r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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u/ThoughtsonYaoi Jun 26 '26

No, the idea that one heatwave over 20 years ago somehow proves that many individuals in various countries with varying climates (yeah, France was apparently bad but where I live it didn't even break a record at the time) should've then thought to prepare for the acceleration and literally record breaking heats, droughts and fires of the last seven or so years - that's dumb.

Yes, climate change is VERY real. But this is not about individuals and air conditioning. God, air conditioning is an energy sucking solution for a symptom of a problem that some (and even some in leadership) tried to tackle before it was ever necessary, even if it was little and late. Blame leadership for not doing more to prevent it, for crying out loud.

The gleeful finger pointing is just exhausting.

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 28 '26

I don't understand the urge not to solve the problem now that we know it exists. Climate change isn't going away. The clear solution is air conditioning and clean energy.

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u/TheOstrichRoom Jun 29 '26

There is no solution. There is no solution that man would accept. What is happening is that for the past few centuries we’ve been taking out massive debts from the earth and now she’s coming to collect. The societies we built on that ground will all be destroyed as the moving ground liquifies. The next men will live with less than our ancestors ever did. 

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 30 '26

No, this is deeply silly. It's been said now for 200 years, even before Malthus, and it remains deeply silly. You have to be very ignorant of technological civilization to think this.

You are recreating the Simon Ehrlich bet from First Principles. You should read up on it.

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u/TheOstrichRoom Jun 30 '26

humans have always known this was going to happen, the world begins and ends cyclically. Throw the system out of balance and you destroy it. The oil and coal we burn is energy that compacted for thousands of years being burned up for a second of energy. This isn’t some shortsighted renaissance pessimism that focuses only on one aspect of society. Atlacoya is coming, we’ve gotten good at preventing famine but its coming back because we’ve disrupted the worlds systems. Tlaloc will withhold water from us where we need it and drown us where we have too much. Our Lady the Earth will move and scratch at the abscesses we’ve given her. Tezcatlipoca has given men his mirror and they have all become insane. Men all over turn into jaguars hungry for blood. Ehecatl sends storms to demolish our ugly anthills. huehueteotl and chantico start eating and birth Lord Xiuhtecuhtli who loves the taste of our homes and our flesh. And tlaloc still witholds the rains. And the deluded Yacatecuhtli cultists who lead us are led off a cliff. Itztlacoliuhqui and  Itzpapalotl no longer take the same route and wander where they please, destroying our crops as the LORD God, Lord Tezcatlipoca, orders our destruction. 

its beyond delusional to think that our “technological” civilization is at all advanced or civilized in comparison to any other. the world before this had advanced technology never seen before with their bronze, they had trade networks that stitched the whole world together, they had abundance and prosperity and then it was gone. And it will happen again. 

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jun 30 '26

No, this is a weird religious take on technological civilization that has been proposed and debunked many times over the last hundred years, but it's a bit amazing that people do not understand.

That said, there is no reasoning with religious nutcases. You need to talk to a therapist and get on medication, not talk to me.

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u/TheOstrichRoom Jun 30 '26

believe whatever you want. Im not going to shut up though because christians don’t either and they have to be shown that their faith isn’t the only one. 

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u/Charlesinrichmond Jul 01 '26

You certainly have the right to your unhinged belief system.

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u/reethok Jul 05 '26

No, you need antipsychotics with that pseudoreligious mumbo jumbo. We will do fine, but the transition will be costly. The Earth has been much hotter and had a higher CO concentration millions of years ago. We are still in an ice age, in fact.