Life expectancy

First of all, there is absolutely no point in discussing topics like CO2 emission and global warming with non-vegetarians. I'm always amused when fellow men criticize me for driving cars which consume >20 l / 100 km of gas or for traveling more than 200 flight segments every year.

Or for using light bulbs instead of energy-saving lamps.

By far the largest source of CO2 emission - exceeding all planes, trains and cars on this planet in total! - is: cattle. If there is indeed global warming, the main reason is not my light bulb, its an exploding world population of which the majority of inhabitants on this planet seems to have a preference for eating meat. As simple as that. It's certainly politically incorrect to say this these days, but it's a simple -- and, pun intended, for some experts "inconvenient" -- truth.

Each year on the 1st of September the European Union bans a certain class of light bulbs. Last year 100 Watt light bulbs were banned, this year 75 Watt bulbs, next year 60 Watt light bulbs. Some uninformed people think this will make our planet a better place if they eat their steaks illuminated by fluorescent light.

I for my part loath the cold, flickering light emitted by energy-saving lamps. I even travel with traditional light bulbs in my suitcase. Every year I spend more than 150 nights in hotels and Hilton & friends choose to equip nowadays their hotel rooms with the cheapest and worst energy-saving lamps one can find on the market. Upon my arrival I just replace this offending technology by my 75 W and 100 W light bulbs for the duration of my stay. Most people will call this a bit eccentric and bizarre; fortunately I never really cared about what other people think about me.

The new EU regulations concerning light bulbs forced me to start stocking light bulbs about a year ago. How many bulbs should I keep in stock to avoid the day when I'd have to buy the last light bulb on the planet on eBay and finally arrive in a world where I can't find a single light bulb anymore?

Looking at the statistics, my remaining life expectancy is 39 years and 142 days. That means that from a statistical point of view I'm closer to my date of death than to my date of birth.

The average life expectancy of a light bulb is 1.ooo hours, i.e. 1 year for a light bulb which is used each day for 2 3/4 hours.

4o years x 2o light bulbs in my living room / year = 8oo light bulbs.

With more than 1.ooo light bulbs (assorted 200 W, 100 W, 75 W, 60 W) I should be on the safe side. 2.ooo would still be better.

There are effects which are difficult to take into account. For example there is a certain probability for me to go blind. In this case from a certain point in time on I wouldn't need light bulbs anymore - however in the process of going blind I'd probably need brighter conditions to read so these two effects may compensate.

There are technical risks as well:
- My house may burn down and I could loose all my light bulbs.
- The shelf life may be limited. How long can light bulbs be stored? Even in a dry environment and under moderate temperature conditions the vacuum sealing may loose its properties and maybe those light bulbs I stock today will die away within fractions of a second after flipping the switch in 4o years from now.
- ...

Nevertheless: even taking all those risks into account there doesn't seem to be a real alternative other than stocking light bulbs....

das hyrkanische mer

One of my next travel destinations in the cartography of Martin Behaim, 1492.