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NASA Attempts To Assuage 2012 Fears
eldavojohn writes "The apocalyptic film 2012 has dominated the box office, taking in $65 million on opening weekend. But with all those uninformed eyeballs watching the film, NASA has found itself answering so many common questions that their Ask an Astrobiologist blog offers calming, professional reassurance that there is no planet Nibiru, nor will it collide with Earth (although I do recall a massive solar storm forecast). NASA's main site even offers a FAQ answering similar questions. NPR has more on NASA scientist David Morrison and his efforts to calm the ensuing public hysteria, but survivalists are already planning for the big one. Pretty funny, right? Not according to Morrison: 'I've had three from young people saying they were contemplating committing suicide. I've had two from women contemplating killing their children and themselves. I had one last week from a person who said, "I'm so scared, my only friend is my little dog. When should I put it to sleep so it won't suffer?" And I don't know how to answer those questions.'"
Just, wow.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
This whole thing proves that this world is big enough for everyone. Including total retards.
I just wonder how the hell did some of these people reach adulthood. A mistery that is deemed to remain unsolved.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
You respond with, "It's only a movie. The world isn't ending. Don't kill your children, your pets, or yourself."
2. Create a hysteria and panic about the world ending due to Y2K or Planet Nibiru or Mayan Calender cycle ending or Banks collapsing or Obama winning the elections.
3. ...
4. Stock of survivalgears_are_us.com zooms up and ..... profit!
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
NASA reports that giant alien spaceships have not in fact destroyed the White House and Empire State Building.
Reports of time-traveling robots looking for John Connor are unsubstantiated at this time.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Nasa tries to convince people that the moon is also not made of cheese, despite what cartoons clearly depict.
Holy crap. This surely must be satire or stolen from The Onion.
this is my sig
The War of the Worlds (radio)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio)
Quote: "Some listeners heard only a portion of the broadcast, and in the atmosphere of tension and anxiety leading to World War II, took it to be a news broadcast. Newspapers reported that panic ensued, people fleeing the area, others thinking they could smell poison gas or could see flashes of lightning in the distance."
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
NASA Attempts To Reason With Idiots, Lunatics
Let them off themselves. We don't need these fuckwits around when some bastard decides it's time to remake The Secret of Nym thinking that the rats have gained sentience...
Doesn't NASA have a page on Christmas Eve that shows Santa's journey, and where he is at any given time?
How many of those sending their questions to NASA are part of the 2012 movie marketing campaign?
Methinks its quite idiotic to worry about something that, if it actually hits hard, we wont be able to survive no matter what we do. No, we really can't survive a hit like the one that created the Gulf of Mexico (if indeed the big hole came from an asteroid). Why worry so much about it? I have no idea.
NO SIG
I think you were thinking of NORAD?
"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
Albert Einstein
Why is the taxpayer's money being spent on this nonsense?
It's one way of doing science PR these days, I guess.
Now where is that tin hat?
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
I've had two from women contemplating killing their children and themselves
You tell them to come in, explaining that you have a secret rocket that will take some of us off of this planet. When they arrive, you have social services take the kids away and the police can take her to the nearest asylum for the criminally insane.
Unhelpful Truth: "Please do so, and take yourself out of the gene pool."
Helpful Truth: "I completely understand your position. Make an appointment with your doctor and just say you have some health concerns (no need for the staff to get into your business.) Then explain the situation to the doctor, and he can help you take the appropriate steps."
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
wow, just think of all the sequel opportunities
oh... yeah, never mind
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Should be a good year for the Darwin Awards.
You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever.
You got it. Santa Claus questions would probably be referred to the TSA. The black cat questions might be referred to the Corps of Engineers.
I could be wrong though, so you may want to check http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/
Because taxpayers are contemplating suicide over this 2012 nonsense?
Before you breed...
Some people are too stupid. But that is okay -- there's more then enough intelligence left for the rest of us ;)
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
It is actually done by NORAD. It started in 1955 when a Sears had an advertisement encouraging children to call Santa Claus, but gave the phone number for NORAD.
This is the first film I've worked on that caused actual general panic. Grudge 2 scared people, but it's actually a little gratifying to think that work I did is scaring people even AFTER they walked out of the theater. At the time we were making it I knew the whole black president/conspiracy thing was definitely going to push a lot of buttons, just considering the way things are right now, but to be honest, the whole scientific backstory of the film is so thin I never actually considered that people would genuinely fear a cataclysm as depicted in the movie. "Mutating neutrinos"... really?
ps. I was the lead sound effects editor on the show. Along with blowing up Yellowstone and other sundry destructions, I personally cut about 80% of the computer screen beeps. And I cut every one of them just for you guys, because I know you love them so much :D
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
From the feds' perspective, that's not really so much of a problem as long as they do it after April 15, 2012 and are paid up.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
"Natural Selection".
I believe you're thinking NORAD...though I guess NASA could do it too...
I mean, the original radio broadcast - it was suggestive enough to cause moderate and short-termed, but state-wide panic during the middle of the actual broadcast. People fleeing their homes, calling for emergency services and so on.
This is Slashdot. Common sense is futile. You will be modded down.
Taxpayers' money is spent on religion all the time. I don't see why this is any different. It's all fiction.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
if you think that is an appropriate response to a fucking movie about a half-assed myth, then by all means, do the world a favor
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Why is NASA answering these questions some of which surely are just jokes? Can't they tell the difference? Why is it NASAs' job to handle this? They must have better things to do and obviously whatever they thought they were doing trying to educate people HAS NOT WORKED. Not that educating isn't important, but instead of the symptom, go for the cure? NASA is not it...
I've said it before but not here, there should be laws called crimes against reality and the movie should have a disclaimer stating that as entertainment it has no bearing other than appearance to the planet earth and the world we call home.
When really bad weather happens governors can declare state of emergency to get money. Old buildings fall down, things must get rebuilt, but what about damage to minds? Isn't there some sort of rational response that should be made when we become aware of a vast swath of ignorant people? I think the responses to this movie are quite scary, in fact terrifying. And if this isn't proof that the US education system only produces reliable tax payers, what else is?
NASA get back to work! Your friends in the government are producing meat to pay taxes and won't stop until individuals become property again. Do your jobs which is managing space and research, not the stupidity of people who eat popcorn.
There's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they Do... Not... Know about it!
WE WON'T MAKE IT TO 2012!
Ps; Since you won't need your money any more please send it to me. Hurry; there are only 6 weeks left!
Hey wait...This is actually a gooder than usual point from an AC.
Why is the taxpayer's money being spent on this nonsense? What's next? Scientific evidence, that there is no Santa Claus? That black cats crossing your path do not cause "bad luck" (whatever that is)?
It's a blog post and a FAQ. That's it. No probe to prove there is no planet Nibiru, no expensive mission. Are you really worried that one man probably spent a few days writing this up?
Frankly, I thought it was nice to hear that a NASA scientist is working to take the time to respond to a worried public and trying to minimize that time by having an informative page. When I was a kid, I wrote to NASA from Minnesota all the time. Every single time they responded. I still have fact sheets on all of their shuttle craft in my parent's closet. I read those things over and over trying to imagine how someone could come up with such amazing machines. Go ahead, spend a few minutes to hand write them a letter, you might be surprised with the response:
And if you came here to complain that NASA wastes tax payer money, you're in the wrong place. NASA's budget is about half of one percent of the Federal budget--don't even get me started on what our defense budget comes out to be. That's a ridiculously low amount of money for an agency that's charged with a major component of our future and probably the whole future of the Earth and its inhabitants.
... what exactly are you implying these questions and blog are strawmen for?
Your subject confuses me further
My work here is dung.
Actually this could make NASA more popular or interesting because if they debunk this 2012 crap like a dad explains his boy, woman aren't flesh eating medusas people might feel some more respect?
Ignorance is not stupidity. NASA has addressed the ignorance. Good for them.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
I'll answer the questions and I won't feel bad about the answers I give to stupid people.
In a few years, the rest of you will notice there's a lot fewer stupid people around, and you'll thank me.
You're welcome.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
FUD? Is the Microsoft sales staff rhetorically asking people how they can be completely sure that their open source operating system will survive 2012? Those bastards! Still...maybe I should switch to Windows 7...Ya know, just to be safe.
Yeah, so if you run into one of these idiots, and she happens to be cute, just tell her that you are a Mao Shan master and you know the perfect ceremony to stop Nibiru from hitting the Earth, if you could just get a little help from her...
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I find it difficult to believe that people can take something like this so seriously to the point they will end their lives. If these people do exist it's very sad that there are people out there who have no way of evaluating information to decide what's real or not. It must make their lives very difficult.
I'm selling insurance for 2012. You can get it now for the limited low fee of $1,000 a year. When the world ends in 2012 you'll receive $10,000,000. Buy now, before it's too late.
I dunno, the people in On the Beach had a pretty compelling reason to at least consider euthanizing their children. Or pretty much any time death is guaranteed and your choices are slow and painful or quick and merciful.
But... I mean... Obviously you should wait until something like the nuclear holocaust actually happens before seriously considering it.
Thinking about it because you saw a movie means you're just an idiot with an unfortunately functional reproductive system.
The enemies of Democracy are
I first read "Ask an Astrobiologist" as "Ask an Astrologist" -- frankly, I think were NASA to set up an 'Ask an Astrologist' blog and just put up a bunch of "predictions" that the world ISN'T going to end, that they might have more lasting luck with this project.
Why is the taxpayer's money being spent on this nonsense?
It's a blog post and a FAQ. That's it. No probe to prove there is no planet Nibiru, no expensive mission. Are you really worried that one man probably spent a few days writing this up?
They probably saved taxpayer money by writing a FAQ instead of getting repetitive calls from all the loonys.
Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
The economy is in a shambles and you need a job. You respond with "The FSM will return on Dec 24, 2012 and your death will be more horrible than you can imagine. The only way to prevent this fate is to kill yourself, preferably by drowning in a bowl of spagettios."
Then you take his job after he kills himself.
If he doesn't kill himself, drown him in a bowl of spagetti.
Free Martian Whores!
Why would people believe the world is ending in 2012 when there's clear evidence that the Earth/mankind survive until the 23rd century?
(Hey, if people will believe that 2012 is a documentary showing the end of the world, maybe they'll buy this!)
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
I didn't know the movie was about some planet collision!
Science education is one of NASA's missions after all. Education seems like a fine use of my money.
I'd say that NASA is trying to SAVE money by doing this.
NASA has received many, many questions about 2012, the Mayan calendar, and the latest asshat disaster movie. Similar, no doubt, to the panic and subsequent derision of science caused in the minds of some by the same level of pseudoscience demonstrated by "The Day After Tomorrow", which some people actually treated as a straw man for climate change theory.
So, NASA gets tons of emails, calls, etc. Some of them from people who are apparently suicidal. The cheapest and most efficient way is, of course, to confirm the rumors to those people and give them maps to their nearest pharmacy, along with detailed instructions on what colorful bottles contain stuff that will do the deed quickly and hopefully painlessly (because we don't want to be cruel). But the bodies would start to rot and stink, and it might attract Zombies as we all know from a recent documentary on the subject.
So, what's a governmental agency to do? Bail out a large institution? OK, yes, of course, but after that fails again? And again? And again? And again?
Easy! Put up a FAQ!
Because you just know the kind of people who are concerned enough not to do the slightest bit of research before they contemplate suicide are going to head immediately toward a FAQ that disagrees with their preconceived notions.
But, at least, you have to give NASA credit for trying. They've put out a clear, concise, level-headed, fact-filled document that really covers the major rumors well and attempts to debunk a few of the weirdest of the weird for-fun-and-profit rumormongers. In other words, it won't hold up to any argument that the people asking the questions will buy.
What they really should have put up was "We are safe. Baby Jeebus told me so".
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
To the questions of suicide or putting down your dog: NOW. DO IT NOW. You will most assuredly put the rest of the world at ease.
Wow, this unoriginal post was modded insightful? I hate having to waste my mod points modding stuff down that shouldn't even be modded up in the first place.
...human society can't have too much longer when there is an appreciable number of people stupid enough to be driven to suicide by a Roland Emmerich movie.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
...how do I make money off these fools?
Table-ized A.I.
Mi is a hard core anti-government libertarian. For him, there is no excuse to thin to turn into an opportunity to bash the government. He's one of those people who think government can never, ever do anything good. If it looks good, you aren't looking hard enough. To people like Mi, NASA is just socialism for scientists and engineers who should be working in private industry.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I know. You'd think a a gov agency ran by nerds would only watch scifi movies, not lame disaster movies. But then some people can't differentiate fact from fiction.
If people don't understand science then everything scientific becomes mystical. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c6HsiixFS8
And remove themselves from the gene pool.
Almost no stupidity or suicidal tendancies are hereditary. Most mental disabilities are caused by accident or disease. A very large number of children are born every day with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome to (other then being alcoholics) perfectly sane, normal, intelligent people. The "Darwin Award" is pure bullshit; evolution doesn't work like that.
If a stupid woman has fifteen kids and ten die, and you have never had sex, she won the Darwin game and you are its loser.
Free Martian Whores!
Go read about The War Of The Worlds .
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
'I've had three from young people saying they were contemplating committing suicide. I've had two from women contemplating killing their children and themselves. I had one last week from a person who said, "I'm so scared, my only friend is my little dog. When should I put it to sleep so it won't suffer?" And I don't know how to answer those questions.'"
He should answer "As soon as possible." Put some chlorine in that gene pool. The human herd could do with some culling of the credulous.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Any wonder why we have so many problems?
Let's just hope Santa complies with all the safety regulations ...
Lots of people have commented on how incredibly stupid these people are. I don't think it's quite that simple.
I think that they're just scared. There's so much fear in our culture, people are scared of health care, scared of a black president, scared of terrorists, scared of oil prices, scared of cell phone companies, scared of pirates (the Somalian kind), scared of pirates (the MPAA kind), scared of the RIAA and MPAA, scared of swine flu, scared of unemployment, scared of having a job that doesn't pay a living wage, scared of peanuts, scared of global warming, scared of pollution, scared of home invasions, scared of floods, earthquakes and fires, scared of nuts with guns, scared of the government taking away everyone's guns.
Fear makes you irrational. It suppresses the "carefully think about the situation" part of your brain, and supercharges the "fight or flight" part. If people stopped to think rationally about it, they would realize it is fiction. But the fear prevents them from thinking rationally.
We live in a constant state of fear, and our culture (or our media, depending on how you look at it) keeps giving us more reasons to be afraid.
What we need is more reason to be hopeful, not fearful. If we remove the irrational fears about health care, presidents, terrorists, MPAA, pirates, global warming, etc., then we would also have fewer irrational fears about the planet Nimbus crashing into Earth on December 21st, 2012.
I hate it when I make a joke and I get modded "+5 insightful". Mod the stupid comments "funny", not "insightful", pleas
what exactly are you implying these questions and blog are strawmen for?
For the fact that the sun will explode in 2012, and NASA knows it!!!
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
I would go LOL Americans but I'm sure we'll experience the same thing here (UK) as more people see it...
Sure, but in this context, very little isn't fiction. Morality, love, right/wrong, the very essence of humanity itself - all fiction. Much of the future is fiction as well - your retirement, your relationships, even your next meal. None of this is measurable fact at all.
And from that point of view isn't it a waste of money to try and stop those moms from killing their children? If all religion is fiction, and be extension all morality is as well, what exactly is the benefit of intervening? Where are the facts to back the assertion up? How can we prove, by experiment that we would be making the right choices?
Or perhaps certain fictions are more valuable than others?
Why is the taxpayer's money being spent on this nonsense? What's next? Scientific evidence, that there is no Santa Claus?
You won't be laughing when the ice sheet melts down to the point that his workshop sinks into the Arctic Ocean.
Well it wroked for Gordan Brown...
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You go in a movie theater, watching a movie with fancy effects and a lot of sound and destruction which so ridiculous that is obvious that it is not a documentary or a feasable forecast. How could anyone really believe it? Do they have no education at all? Or are they just dumb from watching too much TV?
Why is the taxpayer's money being spent on this nonsense?
Putting up a couple of web pages on an already existing web site is trivially inexpensive, and the existing web site nasa.gov's primary purpose is to educate the populace. You have something against education? If you think about it, lives could be saved; someone who believes the nonsense might think "the world is ending so I have nothing to lose, I might as well kill this guy and take his money and go on a drinking binge."
What's next? Scientific evidence, that there is no Santa Claus?
People don't really believe in Santa Clause; they ARE Santa if they're parents. If there were a real, widespread belief that Santa really existed and was a danger to children, there would likely be a page or two on some government site debunking it.
As to black cats, that particular superstition, unlike 2012, is harmless. Plus "luck" has never been AFAIK studied scientifically, unlike planets.
Free Martian Whores!
Maybe some people like the idea that the world will come to a fiery cataclysmic end in 2012 because it beats the alternative: a second term of the Obama administration.
While 2012 may be fiction and guillable people are overreacting, it might be a good thing to raise awareness for the doomsday scenario of an earth - massive asteroid collision, which is a very real threat we have no escape plan for.
We know it has happened at least once already. And I do get a bit nervous when I look at the lunar surface and at all the big craters it's splattered with.
Yeah, two thigns.
1) Just because you weren't around to see the stupid thigns humans have done in the past, doesn't mean that they're somehow less stupid than the stupid thigns we're doing today. A vocal but very small minority could topple civilization, but not by means of self-destructive ignorance and worry.
2) The 2012 myth is not reaction to the movie; the movie is reaction to the 2012 myth. The 2012 myth takes many forms, and each of those forms have some elements that resonate wtih some people. The movie has magnified and publicized that resonance to a larger audience, although even so the vast majority do understand it to be fiction.
The apocalypists will just choose another date for the end of the world then a few more years into the future. They've been doing this for centuries.
Astronomers have determined there were two Thursday seders during Pilate's governorship. This date is the favored one. Then the millennialists can add an even 2000 years to that for the end of the world.
This will oblivate a massive reprogramming effort to fix the UNIX clock which runs out of bits four years later.
Modern medicine has kept those that would succumb to disease or illness alive. Now evolution relies on the stupid to make sure the strong survive.
No sig for you!!
You know, I love NASA and the work they do, and I learned some interesting things reading that FAQ (particularly from the links to other active projects). Sadly, I think they take the wrong approach to deal with fucktards who think they should kill themselves and their loved ones to spare them from the apocalypse. Take this quote from the FAQ, for instance:
Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit by a meteor in 2012?
A: The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs...
Okay, time out. Yes, the answer goes on to explain that "you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012". The problem here is, no, they won't go and see for themselves. In fact, they won't read to the end to even see that. They will see "Earth has always been subject to impacts", and "led to the extinction of the dinosaurs", and fucking freak out.
Granted, my response would probably be something like "No, that's a stupid question, you're a fucking idiot, and you should kill yourself anyway", but if the goal is to save retards from themselves, perhaps NASA ought to write a FAQ for idiots and post it on www.thereisnoimpendingapocalypse.com.
True. It's in the governments best interests to keep the stupid ones alive and blindly paying taxes.
No sig for you!!
The above poster "If we remove the irrational fears" that would include any form of God.
Religion is sold to people in much the same way as any state-driven fear; it just looks slightly different and so it gets categorized in a different box. But that box is in the same basement.
This is why television is best avoided. It's not the adverts which get you; it's the implied reality behind the statements, and the endless flicker, flicker, flicker just on the edge of our awareness, lulling us into mass hypnosis. Most people I know who champion so-called "science" over religion are victims of that hypnosis. They wouldn't recognize real critical thinking if they tripped over it, but they truly believe they are critical thinkers. And THAT is how the dream of the matrix works to control people.
-FL
Is your boss paying you to post on Slashdot? Why are you posting here?
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
The Freedonia Air and Space Administration covered this topic about 20 years ago... The cycle is not the end of the World, just a change from the 5th world to the 6th world... And a return of Magic and Elves and Dragons! So line up your fixers now, brother and sister deckers! ----
http://visualizecommonsense.com/
That's NORAD.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
Later, a full-force Bear Patrol is on watch. Homer watches proudly.
Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa: That's spacious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?
[Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
So you're saying that Microsoft is in charge of the release date of the Apocalypse, then? Makes perfect sense to me.
Maybe they'll take out some of the nastier features. Then we only have to fear Apocalypse SP1.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
Damn Palin supporters.
I saw the movie this weekend. It was better than I expected. Thanks to the trailer, I went in with very low expectations ("SciFi Channel Original with better special effects, right?"). It actually told a pretty good story, and the special effects eyecandy was AWESOME!
I was chuckling when I guessed what the story was early on, though, and the rest of the movie confirmed it. They scrubbed off the serial numbers, changed the name, changed the exact cause of the disaster, changed a few details about the escape ships, but the plot is pretty much a re-telling of the classic scifi disaster novel, "When Worlds Collide". As the guy who compared "Dungeons and Dragons" with "Lord of the Rings" noted, it helps to start with a script that doesn't suck. "When Worlds Collide" doesn't suck; it's a classic story.
The science, on the other hand, belonged to a SciFi Channel Original Movie, but hey, I expected that. The story was good.
---dragoness
Who is inheriting it? The evil motherfuckers who blow up markets in their own neighborhoods killing women and children intentionally in the name of their god? I think not.
Because as fucked as the US is, its still leaps and bounds better then the alternative.
Scientists are expensive, and should be busy with real problems... Unless, of course, this guy undertook it on his own free time...
Our defense budget — despite two ongoing wars — is just over 40 times that of NASA: still about the same size as the Social Security and way below the Medicare and Medicaid, not to mention the rest of the Federal spending. Considering the fact, that military is constitutionally a federal government's charge, whereas healthcare and pensions are not, your outrage would be quite misplaced... But I digress.
I meant, that these arguments are addressing a superstition and are thus misplaced to begin with — and too easy to make. Perhaps, the term "strawman" was not a good match, because there is not really a "real" concern there, you are right...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Are you out of your mind? Where the fuck do you think all those craters on the moon come from? Shit has been hitting the moon since it existed, and has it broken in half yet? You think a little satellite can do that?
Hmmm....how come NORAD wants us to believe in Santa Claus, I sense a Conspiracy. John F. Kennedy Junior is calling from beyond the grave to investigate how a bonehead like him could actually crash his plane all by himself. Someone contact Seymour Hersch, there's got to be nefarious CIA involvement...probably including the nuclear lobby and the oil companies...
you could probably get people to believe it in this day and age
The same concept worked on TV.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
While there's plenty around here that put no faith in whatever calendar predicted 2012, but what if it was The Bible/Koran/Torah that predicted 2012? There's quite a bit more people that claim those books are the truth. I bet there's quite a few people on /. that are deeply religious and belief those books.
While we might think a few folks are believing this movie's prediction; try convincing a devout Christian/Jew there was no 'burning bush' or Moses and his 10 Commandments.
7 pages of comments and Slashdot readers haven't mentioned " Science: "2012" a Miscalculation; Actual Calendar Ends 2220". Yeah, there will be panic.
all over again!
"That's a ridiculously low amount of money for an agency that's charged with a major component of our future and probably the whole future of the Earth and its inhabitants."
The scale compared to defense spending implies the amount of resources necessary just to keep humanity from destroying itself, before NASA can keep nature from doing it for us.
Funny part is I give NASA better odds, though the people in charge of our world's various militaries also have a lot of personal profit to gain and lose by ensuring general continuity of human inhabitance, so they aren't as likely to push the "annihilate" button as some might think.
Yes, but the stuff hitting the mooon in the past has been all-natural, and as we know, natural stuff is always safe, it's that nasty artifical stuff that'll kill you.
This kind of thing is actually a documented mental illness (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1151359 among others). It began with The Exorcist leading to a bunch of people suddenly, literally, living in fear of their lives of being possessed by the devil. Later people watching Jaws, including some people living in Kansas far from any body of water that could reasonably contain a shark, became so afraid of shark attacks that they couldn't leave their homes. It doesn't happen often, but for those afflicted it can apparently be almost completely debilitating.
Jealously hoarding mod points since 2007.
Actually I see it exactly like that. I just wanted to mention the global warming thing to see if anyone else sees the similarities.
Maybe they could combine the two lists, to make the NASA pop culture FAQ:
Will the world end in 2012?
No, the majority of scientists believe climate change will destroy the world. We are waiting for the sequel to "An Inconvenient Truth" to provide an exact date, and it is not scheduled to be released until 2013.
[...] Where the fuck do you think all those craters on the moon come from? [...]
Wait! You're saying that the U.S. has been crashing stuff into the moon for years and they never told us!? The horror! They are probably TRYING to break it in half.
But stupidity could also be based on the way one is raised. Do you think someone raised by one of those morons will have any respect for scientific fact over idiotic superstition and hyperbole instilled in them?
Let's see ... what gives you a quicker human response?
a) Pick up the phone and get the operator to put you through to NASA's reception
b) Get on the internet and search for the answer
Thursday? So actually the world will be destroyed by the Vogons ...
Just checked: December 21, 2012 is a Friday. So it clearly won't be the day of doom.
BTW, I've found the true interpretation of the Mayan calendar: 2012-12-21 will the release date of DNF.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
The problem isn't people watching the movie 2012, it is the viral advertising surrounding it. They ran ads that made the movie sound a dramatization of a real idea rather than complete fiction, ala the Day After Tomorrow, and encourage them to search the web for the "real truth". The studio created a fake website purposing to be a scientific institute predicting a collision with earth in 2012. On top of this loonies have been talking about a 2012 apocalypse of some sort since we first understood the Mayan calendar, and latter some of them latched onto the Nimbiru idea after the books came out, so the internet is full of websites giving "evidence" of this catastrophe, many of whom claim to be scientific websites themselves.
Yeah, people with a decent bullshit detector should be able to figure out that this is all crap, but it's not like they just watched a normal movie and thought it was read - the studio is trying to present it as though it were real, by making it a conspiracy that the mainstream is covering up.
The difference between ignorance and stupidity is that one is curable.
Free Martian Whores!
Who cares Santa is a fake. The presents are delivered by the Christkind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christkind) at least in the civilized world. Only protestants believe santa who is in real Odin brings the presents. And in most times he is confused with Saint Nichols who really lived, but who is correctly celebrated on December 6.
...Apparently ... use ... phrases about “alignments” and the “dark rift” and “photon belt” precisely because they are ... bad
ahhhrg, this is horrible
As far as the safety of the Earth is concerned ... the loss of biological diversity, and ... collision with an asteroid or comet...
This is how he answers !?!
Just because it's pseudoscientific doesn't mean it isn't scientific.
There isn't a day when I don't think the end of the world.
Exception Duck - may or may not contain chicken.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that
- George Carlin
A potential explanation for all this confusion can perhaps be found in the musings of Frank Zappa:
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is
so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute
that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the
basic building block of the universe."
The only reason the end of the world in 2012 is not being properly covered by news outlets is because of their well-known liberal bias. They know that 2012 will be an election year and that the GOP has a better end-of-the-world plan.
Nullius in verba
I've always wondered about the possibility that doomsday predictions would be self-fulfilling. For instance, some insane person with an inexplicable amount of power (I'm looking at you, Kim Jong-Il) believes wholeheartedly in some end-of-the-world prophecy, and moreover, believes that they're going to have to be the one to set the events in motion. Then their predictions of terrible things happening on a certain date come true by virtue of the simple fact that they themselves were the initiator. In the case of this movie (and the 2012 prediction in general), I doubt we'd see anything dire, but who knows? We've seen tragedies like Heaven's gate and the Jonestown massacre already, and this one has all the force of a Hollywood endorsement behind it. I know plenty of posters here are ready to pounce all over this and write it off as mass hysteria or stupidity or whatever, but it kind of leaves me with a sick feeling in my stomach.
Don't Panic.
"Kill yourself now, before its too late!"
alternative ending:
"Why bother, we are all gonna die in 2012!"
alternate alternate ending:
"Well its 2009, and the world ends in 2012, so if we take one number, 2009 and subtract it from 2012 you get the number 3. Its called math. So you should kill yourself in about 3 years. If you want to get really accurate, you could look at a calender and see what month it is, and what day, and really work out exactly when to do it! Either way, it isn't for awhile and your probably likely to die drowning looking up during a rain storm before that, so leave me alone..."
alternate alternate alternate ending:
"Don't worry about it we will be hit by a meteor or a comet long before then!"
As an aside I have also heard that this Mayan 2012 prediction is all buffoonery. They Mayans thought their the world would end just like we think the world ends after December. It was their calender for keeping track of time. I think it was implied that you just restart the calender once the cycle is over. Perhaps it is so implisit that they didn't feel the need to explain this just the same we don't put a sticker on every calender we ever make that says "Not to worry, world not ending, new calender next year!"
It is stupid to believe that Earth will be ending in 2012 and it will not becoming less stupid just because other people think the swine flu is more dangerous than other flus. And same for the rest. It is more dangerous to die in a car accident than to be killed by a terrorist. And I will not text on the (not so) free market and its flaws, because you can find all information elsewhere.
Please read: Manufactoring Consent from Noam Chomsky
All I can say STUUUPID, both the movie and anyone taking it even remotely seriously. It was barely entertaining, more like a ready victim for MST3K than anything else. It just goes to show you how naive and gullible the average Joe and/or Jane is. The idea that you have to suspend belief for certain parts of movies is well established but you have to suspend all pretense of sentience and coherent thought to believe this one. I really hope Avatar is better than this...
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Part of NASA's mandate is education. They spend most of their time aiming fairly high, but this looks like a great opportunity to dispense some education where it is desperately needed, and has only cost someone ten minutes to write a blog post.
"A very large number of children are born every day with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome to (other then being alcoholics) perfectly sane, normal, intelligent people."
Point one - if they are alcoholics, they are NOT normal. That's like saying someone is in perfect health but for diabetes.
Point two - there is a large hereditary component to alcoholism. So, from a genetic standpoint, FAS definitely qualifies a a constraint for passing on the traits of alcoholism - while it didn't stop the alcoholic from breeding, it will definitely affect the number of grandchildren an alcoholic has.
You might want to pick a better example.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
A friend of mine is taking an Arky (Archaeology for those less hip) Class, as she is an ancient & medieval history major, and she is taking a class this semester SPECIFICALLY on the Mayans. Her Prof is one of the archaelogists who work on sites like Tucan. The prof held an open public lecture in the University of Calgary in the first week of November here. My friend and I both attended, and while I never did believe in the whole Mayan Myth it's interesting to see where its origins begin.
So this prof is basically a Mayan pro, she can translate most inscriptions just by looking at them (no reference needed) and she intimately understands their number and Calendar system. The first thing to know about Mayan numbers is that they don't use Base 10, they use base 20. The other thing to know is that there is not ONE Mayan Language. They were similar to all of Europe, where the europeans had french, English, spanish, german, etc, the Mayans had about 6 to 8 different Variants. And with that in mind, they were never a single nation, each city had it's own king/queen type leader, and they peacably would trade with the other cities of the area. No one city was truly the capital, but those major trade hubs and those with rarer goods tended to prosper more than the little towns.
Anyways, so the Mayans used 2 different Calendars, and I can't remember how big, but there was a sizable gap in between the usage of each (I think like 800 years?). But basically what it breaks down into is the Short count and the Long count.
The Short count is very much like our Calendar today, 18 months of 20 days each with 5 days at the end of the year for some religious purpose (Similar to the egyptians). They also had Names for days of their week, like Monday Tuesday Wednesday (Except Mayan Gods instead of Norse Gods). So if I were to say, Friday, December 25th, you'd know I mean this Christmas and not last Christmas or the next Christmas because they don't land on a Friday. This works well for 8 years until Christmas lands on a Friday again. You could be more precise about the date if you gave me the year, which is where the Long Count comes in.
We attribute a year to 365 days. So I would say that Dec 31 2009 would be day 733285. The Mayans didn't use years, they merely counted days. Which is neat in some ways because there were 20 days in a month (And they're number system is base 20, remember?) But also a bit of a hassle in others, because there are 18 months.
So the way Archaeologists expressed their long count is in a series of numbers seperated by decimals (It looks like a long IP Address to me). Day 1 would be like 0.0.0.0.0.1 and Day 23 would be like 0.0.0.2.3 - - Except here's the kicker - Mayans didn't set day 0 as anything in particular. In fact, their creation story takes place well after 0. This leads many people to believe that the Mayans set a date in the future as some signifigance and worked their way backwards. What day that could be or what they believed it would be has yet to be discovered. There are some speculations. No, its not 2012.
Essentially the numbers further to the left represent longer periods of time, so each 1.0.0.0.0 in the long count is really like 8767 years give or take, which is a really long friggen time, right? We celebrate every year pretty much, but every odd once in a while we hold huge celebrations, like when we ushered in the new millenia in the year 2000. That sort of thing was also important to the Mayans. If I recall correctly, we're roughly around the 13.0.19.0.0 era on the Mayan Calendar. So when it rolls around to be 13.1.0.0.0 - wouldn't that be a rollover worth celebrating? To the Mayans it would be. Guess what day that happens to fall on? You're right, December 21 2012.
So now that you've got a crash course on the Calendar and how it works, where exactly does the Prophecy come in? I'll tell you. Amongst the ruins of cities, Mayans had what we call Stelas. They are basically big stones which have stories and such carved into them, very much like a monu
Add another 300 years! :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Indeed, I think it is (was?) mandatory for US federal employees at a certain level to respond to any citizen correspondence, no matter how zany it might be. Remember my father way back when working as a physicist for the DOE having to respond to similar questions about particle colliders causing the end of the world or postulations about the flood in the bible somehow causing the hole in the ozone layer. There were some true /facepalm zingers he got, none of which I can remember now. Of course he didn't have the luxury of the internet or a blog site to post a mass-response, at the very best he had email or snail mail with which to respond to inquiries.
Being a scientist working for the government always got you weird requests it seemed, at least for him. Maybe it's not limited to government scientists.
After his retiring I remember either the History Channel or the Discovery Channel approached him about interviewing him as an expert for a show about atomic bomb tests causing cancer in John Wayne or something to that effect. He declined figuring they'd just make him look like a fool. Keep meaning to watch that program just to see what they came up with, assuming they followed through with it.
I've been noticing a lot of these "NASA Calms 2012 Fears" articles in the last few days, enough that it makes it sound like there's more of a story here than I think there really is. The real question is, how many people are actually worried about this? I'm guessing that it's a tiny number, and probably what happened is, a statistical blip caused a few of the crazier ones to contact NASA. So then he posts on the blog about it, and for some reason a lot of places pick up the story.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
If the Sun was about to explode, would you really want to know about it?
There is absolutely nothing that we could do to prevent it, and there is nothing we could do to save ourselves... I would prefer not knowing and living a normal life, instead of living in fear for the last days of my too short life. Ignonrance is bliss sometimes.
2012 maybe the year of the cubs to win it all and that will be a VERY BIG THING.
anyways this looks the year for the blackhawks. The bears maybe next year.
That show has some REALLY bad science in it at times. For instance, one episode discussed the "myth" (rather old wives saying) that with breakfast cereal (the american kind) the cardboard box it comes in contains more NUTRITION then the cereal itself.
The amazing mythbusters then went on to determine the CALORIE/ENERGY and FAT contents of both products. Do Americans REALLY need more CALORIES or FAT in their diets? Not once did they test EITHER of the products for NUTRITIONAL values, as in minerals/vitamins etc. They proved that sugar coated grain gives you energy. No shit sherlock. Your MOTHER is talking about nutrition as you find it in fresh vegetables, and fruit. Not a sugar cube or lump of butter.
And yet many here at slashdot consider mythbusters as valid science and often quote their results to prove how silly a myth is.
I seen another show where helicopters were discussed and the claim was made that helicopters do not have ejection seats. Correct. US helicopters do not, SOVIET helicopters did. How many believe a lie because they thought a documentary was a documentary?
The truth, the real absolute, total and complete truth is not good entertainment and does not fit in a soundbite or between commercial blocks.
And the truth is hard to understand because you need to understand an lot of complex subjects that you actually need to spend some time thinking about.
What IS the mayan calendar and why is 2012 significant and as mentioned in the article is that different then 31st december 2009? If you don't understand WHAT a date really is, how time is tracked, then you COULD think 31st december 9999 would be an ending (which is rougly what 2012 is to the mayans). Silly if you TRULY understand calendars, numbers and such but many don't.
For many people, magical thinking fills in the gaps between their understanding of the world and a LOT of us do it. Come one, be honest how much of your understanding of gravity is a rubber sheet with a weight on it? There is no rubber sheet, that is magical thinking to help your limited intelligence deal with the concepts thought up by truly brilliant people.
So, don't be to condescending, you are no Einstein.
Our world is filled with half lies to explain things away because explaining everything to everyone would explode the education system and not help getting the bloody toilets cleaned and garbage collected and even peoples wounds dressed.
A simple story: In africa there used to be a believe that if you used a cooking stick twice, evil demons would posses it. White missionaries said this was silly superstition and forbid this practice. people soon dropped dead. Why? The evil spirit called food poisoning. This is LESS of an issue in colder climates like europe, but in the hot african sun food spoils far more rapidly.Oh, the story might not be true, but the gist of it is that sometimes "magical thinking" fills a gap between knowing that something is true and knowing the reason behind it.
But we humans ain't perfect and we all can't spent all our time reading books. These people heard something, didn't understand it and nobody is willing to clearly explain it and then there are stations like Fox that even add to the fear mongering for their own gains. Hell even Discovery and National Geographic are happy to host a "lets scare people" show to get ratings. How are people to know the full truth when the lies are sold so much better?
I think what NASA is doing is the right thing, but they should do it more clearly and get someone like Carl Sagan, someone who can talk plain english to explain it on tv on popular chat shows. SHOW people. Don't hide in the ivory tower sneering down, come out with the science. People LOVE science, but you need to open up to them, not by talking down to them, but by starting easy and then pulling them up. Why do you Einstein is such a celebrity? Because HE could do that. Few can. Certainly not most people here.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The Mayan/Aztec/Inca/etc "2012" date is just their calendar's version of "Y2K". Their symbols for time are repeated circles, so they have to repeat somewhere. Nobody takes any other ancient Western Hemisphere religious prophecy seriously at all, even those that actually prophecy something other than the inevitable form the symbols will take on some day.
People are so afraid of a world they don't understand, that they refuse to understand, that plenty of us can be scared into overreacting to anything, no matter how paranoid and unreal.
--
make install -not war
The black sport is cover for stargate pro.........to.......amke.ship./.........notvafssafdkjldsafjdslaadsljfsjdaklajdsajfdskl,
If they truly believe in this predictions, then I say, let them kill themselves. People can choose to believe these predictions, or they can choose not to. If they choose to and want to end their lives to avoid it, then let them. There is no need to babysit these individuals who refuse to look at all the facts and not read into propaganda.
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
From the site "Letters of Note" which seems to be down at the moment:
Aberdeen, S. Dak.
November 1, 1938
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D. C.
Gentlemen:
I have read considerable concerning the program of Orson Welles presented over the Columbia Broadcasting System Sunday evening. I suppose that by this time you have received many letters from numerous cranks and crack-pots who quickly became jitterbugs during the program. I was one of the thousands who heard this program and did not jump out of the window, did not attempt suicide, did not break my arm while beating a hasty retreat from my apartment, did not anticipate a horrible death, did not hear the Martians "rapping on my chamber door," did not see the monsters landing in war-like regalia in the park across the street, but sat serenely entertained no end by the fine portrayal of a fine play.
The "Mercury Theatre" has been one of the radio high-lights of the week for me this fall. The program Sunday, I felt, was one of their better programs.
Should your commission contemplate serious measures toward the Columbia Broadcasting System my suggestion would be that the "Mercury Theatre" be directed to re-broadcast this program and the reaction of all the listening audience be solicited.
In the interest of a continuation of the fine things in radio today, I am,
Very respectfully yours,
(Signed)
J. V. Yaukey
"I've had three from young people saying they were contemplating committing suicide" - seriously, if you believe 2012 (or any movie really) enough to even say something like that, the world is probably better off without you. Thats really just plain stupidity. "A movie said the world might end in a little over 2 years, i better kill myself now" honest to god, your just wasting valuable air useful people could be breathing. But to read this, "I've had two from women contemplating killing their children" is really sad and somewhat supprising that people this dumb actually figured out how to breed (perhaps im assuming too much?).
Is the world really getting as stupid as it appears to be?
OK, if you really believe 2012 is the end, I have a wonderful deal for you:
I will give you 50% of the cash value for all your belongings AND you can keep them through 2012. IF the world doesn't end, I get to have your things in 2013.
Any takers?
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The "Darwin Award" is pure bullshit; evolution doesn't work like that.
Whoosh, buddy. Whoosh!
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I will. I've been working for many years on a novel which uses a rogue planet (a la Leiber's Pail of Air) to bring about all of the signs of the Apocalypse. The scariest part is that it could. You don't need faith to understand Revelation, you need a degree in Astrophysics.
Keep it - just in case. It could end up being a great meal when the apocalypse hits...
You might want to pick a better example.
Falling down while learning to walk. Being in an auto accident (shaken baby syndrome). Umbilical cord wrapped around the baby's neck at birth. There are myriad causes, few of them genetic.
And although there is in fact a hereditary componemt to alcoholism (and other addictions), many alcoholics do in fact stop drinking. Many alcoholics do in fact produce children who never drink.
Free Martian Whores!
in the Christian church calendar. hey folks, not to prosletyze here or anything, but when the universe comes apart, I'm going to be otherwise engaged, thanks.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
2012 debunked: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4093 Any reasonably intellegent person knows that 2012 is just another date with no particular significance. It may be a very entertaining movie but the date is just, well... another date.
These folks contemplating suicide. Wonder if this is the same group that believes Obama's birth certificate is a fake or that Glenn Beck is the second coming?
Wait, if we do have a sudden spike it suicides, that's going to put a dent in Glenn's demographics for sure.
Take care and use plastic ware....
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy - Benjamin Franklin"
. . . because Nibiru is the name of Jupiter in the Babylonian compendium of astrology, Mul.Apin.
Jupiter isn't going anywhere, of course.
There's no excuse at all for 2012.
maybe they forgot to stay and read the credits...
That's what they would say even if there were a planet ...what the hell was it called... ...Nibiru... about to collide with Earth.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
You know plenty of people laugh at the superstitions of people in the Dark Ages, but science as we know it, didn't exist then. I mean Aristotle had some great ideas, but there was little or nothing to take the place of raw superstition until about the 13th or 14th century (at least in the West).
But what is peoples' excuse today? How is it that people who presumably graduated from the American educational system are no better off than some dirt-farming peasant from barbarian times? Things weren't always this bad. If I had the choice of hiring someone with a high school education from 1909 or someone with a high school education from 2009, I'd choose the 1909 person, and 90% of the time I'd be better off.
But of course or education system is fine, it just needs more money thrown at it.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
...and I haven't got any, snif.
On the bright side, this doesn't seem to be happening over here in my country.
No sig today...
It's a blog post and a FAQ. That's it. No probe to prove there is no planet Nibiru, no expensive mission.
So then NASA doesn't really KNOW that there's no planet Nibiru? I urge everyone to call your congresscritters and DEMAND that NASA probe with an expensive mission to prove there is no planet Nibiru. Two missions if you want to feel safe.
I just got done reading "After Worlds Collide" and before that "When Worlds Collide" both written in the early 1930's. Wake up people, it's just fiction. We really have a lot more to worry about than a movie that's a remake of a movie from the 1950's that was based on a book from the 1930's. Judging from current reactions, over 80 years, I actually think we've gone backwards some.
I can bullshit. Some depression has a very strong genetic component, and is associated with suicidal tendancies. Ask me how I know. Or why I have chosen not to breed.
"Because taxpayers are contemplating suicide over this 2012 nonsense?"
Smart people should not try to save stupid people, who are at worst their enemies and at best a burden.
Fuck 'em. I'll be giggling like a schoolgirl every time I hear one of these 'tards has self-terminated.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
The 6 "days" of the creation are actually representative of 6 "creative periods" the duration of which has not been revealed, but is suspected to be between 1-2 billion earth years each.
That still doesn't make any sense, the bible has earth, daylight and plants made before the sun and stars.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
I almost thought your typo was intentional. :)
GameRanger - multiplayer gaming service for PC and Mac games
Even here this tag is unwarranted. In fact, these events have the opposite effect to those described in idiocracy.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Let's announce that a spaceship has been built to save the really important people, and anyone who signs on now gets the trip for free...
I had one last week from a person who said, "I'm so scared, my only friend is my little dog. When should I put it to sleep so it won't suffer?" And I don't know how to answer those questions.'" Tell them to go ahead as planned. A few less nutcases to worry about for the rest of us ;)
Religion is sold to people in much the same way as any state-driven fear; it just looks slightly different and so it gets categorized in a different box. But that box is in the same basement.
This is why television is best avoided. It's not the adverts which get you; it's the implied reality behind the statements, and the endless flicker, flicker, flicker just on the edge of our awareness, lulling us into mass hypnosis. Most people I know who champion so-called "science" over religion are victims of that hypnosis. They wouldn't recognize real critical thinking if they tripped over it, but they truly believe they are critical thinkers. And THAT is how the dream of the matrix works to control people.
Ok, let's see what you're saying here:
- Religion is sold through fear. Similarly, fear is used to "sell" other things.
- Because of the above, television should be avoided.
- People who champion so-called "science" over religion have been hypnotized by the television(into a state of fear?)
What kind of "science" are you referring to? Is your argument that people who think themselves critical thinkers are gobbling up the same kind of fear as the religious, and simple reverting to a different kind of religion you term "science"?
Please elaborate so we can do a better job tearing your argument to pieces.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Please elaborate so we can do a better job tearing your argument to pieces.
Are you suggesting that everybody who claims to be an unbiased critical thinker is actually an unbiased critical thinker?
Here's a fairly basic question for you:
Would an unbiased critical thinker who already KNOWS he doesn't have enough information, automatically ASSUME that this unknown quantity (the information you are requesting), will allow the performance of the rather emotionally-driven action of, "tearing [an] argument to pieces"?
What kind of "science" are you referring to?
Had your Swine Flu shot yet?
Is your argument that people who think themselves critical thinkers are gobbling up the same kind of fear as the religious, and simple reverting to a different kind of religion you term "science"?
More or less, Yes. Do you allow the fear of ridicule from the authority figures you respect to dictate what you think about and explore?
-FL
Look, dude, there are other countries on Earth than the US and Afghanistan, even if they aren't mentioned on Fox News.
I predict that the average IQ will go up somewhere in 2012...
... at 75% of its market value.
That's the offer I made people during the Millennium panic back in 1999. I reasoned that if the world were really on the brink of chaos, the wisest policy would be to move somewhere more sustainable than a residential subdivision. When the utilities collapsed, you'd need renewable sources of electricity, clean water, etc., as well as the ability to defend your home and family against looters and thieves. Better to spend all your money before the banks and government collapse and currency loses all value.
Every time I hear about some cult predicting the end of the world, I want to make the same offer. "Hey, you think the world is going to end next year. Shouldn't you spend all your resources bringing sinners to God? What's the matter; don't you have faith?" I couldn't go through with it if anyone said yes, but the temptation is there.
The best way to stave off panic is to throw cold, hard money at it.
See you next Apocalypse.
With any luck these people will off themselves prior to 2012 because they are flat out nuts. The ones that totally buying into hysteria but not nuts enough to kill themselves for fear of an event will hopefully fall into a deep depression and kill themselves when they realize they are dip-shits when the Gregorian new year rolls around.
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate
Here's a fairly basic question for you:
Would an unbiased critical thinker who already KNOWS he doesn't have enough information, automatically ASSUME that this unknown quantity (the information you are requesting), will allow the performance of the rather emotionally-driven action of, "tearing [an] argument to pieces"?
Was a tongue in cheek comment, I appreciate it may come across differently however.
What kind of "science" are you referring to?
Had your Swine Flu shot yet?
Ehmm, no? Over here they're mostly vaccinating kids atm. Things being as they are right now I feel the Swine Flu does not pose enough of a risk factor for me to decide to go and get the shot.
Is your argument that people who think themselves critical thinkers are gobbling up the same kind of fear as the religious, and simple reverting to a different kind of religion you term "science"?
More or less, Yes. Do you allow the fear of ridicule from the authority figures you respect to dictate what you think about and explore?
No, not really. Which authority figures would these be?
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
You must be confusing this with the next Presidential election race?
What if .. GNU became conscious:
http://lgo900.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/2012-the-gnu-collective-consciousness/
This is my take on the 2012 hysteria looked through the glasses of a geek (I don't actually wear glasses, though). Shameless plug, but so is this article too for the movie.
A scenario like this could happen. But seriously, I think 2012 is just a marker in our fate that starts a new era of thinking and conscious working towards unity between humans. This is what I'm working towards, and I know a lot of other people are doing the same thing.
Creating fear in the masses has long been the way of Hollywood and those pulling the strings between the scenes. Don't believe the hype, think for yourselves. Don't let negative opinions of others affect you, don't believe the movie industry who just want your money.
We, and you, create the future. Let's make it a bright one, ruled by compassion and love, not fear and self loathing. Thank you.
GeoKone.NET
Well actually I have to thank you for pointing that out, although be it maybe with a little sarcasm, but the satellite was said to contain enough explosive power (onboard fuel etc..) to be equal to a ton of dynamite. I am not an engineer but when NASA plans to crash it into the moon, they mean to blast a big hole in it. Not smart if you ask me! Also, how does explosives work in space, is there a different physics to it then regular explosions on Earth???
Well actually the satellite was said to contain enough explosive power (onboard fuel etc..) to be equal to a ton of dynamite. I am not an engineer but when NASA plans to crash it into the moon, they mean to blast a big hole in it. Not smart if you ask me! Also, how does explosives work in space, is there a different physics to it then regular explosions on Earth???
While watching a recent documentary on the World Trade Center, I finally saw the collapse of WTC 7.
With that footage and the other images of the Towers collapsing, I want to yell at Hollywood, once and for all:
"SKYSCRAPERS ARE NOT DOMINOS!!!"
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Ha ha!
You locked that all down pretty quick when you figured out some of the rules of this particular engagement. Evidence of Ego = losing. Game theory. The problem is that I set the rules, which means you've already submitted to me by altering your behavior so that it fits with the acceptable "Win" pattern. --Which, of course, means I've already got the home advantage. More game theory.
And yes, this is ugly.
These scurrying bit of counter-productive idiocy, (which we ALL have inside us), don't go away. They hide and play games in the back-ends of our minds. I don't like it, and I'm betting you don't either. But where are we? What can be done? --The only effective countermeasure to automatic, predatory thinking is to stay vigilant and learn about the nature of the predator. When we accumulate enough knowledge and energy, we can begin to work towards true ownership of our minds. And then we can choose whether to be monsters or not.
The fact of the matter is this: --Pretty much everything you or I or anybody does is a pre-programmed response designed to increase effective feeding and power accumulation. It's a master stroke! It's self-imprisoning behavior. When the slaves are already trying to prevent the other slaves from growing strong, this becomes the primary mechanism in maintaining the state of universal bondage. The trick is recognizing our own internal predator. Most people have no idea. They hide behind the belief that they are giving, happy, smart people when really their primary actions, when examined, are not chosen from the top ends of our minds but rather are self-serving reactions to ego-based directives. Everybody is engaged in some form of game theory in virtually every interaction they have with the world. But this is an uncomfortable thing to consider, and so they pretend. Or they simply do not see. And so they are blind slaves.
Now science is a wonderful thing because, when practiced correctly, it bypasses many of the tools of the predator. But the predator is very clever; it is responsible for the knee-jerk, ego-wounded reactions we have to certain statements, (Such as, "Most people I know who champion so-called "science" over religion are victims of that hypnosis. They wouldn't recognize real critical thinking if they tripped over it, but they truly believe they are critical thinkers. And THAT is how the dream of the matrix works to control people."), which in turn blossom into entire behavior sets which we believe are based on our personal choices, but which are instead based on these auto-reactions.
Faux science uses the authority of real science to manipulate people by creating convincing lies; it can create society-wide fear. In the case of this Swine Flu thing, it creates fear of plague. And then it can then be used to make us feel safe and secure when we alter our behavior in the manner in which it tells us = "Win". (In the Swine Flu example, winning = getting a shot.) By contrast, real science asks, "What are ALL the factors involved and who ultimately benefits from the resulting patterns?"
It's all game theory, and a frightened populace is not able to think clearly in order to come out on top of that game. Knowing practitioners of Game theory know that inspiring fear in one's prey = advantage.
People attack that which they feel assaults their self-importance. "Most people I know who champion [false] science over religion are victims of that hypnosis". Your ego took offense to the thought that it is hypnotized and so it sent a strong reaction up through your nervous system and you acted upon that by responding to me as you did. And you behaved as though this idiotic reaction was coming from the real you. It wasn't. That's the predator at work. Our predators are the enemy.
>Do you allow the fear of ridicule from the authority figures you respect to dictate what you think about and explore?
No, not really. Which authority figures would these be?
Yes, yes you do, o
send those disturbed people instructions to cut along the veins with their straight razor, not across, for faster bleed out. great opportunity to put long overdue shot of bleach in the gene pool.
According to the summary, some people are also contemplating murdering their children before committing suicide, so as to save them from Armageddon. Funny shit, right?
I wonder why people (even crazy ones) would want to kill themselves. I for one would be thrilled to witness the End Of The World.
I disagree. Some religion is based on fear, and some is based on hope. Just like politics.
Some people get into religion because they want to control and dominate people, and some get into religion because they want to help people and to understand the world. Just like politics.
Since I've already got 2 of the 3 dinner-table-conversation killers, I should point out that some people have sex to control and dominate others, and some have sex to celebrate and please others. Just like politics.
I hate it when I make a joke and I get modded "+5 insightful". Mod the stupid comments "funny", not "insightful", pleas
Just Think Of It As Evolution In Action. .... nope, I don't see any, as long as they're hygienic about it. They take their children with them on a one-way trip to decomposition ... even better. Genes gone, schooling costs down, dumb-fuck ideas gone.
They die, they take their retarded genes with them as well as the consequences of their no-doubt atrocious schooling and probably their religion. And the downsides are
We should be building suicide booths with easily-emptied meat lockers to encourage them.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Is it my fault that all the greats are either dead or off the air (same thing)?
Sign of growing old, everyone you grew up with as idols is dead or senile.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void (no electrical charge yet?) and darkness (low\zero energy) was upon the face of the deep (singularity) and the spirit of God moved across the face of the water (volitile superfluid) and said "Let there be light" and there was light (Photon emmision begins) and God saw the light, and it was good. (Effect follows cause, time exists)"
The Heavens and the earth are not, as translations go, the place where dead people go nor the planet we are on. The earth in this reference is more then likely "solid stuff" matter with the heavens the space in which the solid stuff occupies. There choice in words through translations doesn't seem to imply that earth is Earth\Terra but more akin to Dirt, Ground, that which is beneath your feet.
"And God separated the light and darkness into day and night"
This effectively constructs the flow, the passage, of time at the most base of interpretation. You physicists could even say this is the point where matter-antimatter throw down or when at the point of singularity the 4 primary forces decouple giving us matter and energy. The "Let there be light" could easily have been the initial singularity coming into existence (assuming there was a beginning to the universe.)
"the firmament and the waters"
From a geological standpoint the earliest ingredient for life as we know is water. Early in a planet's formation you would get liquids being deposited on surface. So far keeping in line with the order we expect. Density is now in play. solid planets and gas giants along with stars at this point.
Greeks knew of the primary 4 states of matter 2000+ years ago:
"Fire (Plasma) Earth (Solid) Air (Gas) Water (Liquid)" Give the old folks some credit. Any damn fool rolling a rock down a hill can understand the passage of time and to speculate the concept of the arrow of time is simple for a baker watching bread rise.
Even the order life is created in tends to reflect our current assumptions on evolutionary paths. We go with ocean based life to mammals and end with humans. Darwin was hardly the first to suggest evolution. Even ancient Greeks made observations similar. Darwin mearly crossed the Ts and dotted the Is in the idea.
Lastly for those looking at the story of creation remember the translations say "The First Day, The Second Day, etc." They so far never imply "The Next Day" It's an inpspirational work, not a handbook for science.
Lastly, I am forever amused at the arrogance of modern society that somehow writes off the first 10,000 years of human history as a bunch of morons. They had a lot of sound ideas that took 2000+ years to come around. Nothing to say their superstitions don't have a sound origin in theory.
There were plently of people ahead of their time, don't discredit "supersition" as nonsense, some of it has turned out to be sound in principle even if lacking realistic footing.
Metaphors my friends. When talking to children, you use a language they can understand.
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
One of the problems with te D&D movie is most of the plot was in the outtakes because they ran out of money to do the special effects for those scenes. You can see the roughcut footage in on the DVD extras. It makes a lot more sense with those scenes even if they are not rendered.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World