Driverless car

[thedoc]

Here's a good question for you. You said you wouldn't ride in an automated car unless the computer was 100% safe.
Yet the vast majority of cars today don't have computers that drive you around. It's a reasonable assumption that you ride around in such human-driven cars and they do have accidents. It seems you're holding the computer to a much higher standard. Why?

PhilX

Incorrect, I did not require a computer driven car to be 100% safe just a reasonable degree safer than a human driver. So far they have not demonstrated that level of safety, apart from being human controlled vehicles.

[Philosophy Explorer]

Here's a good question for you. You said you wouldn't ride in an automated car unless the computer was 100% safe.
Yet the vast majority of cars today don't have computers that drive you around. It's a reasonable assumption that you ride around in such human-driven cars and they do have accidents. It seems you're holding the computer to a much higher standard. Why?

PhilX

Incorrect, I did not require a computer driven car to be 100% safe just a reasonable degree safer than a human driver. So far they have not demonstrated that level of safety, apart from being human controlled vehicles.

Okay. This leaves the hardest question. How much evidence is needed to convince that the computer is safer than the human driver? Manufacturer data? (which I wouldn't recommend) Government data? Consumer Reports? Any other ideas? And if the technology isn't suitable now, could it be suitable later?

What do you think?

PhilX

[Philosophy Explorer]

A smart car report:

https://www.fastcoexist.com/3065058/10- ... th-in-2017

It says next year it'll start going mainstream. Get ready.

PhilX

[Philosophy Explorer]

Another sign of the times (and if it's good for the US, it'll be good for the rest of the world such as Norway:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6028 ... on-enough/

PhilX

[thedoc]

Another sign of the times (and if it's good for the US, it'll be good for the rest of the world such as Norway:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6028 ... on-enough/

PhilX

That's all well and good, electric cars don't pollute, the range and performance is getting better, but how is the electricity produced to recharge them? How much less is it polluting if it is polluting less at all? So far hydro-electric is the only form that there are no pollution issues but some groups complain about damming rivers to produce it. People complain about visual pollution with wind and solar power, there is no free ride, someone complains about any idea you can come up with.

[Philosophy Explorer]

Another sign of the times (and if it's good for the US, it'll be good for the rest of the world such as Norway:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6028 ... on-enough/

PhilX

That's all well and good, electric cars don't pollute, the range and performance is getting better, but how is the electricity produced to recharge them? How much less is it polluting if it is polluting less at all? So far hydro-electric is the only form that there are no pollution issues but some groups complain about damming rivers to produce it. People complain about visual pollution with wind and solar power, there is no free ride, someone complains about any idea you can come up with.

Valid point which I've heard many times before doc. I can say in terms of electricity and solar power, technology is undergoing a revolution as we speak. I think I should start a separate thread on this with a focus on pollution and green energy and contribute articles to keep that thread up to date and there are plenty of articles that do comment.

PhilX

[thedoc]

Another sign of the times (and if it's good for the US, it'll be good for the rest of the world such as Norway:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6028 ... on-enough/

PhilX

That's all well and good, electric cars don't pollute, the range and performance is getting better, but how is the electricity produced to recharge them? How much less is it polluting if it is polluting less at all? So far hydro-electric is the only form that there are no pollution issues but some groups complain about damming rivers to produce it. People complain about visual pollution with wind and solar power, there is no free ride, someone complains about any idea you can come up with.

Valid point which I've heard many times before doc. I can say in terms of electricity and solar power, technology is undergoing a revolution as we speak. I think I should start a separate thread on this with a focus on pollution and green energy and contribute articles to keep that thread up to date and there are plenty of articles that do comment.

PhilX

Provide a green source of energy, and a green source of transportation and I would be all for it, as long as you don't also propose destroying that which has lead up to it. Too many times I have seen progressives destroying the technology that has preceded what they are proposing.

[Philosophy Explorer]

We're talking about trucks now, but will 30X faster than human response make it safe enough?:

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/11/nx ... e.html?m=1

PhilX

[thedoc]

Another sign of the times (and if it's good for the US, it'll be good for the rest of the world such as Norway:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6028 ... on-enough/

PhilX

That's all well and good, electric cars don't pollute, the range and performance is getting better, but how is the electricity produced to recharge them? How much less is it polluting if it is polluting less at all? So far hydro-electric is the only form that there are no pollution issues but some groups complain about damming rivers to produce it. People complain about visual pollution with wind and solar power, there is no free ride, someone complains about any idea you can come up with.

Valid point which I've heard many times before doc. I can say in terms of electricity and solar power, technology is undergoing a revolution as we speak. I think I should start a separate thread on this with a focus on pollution and green energy and contribute articles to keep that thread up to date and there are plenty of articles that do comment.

PhilX

My wife was getting persistent phone calls from a company trying to sell her solar power panels, but a representative of a direct TV service couldn't find a clear sight to a satellite that traveled in the same plane as the Sun. Solar power was not an option for us, and we couldn't afford to erect a tower tall enough to harvest wind power, we live in the woods so any tower would need to be at least 100 feet tall. We do have Geo-thermal heat and cooling that only uses electricity from whatever the questionable source.

[Philosophy Explorer]

That's all well and good, electric cars don't pollute, the range and performance is getting better, but how is the electricity produced to recharge them? How much less is it polluting if it is polluting less at all? So far hydro-electric is the only form that there are no pollution issues but some groups complain about damming rivers to produce it. People complain about visual pollution with wind and solar power, there is no free ride, someone complains about any idea you can come up with.

Valid point which I've heard many times before doc. I can say in terms of electricity and solar power, technology is undergoing a revolution as we speak. I think I should start a separate thread on this with a focus on pollution and green energy and contribute articles to keep that thread up to date and there are plenty of articles that do comment.

PhilX

My wife was getting persistent phone calls from a company trying to sell her solar power panels, but a representative of a direct TV service couldn't find a clear sight to a satellite that traveled in the same plane as the Sun. Solar power was not an option for us, and we couldn't afford to erect a tower tall enough to harvest wind power, we live in the woods so any tower would need to be at least 100 feet tall. We do have Geo-thermal heat and cooling that only uses electricity from whatever the questionable source.

There are many projects going on with solar and I recommend to devote your time to finding something suitable. Over twenty years ago my electric bill shot up from about $50/mo. during fall to $250/mo. during winter when I used the boiler. When I got an electric heater, my bill got reduced to $50/mo. which paid for itself in one month.

Again, there are many things going on in technology which you need to explore further in connection with your situation. I'll give you another personal example. I use a digital converter plus an indoor rabbit ears to get my TV picture. Sometimes though the picture would go to snow and would remain that way with certain channels. It took me a few months to figure out that the position of my smartphone relative to the rabbit ears was what was causing the problem. Now I get consistent, beautiful picture (except for the occasional broadcast problem which is a different story).

I've learned from experience that when you give up, often you're close to a solution.

PhilX

[Philosophy Explorer]

Maybe flexible solar tiles are a solution:

http://newatlas.com/flexible-solar-tile ... ght/46321/

PhilX

[attofishpi]

We are miles away from the point where full autonomy should be handed over to the idiot box.

[Philosophy Explorer]

We are miles away from the point where full autonomy should be handed over to the idiot box.

And what makes you such an expert?

PhilX

[Philosophy Explorer]

Since doc brought it up, I'm posting this article about solar panels that came out today:

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-11-semicond ... rials.html

Note, e.g., this article doesn't specify if the solar panels are for commercial or residential purposes. I'm sure doc is encountering difficulties that others aren't facing, but that doesn't mean a solution can't be found.

More in general, with technology, many projects are being conducted. With driverless cars, this field is rapidly advancing to the point where it's going mainstream in Cleveland, Ohio next year, Uber is using driverless technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and driverless buses are popping up in different parts of the world. So much for the "miles away" that our so-called expert saw fit to announce.

PhilX

[Philosophy Explorer]

Read what this report has to say (under transportation):

http://www.inc.com/yoav-vilner/from-ema ... tries.html

PhilX