>The sort of people who think base load generation wont be required in the future are deluded

Base-load generation can be provided by storing power. For hours-long scales we can do that with batteries, heat storage, and things like flywheels. The technology isn't feasible everywhere and it's not without its down-sides, but it is worth considering when you are looking at how to build a power grid.

The problem of longer-term energy storage needs more research.

When scientists are willing to reconsider long-established scienctific understandings in light of new evidence, that's called good science.

>The Brits continue paying electricity prices on par with the price of gold
What are you comparing? The average annual household electricity bill to the average annual household expenditure on gold? Yeah, the electicity bill is probably higher, but only because the gold expenditure is quite low even if you include the few cents worth in that new tv/computer/phone/gizmo the household just bought.

If you are comparing "monthy average household power bill to the price of X amount of gold" then what is "X"? A gram? A troy ounce? Some other standard measurement? The new unit called the HouseholdElectricBillGoldGramEquivalent20251121 (defined as the amount of gold having a value of the average British household's monthly electric bill at the close of trading in London on 2025-11-21)?

>and we can't explain it.

Scientists of the future will say: "challenge accepted."

"Tragedy of the commons" and "rational individuals optimizing for their personal well being" both have an overlap with "idiocy" in the Venn Diagram of human decision-making.

>Jesus will give them more water
>He's done it before...

You may be thinking of wine.

Or you may be thinking of Moses. According to the holy texts, he was involved in several water miracles.

Then there was Noah. While he didn't find the water or create the water, he was very involved in Genesis's biggest water story. "You want rain, just wait a bit, you'll be drowning in it."

This sounds like either a wild-animal-nature TV show or a pay-TV program not suitable for children.

Or, what if the engineers who implemented the flawed design all contacted recruiters, got similar-or-better-paying jobs elsewhere, then say "take this job and shove it."*

* I assume being a Windows programmer at Microsoft still has enough cachet that you won't have any problems finding work elsewhere as long as you do it before you resign.

>What if a life in isolation sounds heavenly, how do I get it?

You can approximate this lifestyle by just staying a home all the time and having groceries and other necessities delivered to your doorstep. You'll probably still have to expose yourself to other people in person from time to time, but we are talking a few times a year, not a few times a day.

When I said "Until ... .. the person that doesn't get vaccinated infects someone you love who can't get vaccinated for medical reasons" in my reply to zawarski, I meant if some anti-vaxxer in zawarski's locale infected and as a result killed one of zawarski's loved ones who wasn't vaccinated for medical reasons.

Other readers who share zawarski's beliefs are invited to put themselves in zawarski's place, especially if they have a loved one who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Your point about the anti-vaxxer possibly accepting the death of their own loved one may be true for some anti-vaxxers, but it's not relevant to what I was trying to say.

>by it's nature must record and send everything back to some faceless intermediate

Someday soon it will be possible to do all of the AI work on-device. The only thing stopping it now are the weight and cooling constraints imposed by the teddy-bear form-factor. If you want a low-power AI and don't mind frequently recharging the batteries, you can do it today in a teddy-bear-shaped, teddy-bear-mass cuddly form factor. You will need to handle cooling though.

Connected toys that spy on you, on the other hand....

By the way, the companies that make and sell these toys are putting their stockholders at risk of a future privacy lawsuit. This is one of those times where corporate in-house lawyers should put the brakes on a product until the law is more settled. As it stands now, "will we get sued in 2030 and lose a fortune for what we are selling in 2025" is an open question.