and no civilization has yet wanted to spend 500 years getting here.
One of the arguments offered regarding the Fermi Paradox is that "if each colony established two more colonies, the exponential growth would fill up the galaxy relatively quickly". However, that presumes that the members of the colonizing species would be willing to live their whole lives just to accomplish someone's Grand Plan. Intelligent colonists would (I presume) be more interested in making their own colony sustainable and life there comfortable.
The population of the USA is roughly 300,000,000. You thought that only 1 in 300,000 would look at cp?
Yes.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I assume that this isn't merely a vice - that there's something seriously wrong with the way these people are wired. Like serial killers, who I likewise assume are quite rare.
What surprises me about all these child-porn-bust stories is how many people are looking at it. I would have figured less than a thousand in the whole country.
I am completely sick of being screwed over by the corporatist plutocrats.
I think they screwed themselves on this one. If you're the only company that offshores, you've got a huge advantage. When everyone offshores you end up with a consumer base of burger flippers who can't afford your products.
If the public can't understand then we should point the finger to our schooling system and revisit our educational priorities and engagements.
Most of the public has never understood science. Einstein's little equation made his name a household word, but not many of us actually understand the physics anyway.
The problem these days isn't education, but the fact that there are many powerful, well-organized, and well-funded interests who actively don't want the public to accept the findings of science. Public policy based on those findings threatens to cut into their profits, or exposure to reality threatens to make their cultists jump ship.
Science had a *huge* positive mind-share during the 20th Century, and the participants basically didn't have much problem with trickle-down to an eager public.
What has changed is that religions out of synch with reality and corporations that don't want to spend the money it takes to deal with reality have been running huge propaganda campaigns to cast doubt on many of the major findings of science, if not on the potential of science itself.
What scientists have to realize is that the nest of little chicks with hungry mouths turned up has been partly replaced with a nest of well-funded vipers.
Lot was a hero in the Bible, spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for befriending an angle. Afterwards, while living in a cave, Lot got drunk and got both his daughters pregnant. The message here is clear: God wholeheartedly approves of incest! Especially so if you get drunk first!
What's really odd about Genesis is what an incompetent f-u God turns out to be when you actually read the stories for what they say instead of trying to squeeze some message to support your religious beliefs out of them.
The flexibility and freedom from reality that religion affords is really unparalleled, outside of politics.
ISTM that the "I reject your reality and substitute my own" thinking style of people who join religions and people who join political parties is quite similar.
Doesn't the whole "number of the beast" thing actually refer to it being tattooed onto the back of your neck or something like that?
If you hide and watch you'll notice that very few religious people interpret their sacred writings anywhere near as literally as they have convinced themselves that they do.
It's like we're reliving the fall of the Roman Republic, which was a democracy (100BC), then fell into a dictatorship, and finally feudalism (after 300 AD).
You've stumbled upon one of my pet peeves: Why do Americans wring their hands over the fall of a gigantic absolute dictatorship?
I'm guessing it's because the causes of the fall of the Republic had to do with class warfare, letting individuals get dangerously rich, purchased loyalty, use of private armies for nominally public ventures, etc., which aren't exactly the things the promoters of the "we're dying just like Rome!" meme want you to wring your hands over.
Similarly, with America Speaking Out, the problem isn't going to be with trivial vandalism, which is annoying but quick to clean up, the problem will be that it is impossible to distinguish between people ranting about how Barrack Hussein is a communist fascist muslim sleeper agent because they believe that, and the ones doing exactly the same thing because it amuses them to associate such views with the RNC.
Or they could try subscribing to views that weren't so frikkin' easy to parody.
Yes it is. Unless you know of some theological system that's based on evidence rather than interpretations of a tradition.
Theology is what people make up to explain away contradictions in their sacred texts, or to make those texts say something more palatable to their culture than what they actually say.
The classic example is the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. People wanted Christianity to be monotheistic, but the sacred texts clearly reveal three divinities. What's to do?
Make up some mystical mumbo-jumbo that lets you have it both ways, and call it 'theology'.
Yes, but seeing these phases from various stars will eventually give them the picture they need. They don't need to see the entire life cycle of a single star. As long as they can view the highlights, and piece them together in the proper order, it's almost as good as watching it reel to reel so to speak considering the long time span for the event and the fact that our span is so relatively short.
It sounds like this one may cause them to rethink the standing model of starbirth already. But maybe it's just an odd one.
There's not one mention of religion in the summary or article, but there's over 50 out of 65 comments about that severely beaten topic. Way to be super cool, guys. Love your priorities.
Slashdot is as much about social commentary as it is about technology.
I'll bite. What disproves - not Biblically speaking, but just the simple idea - the idea that there was a global flood? Because it seems like a lot of fossils are created during "great floods." Nobody seems to ever even suggest the idea that there was a global flood... every other idea is proposed (numerous "great floods," meteors hitting the earth, etc) but why is a global flood not proposed?
Is it simply because a particular religion has that in their beliefs, or is there actual evidence for numerous "great" floods as opposed to one global flood?
Because to be a global flood it has to happen everywhere at the same time.
And for a biblical flood the water has to be 5-1/2 miles deep.
As for what disproves it, other than the utter lack of evidence, is the fact that every living creature would show an extreme genetic bottleneck in the recent past.
But let's cut to the chase: For those of you who believe in the biblical flood, why did God try to fix the stated problem with a solution that didn't work. Forget the fact that He drowned all those babies and kittens, and the fact that he magicked up a gazillion gallons of water when he could have just as easily magicked all the evil people dead. Why are you worshipping a reputedly all-{knowing,powerful} God who can't come up with a solution that works?
What's funny... strange... revealing... is that the people who offer this argument in defense of their beliefs wouldn't consider for a moment the notion that their Trickster God created sacred texts to lead *them* astray.
See Albigensian Crusade as the most well-known example.
OK. When I hear "Gnostic" I tend to think of the originals that sprang up in the near east during the early centuries of the Christian era. It is true that more recent sects continued or re-invented similar beliefs.
Nobody is going to invest the needed billions of dollars in a country with no real government, no laws, no protection for private property, and every expectation of being taken over by the Taliban as soon as the US army leaves.
It would take billions in up-front investment, as Afghanistan does not have any of the needed things: water, power, roads, engineers, chemical plants, railroads, ports, diging machines, huge trucks, smelters, coal, oil, and gas. Billions, and at least ten years to build the infrastructure before a pound of ore comes out of there.
Also, if they were able to extract it at the rate of 50 billion dollars worth per year - to put their economy in the same league as such heavyweights as Syria and Bulgaria - there would only be a 20 year boom before it was exhausted.
And of course, most of the money would go into the pockets of the corporations that extracted it, rather than into the Afghan economy.
Slashdot Mirror
and no civilization has yet wanted to spend 500 years getting here.
One of the arguments offered regarding the Fermi Paradox is that "if each colony established two more colonies, the exponential growth would fill up the galaxy relatively quickly". However, that presumes that the members of the colonizing species would be willing to live their whole lives just to accomplish someone's Grand Plan. Intelligent colonists would (I presume) be more interested in making their own colony sustainable and life there comfortable.
Them that advertise get eaten.
The population of the USA is roughly 300,000,000. You thought that only 1 in 300,000 would look at cp?
Yes.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I assume that this isn't merely a vice - that there's something seriously wrong with the way these people are wired. Like serial killers, who I likewise assume are quite rare.
What surprises me about all these child-porn-bust stories is how many people are looking at it. I would have figured less than a thousand in the whole country.
I am completely sick of being screwed over by the corporatist plutocrats.
I think they screwed themselves on this one. If you're the only company that offshores, you've got a huge advantage. When everyone offshores you end up with a consumer base of burger flippers who can't afford your products.
Take showers before going out in public. Brush your teeth twice a day. Get a haircut. Shave. Trim your eyebrow.
That would kind of undercut your claim to be a programmer, wouldn't it?
All the computer science uber-gods were mathematicians, physicists and engineers by training anyway.
That kind of follows naturally from the fact that CS didn't exist before they got their degrees and invented it.
If the public can't understand then we should point the finger to our schooling system and revisit our educational priorities and engagements.
Most of the public has never understood science. Einstein's little equation made his name a household word, but not many of us actually understand the physics anyway.
The problem these days isn't education, but the fact that there are many powerful, well-organized, and well-funded interests who actively don't want the public to accept the findings of science. Public policy based on those findings threatens to cut into their profits, or exposure to reality threatens to make their cultists jump ship.
Do Scientists Understand the Public?
It's not really that simple. They construct models of the public, which can be disproven by counter-example, but never proven.
Where's Hari Seldon when you need him!
Science had a *huge* positive mind-share during the 20th Century, and the participants basically didn't have much problem with trickle-down to an eager public.
What has changed is that religions out of synch with reality and corporations that don't want to spend the money it takes to deal with reality have been running huge propaganda campaigns to cast doubt on many of the major findings of science, if not on the potential of science itself.
What scientists have to realize is that the nest of little chicks with hungry mouths turned up has been partly replaced with a nest of well-funded vipers.
Only an idiot would hire a PhD for a programming job. PhDs are research scientists.
Lot was a hero in the Bible, spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for befriending an angle. Afterwards, while living in a cave, Lot got drunk and got both his daughters pregnant. The message here is clear: God wholeheartedly approves of incest! Especially so if you get drunk first!
What's really odd about Genesis is what an incompetent f-u God turns out to be when you actually read the stories for what they say instead of trying to squeeze some message to support your religious beliefs out of them.
The flexibility and freedom from reality that religion affords is really unparalleled, outside of politics.
ISTM that the "I reject your reality and substitute my own" thinking style of people who join religions and people who join political parties is quite similar.
Funny, it wasn't until people became monotheistic that they started "holy" wars, pagans just had wars.
Well, that's an improvement isn't it? Surely a holy war is better than a profane war.
Doesn't the whole "number of the beast" thing actually refer to it being tattooed onto the back of your neck or something like that?
If you hide and watch you'll notice that very few religious people interpret their sacred writings anywhere near as literally as they have convinced themselves that they do.
It's like we're reliving the fall of the Roman Republic, which was a democracy (100BC), then fell into a dictatorship, and finally feudalism (after 300 AD).
You've stumbled upon one of my pet peeves: Why do Americans wring their hands over the fall of a gigantic absolute dictatorship?
I'm guessing it's because the causes of the fall of the Republic had to do with class warfare, letting individuals get dangerously rich, purchased loyalty, use of private armies for nominally public ventures, etc., which aren't exactly the things the promoters of the "we're dying just like Rome!" meme want you to wring your hands over.
Similarly, with America Speaking Out, the problem isn't going to be with trivial vandalism, which is annoying but quick to clean up, the problem will be that it is impossible to distinguish between people ranting about how Barrack Hussein is a communist fascist muslim sleeper agent because they believe that, and the ones doing exactly the same thing because it amuses them to associate such views with the RNC.
Or they could try subscribing to views that weren't so frikkin' easy to parody.
Yes it is. Unless you know of some theological system that's based on evidence rather than interpretations of a tradition.
Theology is what people make up to explain away contradictions in their sacred texts, or to make those texts say something more palatable to their culture than what they actually say.
The classic example is the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. People wanted Christianity to be monotheistic, but the sacred texts clearly reveal three divinities. What's to do?
Make up some mystical mumbo-jumbo that lets you have it both ways, and call it 'theology'.
Yes, but seeing these phases from various stars will eventually give them the picture they need. They don't need to see the entire life cycle of a single star. As long as they can view the highlights, and piece them together in the proper order, it's almost as good as watching it reel to reel so to speak considering the long time span for the event and the fact that our span is so relatively short.
It sounds like this one may cause them to rethink the standing model of starbirth already. But maybe it's just an odd one.
...largest ever cache of dinosaur remains continues to flow from Deepwater Horizon as crude oil.
Dinosaurs are killing fish in the Gulf of Mexico!
Hmmm... the well isn't far from where the KT meteor struck. I think it just smushed the dinosaurs underground, and now they're leaking back out.
There's not one mention of religion in the summary or article, but there's over 50 out of 65 comments about that severely beaten topic. Way to be super cool, guys. Love your priorities.
Slashdot is as much about social commentary as it is about technology.
We even make fun of ourselves here.
I'll bite. What disproves - not Biblically speaking, but just the simple idea - the idea that there was a global flood? Because it seems like a lot of fossils are created during "great floods." Nobody seems to ever even suggest the idea that there was a global flood... every other idea is proposed (numerous "great floods," meteors hitting the earth, etc) but why is a global flood not proposed?
Is it simply because a particular religion has that in their beliefs, or is there actual evidence for numerous "great" floods as opposed to one global flood?
Because to be a global flood it has to happen everywhere at the same time.
And for a biblical flood the water has to be 5-1/2 miles deep.
As for what disproves it, other than the utter lack of evidence, is the fact that every living creature would show an extreme genetic bottleneck in the recent past.
But let's cut to the chase: For those of you who believe in the biblical flood, why did God try to fix the stated problem with a solution that didn't work. Forget the fact that He drowned all those babies and kittens, and the fact that he magicked up a gazillion gallons of water when he could have just as easily magicked all the evil people dead. Why are you worshipping a reputedly all-{knowing,powerful} God who can't come up with a solution that works?
He's a trickster god!
What's funny... strange... revealing... is that the people who offer this argument in defense of their beliefs wouldn't consider for a moment the notion that their Trickster God created sacred texts to lead *them* astray.
See Albigensian Crusade as the most well-known example.
OK. When I hear "Gnostic" I tend to think of the originals that sprang up in the near east during the early centuries of the Christian era. It is true that more recent sects continued or re-invented similar beliefs.
Nobody is going to invest the needed billions of dollars in a country with no real government, no laws, no protection for private property, and every expectation of being taken over by the Taliban as soon as the US army leaves.
It would take billions in up-front investment, as Afghanistan does not have any of the needed things: water, power, roads, engineers, chemical plants, railroads, ports, diging machines, huge trucks, smelters, coal, oil, and gas. Billions, and at least ten years to build the infrastructure before a pound of ore comes out of there.
Also, if they were able to extract it at the rate of 50 billion dollars worth per year - to put their economy in the same league as such heavyweights as Syria and Bulgaria - there would only be a 20 year boom before it was exhausted.
And of course, most of the money would go into the pockets of the corporations that extracted it, rather than into the Afghan economy.