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Comment by fighterpilot | Hacker News Reader

This is begging the question. They've presupposed that it's bad by using the word "waste", without actually having made the case.

I happen to think that flying overseas for a holiday wastes a lot of energy. I could label this a "massive energy waste". Then as a corollary I could label people taking those trips and people facilitating those trips as "exploitative" actors. But these are mere debating tricks even though it's all vaguely accurate given the words I've chosen and the framing I've picked.

The root problem to all of this is an untaxed externality.

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I'm not sure it's that complicated.

A lot of crypto currencies use a lot of electricity that wouldn't have been used otherwise. A portion of that electricity that was used will be non-renewable energy.

> I happen to think that flying overseas for a holiday wastes a lot of energy. I could label this a "massive energy waste".

Yes, people taking over seas vacations instead of staying home also wastes energy.

People taking an overseas vacation use energy. Whether it's an energy waste is your subjective judgement that that activity lacks sufficient utility to justify that energy usage. The people taking those trips probably beg to differ on that point.

Exactly. While this guy sits in his high tower and consumes energy using his air conditioning (WASTE), owns a refrigerator to keep food (WASTE), and looks down on those working more hours. He sits and shitposts on HN using, gasp... electrical WASTE from his useless WASTE device. Breathing up oxygen(WASTE). You can see that anyone opposing virtuous view is a total exploitative threat actor. /s

Oh, you've taken on less work hours to enjoy your life? Maybe others are able to view that as a waste. Quit stretching things so much that you paint __everyone else__ as a threat or enemy.

So much hostility... my simple comment is shit posting but yours isn't?

I didn't say I didn't waste energy, I didn't say I was an angel, I was merely pointing out the fact that two wrongs don't make a right. "It's ok for bitcoin to waste electricity because people flying internationally waste electricity too" is a pretty weak argument.

Call it waste or whatever else you want to, the fact is, crypto currency uses a ton of electricity that wouldn't be used otherwise. Sure you can go on weird tangents if you want but it is a simple fact that seems silly to ignore.

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