Thermostat intelligent

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A post-idea world

"If our ideas seem smaller nowadays, it's not because we are dumber than our forebears but because we just don't care as much about ideas as they did. In effect, we are living in an increasingly post-idea world — a world in which big, thought-provoking ideas that can't instantly be monetized are of so little intrinsic value that fewer people are generating them and fewer outlets are disseminating them, the Internet notwithstanding. Bold ideas are almost passé. ... There is the eclipse of the public intellectual in the general media by the pundit who substitutes outrageousness for thoughtfulness, and the concomitant decline of the essay in general-interest magazines. And there is the rise of an increasingly visual culture, especially among the young — a form in which ideas are more difficult to express. But these factors, which began decades ago, were more likely harbingers of an approaching post-idea world than the chief causes of it."

Trade-off

Article de The Economist sur le prix des ressources naturelles et de l'investissement nécessaire pour les extraire.

Supply has struggled to keep pace with this burgeoning demand. The world’s iron-ore production has doubled over the past decade but prices have risen 13-fold. The metal content of copper ore has been falling since the mid-1990s as existing mines are depleted. This mismatch between demand and supply is an age-old problem in commodity markets. It takes years to find and develop new mines and oil reservoirs and to build the infrastructure (rigs, pipelines, railways, ports) to bring the commodities to market. Supply responds slowly to price increases and delay often leads to excessive investment which then depresses prices.

Magnifique

Cruise on rail sur le long du fleuve près du Massif.
Wow.