Let's learn and grow. New things are cool!Links 'n' stuff down below. Lots of links.First, the "clean version." Please pass that around.https://youtu.be/Zgxb...
Amazing video by Technology Connections. It’s a long one, but don’t miss his 30 minute angry rant at the end.
First hour: Developing a detailed intuition for exactly how solar and wind energy work and what makes them so much better than oil (without mentioning climate change or pollution)
Last 30 min: Establishing a baseline moral framework that everyone can get behind, and explaining that under this framework a revolution against the Trump regime would be entirely justified but at a minimum we absolutely must vote against Republicans in the 2026 and 2028 elections.
As someone in the comments put it: he explains solar and then goes nuclear.
Damn, I love his stuff anyway, but this time I’m looking forward to watching it just to see how he incorporates a call for revolution against his government into a video about solar panels, haha
I think all the information is pretty well-known in this community, but here’s a summary:
Renewables (specifically solar + batteries) are an inevitable future of energy production due to technological advancements and economies of scale improvements; you should not oppose them but welcome them
We are at a tipping point where solar + batteries is now the cheapest energy source available
Land use for solar farms is not a big issue, they are much more energy efficient per unit area than the ethanol corn that currently plagues the US
Replacing all ethanol corn fields with solar farms would make almost twice as much energy as the US grid is currently producing
Renewables are better than fossil fuels because they do not require continuous extraction; when a solar panel or battery has been “used up” and is degraded, it can be recycled, whereas fossil fuels can only be burned once after extraction
The end goal is an almost-closed-loop system for all energy production, similar to what we have with lead-acid batteries already
Recycling solar panels is relatively easy because they are mostly glass and aluminum, which we know how to recycle well, and we could probably figure out silicon too
Recycling batteries is a harder problem but possible too if we put some effort in; currently the recycling capacity is lacking because there’s not enough batteries being recycled, since most of them are still working fine in EVs sold since the start of EV boom
Worst-case, we can literally just grind up batteries into battery mush and refine it, same as we do with ores from which the raw materials come in the first place, but likely something better is possible
Alec describes his personal politics, how he values labor and working-class people, and how he thinks immigrants are hard-working people who need to be welcomed and cared for
Trump and Republicans as a whole are fascists and lie constantly, which needs to be called out and stopped
ICE must be abolished and its thugs tried for their crimes
Democrats are not doing enough, and in fact are pretty bad on some points, but it’s still better to vote for them
People need to organize with their neighbors, care for each other first and foremost, and defend themselves against the government
Alec’s personal views are a relief, I think it’s a shame he didn’t go deeper into them before (IIRC he had a video where he called out right-wing misinfo but stopped short of any direct calls for action). I suppose the contrast between his usual “tech presenter/science explainer” and this clearly righteous political call for action might get through to some people better.
Hell his YouTube is quite political if you understand the little p politics he expresses. When he talked about elevators and captioning he’s been vocally in support of resources going to making the world more accessible to disabled people (and he puts his money where his mouth is, hand captioning all of his own videos). He’s mostly been vocal about the need for doing something about climate change. Then there’s also the video about algorithms that clearly originates from him being pissed about people wanting to invade Canada.
I’m not enough of a fan to look up other social media, I just occasionally watch some of his videos on topics that are interesting to me. But that’s great to hear!
Not directly, but a key point of his thesis is that solar by itself (with batteries) can provide 85% more power than we currently use by only using the land that currently grows corn for biofuel on. He mentions wind as well.
Nuclear has its own lies spread about it that are completely independent of what renewables get and it has its own caveats, so, it does kind of make sense to not really bring it up since that could warrant its own video. Illinois has nuclear power, so, I can’t imagine it was an accidental oversight.
Hahahahaha, funny interwebs person being a sarcastic edge! Such fresh comedic material, I’ve never encountered before
Or maybe for some things, you just shouldn’t… you’re only hurting yourself in the end
There’s a time and place for things, and garnering the wisdom to find the subtleties of that is something you should probably work on
Or continue forth being destructive for the lols and self-gratification, you’re hilarious — truly. Enjoy the dopamine hit while it lasts!
Big edit: sorry @fuckwit_mcbumcrumble … I got whooshed hard. I now see that yes, the tldw is indeed “They’re lying”. I feel a little dumb now, as I thought you meant the youtuber was lying; not that you had (super) summarized the subject. Very concise tldw, technically lol
Guess the video triggered me into also being tired of people lying, and thought you were being disinformative. My bad friend
Anyone willing to share a tl;dw?
First hour: Developing a detailed intuition for exactly how solar and wind energy work and what makes them so much better than oil (without mentioning climate change or pollution)
Last 30 min: Establishing a baseline moral framework that everyone can get behind, and explaining that under this framework a revolution against the Trump regime would be entirely justified but at a minimum we absolutely must vote against Republicans in the 2026 and 2028 elections.
As someone in the comments put it: he explains solar and then goes nuclear.
The “not mentioning climate change” is key. He hit people where it hurts for everyone (Democrats and Republicans) - not spending money.
Damn, I love his stuff anyway, but this time I’m looking forward to watching it just to see how he incorporates a call for revolution against his government into a video about solar panels, haha
Its a very reasonable angry pivot that become even more reasonably angry.
I think all the information is pretty well-known in this community, but here’s a summary:
Alec’s personal views are a relief, I think it’s a shame he didn’t go deeper into them before (IIRC he had a video where he called out right-wing misinfo but stopped short of any direct calls for action). I suppose the contrast between his usual “tech presenter/science explainer” and this clearly righteous political call for action might get through to some people better.
His social media is very political, he’s on bluesky.
Hell his YouTube is quite political if you understand the little p politics he expresses. When he talked about elevators and captioning he’s been vocally in support of resources going to making the world more accessible to disabled people (and he puts his money where his mouth is, hand captioning all of his own videos). He’s mostly been vocal about the need for doing something about climate change. Then there’s also the video about algorithms that clearly originates from him being pissed about people wanting to invade Canada.
I’m not enough of a fan to look up other social media, I just occasionally watch some of his videos on topics that are interesting to me. But that’s great to hear!
Any mention of nuclear energy and the difference of land and resources required in comparison?
Not directly, but a key point of his thesis is that solar by itself (with batteries) can provide 85% more power than we currently use by only using the land that currently grows corn for biofuel on. He mentions wind as well.
Nuclear has its own lies spread about it that are completely independent of what renewables get and it has its own caveats, so, it does kind of make sense to not really bring it up since that could warrant its own video. Illinois has nuclear power, so, I can’t imagine it was an accidental oversight.
I don’t think so, but then again it’s a long and dense video and I might have missed something
They’re lying.
Who’s lying, and about what?
Gotta watch the video to find out.
Thanks for the detailed and thorough response
What, exactly, did we expect from someone named “fuckwit_mcbumcrumble”…? lol
Well, a little more bum crumble, if I’m being honest
You’re welcome!
Hahahahaha, funny interwebs person being a sarcastic edge! Such fresh comedic material, I’ve never encountered before
Or maybe for some things, you just shouldn’t… you’re only hurting yourself in the end
There’s a time and place for things, and garnering the wisdom to find the subtleties of that is something you should probably work on
Or continue forth being destructive for the lols and self-gratification, you’re hilarious — truly. Enjoy the dopamine hit while it lasts!
Big edit: sorry @fuckwit_mcbumcrumble … I got whooshed hard. I now see that yes, the tldw is indeed “They’re lying”. I feel a little dumb now, as I thought you meant the youtuber was lying; not that you had (super) summarized the subject. Very concise tldw, technically lol
Guess the video triggered me into also being tired of people lying, and thought you were being disinformative. My bad friend