That is hard to parse. You are asking why I think the rate of runaway positive feedback cycles is difficult to control? That is because that is often their nature.
I have no idea how you got that out of my question. It's obvious why runaway positive feedback cycles would be hard to control, the question I asked is why this in any way supports global warming not being dangerous.
You talk as though I am denying warming is happening. HUH?
That was not something I meant to imply. My point is that you seem to have decided that it's better for our earth to be warm than cold, and thus that it's good to approach that state, but not done any investigation into whether what we're doing is a safe means of accomplishing that end; rather you seem to have assumed that we cannot do too much.
Right. So, if you want a stable climate, you need to end the yo-yo glacial cycles - and end the ice age. A stable climate is one of the benefits of doing that.
Most of the species on earth today have survived through multiple glaciation periods. Our ecosystems have that plasticity, because those species that were not able to cope with the rapid cooling periods died out. Global warming could lead to a stable climate, but it's also liable to cause massive extinction in the process as climate zones shift in ways that they haven't in millions of years far at a rate outside the tolerances of many ecosystems.
When it comes to global climate, there are really no "better" or "worse" states. Species adapt to the way things are. Cretaceous organisms are adapted to Cretaceous climates, Cenozoic organisms are adapted to Cenozoic climates, and either would have problems dealing with the other's climate. Humans more often suffer problems from being too cold than too hot, but we've scarcely had time to evolve since we left near-equatorial climates. We're adapted to be comfortable in hotter climates than the ones in which most people live today, but the species we rely on are mostly adapted to deal with the climates they're actually in, with cooling periods lying within the tolerances of ecosystems that have been forced to deal with them recently in their evolutionary history.
When it comes to global climate, there are really no "better" or "worse" states.
There most certainly are - from the perspective of individuals, groups, or species.
Ideally, I'd like to save the world. One way to do that involves contributing academic research, which raises the question of what's the most effective way of doing that.
The traditional wisdom says if you want to do research, you should get a job in a university. But for the most part the system seems to be set up so that you first spend a long time working for someone else and research their ideas, after which you can lead your own group, but then most of your time will be spent on applying for grants and other administrative trivia rather than actually researching the interesting stuff. Also, in Finland at least, all professors need to also spend time doing teaching, so that's another time sink.
I suspect I would have more time to actually dedicate on research, and I could get doing it quicker, if I took a part-time job and did the research in my spare time. E.g. the recommended rates for a freelance journalist in Finland would allow me to spend a week each month doing work and three weeks doing research, of course assuming that I can pull off the freelance journalism part.
What (dis)advantages does this have compared to the traditional model?
Some advantages:
Some disadvantages:
EDIT: Note that while I certainly do appreciate comments specific to my situation, I posted this over at LW and not Discussion because I was hoping the discussion would also be useful for others who might be considering an academic path. So feel free to also provide commentary that's US-specific, say.