The Unintended Consequences of Good People Trying to do the Right Thing

Most of us are very familiar with the popular quote, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." and we have all probably used that quote in a moralistic sense during political debates with our friends and relatives. But the problem has always been what exactly do you mean by the terms "evil" and "good men"? If you have been around for a while, you probably know that, surprisingly, the concepts of "evil" and "good men" vary greatly depending on whom you talk to. In fact, we cannot even come to an agreement on who first uttered the quote. Was it Edmund Burke, R. Murray Hyslop, Charles F. Aked or John Stuart Mill? Nobody really knows for sure.

I just finished watching the Senate Impeachment Trial and saw the United States Senate finally deliver its verdict. Being retired, I was able to watch the whole Impeachment process unfold in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. For me, it was a beautiful example of the unintended consequences of Good People trying to do the Right Thing. Now, I firmly believe that all of the participants were trying to do the Right Thing as they saw it. After 68 years, my observation is that all people always try to do the Right Thing as they see it. And if they cannot do the Right Thing, they then do the Necessary Thing to make the Right Thing ultimately happen. But that is the fundamental problem. At this point in life, I now only have confidence in Science and Mathematics. That is because all other forms of human thought seem to be fatally flawed by confirmation bias. All other forms of human thought are fatally flawed by the efforts of Good People trying to do the Right Thing, or the Necessary Thing, as they see it.

I am bringing up this issue because I think it directly bears on my last posting, Last Call for Carbon-Based Intelligence on Planet Earth. In that posting, I explained that the planet is dying and that everybody is pretending that it is not. The Right loves fossil fuels and is pretending that catastrophic Climate Change is simply not happening. The Left is pretending that wind and solar can solve the problem all on their own. And the Middle is concerned with other issues that they find more pressing.

My most favorite physicist of the 20th century, besides Albert Einstein, was Richard Feynman. Richard Feynman was an infamous character who is frequently quoted. My most favorite quote is, "The most important thing is to not fool yourself because you are the easiest one to fool.". Richard Feynman was also a member of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident that was headed by the former Secretary of State William Rogers. Richard Feynman was the person who uncovered the fact that the Challenger blew up because of a bad O-ring design that NASA Management knew about. The official Presidential Commission Report ended with Richard Feynman's Appendix F - Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle. The very last line of Appendix F is "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."

That is a very important observation to keep in mind when searching for a solution to Climate Change - "for nature cannot be fooled". Robert Stone is a long-time environmentalist deeply concerned about Climate Change, who like me, was originally anti-nuclear. In fact, Robert Stone actually made an anti-nuclear documentary many years ago. However, in 2013, Robert Stone, like Jim Hansen, had a change of heart when it comes to advanced nuclear energy like molten salt nuclear reactors and he made this documentary:

PANDORA'S PROMISE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObcgG9vjUbs

I was 12 years old when President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. I was walking to an English class when a friend coming from another class told me. I dearly loved President Kennedy at the time. Many years later, I learned that if President Kennedy had caved in during the Cuban Missile Crisis and had approved the Cuban invasion that all of his advisors wanted, that the Soviets had standing orders to launch their missiles at the United States! It seems that President Kennedy and his brother Robert were the only ones resisting an invasion. I was 17 when Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, and I loved Robert Kennedy at the time too. They were both Good People trying to do the Right Thing.

Below is a YouTube video of his son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. having a discussion with Robert Stone in front of an audience that had just watched Robert Stone's documentary PANDORA'S PROMISE. I think that it is an excellent example of two Good People trying to do the Right Thing.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Director of Pandora's Promise Spar Over Nuclear Power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaP9GuGK8r4

But don't forget, no matter how good your intentions may be, "nature cannot be fooled". The planet is dying and we have run out of time. The energy densities of wind and sunlight are very low and very intermittent and physics makes it very hard to store them for when they are not there. We need a technology that does not try to fool nature with good intentions.

Comments are welcome at scj333@sbcglobal.net

To see all posts on softwarephysics in reverse order go to:
https://softwarephysics.blogspot.com/

Regards,
Steve Johnston