>From Jed:
... > Let us be honest and admit frankly that if cold fusion > succeeds, it will lead to creative destruction on a far > larger scale. It will destroy the entire alternative energy > sector -- solar and wind. Following that, it will destroy > the conventional energy sector: oil, coal and nuclear. This > will make trillions of dollars of infrastructure and > investments useless, practically overnight. This will put > millions of people out of work. That's what I am hoping for. > That's the best outcome. That is the down-side to cold > fusion. It is dreadful, but the up-side has more benefits > than the down-side has problems. We have to be cold and > calculating. We also have to take steps to alleviate the > human misery this will cause, as best we can. It is like > deciding to invade Normandy in 1944, knowing full well that > thousands will die and it will cause heartbreak that never > heals. Cold fusion, whatever the phenomenon will eventually be called, would appear to be a technologically disruptive event of enormous proportions. It would be a major event for the future of human civilization. I believe this has been a premise you have been predicting and have written about for quite a long time. Based on your desire to read a lot of fascinating history pertaining to the follies mankind has been responsible for instigating against Nature and against its own best self-interests, I'm sure you have done a lot of thinking and research on the matter of how disruptive Cold Fusion could possibly be. Nevertheless, I'm going to disagree just a tad here and suggest Cold Fusion may not be as disruptive as you fear. We may be able to string it out just a tad. Yes, I most certainly agree that the technology will be disruptive - how could it not! ... However, based on how slow Rossi, DGT, and other unnamed competitors seem to be. trying to get their own dog-and-pony show on the road, I'm left with the suspicion that CF technology at present continues to be wrought with so complexity and ignorance that it's going to take a lot more time than most within the Collective would think is an appropriate amount of time. I predict some on this list, particularly enthusiastic newcomers, are going to simply lose patience and give up, claiming it's all just a bunch of hogwash. Granted I could be wrong. I've often been wrong in the past. However, based on how slow Rossi & co, DGT, and others seem to be puttering along, just trying to get out of the starting gate... I remain hopeful that progress is being made. I want to be clear on that point. But we must learn patience. It's possible the shift towards a CF based energy technology may not end up happening that fast and/or disruptively. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
