The Idiots Guide
Sometimes it's about "ADULTING" enough for the day, and other times it's about Keeping a job, Feeding the family, Educating the kids, and Buying the stuff.
Most of us were taught how to read, write, and math good.
But never taught how to file taxes, change a tire, or cook a meal.
How in the world have we survived?
Well, have no fear, the Idiots are here to guide you.
We don't know much more about all the stuff but we might be just a little further down the road than you.
Make no mistake, most of our advice is more like don't try this at home.
Hope it helps!
The Idiots Guide
What If We Never Discovered Electricity? Ep71 TIG
How has the spark of electricity transformed our lives beyond mere illumination? Join us as we ask this provocative question and uncover the fascinating journey of electricity's impact on society, from the humble light bulb to the era of digital connectivity. You'll learn how electricity has revolutionized communication, bringing us from the age of Shakespeare's storytelling to the instant access of today's digital world. Yet, with progress comes challenges like misinformation and AI content, which we explore in-depth, shedding light on the responsibilities accompanying modern technology.
We also delve into society's historical resistance to technological change, highlighting parallels between the 19th-century Luddites and today's skeptics of automation and renewable energy. This exploration isn't about mere opposition but about understanding how skepticism can lead to more sustainable and ethical advancements. Through these reflections, we assess the balance needed between innovation and caution, considering the complexities of modern challenges, including social media dynamics and cybersecurity.
Finally, the episode highlights electricity's profound impact on healthcare, showcasing its indispensable role in medical advancements and telemedicine, especially post-pandemic. We share personal stories and experiences that illustrate the stark contrast between life with and without electricity, prompting listeners to reflect on our deep dependence on this powerful force. You'll hear about the innovations that electricity has enabled in patient care, from life-saving devices to the critical infrastructure of hospitals, emphasizing the global pursuit of sustainable energy solutions.
Today, on the Idiot's Guide, we are diving into the sparks of innovation, the bolts of impact, the circuits that power the whole world. We're going to talk about one of the most electrifying inventions in history electricity. I know it's shocking. Imagine a world without it no lights, no phones, no memes. Yeah, it's shocking. Imagine a world without it no lights, no phones, no memes. Yeah, that's scary, but without electricity. But while electricity has lit up our lives in so many ways, it's also cast a few shadows. So in this episode, we're exploring how the invention of electricity has shaped the world for the better and well, not always for the better. Stick with us as we power through some fascinating insights and, as always, we promise a few light bulb moments along the way. And are you ready? Let's plug it. I'm your host, adam Richardson, aka the Profit Hacker, and I'm joined by the man in charge, mr Joe Haslam. Welcome to the Idiot's Guide. So to think about the, the idea of electricity, and how much like it literally has revolutionized pretty much everything. I mean the only way for us to be able to do what we're doing right now having the conversation that we are having is because of electricity. No other reason like and and to think that it just started with a little spark, you know. So, like you think about this, like probably one of the main primary things that it originally helped with, obviously light, okay, the light bulb, whatever, um, but communication, to be able to, you know, communicate across, even to be able to generate a signal it takes the electricity to be able to generate the signal really set the stage for what our, our world, our whole globe uses to stay in communication with. You know, even, even like the earlier stage stuff, like you think about it now and you go, like man, that stuff's like archaic, that stuff is you know you think of, if you find it, it's usually like in an antique shop, like archaic, that stuff is you know you think of, if you find it, it's usually like in an antique shop doesn't work at all, like you.
Speaker 1:It takes the little tube amplifier bulbs, and so my parents had an old, like wooden radio and it had the dial in the center to be able to tune in. Yeah, but it, the amplifier inside, had old tubes. This thing was all it. Never it didn't work, but it it had, like the old thing, the amplifier was probably, I was going to say, as big as a VCR, but then that makes me sound old, but basically like bigger than a PlayStation. Yeah, okay. And and then these big, big, big like light bulb looking things they called them tubes sticking out the very top of it and that's like that's. That's still years from original electricity, the, the invention of electricity. So you think about how like central electricity is in our society, from the TV to to the radios, to internet, and you know, I mean in in between, like getting set up and that kind of stuff we're both on, we're both on our phones looking up information, which is all everything credited to the invention of electricity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now, to be fair, you know the communication that we are giving. So the original podcasters, the original influencers they didn't come about when we got electricity and YouTube and all that stuff. The original influencers, the original podcasters, were storytellers Shakespeare, Shakespeare the bard they were bards, they were traveling storytellers that got paid for telling their story. Very similar to the YouTube style. The more popular you are, the more money you made, Hence why we still fund everything for ourselves.
Speaker 1:It's weird how snake oil sales is still out there too.
Speaker 2:But so the original influencers. They had great influence on subsequent generations because they shared a story. They shared a principle. We've got stories like Scheherazade because of storytellers. We can go back to the stories of Beowulf, and that was shared by storytellers. All of these things were created and shared to give a story going back to even the original philosophers, socrates and Plato and Cicero. These were the original influencers, but they didn't have the ability to speak to everyone, right, and so they shared that with a small group of people, and then they took that information and they shared that. And then they took the information and they shared that. And then they took the information and they shared that.
Speaker 2:And if anyone's ever played telephone, you know how bad that gets the further from the original source it goes, and so information that disseminated from that was not always 100% accurate, and so it's one of those things where now, with technology, it means that the original story that's being told is the original story that's going out to other people. You can fact check. You can look on your phone, verify, get the information correct and make sure that is exactly what the person actually said. Now, fake news today there's a lot of AI images that appear to make it look like babies dancing down the street, and so we have to be careful about that nowadays with some of this AI stuff. But we can still go back to the original information and see that that is actually what happened, which couldn't be done back with the original storytellers. So it gave a lot more credibility to information. It gave a lot more credibility to information. It gave a lot more fact-checking. It gave a lot more validity to the information that's being shared and that just changed the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, medicine, education all of that was improved simply because of electricity when you move to to our modern day context and you have, you know our, our smartphone technology, cloud technology, social media. You know shaping, how we interact, how we communicate with each other, how we consume information, how we negotiate information, how we prepare for whatever we do. I mean, like I I like in between we were sitting here and I'm sending an email, like I'm a draft, I don't have to draft it. Uh, get my scribe out and my quill and I'm out here flapping the feather. Well, yes, you know like, but but I don't know how shakespeare did it. Ah, yeah, probably like that. Yeah, I think he was left-handed. So there you go. That's better. I don't know, he's probably not left-handed, but that'd be an interesting fact to find out. But, um, we should look that up on our electronic devices.
Speaker 2:Here we are passing wrong information without a fact check.
Speaker 1:Look that check for us, you know, I I think just just just communication alone, the development of a telephone, um, then to the development of internet, I mean just this little little little single power source where we think about, like you know, the, what was it? The kite to the key, you know, and the, whatever, like the, the, however, they do that, where they talk about harnessing the, the power and electricity of a, of a lightning bolt that's apocryphal okay, anyway, um benjamin franklin did not discover light, or did not discover electricity by having a key and a kite.
Speaker 2:Look, I read the kid's stories okay, give me a break.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I did zero research for this podcast episode. Hey, good to know. So, uh, you're gonna know more than me, apparently, about the history of the invention of electricity, um, but the biggest thing is like to see it from where it started this, this spark of electricity, and what, what it could become, to the immense global phenomenon that it is now. But I think what's what's interesting is, like you know, like you said, it impacts so many different areas of our life, from the things how we work, how we succeed at our jobs, to medical care, to the things that we enjoy when we're relaxing or, you know, traveling, to how we are educating ourselves. A lot of that's there. So I think that it's just, it's something to consider there, to go like man, look how far it has gone. Before we move on, let me ask you this has the topic sparked your interest? If it has, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and give us a like. It's a small click for you, but a giant leap for our podcast. Thanks for the support. That was really cheesy, wasn't it? Yeah, that was pretty bad. It was great. Hey, we like liking subscribes. That's what we want. And also comment, comment, comment, comment. Sometimes those make it into our as a podcast recommendation. We might be making it into a series because of something magical that you said about our podcast.
Speaker 1:Anyway, so something that I think you wanted to bring up in this, and I think that it's a really valid thing, because the it I don't think it gets a lot of credit in in what it does, but I I tried to look for the modern application of this today and it's weird because I might be one is what I recognized. Okay, so, historically, there is an element of this, back when, you know, this whole new thing called electricity was starting to, you know, buzz, and to start to, this was before electricity. Well, okay, but you're killing me, smalls, keep going, keep going. Sorry, I'll fact check you at the end. This is about electricity. So, even if they existed before that, this is about electricity. Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:So there's a crew of individuals that didn't arrive when electricity arrived, but they were around and they certainly didn't like electricity. They're called the Luddites and you know, nowadays, honestly, I don't think they use it and they certainly didn't like electricity. They're called the Luddites and you know, nowadays, honestly, I don't think they use it nowadays, but it is a term that has been used in our more modern colloquial phrases where you call someone a Luddite and basically a brief history about their 19th century English textile workers, who destroyed industrial machinery to protest against technology or technological advancements that threatened their livelihood. Do you want to add anything to that, joe?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so essentially they were developing early. Early, I mean you could define it as computerized systems, so they were non electronic but they were. It made. The textiles require less people. You could get it done more automated, so these machines were working faster, using other machines to make the progress work better, and so they really were threatened for their livelihood because you could reduce the number of people. Think about steel workers today. Think about how much technology goes overseas.
Speaker 1:I mean the kiosk at McDonald's.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly Going to McDonald's, I get replaced by a machine.
Speaker 1:I might have a problem with that. You need someone at the Going to McDonald's. I get replaced by a machine. You know I might have a problem with that.
Speaker 2:You need someone at the counter to say this you know Amazon always wanting to do their drone delivery so you no longer need to delivery people for stuff like that, and so that would be equated to modern day technological advances. Back then, it was simply just better machines to make textiles, and so it was uh, faster, it was more efficient and you needed fewer people, and that pissed a lot of people off, and so that was the start of the luddite movement yeah, I.
Speaker 1:I think an interesting thing to think about is like now, if you put it into the modern context, you have things like artificial intelligence. We have an episode about that that we kind of unpack Is it really truly AI? And then renewable energy. Renewable energy I'm not, I'm not. I'm not a, I'm not a Luddite. Uh, I, I'm not a luddite. Okay, but the, the current tools, even electric vehicles, are in this category, okay, but this that's modern.
Speaker 1:You know electrical elements to this, but trying to think about things like renewable energy and the true sources that they are are giant freaking time. You know energy sucks just to create. So you know, there's a. There's a show that my wife and I are watching recently. That's called land man. It's about oil and natural gas and just the drilling and rigging for that and what it takes. Uh, they're going to a wind farm and he unpacks how much it costs just to transport one blade, one of the blades of one tower, and how many man hours. It's like billions of dollars for one tower. So you have this giant waste just because they're trying to pursue something that's renewable energy. I love the idea. I don't mind that there's a pursuit for renewable energy. I do mind. When it is, it is counterproductive or hypocritical To be that.
Speaker 2:I'm only saying that Because that's the truth. It is an exorbitant amount of something to do. One thing to remember about the Luddite movement that continues to today is.
Speaker 1:I told you I might be one they will justify their views any way possible.
Speaker 2:So if someone says something that supports their views, they will gladly jump on that idea, even if there's no real factual basis to it. Or if you look at the long run, it is more beneficial to society as a whole. So one of the examples here, talking about these giant blades and how much it costs to move well, how much did it cost to make those drilling platforms? We've already spent that, so they're free, right, no and so. But did you take inflation into account for when those were originally placed 100 years ago, to see how much that cost was back then? And transportation and everything that's right. So this is the thing. This, this is exactly what the luddites did, is they? They caused a lot of people to get uh angry about the new technology. Whether it was real or not, it didn't matter. They would raise up this idea. It's the same thing for uh we talk about uh with cell phones. And how, oh, cell phones? It's gonna destroy our society. No one talks to each other anymore.
Speaker 1:It's gonna give you ear cancer it destroys communication.
Speaker 2:No, they were saying the same thing about the telephone. They said the same thing about the radio. Right, all of these excuses are the same thing that has been said since the luddites in the 1800s I'm gonna sit over here in my corner quietly and joe's gonna finish this episode so yes, we do have a luddite over here I okay, now he will not go to the extent that the luddites did yeah, I'm not to go break machinery or protest or anything like that.
Speaker 1:There are some things that make sense. I'm not against the idea of pursuing, I'm not against the idea of making that as long as it becomes a production. But when the idea or sheer magnitude of something like that doesn't even amount to enough energy to do something different.
Speaker 2:so if it takes more energy than it will produce in its life, lifetime, it's not a good source but remember that when we're talking about even back in the textiles, it was a lot of changes to the entire textile industry. These were brand new machines that were coming in, that were very costly, and so it was the exact same scenario as what we're dealing with now. This was a massive revolution in technology. It was a huge change Even when electricity was first brought in. It was a massive, massive change in society. You can see some of the old pictures when they were first putting in the electrical lines. They I mean they're just all crossing over each other. It was a massive, you know, invasion of the streets of all of these electrical lines going across to hit every home. Eventually we got better and more efficient with it and actually put power poles. We buried some of them and it got a lot better.
Speaker 2:But when the technology first comes around, it's extremely inefficient, and that is an excuse for lududdite people to be able to say no technology, no this, because it's inefficient. Inefficiency is part of the development process. In order to get to a refined product and that's the idea is it has to be refined. You cannot refine something that is already perfect. It has to be in a rough form in order to refine it, and so new technology is always rough and it slowly gets refined over time to become better. We're seeing that with AI. We're seeing that with self-driving cars. We're seeing that with a lot of the technologies that are coming out today.
Speaker 2:Think about even computers. Computers used to be DOS-based, very inefficient, high-energy draws and didn't do much other than allowed you to do the same thing that you could do on a typewriter. Think about what the luddites would have said. Then. They're saying well, you've got this thing right here that all it does is allows you to write something. It takes a ton more power, it requires electricity, all of this coming in. Why use that when you've got your typewriter right here that you can just come over here? It doesn't require battery power, it's all mechanical and you can just type away and you're done. Why have this? It's so inefficient, it does so much more than it needs to.
Speaker 1:It costs so much more well, and it was not that size when they were negotiating.
Speaker 2:They were oh, I mean the computer was like the size of our room.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about pc, so, uh, when?
Speaker 2:the 286s first came out when the commodore 64s were out. Those were much smaller. Those were the first personal computers, yeah, and so they were much smaller. And you're saying why. You know, on a personal level, do you have that if you already have a typewriter, you don't need?
Speaker 1:this. It's the conflict, like now more of a like the anti-smartphone movement. So you're going back to like the flip phone and you're like man, one text message and I'm going to get a smartphone again because I hated typing. I typed on those. You know like pushing two multiple times and then seven multiple times, and you know like it's just obnoxious and kids.
Speaker 2:We know you have no idea what we're talking about.
Speaker 1:This is old guy technology so just be aware, it was back in the 1900s, so oh gosh, it was well I think like, like I think we talked about this before, but it was the iPod that ultimately launched into some of the more smartphone tech, because the original iPod was a little dial that handled a little LCD screen and then it turned into an actual touchscreen device.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but why have an iPod? You've got your record player, you've got your Walkman. I've got my collection of songs, you've got all these things.
Speaker 1:I've got my cassettes. You've got your record player. You've got your. I got my collection. You've got all these things sets.
Speaker 2:You know, you've got your cds, you've got your cassettes, you don't need this little thing that does.
Speaker 1:I had a cd case stolen from my car once. I was just tragic like it was. I was lost. I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2:But you don't need this, I mean. And yet what are we all doing now?
Speaker 1:listening to our music on our smartphones and, honestly, I do not have cds I do have vinyls because that's kind of cool, but now it's retro, yeah well, it's cool only in the sense that, like, I have vinyls that are signed from bands, so that's why I collect them. I do have a record player, but but that's it's. It's a totally different meaning than just going like this is my collection and I like to sit here on my sunday afternoons and play my favorite songs on my record player, on my whatever that like, what was that? Like the stereo phone or whatever it was the big thing, whatever.
Speaker 2:So yeah, luddites have not put away. Now, the original Luddites were very aggressive, destroying textile machines and things like that.
Speaker 1:Yes, we haven't gone away.
Speaker 2:But Luddites still exist and Luddites will always exist. There are those groups that always see the fear of new technology, and that's what the Luddites were. Now, are Luddites, uh, necessary?
Speaker 1:I think so yeah, I've been like. I think a positive element to it is sometimes the resistance can lead to a better, a better um design like like an ethical standard.
Speaker 1:If you're, if you're cutting corners to do something, it's a good thing if you, if there's more of a sustainability to it, that if you're, if you're cutting corners to do something, it's a good thing if you, if there's more of a sustainability to it, that if you took this approach, it might be a harder road, but maybe that's part of the impact is just being able to, uh, give more attention to those things before you jump on this design and and having a redneck luddite complaining about, uh the blades for why?
Speaker 1:can't we just ride horses wind energy, because I'm allergic to them will you know the?
Speaker 2:the voices of these people will then help us to recognize that there are who? You calling these people, uh, redneck luddites? I, I am hand waving to you, pointing out this is the person that I am talking about. Uh, will their voices will be enough to say, okay, maybe we do need to change some of these uh features to get it a little bit more cost effective, be more efficient, all those things where, if we don't have that, I mean, if you're a Luddite, you're just going to be accepting of technology Okay, cool, that's how much it is, that's what it does. And so having Luddites around while annoying can be beneficial for overall technological development and efficiency.
Speaker 1:I resemble that. The other element on the negative aspect is delayed progress in innovation, really hindering that potential to advance forward in certain elements. And sometimes those societal benefits are truly benefits that they're in the way of, I'm in the way of, apparently, and always make fun of them for that, because truly benefits that they're in the way of I I'm in the way of, apparently, um, and always make fun of them for that, because that keeps them in their place.
Speaker 1:Humility, that's. That's the important part is, sometimes we need a dose of humility in order to stay humble. So so here here's. The thing is, like you know, electricity itself has faced skepticism, still continues to do so, and you know, if you look at modern day pressures, I was trying to think of some of these, because I don't, you know, like in renewable energy, you talk about the windmills and things like that, but that's not necessarily electricity. You're trying to find alternative sources to generate electricity.
Speaker 1:So, instead of coal mines, you have, you know, or even like, making the diversion of water be the reason why you have electricity in a particular area. You know, that has been our pursuit for so long. Oil, I remember in Iraq, that's one of like one, like one of their main uh power plants, runs on diesel fuel, like it's water tanks of diesel fuel, and that is all they do for the Southern half of Iraq. That's how it's powered, so it's runs on diesel fuel, crude oil. So you know like, but but to think of the modern context to now, you go okay, well, electricity wise, what do we have?
Speaker 1:What are the things that we still struggle with with Luddite sort of personalities, and I think that the development of particular software is one of them Social media platform creation, sometimes even just going like okay, this new platform comes out, what does it have? What does it do? What kind of message does it have? What kind of censoring is it going to do? And so all of this, you still have the same kind of against progress in this element. And then the other element is this pursuit of cybersecurity. So, even though it's really ingrained in and of itself with electricity, even though it's really ingrained in and of itself with electricity by, you know, the, the idea that a luddite has isn't necessarily defined by just electricity. It's, you know, a luddite is something that it might not be as efficient or effective as it could be, and maybe that's the, that's the protest, but also it might be something that you're like this is hurting our kids, shut it down, you know. And so there are positives and negatives to being one.
Speaker 2:So yeah, for sure you know. I think one of the big things is, you know when, when you were talking about you know we're looking at ways to be better at producing electricity. There are a lot of ways to not have to use electricity at all. So they've got new building designs that allow you to heat and cool your home without ever using electricity. So you don't need a heater or an air conditioner just because of the way that the design is, the way that it collects the heat from the sun. I don't know all the details, but it certain um ducts and things that moves the heat through, and all that that requires no electricity at all, and those are the kinds of things that you know luddites are really good at is coming together and saying I don't like this and then the non-luddite saying, okay, well, what would you want instead?
Speaker 1:and coming to a consensus that becomes much more efficient and much more refined one of of my favorite places that I lived at not because of what, like the conditions I lived in, but it had a boiler and so we had radiant heat through the entire place, the whole apartment complex, and so anytime I wanted hot water it was always hot water, like I did not run out of hot water and it was super duper hot. But that was kind of a cool experience, because when I needed heat I just turned the heat valve on and it would start pushing hot water through the whole system and all of a sudden my place is boiling. I got to open windows because it's so hot. That's an effective means of doing that, and that's by usually a natural gas source and a lit flame. So by the time you're there, that just the pressure alone is what's what's pushing that through the system. You're not needing any really additional electricity.
Speaker 2:Yeah so yeah, I mean there are a lot of different ways to look at it, but yeah, but yeah, that's the ledites. And so if you ever see someone that is anti-technology or complains about those cell phones or anything, just call them a ledite no, appreciate them for helping change the world.
Speaker 1:Um, anyway, so here's, here's some of the elements of this. So I think we've dabbled in. But the environmental consequences of electricity, um, this, this area is is one of those things. It's like okay, how do we produce this? Like we're you know, the way that our society produces electricity currently. Like I want to look at china. China's one of the leading, you know I pollutants in the sense of how they produce electricity, is coal factories, coal refineries. So those coal factories are the way that they generate electricity in China, all over China, and even when they actually they don't, there's no commitment for them to reduce their emissions. They're not concerned. They're actually opening more coal refineries. So it's unfortunate, but it's one of those ideas that we go okay. Well, what's another idea? Is it renewable alternatives? We talked about the windmills.
Speaker 1:My house, I went solar a little bit ago although there's been an adjustment in the power grid somewhere and my bill has gone up for probably two years. I was paying. I was paying a little bit, but usually it was because I I paid a like, a like an average sum across the year, and that was before I built my solar and so carried over the same process but I was getting. I was generating uh enough energy year round to where I was like $19 negative on my account every single month. So it was just consistently not having a bill, um, and I enjoyed it. Something changed recently, something like I I've been told that there's different regulations that shifted, and so I've got to have a conversation and be like, hey, I paid a lot for this. But at the same time, I think about it in the way that I use electricity. I use a lot of it in different aspects of my house and I wanted to do something so that I'm not so so much of a draw on the system. And you're smiling like that's just I, I ran after a fool's errand but uh, um, but in in a city slicker sort of mentality, I, I don't feel like.
Speaker 1:Installing a windmill in the back of my property is efficient and uh and and. So you know what can I do? I'm a homeowner and I decided to do that, and also it. It, you know, increases the value of my home. So I'm good, you know I that that's kind of the idea. But like, what is our pursuit? That, you know, are the consequences of, of trying to continue to develop electricity. We've done so.
Speaker 1:Natural gas is another one where they utilize natural gas. Though there's a plentiful source, it still requires the drilling for natural gas, the transportation, the refining and then distribution too. So there's piping. All of that stuff goes into play and all of that has some level of impact to us. You know we discussed this in a previous episode. But global warming, you know, and although global warming has a giant kind of we can inside joke kind of gleefully laugh at it it still has a realistic situation that we inside joke kind of gleefully laugh at it. It still is a realistic situation that we can say and admit that there's still, there's a possibility of our globe or our earth being affected by the gases and the things, the emissions that we currently emit in our world. But at the same time, if we just sit here and do nothing about it without thinking about it, it's just being ignorant and ignoring a problem that should be at least given the attention.
Speaker 2:So at the very least, anyone who, who doesn't see global warming as being caused by, um, uh, human activities? At the very least, we are not helping, yeah, by continuing to use all this stuff. And that's the big thing. Electricity has done so much, so much for all of our advancement, and yet a lot of times, we don't think about the consequences of having that right. Renewable energies are great, but one of the other things is, you know, here in the united states, just about everyone has electricity, unless you choose not to have electricity, but it's available to just about anyone. Um, but you think about other places in the world? Third world countries have no access to electricity, and so the potential for those individuals to have the same access to, uh, what we talked about earlier information, better medical care, um, better education, better access to uh, news, all these great things they don't have it. They're being left behind simply because we're using that electricity, and so it creates even greater of a disparity between those groups of individuals.
Speaker 1:The closest thing I can identify with that is years ago. We went on a camping trip or not a camping, it was to a cabin and we drove to the cabin, got there nicely parked, went inside and there's no power. No power to the cabin at all, but there's lights, there's a generator outside that we would turn on occasionally, but most of the time we were there would, we wouldn't have power in the. In the inside there wasn't any backup batteries or anything like that. And really, really nice cabin, like real nice decked out kitchen, um, all that kind of stuff. No fridge, obviously, but um, one of the one of the interesting things was the. The cabin ran on a, but the well had a pump and without the electricity you wouldn't have any water in the place. So it constantly was this fight.
Speaker 1:So let's say you wanted to take a hot shower because they had a nice shower in there. Well, you'd have to turn the generator on to warm up the water and then and then turn that on. Now I believe, if I remember correctly, it was, uh, one of the like electric water heaters. That's just like instant. So so it's like as you turn the water on, the water's coming in, but you still had to turn the generator on in order to warm up the water. Same thing with the kitchen sink if you had to turn on the water at all, turn the water on at all.
Speaker 1:It wasn't city pressure, it was coming from a well with a pump attached to it. Without that generator on, that water was not coming out the faucet. And it was really weird how, like for granted, I had taken just that simple little process that, granted, there's enough water pressure in city water. That you're, you're it, it's coming in, no matter what the power source is right. But but on the end of that is a giant pump that is making sure electrically that that water pressure exists. Yeah, so in a, in a massive scale. That's the same process that I was dealing with inside that cabin, but I can relate like that's, that's the same process that I was dealing with inside of that cabin, but I can relate Like that's the first world problem that I can really relate to this.
Speaker 2:I understand that there's almost a desert of you know of issues going on like that, so yeah, but yeah, it's just one of those things where you know you've got to take that into account that there are a lot of positives but there's still a lot of negatives. That come to electricity generation, yeah, fortunately, soon, hopefully, we'll have fusion power. They've made some great advancements on that and that'll be a lot easier to transport energy, to develop that energy, to get that out there.
Speaker 1:Do you remember the movie? I can't remember the name of it, but it had. Oh man, what is his name? Anyway, they're trying to like show a Russian community this cold fusion that they created, and it's like this thriller movie where he's trying to get through it. Anyway, like the whole idea is about this cold area, a cold country, and these guys come in with cold fusion and show that, hey, like, with this, this will heat, this little freaking thing will heat the entire city and the whole city is like frozen and they're like, yes, this is so cool and it's a whole conspiracy to try to stop it from happening, because, well, that would mean that all of these other producers of energy would be out of business by one little spark. Yep, and you think about like, okay, well, there, there you go. Like, imagine the uh, the other systems you know, becoming a luddite because of cold fusion yeah, no, and luddites will always exist.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, so it's. You know, there are a lot of things to take into account. We, we love electricity. It allows us to do so many things, but there are a lot of negatives that come to that. Electricity is, you know, and, and hopefully, as we continue with technological advances, we'll be able to find ways to do it better, so that there are fewer environmental impacts, fewer human impacts. I mean just even the, the health impacts from coal and natural gas and all those kinds of things is just, it's horrible, the kinds of things that happen to humans because of the electricity generation.
Speaker 1:Um, but, but, I think, also know the the leaps and bounds like there's. They're moving forward to smarter grid technology, um, energy storage, and that's not buying a case of batteries from Costco. As much as you think that that is energy storage, it's not. Um, you know those are flashlights and toy things. So you know, individual actions of you know are an element, though, that you can do. Like I mentioned, I did, I went solar at my house. I always get the phone call about do you have a backup battery? And I'm like oh man, like you guys, what's after the battery?
Speaker 2:Well, the backup battery is great now, because they're paying you less for the electricity that you put back into the system. So now you can keep some of that electricity for yourself it's true, it's the price of the battery.
Speaker 1:No, we're not sponsored by any solar or backup batteries if it became the fact that, because I'm one of the few in my neighborhood who has solar, that they gave me a battery because of it, then that'd be great. But everyone else they're like they have to do the step. So I'm just the target now because I actually have solar. So they look and they go would you like a battery? I'm like ugh, stop.
Speaker 2:See, here's the Luddite contradiction. We've got a full-on Luddite here, yet he put solar panels on his house.
Speaker 1:I did because I didn't want to be that much of a draw on the system.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 1:All right, Quick pause. Hit that pause button. No, don't hit the pause button. Don't, don't, don't. Are you ready to take charge of your financial future? Join our financial empowerment membership, a community where we empower you with tools, insights and strategies to regain control of your money. Whether you're just starting or looking to optimize your finances, we've got you covered. So check out the link in the show notes and sign up today to take the first step toward financial freedom. And back to the show. And back to the show. So I think a little bit like this is probably some of the highlights.
Speaker 1:This is the highlight reel about electricity. There's a lot of really cool things that electricity enables us to do, but I think probably one of the most beneficial is that you don't have to hold somebody down while you saw through their leg with a piece of metal anymore, like they don't do that anymore. They knock them out, they put them under. They have a device that's electro, electronically run or battery run. You know that monitors all of their condition while they're unconscious. Make sure they get enough gas or whatever it is. Continue to do that at microscopic levels to where you know it's perfect everything. And then they go in with lasers and remove everything and you're like all of that is electricity. It is fascinating. And the development of, of healthcare, electric powered medical, everything from the invention of x-ray. You know, you'd think just going back from the invention of x-ray, You'd think just going back to the invention of an x-ray, and you're like holy cow, that is impossible without electricity.
Speaker 2:A pacemaker. Pacemakers help save a lot of lives. I don't know the numbers, but I would put it at least in the thousands, yeah, if not tens and hundreds of thousands. And it's just it, just a little pacemaker. It just keeps your heart beating the way it's supposed to, and that uses electricity.
Speaker 1:Yep, mris, you know, ventilators keep you breathing, yeah, you know. I mean, that's a very, very small list of the advancements in medical care that is attributed because of electricity. And what electricity can do, you know, they rely on hospitals, rely on electricity just to keep the lights on. I was watching another show, the show you recommended a while back, the Rookie. I was watching another show, the show you recommended a while back, the Rookie and there's a character that takes a hospital hostage. Terrible, really sad episode. Okay, really terrible. Yeah, but in the situation the guy just wants to save his wife and so he takes the hospital hostage and hacks into the whole system, shuts them down from prescription regulation, shuts their computer systems down so they have no access to the files, then kills the power of the hospital and they're like look, somebody's going to die. Well, that's what happened is, you know, kills the power and the ventilator shuts off on somebody. And you know it's a sad, it's a sad situation where you're just. I was infuriated in this episode. I was like how careless of a person could you be that you think you justify the concern you have for this and and and? Oh, it's just anyway, I was really angry in that episode, um, but, but at the end of the day, like it's, it's all of those things like from the medical records to the access to the doctor files, to the prescriptions, to the power, and even even in the sense of if the power out there power goes out, there's emergency generators because they need it, you know, and so it's. And then even advancing even further after.
Speaker 1:You know, I think the pandemic kind of thrust us into this, but it was, it was a necessary thing because there's been so many resistance, so much resistance against the idea of telemed. You know the concept of telemed and going like, but is that HIPAA compliant, you know? Or you're like, if you have it over a screen, is there somebody who could tap in? And you know, do that. And you're like, if I'm worried about that and less about the care of that person, then you know, I, I, I would rather do everything I possibly can to get to care for somebody else, rather than find a reason why it shouldn't happen. Right, it shouldn't happen right, and that might not make me a luddite at that point, because I want that to go there. You know, he's only part luddite I'm. Yeah, I said, I said a little. Okay, I have not embraced the entirety of luddite, but, but the idea is to to really make health care accessible across the board.
Speaker 1:Now, I'm not, I'm not saying that, like the electrical poverty doesn't exist where these aren't even options in those areas. You know, that is absolutely the truth. But you know, in our, in our first world, like environment, it it is there are so many things that have been revolutionary in in what do, and it's incredible. So, you know, I want to think about just a defibrillator, okay, using the actual electrical element that it produces. Just hey, I'm going to produce electricity on these two ends, and the only reason why it exists is to make sure you're back alive, you know, and you're bringing your you're okay, mostly alive back to where your body has a pulse yes, it does.
Speaker 2:No, the defibrillator shocks your heart back to beating nope, yes, it does nope, what does it do?
Speaker 2:it shocks it from a uh one rhythm back to normal rhythm okay, so it's fibrillating, which is why it's called a defibrillator right, and so your heart is beating it's just beating too fast or regularly, whatever the case is, and so you shock it and that brings it back to a normal rhythm. The only way to bring someone back when they don't have a pulse is Dr Mike this is for you chest compressions, chest compressions, chest compressions, that's it. Defibrillators, as much as they show this in TV, do not shock a, do not bring back an unbeating heart. The heart has to be beating for a defibrillator to work.
Speaker 1:That's really annoying because like I'm going to go to TV because of this but like, not the paddles, but like the little, like spatulas, that when they're open heart surgery they're like clear and they're like right on a stopped heart, not fibrillating, and you're like you know, and then this shows the heart not beating, not doing anything, it's just sitting there, and then they have the paddles in it, like they're clear, and then all of a sudden the heart's like okay, all right, let's do this again. That's not how it works, that's disappointing, stupid Hollywood.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, and that's the thing You've got to do the chest compressions in order to get the heart going again.
Speaker 1:Either way, the defibrillator is pretty cool, it still saves lives.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying it doesn't save lives, because the non-rhythmic heart can kill someone. So you want to make sure it's proper and all that. That's what the defibrillator does.
Speaker 1:I thought this part was really cool only in the sense that there's ongoing research in electric power, biotechnology, and biotechnology is something that Joe has a a special place in his heart for. You know, like there there's obviously like there's, there's things that make the news. There's stories about individuals. I've seen the, the thing that Musk has I can't remember what it's like the I want to call it the-chip, but that's the south park episode where it stops him from swearing and sir jocks his brain.
Speaker 2:Hilarious, but not what we're talking about like this is a I can't really nearly, nearly yeah, nearly so.
Speaker 1:It's a brain link that they have that they've connected. Yeah, it's a bci and what they've. They've shown a video recently of the second patient for that. That's playing like a first person shooter video game and it literally he's using his eyes seeing a target and shooting at that target and it's so fast that the people playing against him can't keep up with how fast he's able to take him out. And so because the link is responding and it's that's all it is is his eyes looking and brain going, I gotta shoot at that target and it's responding.
Speaker 2:That is insane insane, so that's what's known as an invasive bci. Okay, the bcis that I work with are external b Right, and so it's a lot less invasive, and the technology is actually already there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you want to see something really cool, we may link it in the video. But if you want to see something really cool, look at Emotiv E-M-O-T-I-V. And there's a really cool video on YouTube where someone uses an Emotiv headset to control a BB-8 toy. So it's a little bit older of a video, but check that out. It's really cool stuff. The the brain computer interfaces uh, electric prosthesis, prosthetics that allow you to use brain function to be able to control a prosthetic. Yeah, now, an external bci doesn't allow the feedback of the information. That's where an invasive bci, which is directly tied to the brain, can allow that feedback to come back. So if you touch something with a prosthetic, it potentially would allow you to then actually feel that, whereas with an external bci, an electronic prosthetic, it won't give you feedback. You won't feel that when you touch something. But I mean, this is, this is massively cool technology that electricity allows. Yeah, you know, and it's.
Speaker 1:It's just really amazing what electricity can allow us to do you know, I've been to the, the theme park locally that we have. It's called lagoon, and up there they have this old village. That, uh, is all these old cabins back in the 1800s Actually, when Lagoon was first formed there. The reason why it was called Lagoon is because it was a waterway. It was like a little blue lagoon sort of thing. It was a lagoon. It was a lagoon, but they had this village that talks about kind of the history of the area and the city and one of them is the little hospital medical facility and it has all of these tools, all these things that you're like all of it looks like torture devices.
Speaker 1:I'd never want any of it and most of it's rusted at this point. So you're like, but that there's actually one of the locations is like a whole, like glass encased element of like um, why can't I think of the name of the like the medicine shops back in the day, not apothecary? So it's like all these vials, all these different things and tools for surgical things. It's pretty fascinating, but it's terrifying to think that like that's, that was our world without electricity, yeah, you know. So to think that now, think that now that scalpel is a laser, is pretty impressive. It's really cool. That being said, it's still, I think, that they did their best they could with what they had, and so I really want to be grateful for the idea of the advancements of electricity, because it has truly transformed every element of our life. Yeah, and I think that'll be really cool, but we got to pull the plug on our episode for today. These electricity puns are terrible, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Yes, they are awful, awful. How about a quick recap?
Speaker 1:electricity revolutionized communication and technology, making our world smaller and smarter. But it's not all bright. Its production has left us with significant environmental challenges we're still grappling with and finally, finally, it transformed healthcare, saving countless lives and pushing the boundaries of what's absolutely possible. So let's think about this as kind of the takeaway how do we continue to innovate with electricity while being mindful of its impact? So next time you flip a switch or charge your phone or, you know, turn on the television, remember the global web of connections, the challenges and opportunities behind that simple action.
Speaker 1:So what do you think might be one way you rely on electricity that you hadn't really considered before, is it? Do you use an electronic toothbrush? You know? Do you mindlessly scroll while you're going to the bathroom? Do I? I'm pretty sure you recognize that. Do you have an alarm clock? Oh, weird, if it's not the one that goes ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding, it's electrical. How can you contribute to a more sustainable future for your daily life? And, honestly, like I I don't know how I I can't even answer that for you. It's definitely huh. Solar is a good option. There you go, yeah, hey, hey, that was a compliment, I think.
Speaker 2:I give them out every now and then.
Speaker 1:All right Time for Jokes with Joe.
Speaker 2:All right, here we go. What do you call a funny mountain?
Speaker 1:Hmm, I don't know, hilarious, hilarious. That is definitely not funny at all.
Speaker 2:Oh, that one's great, it's hilarious.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure the puns in this were a little bit stronger. No, no, it's hilarious. Pretty sure the puns in this were a little bit stronger. No, no, all right, hey guys, just a preview real quick. In the coming episodes we plan to do a sort of what if? Series, where we're going to look at how dependent we have become on electricity and what if we didn't have it or, worse, it suddenly disappeared. So tune in to see how we unplug some of the things we use every single day. We've reached the end of our show, thank you for listening.
Speaker 1:Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Leave a comment. Life's too short, so keep laughing and learning and remember idiots have way more fun Check your shoes.