tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post2761085320417225533..comments2024-03-07T02:00:01.582-05:00Comments on NEI Nuclear Notes: What Becomes a Morlock Most?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-9262259444417472802008-07-22T16:51:00.000-04:002008-07-22T16:51:00.000-04:00George,If they dig into a mountain and come across...George,<BR/><BR/>If they dig into a mountain and come across signs in a language the workers and engineers don't understand, they would most likely get the specialists. That's what we do today too.<BR/>If they don't, and get killed in the process (unlikely), then I would call that "evolution in action". The waste would then act as chlorine for the gene-pool.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-45812770499016030672008-07-20T14:53:00.000-04:002008-07-20T14:53:00.000-04:00...but could a contemporary English speaker unders...<I>...but could a contemporary English speaker understand Beowulf (or even Chaucer)?</I><BR/><BR/>I can, and I've never thought of myself as particularly smart. Just ordinary folks. I read James Joyce in high school and was able to make sense of it (at least my English teacher who gave me an A+ in the course thought I did). It's not too hard if you try.<BR/><BR/>Then again, if you're postulating an Idiocracy-type future, you might have a point. But as an earlier poster noted, in that case the people will either have forgotten about the repository and won't know where it is, and likely would not have the smarts to either dig down 2000 ft. into volcanic tuff to retrieve the cannisters, and even if they did that they probably couldn't open them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-41575347589981936012008-07-19T16:28:00.000-04:002008-07-19T16:28:00.000-04:00Even we today (and people in the 19th century) can...<I>Even we today (and people in the 19th century) can read and understand texts that were written over 5000 years ago, right back to the invention of writing. And we can read and understand those texts in languages that have dissapeared thousands of years ago like ancient egytian, sumerian, sanskrit, ancient chinese and many others.</I><BR/><BR/>Specialist scholars may be able to read those ancient texts, but could a contemporary English speaker understand Beowulf (or even Chaucer)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-78033771494039060722008-07-18T14:51:00.000-04:002008-07-18T14:51:00.000-04:00To Jim: Yes, I know Nader's book was about the Cor...To Jim: Yes, I know Nader's book was about the Corvair. My dad had one - our car in the seventies was a Pinto, another metallic death trap. Gulp! Bottom line: Professor Beck's argument is not very good.<BR/><BR/>To Kia: and the fuel is in very thick casks. More danger from being crushed than irradiated.<BR/><BR/>To anonymous: actually, the education department is a republican bugaboo. Dems tend to like it.Mark Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15261889547342452468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-17078697935873296092008-07-18T13:32:00.000-04:002008-07-18T13:32:00.000-04:00To George Carty: I have to wonder how many will be...To George Carty: I have to wonder how many will be able to read and write once Obama finishes with the Dept. of Ed. Sadly, this could be a real problem if the American people continues its headlong rush into madness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-74210515043709553212008-07-18T13:08:00.000-04:002008-07-18T13:08:00.000-04:00The whole issue is moot.If civilization has collap...The whole issue is moot.<BR/>If civilization has collapsed to the level of the stone age, then the remaining people don't have the technology to dig deep into a mountain. Hence no danger to them.<BR/>If civilization did NOT collapse, and they dig for it, then they know what it is and need it. No warning neccessary.<BR/>If Yucca has been forgotten, but there is still a civilization at least on the 19th century level, then they can read and understand it even if it's just in plain english. Even we today (and people in the 19th century) can read and understand texts that were written over 5000 years ago, right back to the invention of writing. And we can read and understand those texts in languages that have dissapeared thousands of years ago like ancient egytian, sumerian, sanskrit, ancient chinese and many others. And those old texts were NOT written with the intent to be understandable by later civilizations. And todays english is not spoken only by a relatively small group of a few thousand people, as those languages were.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-23709350481735692332008-07-18T11:25:00.000-04:002008-07-18T11:25:00.000-04:00"Unsafe at any speed" targeted the Corvair! :-)<I>"Unsafe at any speed"</I> targeted the Corvair! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-21942013686243410552008-07-18T09:24:00.000-04:002008-07-18T09:24:00.000-04:00One could envision a scenario, a perfectly reasona...One could envision a scenario, a perfectly reasonable one, where as language evolves and changes the signage could be changed to reflect that. People have managed that before, translating documents and books (the Bible, for example) into contemporary prose.<BR/><BR/>I don't think it is an unmanageable problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-8963123923650230872008-07-18T05:11:00.000-04:002008-07-18T05:11:00.000-04:00Exactly.Linguistic drift could be a problem, but I...Exactly.<BR/><BR/>Linguistic drift could be a problem, but I think "DANGER! KEEP OUT! NUCLEAR WASTE!" in English, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic (plus the local language if not one of these) would be enough...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10911751.post-23163229617354447522008-07-17T19:57:00.000-04:002008-07-17T19:57:00.000-04:00Gee, if the biggest problem we have is how to warn...Gee, if the biggest problem we have is how to warn our descendants to whom we've passed a post-apocalyptic world about the dangers of a nuclear waste dump, things must be going great! Wouldn't it be more productive to find ways to avoid the collapse of civilization in the first place? For example, by expanding our use of nuclear power?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com