[AF] really understanding words

[Gary Peterson]

That's the sad thing.  Many people (not all) who believe themselves to be
environmentalists are so scientifically illiterate that they are suckers for
any crazy scheme that captures their fancy.  

About six months ago, I had a discussion with a guy that was planning on
using energy from his car's electrical system to electrolyze water,
producing hydrogen and oxygen.  He would, then, feed these gasses into his
air intake, in order to increase his gas mileage.  I told him that his
scheme couldn't work.  The plan to get more energy out of burning hydrogen
and oxygen than it takes to produce, violated the law of conservation of
energy (for non-nuclear reactions).  I was told, in no uncertain terms, that
this law was a LIE promulgated by the oil companies to keep the PEOPLE from
utilizing cheap energy.  

I didn't even bother telling him that the conversion of gasoline (chemical
energy) to mechanical energy to electrical energy, used to electrolyze water
(where some energy is lost as heat) was pretty inefficient, overall.  You
just can't argue with someone that ignorant.  Anything that can't be had for
free, or very inexpensively in terms of money or effort, is fodder for a
conspiracy theory.

Gary, KØCX

     
" What was REALLY hilarious was an episode of the Showtime program
"Bullshit!"  featuring Penn and Teller. They went to an environmental rally
in Washington. Among other things, they interviewed the "leader" of this
rally, and found out she knew practically NOTHING factual about the issues
they were protesting...
Jerry Mathis "