We owe our rights to people like Davis, who are "outrageous" and "brave" enough to fight for a society they insist upon even if they cannot quite imagine it materialising.
If it does not materialise, the already shaky public opinion polls may as well go out of business.
If it fails to materialise, the consequences will be devastating.
Second, since we are assessing a technological system that is not yet widely established, impacts may not actually materialise if it cannot get off the ground.
If that fails to materialise – or even if it does, but fails to lead to concrete change on the ground – the frustration could boil over into violence.
He told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "If it stays relatively quiet and we are not committed anywhere then the risk will not materialise, but if something happens, the strategic shocks happen, and we are terribly bad about spotting them, then we could be embarrassed and we could be in some difficulty".
It offered GM the right to buy back its shares if such a turnaround materialised and it was ready to cash in.
His advisers admit that Mr Kibaki's ambitious plan to turn Kenya into an industrial country by 2020 worries environmentalists, but say that reforestation, thermal power and better management of water and grazing would, if they materialised, offset the damage.Africa emits far less carbon than other continents, so its recently faster-growing economies do not gravely menace its environment.
However, if coded and materialised as a user-friendly software, it can be incorporated into design guidelines and used by consultants in everyday engineering practice.
If they do, it hasn't materialised yet on Long Island.
