Slashdot Mirror
Americans Are Saving Energy Because Fewer People Go Outside (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Americans are saving energy because they don't go outside as much anymore, researchers say. It's a plus for the environment, though in another light (no pun intended), it's just sad. In 2012, Americans spent an extra eight days at home compared to 2003, according to the American Time Use Surveys. Being at home means using more energy by keeping the lights on and watching TV. But it also means less travel, and it means that fewer people are outside operating offices and stores. So overall in 2012, we saved 1,700 trillion British thermal units (BTU) of heat, or 1.8 percent of the national total, according to an analysis published today in the journal Joule. That's about how much energy Kentucky produced in all of 2015. Specifically in 2012, Americans spent one day less traveling and one week less in buildings other than their homes when compared to a decade earlier. The trend of staying indoors is especially strong for those ages 18 to 24: the youths spent 70 percent more time at home than the general population. At the other end of the age spectrum, those 65 and older were the only group that spent more time outside the home compared to 2003. Next, the researchers want to look at energy consumption changes in other countries as a result of lifestyle changes.
Utter nonsense. Get a cheap bicycle and rid down to a local park. Drop by some basketball courts and meet some new people and get some exercise. Go down to the city library and find some interesting books to read. Go to some wacky community event involving art or music. There's all manner of things that can be done for free and even more on top of that which can be done for $10 or less if you're willing to look around a bit.
I think the real truth is that the 18-24 crowd is too absorbed in Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to want to get outside. If John Calhoun were still alive he'd be yelling about behavioral sink right about now.
Being at home means using more energy by keeping the lights on and watching TV. But it also means less travel, and it means that fewer people are outside operating offices and stores.
The logic here appears flawed. Fewer people aren't "outside operating offices and stores?" What does that mean? Offices and stores don't shut down because fewer people are in them. There aren't fewer office buildings or stores, and they don't use less power on HVAC and lights because someone isn't there.
Correlation does not imply causation.
A lot of older people have this strange notion that only things you do in "real life" matters, that if you had the most fun experience in virtual reality, it isn't as good. But the fact is, there's no such thing as a fake experience. Every experience you had is real, otherwise you wouldn't remember them.
For many people, having fun in beating a boss in WoW is a much better experience than hunting down a bear in real life. So if you could have a better experience on your computer, why would you try to do it in real life? It costs much less, there's no animal protection laws to worry about, a lot less of sitting around waiting for the bear to show up, absolutely no risk of being mauled, and if you want to go with a group, you don't need a bunch of well-off friends with a lot of time to spare.
Virtual reality is the future. Soon it will surpass real life in every aspect. When that day comes, you can fully expect nobody to be outside anymore except to do work that needs to be done outside.
This sort of argument always assumes that there's only ever 'the government' and the individual.
What of society, or on a smaller scale, community?
They are the ones who will suffer when their members can no longer afford to pay for locally produced goods, and have to purchase from cheaper retailers who import from places with lower standards of living and lower costs. They suffer when people can no longer afford to live in the area and move away. Property prices fall, the neighbourhood changes.
Crime correlates pretty strongly with income disparity. When there's too much difference between the haves and have-nots, crime is higher.
Higher crime costs society directly in terms of increased need for police, judicial systems, penitentiaries etc. and in less obvious ways by having a portion of your population absent form gainful work, raising and supporting families etc.
Communities do better when there are social programs to support those those who aren't as successful as you; aren't as lucky as you; aren't as well supported by friends and family as you.
You pay either way. More police or more social programs.
If your government is not able to do this effectively, maybe it should be handled at the community level.
The contents of the dream were not real, but the dream itself? The experience you had? That's real. The feelings and thoughts you had weren't imaginary. If you ran away from velociraptors in the dream, you really were running away in fear. If you were marrying the love of your life in the dream, you really were happy. Likewise, if you had fun playing an MMORPG, the fun was real.
I'm just hearing excuses from you. Can't you at least take your kindle preloaded with some e-books outside? It wouldn't be much different than taking a book with you to the local park.
Who cares if the people there don't want to talk to you. Unless they're committing a crime leave them be and they'll leave you be to enjoy the weather.
Maybe just go on a run around the park. I know this isn't applicable to everyone, but having a dog is a good reason to go outside and not become completely obsessed with some stupid social media drama. Just go outside and breath the air.
I worry about humanity's future if this keeps up.
Nah. It's caused >35 years of non-stop alarmist propaganda about "stranger danger".
Crime correlates pretty strongly with income disparity.
Counterpoint: Venezuela. Their attempt at social policy has caused a massive crimewave.
Venezuela has massive wealth disparity. Your rebuttal is grounded in a confusion of propaganda over reality.
The same nature of which pervades human behavior. People lie.
As you say though not everyone will benefit from the dog. If you are not going to take your pet for walks daily and give them attention, please do not adopt one. They are not a game that you can pause for a week and then turn them back on.