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Posts tagged with:  Adam Dorr

By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 8 Sep 23

This is a transcript of ‘Episode 2 – Mistakes in conventional thinking’ by Adam Dorr. The entire series is available on YouTube. The book on which the series is based, “Brighter: Optimism, Progress, and the Future of Environmentalism” is available on Amazon. Hello everyone, Adam Dorr from RethinkX here. Thanks for joining me. In this video, we’re going to explore how to rethink solving environmental problems through the lens of new technology and disruption, using climate change as our primary example. And we’ll start by looking at several ways in which conventional thinking about environmental issues is mistaken. So let’s …

Brighter transcript: Episode 2 – Mistakes in conventional thinking Read More »

This is a transcript of ‘Episode 2 – Mistakes in conventional thinking’ by Adam Dorr. The entire series is available on YouTube. The book on which the series is based, “Brighter: Optimism, Progress, and the Future of Environmentalism” is available on Amazon. Hello everyone, Adam Dorr from RethinkX here. Thanks for joining me. In this video, we’re going to explore …

Brighter transcript: Episode 2 – Mistakes in conventional thinking Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 4 Sep 23

This is a transcript of ‘Episode 1 – The future of the environment is brighter than you think’ by Adam Dorr. The entire series is available on YouTube. The book on which the series is based, “Brighter: Optimism, Progress, and the Future of Environmentalism” is available on Amazon.   Hi everyone, Adam Dorr from RethinkX here. Thanks for joining me. This is going to be the first video in a series that covers some of the ideas in my new book, as well as a wide range of topics that our research team at RethinkX is exploring. In this video, we’ll …

Brighter transcript: Episode 1 – The future of the environment is brighter than you think Read More »

This is a transcript of ‘Episode 1 – The future of the environment is brighter than you think’ by Adam Dorr. The entire series is available on YouTube. The book on which the series is based, “Brighter: Optimism, Progress, and the Future of Environmentalism” is available on Amazon.   Hi everyone, Adam Dorr from RethinkX here. Thanks for joining me. This …

Brighter transcript: Episode 1 – The future of the environment is brighter than you think Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 4 May 22

In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the company’s “AI Day” event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, “[has] the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business.” On a recent earnings call, Musk said, “I was surprised that people did not realize the magnitude of the Optimus robot program 
 The importance of Optimus will become apparent …

How Autonomous Vehicles will Trigger the Age of Robots Read More »

In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the company’s “AI Day” event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, “[has] …

How Autonomous Vehicles will Trigger the Age of Robots Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Mar 22

With the Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being released, it’s important to revisit the climate scenarios that are its centerpiece. These scenarios form the basis of the climate science community’s modeling and projections, which in turn affects governance and investment decisions across the world. Trillions of dollars and the policymaking of the entire planet thus ride upon these climate scenarios, and so the cost of getting things wrong is extremely high. Scenarios past and present The previous generation of climate scenarios published in the Fifth Assessment Report in 2014 were known as …

The UN climate panel still doesn’t understand technology – and it matters Read More »

With the Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being released, it’s important to revisit the climate scenarios that are its centerpiece. These scenarios form the basis of the climate science community’s modeling and projections, which in turn affects governance and investment decisions across the world. Trillions of dollars and the policymaking of the …

The UN climate panel still doesn’t understand technology – and it matters Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 7 Feb 22

  “What about the Jevons Paradox?” This is a common refrain in environmental discourse. It’s another way of asking, “won’t new technology always just create more problems than it solves?” William Stanley Jevons was an English economist and mathematician who noticed in 1865 that, paradoxically, the consumption of coal actually increased when technological progress improved the efficiency of steam engines. Efficiency lowers costs, which lowers prices, which increases demand. And, sometimes, the increase in demand is so disproportionately large that overall consumption actually grows. This outcome came to be known as the Jevons Effect, or Jevons Paradox. The Jevons Effect …

Rethinking the Jevons Paradox: Why more clean energy efficiency is good for the environment Read More »

  “What about the Jevons Paradox?” This is a common refrain in environmental discourse. It’s another way of asking, “won’t new technology always just create more problems than it solves?” William Stanley Jevons was an English economist and mathematician who noticed in 1865 that, paradoxically, the consumption of coal actually increased when technological progress improved the efficiency of steam engines. …

Rethinking the Jevons Paradox: Why more clean energy efficiency is good for the environment Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Dec 21

We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies – namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose to lead, and because energy accounts for over half of all greenhouse gas emissions, the clean disruption of this sector will be a large part of how we can reduce emissions by 90% by 2035.   A common question that arises …

How to Achieve Rapid, Cheap Energy Decarbonization Using the RethinkX Clean Energy U-Curve Read More »

We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies – namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose …

How to Achieve Rapid, Cheap Energy Decarbonization Using the RethinkX Clean Energy U-Curve Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 21

This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair    The trouble with climate change – as I explained the Part 1 of this series – is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling plan for how to correct course. This understandably leads to despair.  Being told that the way to meet the enormous challenge of climate change is with personal sacrifice, lifestyle change, and other forms of individual austerity rather than with collective …

Restoring Our Faith in Progress: Part 2 – How Science Justifies Optimism Read More »

This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair    The trouble with climate change – as I explained the Part 1 of this series – is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling …

Restoring Our Faith in Progress: Part 2 – How Science Justifies Optimism Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 5 Nov 21

OK, Doomer
  Doom and gloom are everywhere, and not just because of what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to societies and economies across the globe over the last 18 months. A deeper contagion of pessimism has been spreading as well. The belief that we are doomed by climate change, and that all other human progress has been for nothing, is a pathogenic idea that has infected an entire generation worldwide.   Although it is dead wrong, this idea is far more pernicious and destructive than is widely appreciated.   At the individual level, despair over climate change and the false belief that …

Restoring Our Faith in Human Progress: Part 1 – How Prosperity Solves Problems Read More »

OK, Doomer
  Doom and gloom are everywhere, and not just because of what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to societies and economies across the globe over the last 18 months. A deeper contagion of pessimism has been spreading as well. The belief that we are doomed by climate change, and that all other human progress has been for nothing, is …

Restoring Our Faith in Human Progress: Part 1 – How Prosperity Solves Problems Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Nov 21

Over 100 world leaders have pledged to end, and even reverse, deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 UN climate summit. And over 30 of the world’s biggest financial companies have promised to end investment linked to deforestation. But in 2014, a similar ‘landmark’ agreement was reached – and this didn’t slow deforestation at all. Part of the problem is that decision-makers are locked into trying to solve problems within the framework of the incumbent paradigm. But this paradigm is about to be dramatically transformed, opening up entirely new ways of thinking about forests. Far from focusing purely on ‘band aid’ …

The Great Land Liberation and the opportunity for reforestation Read More »

Over 100 world leaders have pledged to end, and even reverse, deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 UN climate summit. And over 30 of the world’s biggest financial companies have promised to end investment linked to deforestation. But in 2014, a similar ‘landmark’ agreement was reached – and this didn’t slow deforestation at all. Part of the problem is that …

The Great Land Liberation and the opportunity for reforestation Read More »


By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 27 Oct 21

Technology disruptions already underway in the energy, transportation, and food sectors have extraordinary implications for climate change. These three disruptions alone, driven by just eight technologies, can directly eliminate over 90% of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide within 15 years. Our previous research has shown that these disruptions are inevitable. Solar, wind, and batteries (SWB) will disrupt coal, oil, and gas. Autonomous electric vehicles (A-EVs) providing transportation-as-a-service (TaaS) will disrupt internal combustion engines and private vehicle ownership. And precision fermentation and cellular agriculture (PFCA) will disrupt meat, milk, and other animal products. The three disruptions are already unfolding simultaneously, …

The 9 Profound Implications of Rethinking Climate Change Read More »

Technology disruptions already underway in the energy, transportation, and food sectors have extraordinary implications for climate change. These three disruptions alone, driven by just eight technologies, can directly eliminate over 90% of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide within 15 years. Our previous research has shown that these disruptions are inevitable. Solar, wind, and batteries (SWB) will disrupt coal, oil, …

The 9 Profound Implications of Rethinking Climate Change Read More »


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