The fourth lecture will be on Thursday, May 8 in room 102, Lou Henry Hoover Building. Thomas Gale Moore of the Hoover Institution. Title: Why Global Warming might be Good for You Abstract: Contrary to the doom and gloom scenarios that environmentalists propound, both evidence and theory suggest that global warming would in general be beneficial for mankind. Simple logic indicates that most of modern man's activities would be unaffected by warming of 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Agriculture and some services might actually benefit. Moreover, past history shows two periods that were significantly warmer than today and during both eras mankind flourished. The first epoch, which has been dubbed by climatologists "The Climatic Optimum," brought temperatures which were as warm as the median prediction for the next century. During this period, Homo Sapiens shifted from surviving in small tribes through hunting and gathering to settled farming communities and from the stone age to the bronze age. During the second warming, "The Little Climate Optimum," Europe enjoyed the High Middle Ages and went on one of the largest building sprees ever recorded.
The first seminar was on 1996 October 17 the Hewlett-Packard Auditorium in the William Gates Building on the Stanford University Campus. The speaker was Julian Simon of the University of Maryland.
For the time being (1996 October and November) inquiries about the seminar should go to John McCarthy (jmc@cs.stanford.edu,) or to Tom Moore (moore@hoover.stanford.edu). Future speakers include John McCarthy, Tom Moore, Henry Rowen and Stephen Schneider - not necessarily in alphabetical order.
The second seminar was by Prof. Henry Rowen of Stanford and is entitled Progress in Democracy.
The third lecture was by Prof. John McCarthy of the Computer Science Department and was given in Room 102 of the Lou Henry Hoover building at 7:30 on 1997 February 20.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF PROGRESS
The world, in this century led by the U.S., has advanced in prosperity, longevity and in the choices available to individuals. This advance has not slowed.
However, the belief, amounting to faith, that this progress cannot continue much longer has become influential enough to affect policy---harmfully in my opinion.
This lecture evaluates a number of proposed show stoppers---food, minerals, energy, fresh water, solid waste, etc. None of them turn out to be much more than annoyances, although ``technological fixes'' are needed for some.
This discussion is based on science and technology and supplements Julian Simon's arguments based on economics, economic history and the fate of past doomsaying. The ideological situation is important and will be discussed briefly.
The Sustainability of Material Progress is an extensive Web site devoted to the topic of the lecture.
Here are some links:
The number of hits on this page since 1996 October 3.