Earth hour and its cult following.

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Bebelina, Mar 27, 2011.

?

Did you turn off the lights?

  1. Yes.

    11.1%
  2. No.

    55.6%
  3. Maybe.

    11.1%
  4. What?

    22.2%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    As some of you may know, there was an event called Earth hour today when all electricity was to be shut down, in an attempt to save the planet. And many spiritualistically challenged people are holding massmeetings and are trying to "heal" the planet, they talk lovingly about it and cry for it's ongoing selfdestruct. We are children of the planet. It does with us what it wants. It has decided to commit suicide, seeing what its offspring has come to. Maybe you get the point, maybe you don't, but I completely missed it and now I feel guilt. I assume it's not so much about saving the electricity by shutting the lights down, but about showing your neighbours that you are an evolved being that is in touch with the current trends in society, that you have a environmental awareness, which apparently I don't and now they all know.
    - Did you see that she hadn't turned off the lights?
    I was sleeping. I had forgotten or not even cared to remember. How bad is this on a social scale?
    :sleep:

    Is it something to talk about?
     
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  3. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Then, presumably, your lights were off.

    Very very bad, you should let it weigh on your conscience for the rest of your life.

    Personally, I turned off my life-support machine.

    On the other hand, how many of those that DID do so (because, hey, after all, it's the cool and trendy thing to do) will spend the rest of the year being as profligate as usual (and possibly more than most) but nevertheless managed to salve their conscience by "sitting in the dark for an hour".
    Ooh I know - we'll have a candle-lit party. Order an extra dozen bottles of champagne and invite the neighbours... And turn the stereo up while you're at it.

    Cynic? Moi?
     
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  5. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    You should have heard my neighbours, the pastisch of new age. I got severely depressed by overhearing their drumming and chanting. They probabaly had candles too.
     
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  7. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    And what is more important, did I post a thread just like this last year?
     
  8. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    I don't know. I don't read your posts.
     
  9. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    I have noticed.
     
  10. livingin360 Registered Senior Member

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    182
    i don't think its a cult. We are obviously not doing a good job of taking care of our planet and our future offspring's future. If people are turning it to spiritual its inevitable but they dont represent the whole of the people who believe that we need to take better care of our biosphere. The human race needs to grow up and learn a selfish consumerist lifestyle isn't compatible with reality.
     
  11. Imperfectionist Pope Humanzee the First Registered Senior Member

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    338
    we have a strong need to feel like we're doing something... even when it's ineffectual...
     
  12. pineapplepizza Registered Senior Member

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    24
    I was not aware of "Earth hour"
     
  13. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    4,634
    Yeah I missed that one too. Earth Hour what will they think of next. Conservation is a life style not a fleeting moment in a day.
     
  14. Spud Emperor solanaceous common tater Registered Senior Member

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    Of course not. It's an effort to raise awareness and it works. If you can get people to think about turning off lights on one day, they can carry that concept on for the rest of the year.
    Most of the world is making an effort to reduce consumption,...and if you're not, give yourself an uppercut and come into the twenty first century.
     
  15. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    I've been in the dark my entire life!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  16. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    There could be truth in that, I've seen it happening with others, turning the light off when they leave the room etc.
     
  17. Rhaedas Valued Senior Member

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    1,516
    I get the point is to encourage conservation, which is the only real way to make an impact. But I question if it has, vs. other methods of making sure power isn't wasted. I remember as a kid having light switches labeled "Turn off when you leave", that kind of thing. That's a much longer lasting influence than an annual thing that some people didn't even notice or observe.

    Kind of like Earth Day. My response has always been that every day should be about reducing waste, recycling, trying to minimize pollution. Not to the extent of being anal about it, but just make it part of daily life, so it's not something that has to be reminded about.
     
  18. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    I remember a time when people were told that it consumes more energy to switch the light on and off than to keep it on, ever heard that? Maybe it was a local legend restricted to my domestic area.
     
  19. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    13,105
    Now if only they could have a day where they shut off all the mobile phones in the world, how tranquil that would be.

    Bird's chirping in the azure skies, with the plush green meadows on which an hedge row connecting to a Coppice faintly outputs a rustle due to a low cool breeze. The sun is set high in the sky radiates heat and sparkling light through the meandering stream that trickles across the landscape. The fragrant smells of spring flowers obfuscates the air, succulent and seductive......

    Then the world starts up and it's all Grey clouds, riots, disasters and pain....... (along with some pockets of tranquil scene)
     
  20. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    That's not true of incandescent bulbs, but there's a bit of truth to it when it comes to fluorescents. The last advisory I saw said that if it's likely to be turned back on in less than fifteen minutes, then it will save more energy to just leave it on. For one thing, the voltage spike that is caused at the moment a fluorescent first powers up is rather traumatic for the circuitry, and will reduce the life expectancy of the unit.

    I have no idea what the rule is for these new LEDs, but based upon my poor-to-modest understanding of electronics I would guess that being powered on and off causes them no harm at all, since in many applications they flicker constantly.

    As for the poll, I have an aversion to walking into dark rooms. So I tend to leave lights on until I leave or go to bed. Bless their hearts, dogs have an amazing ability to pick up their humans' quirks, and my dogs don't like the dark either. I have to leave one light on for them when I go out.

    I once arranged for my upstairs tenants to take care of my dogs while I was on vacation, saving a fortune in boarding fees. The first night I was gone they barked all night long. This was odd, since I often stay out very late and they know that just because it's 4am and I'm not home, that doesn't mean they've been abandoned. Finally the youngest member of the family said, "You know, I have never seen the lights off in Fraggle's part of the house except when he was asleep. They must be really confused since he's not here but the lights are off." So they turned the light back on and the dogs shut up and went right to bed.

    My lights are all compact fluorescents and I live in a studio, so it's not like I'm making a major contribution to America's energy deficit.

    Mrs. Fraggle is just the opposite and only keeps a light on in the room she's occupying, and half the time she finds a way to turn that off, for example stumbling around the room by the light of the TV screen. When I finally retire and go home for good that is going to be an interesting process of accommodation.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2011
  21. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    You don't have a clue what I do. For all you know I live like Ted Kasinski and It could be that I think you should live that way too. Blame is what we do when we try to convince our selves we are not responsible. Now go turn off the light before I really get mad
     
  22. kurros Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    793
    Well, to me this is clearly a little crazy (not the act per se, drumming and chanting can have interesting neurological consequences), but what the hell, I'd rather people turn their crazy spiritual inclinations towards something which encourages conservation than towards an imaginary friend in the sky who they believe isn't going to let any harm come to world until the apocalypse.
     
  23. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    4,634
    Close the door put out the lights , No they won't be home tonight . Yeah I am all down with drum beating and chanting , Dancing to the music . Pie in the sky or songs about conservation . Just as long as you listen to the music you will be O.K. in my book .
     

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