pervasive monuments ever built in the 21st > > century - monuments of what our technology is > > capable of erecting. > > Great. Just like our interstate highway system is > the great monument to the 20th century. It has only cost > as much as a good-sized war and killed a few million people. > Of course a lot of people do think highways are beautiful, > because they have never seen anything else and they have > no idea what beauty is. For that matter, people think > television is amusing and fast food tastes good. > > And highways work so well too. So efficient. This morning, > for example, in Atlanta a single accident caused 11 mile > backup from 7:30 to 10:00, inconveniencing maybe a few > hundred thousand people at most. What other transportation > system could accomplish that nearly every morning? > > I think the world has seen quite enough of this kind of > large-scale environmental havoc, and grand-scale monumental > architectural fetishes. As I wrote in the book (Chapter 21), > I hope that the guiding principle of 21st century technology > will be: > > "If anyone hears a machine, it is too loud. If anyone is > bothered by one, it is too intrusive." > > - Jed Sometimes, Jed, you strike me as a Luddite disguised in sheep clothing. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
