AdCautious7490
AdCautious7490 t1_ja6gdav wrote
Reply to comment by AKLmfreak in eli5 perpetual motion is impossible but why haven't we made something that just goes on for a really long time that we then service so it can keep going? by FrozenKyrie
You have it right on the nail for the OP. There is no appeal in a "near perpetual" motion machine because the whole appeal is the perpetual and thus free energy potential of the machine.
To put it into financial terms like another comment did. A perpetual motion machine is like a 100% guaranteed return of some value on every investment, it's great because regardless of how much you put in you're eventually going to make more than that. A "near perpetual" motion machine on the other hand is like a really really small loss guaranteed on every investment (or even better a net positive of $0 value on every investment) which while obviously better than a big loss is still trivially easy to understand as non-valuable / of no real interest to much of anyone.
AdCautious7490 t1_jdwynj8 wrote
Reply to He can descend from the skies, shine light on everyone, sendings a booming voice across the globe that He has arrived, and there will still be people who won't believe a word He says by eggtart_prince
Yes, because religious people are always open to adjusting their beliefs based on evidence in front of their eyes while those pesky non-religious people are just SOOOOOO difficult about it. Ugh!