Wozniak's This Old House Project
It's a mistake to assume that people that are smart about one thing --even a genius-- will have an intelligent outlook about other walks of life. I doubt Einstein would have made a great plumber. But I'm not so sure about Steve Wozniak. One of the founders of Apple, he's always got something interesting to say about very diverse subjects. And it might be because he has an intelligent approach to things, not a fixed set of ideas. He's now turned his attention to energy efficiency gains that might be possible in home construction. And as usual, his ideas are fascinating.
The term "energy efficient" is rather vague. At some level it implies
some form of conservation. I have great reservations with that concept
as well. One aspect of conservation is to use less so that there is
more to go around, either to more people or for a longer time. I
disagree with this concept pretty strongly. Personally I want to
conserve but I wouldn't push that concept on others as a "right" way to
live. I only want to serve as an example. I don't want to tell others
that they are bad people or doing "wrong" things. That's not a good way
to keep open communication. I also have trouble with the concept that
we can have more of a "worse" life. It's a conflict between quality and
quantity and life should be judged by quality.
It's refreshing to hear ideas of this nature that don't talk about everybody shivering in the dark over inflated fears of resource depletion and exaggerated fears of pollution. He asks: Why waste things, or use more than you need to to live well, and comfortably? One little complaint: He's talking about living in San Luis Obispo. I've been there. It's lovely. And it's 72 degrees every day. Help us out in Boston in February, Woz!
