RTFA. The vaccine is made by Russian researchers. Russia is not a pawn of corrupt Western corporations any more. In the worst case, American people will just have to travel to Russia or any other normal country to get vaccinated.
Ach, and your point is just a bunch of paranoid hogwash either way. There are plenty of corporations in the world, and I am sure there are plenty of companies powerful enough and willing to sell this new treatment to the masses for an affordable price, despite "the cunning scheming" by big pharma.
I see nothing sage about your musings, in fact you might as well have kept quiet, having nothing intelligent to say.
No, biology does not demand anything, you silly. Isn't it fundamentally you, who is trying to "overlay a value judgment over valueless matter"? The GP is just extrapolating from well known general trends, and who cares if he is using emotionally laden terms. We are not (all) 13 year old schoolgirls, to start tripping over the use of words with "values", whatever those are, attached to them.
There are obviously patterns in biological systems, like e.g. species taking up some ecological niche, these patterns seem to be hugely prevalent and predictable under many if not most circumstances. The laws of physics "demand" that when your car decelerates your body still has inertia, no value judgment there. Same goes for biological lifeforms in sustaining environments - expansion until there is shortage of resources. Duh.
Also, you voiced a "value judgment" over European Colonialism. Perhaps you are aware of such a thing as a "human nature", which in fact is "descriptive", and not normative. Colonialism happened, and some incarnation thereof will happen again. (Oh, jitters, how dare these whipper-snappers suggest that people can and will do nasty (irrelevant normative judgment right there) things!?)
Perhaps you have been doing "serious biology" for so long, that you have become a normatively (hmm...) irritative and bitter elitist?
If what you say is true - the relative size of movie VS computer industries, then you have just produced the best ever anti -DRM, -**AA, -DMCA,etc argument.
But, man, if they did this...well, I remember all the jokes that surfaced after the Challenger blew up, imagine the ones coming out about this program. You mean jokes like this?
If you think you have even the vaguest conception of how the universe works, then you are inherently wrong, because Human's can't conceive of how the universe works by any means. If you even attempt to apply common sense to the universe, you'll never be able to accept any of the research that actually explains how computers, lasers, DNA, proteins, and light-bulbs work. Why do you say that humans can't conceive how the universe works? Aren't we constantly getting better and better approximation of the laws that emerge from our universe? And why does something have to be pertaining to common sense to be understandable? Common sense is there for finding food and scoring chicks, not understanding the reality...
Seems like many scientists and laymen alike, seem to want to have this common-sense intuitive answer to everything. What's wrong with good old mathematical formulas? Why is it so important to "feel" how the theory works? And why can't people trained in mathematics and physics "feel" how the equations work, if they are so inclined to feel up everything they come into contact with?
I know this is offtopic, and people are different, and I will never understand some of their problems...
Ok, I have to admit that I haven't read Das Capital. Still somehow I am under the impression that Marx advocated non-violent, natural change from capitalism into communism. He did not support revolution as means to achieve a communist state. And natural harmonious evolution of social system hardly entails excessive use of authority.
Any ideology that preaches the sacrifice of the individual to the collective, the state, the race, the deity, whatever the hell it is, is fundamentally based on hatred of and contempt for people and the lust for power. And communism it is not. Communism is the system where everyone does whatever they feel like it and get whatever goods they want for free. If anything, it's closer to anarchy than to a totalitarian state.
I read couple of your replies where you reiterate the same falsehoods about what communism is. There have been no communist countries on Earth for quite a while. Soviet Russia tried communism for a few months back in 1918-1919, it didn't work out. USSR, China, Cuba were/are socialist dictatorships with limited private property. Communism is an utopian social system impossible to attain due to human nature. Since it's impossible to implement, there can be no communist countries... Duh! Also, you should thank me for not insulting you personally for writing incredibly silly stuff.
Hmm, at least one solution comes to my mind, when it comes to helping people who have decided to do their degree in CS, yet lack exposure to computers. So, the solution: have some additional elective courses that bring people into the field smoothly. They could teach some basic programming and computing philosophy and constructs. Touching the curriculum proper, however, should still be a no-no.
I am assuming that we are talking about Computer Science curriculum in University here (and not some vocational school stuff).
I think, that if you are not already familiar with basic programming principles and paradigms when you start your CS studies you probably don't belong in computer science department, to begin with.
And even if we have this hypothetical decent student who just fell off the moon, there is nothing superhuman about grasping basic OO philosophy in like 1 day. People generalize from the day they learn to speak in full sentences (or even before), they are also aware that different things have different actions associated with them. The only thing Java and Co brings in to the mix is a bit of syntax. Jeez!
I am not an exceptional student, I had very little exposure to programming before starting on my CS studies, yet I did all the introductory Java and OO courses without attending lectures, and gotten close to full marks. The secret? 1) I liked what I learned 2) I actually care about learning more in the field I study in (well, um, because I like computer science). Which by the way leads us to the real problem - the economy these days needs more passionate computer scientists and software engineers than the gene pool is able to provide for. However, that is not a good enough reason to water down the education for the people who actually enjoy the field!
Ach, and the intro level Java stuff taught at my University did had no confusing stuff. It's not like they make kids write distributed stuff in their first evAr course.
He provides the prosecution with numerous logs showing that he is not the only user of his WAP? Or are we talking about legal system where one does not need to prove suspect to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt in order to convict him?
What's wrong with just accepting that some societies are more primitive than others? The whole thing about people caring so much about reputation of one dude is just ridiculous! I bet you hundred bucks that by the time Thailand has education and GDP/capita levels of Western Europe they won't care about stupid crap like someone dissing their king.
And no, I don't believe in cultural relativism. Of course there are differences between cultures, but fundamental values are defined by our genes, not some bullshit pseudo morale. Harm to other people is easily definable and not relative, hence our laws protecting life, health and property of the people (despite otherwise liberal Western values). All over the world people are essentially the same, and want the same things. And isn't it obvious that the whole world is slowly converging on Western values? No idea or cultural paradigm is a priori superior. However, there is competition and the best ideas and ethical frameworks prevail. I'd say that Western values are the most optimal for Homo Sapiens at our current level of technological and societal development. Of course there might be some other even better systems of society, which are yet undiscovered and most importantly untested.
Most importantly, I don't say they did a wrong thing by banning YouTube. Just like children are not allowed to watch films for mature audiences, so some countries may need to have less freedom until they "grow up" and join the family of developed countries.
Also, I don't think democracy and Western values can be forced on people. They have to travel that road themselves, we in the West should only act as their limited guides.
You don't take the speed train from Helsinki to Lisboa. Well the reason for that is Finland being separated from the rest of Western Europe by the Gulf of Bothnia. If there indeed was a highspeed rail link through the Northern part of Eastern Europe, a rail option from Finland to Central or even Southern Europe wouldn't be so far-fetched. As Eastern Europe gets richer and starts to get more infrastructure support funds from EU we may expect to see dramatic changes in rail travel in the region, in terms of both local and transit traffic.
Woohoo! Way to oversimplify history. There may be many different versions explaining why did Hitler made a fatal mistake of starting Operation Barbarosa in 1941. Certainly a dire (and obviously sentimental) need for Caspian oil is hardly among the sanest reasons.
My favorite is still the theory that USSR was preparing to strike at Germany first in 1941, and Hitler decided to make a gamble fully understanding that of two evils it's better to select the lesser one.
In fact there is a pretty interesting book trying to explain why it is likely that Stalin was about to attack in summer of 1941. While as all historical speculation it should be taken with a grain of salt, I have hard time disbelieving the basic premise. If you are genuinely interested in the subject, I advise you try to locate the book and read it. If nothing else, it will give a fresh vantage point for understanding complicated reasons behind WW II in USSR.
And damn, this is soooo offtopic!
I don't think his regime would have ultimately been much more successful than the USSR in terms of tech and manufacturing. People aren't going to work for some theoretical 'common good'. Nazi Germany was based on the common good of the Arian race, at least in theory. Also Hitler never abolished capitalism, everybody knows about all those companies that actually benefited from using slave labor in Nazi extermination camps.
Fascism had little to do with actual meddling with supply and demand mechanisms of the economy (except for massive subsidies for military-industrial complex and large infrastructure projects). The only valid point for eventual loss of momentum of Nazi war machine in case they managed to win WWII was the exodus/extermination of talented scientists. However, this point is still pretty weak, since by analogy USSR exterminated a kiloaircraftcarrierload of intelligent people during Red Terror and Stalin's purges, yet still managed to maintain military parity with USA well into 1970s and 1980s.
Right, first you accuse the parent of being too human centric and then you go and spill your heart out about how suffering and negative emotions are something more than just mechanisms that help humans interact with their environment.
And then you go on to complain about how media and schools have an aversion to science while posting gibberish which flies in the face of every even slightly credible scientific worldview.
I could go an and refute every single one of your points in detail, but I bet you are not in it for discussion, judging by your casual dismissal of Carl Sagan.
Guess I am getting all worked up about nothing, really. You'll probably feel mildly amused and somewhat ashamed about your post once the effects of the LSD wear off.
Anyway, sorry for bothering you and have a nice trip and comedown...
I think it's clear that in some cases there are Darwinian benefits to be "moral", but in as many if not more cases, it does not benefit someone.
You should have been more careful when reading the post you replied to:
...the why is usually a pretty straightforward "it protects the continuation and procreation of the culture". "Bad" moral decisions are simply anti-survival, and there's enough competition between religions and cultures for evolution to do the rest. (emphasis mine)
You have to understand that evolution does not only apply to individuals. It also applies to groups. Moral behavior benefits group's survival. If there is a gene in the group A which allows that group to have victory over group B lacking that gene, by having some members of group A sacrifice their own lives voluntarily (being heroes), then group A prospers, and the self-sacrifice gene lives on. Do you need any more examples?
The only way any morality could have arisen was either through biological natural selection or cultural selection, where moral standards acted as memes that granted their bearers competitive advantage.
If scientist is not doing an obviously bogus stuff, it's very hard to assess whether the research he/she does is actually useless. Science is one of those endeavors where you can't really know where you are going until you actually get there. That's why it's important to fund weird and esoteric research, while keeping the funding levels sane, of course.
Why do you think that the chance of permanent Mars base is zero? What do you propose instead? Space habitats? Colonizing asteroids? Or are you saying that we are just gonna hang around on the Earth for a while and then die?
I guess I overreacted. EVE being "just a videogame" approach works both ways. The other way being that the developers are not too likely by any stretch of imagination to scheme and plot ways to fool their customers. Some people cheated, they got caught, they got punished, what's the problem?
Maybe I have missed some details, but from what I infer from my limited contact with EVE related articles during the last year, it seems that the incident is resolved. Some developer/developers were being douchebags and got slapped. Also, CCP did stuff to prevent abuse from happening again.
Where's the problem?
Also, while still a game, EVE is a pretty impressive and serious game. Obviously people working on it must be "into it" and enjoy the actual product and what it stands for. Why would they want to consciously poo on their own model train set?
Slashdot Mirror
RTFA. The vaccine is made by Russian researchers. Russia is not a pawn of corrupt Western corporations any more. In the worst case, American people will just have to travel to Russia or any other normal country to get vaccinated.
Ach, and your point is just a bunch of paranoid hogwash either way. There are plenty of corporations in the world, and I am sure there are plenty of companies powerful enough and willing to sell this new treatment to the masses for an affordable price, despite "the cunning scheming" by big pharma.
I see nothing sage about your musings, in fact you might as well have kept quiet, having nothing intelligent to say.
There are obviously patterns in biological systems, like e.g. species taking up some ecological niche, these patterns seem to be hugely prevalent and predictable under many if not most circumstances. The laws of physics "demand" that when your car decelerates your body still has inertia, no value judgment there. Same goes for biological lifeforms in sustaining environments - expansion until there is shortage of resources. Duh.
Also, you voiced a "value judgment" over European Colonialism. Perhaps you are aware of such a thing as a "human nature", which in fact is "descriptive", and not normative. Colonialism happened, and some incarnation thereof will happen again. (Oh, jitters, how dare these whipper-snappers suggest that people can and will do nasty (irrelevant normative judgment right there) things!?)
Perhaps you have been doing "serious biology" for so long, that you have become a normatively (hmm...) irritative and bitter elitist?
If what you say is true - the relative size of movie VS computer industries, then you have just produced the best ever anti -DRM, -**AA, -DMCA,etc argument.
Seems like many scientists and laymen alike, seem to want to have this common-sense intuitive answer to everything. What's wrong with good old mathematical formulas? Why is it so important to "feel" how the theory works? And why can't people trained in mathematics and physics "feel" how the equations work, if they are so inclined to feel up everything they come into contact with?
I know this is offtopic, and people are different, and I will never understand some of their problems...
Ok, I have to admit that I haven't read Das Capital. Still somehow I am under the impression that Marx advocated non-violent, natural change from capitalism into communism. He did not support revolution as means to achieve a communist state. And natural harmonious evolution of social system hardly entails excessive use of authority.
I read couple of your replies where you reiterate the same falsehoods about what communism is. There have been no communist countries on Earth for quite a while. Soviet Russia tried communism for a few months back in 1918-1919, it didn't work out. USSR, China, Cuba were/are socialist dictatorships with limited private property. Communism is an utopian social system impossible to attain due to human nature. Since it's impossible to implement, there can be no communist countries... Duh! Also, you should thank me for not insulting you personally for writing incredibly silly stuff.
Hmm, at least one solution comes to my mind, when it comes to helping people who have decided to do their degree in CS, yet lack exposure to computers. So, the solution: have some additional elective courses that bring people into the field smoothly. They could teach some basic programming and computing philosophy and constructs. Touching the curriculum proper, however, should still be a no-no.
I think, that if you are not already familiar with basic programming principles and paradigms when you start your CS studies you probably don't belong in computer science department, to begin with.
And even if we have this hypothetical decent student who just fell off the moon, there is nothing superhuman about grasping basic OO philosophy in like 1 day. People generalize from the day they learn to speak in full sentences (or even before), they are also aware that different things have different actions associated with them. The only thing Java and Co brings in to the mix is a bit of syntax. Jeez!
I am not an exceptional student, I had very little exposure to programming before starting on my CS studies, yet I did all the introductory Java and OO courses without attending lectures, and gotten close to full marks. The secret? 1) I liked what I learned 2) I actually care about learning more in the field I study in (well, um, because I like computer science). Which by the way leads us to the real problem - the economy these days needs more passionate computer scientists and software engineers than the gene pool is able to provide for. However, that is not a good enough reason to water down the education for the people who actually enjoy the field!
Ach, and the intro level Java stuff taught at my University did had no confusing stuff. It's not like they make kids write distributed stuff in their first evAr course.
He provides the prosecution with numerous logs showing that he is not the only user of his WAP? Or are we talking about legal system where one does not need to prove suspect to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt in order to convict him?
Heh, I thought he was just using one of kevinsmithisms.
The Cedega software doesn't expire on you. Once your subscription ends you just can't download updates. You don't "rent" it.
What's wrong with just accepting that some societies are more primitive than others? The whole thing about people caring so much about reputation of one dude is just ridiculous! I bet you hundred bucks that by the time Thailand has education and GDP/capita levels of Western Europe they won't care about stupid crap like someone dissing their king.
And no, I don't believe in cultural relativism. Of course there are differences between cultures, but fundamental values are defined by our genes, not some bullshit pseudo morale. Harm to other people is easily definable and not relative, hence our laws protecting life, health and property of the people (despite otherwise liberal Western values). All over the world people are essentially the same, and want the same things. And isn't it obvious that the whole world is slowly converging on Western values? No idea or cultural paradigm is a priori superior. However, there is competition and the best ideas and ethical frameworks prevail. I'd say that Western values are the most optimal for Homo Sapiens at our current level of technological and societal development. Of course there might be some other even better systems of society, which are yet undiscovered and most importantly untested.
Most importantly, I don't say they did a wrong thing by banning YouTube. Just like children are not allowed to watch films for mature audiences, so some countries may need to have less freedom until they "grow up" and join the family of developed countries.
Also, I don't think democracy and Western values can be forced on people. They have to travel that road themselves, we in the West should only act as their limited guides.
Woohoo! Way to oversimplify history. There may be many different versions explaining why did Hitler made a fatal mistake of starting Operation Barbarosa in 1941. Certainly a dire (and obviously sentimental) need for Caspian oil is hardly among the sanest reasons.
My favorite is still the theory that USSR was preparing to strike at Germany first in 1941, and Hitler decided to make a gamble fully understanding that of two evils it's better to select the lesser one.
In fact there is a pretty interesting book trying to explain why it is likely that Stalin was about to attack in summer of 1941. While as all historical speculation it should be taken with a grain of salt, I have hard time disbelieving the basic premise. If you are genuinely interested in the subject, I advise you try to locate the book and read it. If nothing else, it will give a fresh vantage point for understanding complicated reasons behind WW II in USSR. And damn, this is soooo offtopic!
Fascism had little to do with actual meddling with supply and demand mechanisms of the economy (except for massive subsidies for military-industrial complex and large infrastructure projects). The only valid point for eventual loss of momentum of Nazi war machine in case they managed to win WWII was the exodus/extermination of talented scientists. However, this point is still pretty weak, since by analogy USSR exterminated a kiloaircraftcarrierload of intelligent people during Red Terror and Stalin's purges, yet still managed to maintain military parity with USA well into 1970s and 1980s.
Right, first you accuse the parent of being too human centric and then you go and spill your heart out about how suffering and negative emotions are something more than just mechanisms that help humans interact with their environment.
And then you go on to complain about how media and schools have an aversion to science while posting gibberish which flies in the face of every even slightly credible scientific worldview.
I could go an and refute every single one of your points in detail, but I bet you are not in it for discussion, judging by your casual dismissal of Carl Sagan.
Guess I am getting all worked up about nothing, really. You'll probably feel mildly amused and somewhat ashamed about your post once the effects of the LSD wear off.
Anyway, sorry for bothering you and have a nice trip and comedown...
You should have been more careful when reading the post you replied to:
...the why is usually a pretty straightforward "it protects the continuation and procreation of the culture". "Bad" moral decisions are simply anti-survival, and there's enough competition between religions and cultures for evolution to do the rest. (emphasis mine)You have to understand that evolution does not only apply to individuals. It also applies to groups. Moral behavior benefits group's survival. If there is a gene in the group A which allows that group to have victory over group B lacking that gene, by having some members of group A sacrifice their own lives voluntarily (being heroes), then group A prospers, and the self-sacrifice gene lives on. Do you need any more examples?
The only way any morality could have arisen was either through biological natural selection or cultural selection, where moral standards acted as memes that granted their bearers competitive advantage.
If scientist is not doing an obviously bogus stuff, it's very hard to assess whether the research he/she does is actually useless. Science is one of those endeavors where you can't really know where you are going until you actually get there. That's why it's important to fund weird and esoteric research, while keeping the funding levels sane, of course.
Why do you think that the chance of permanent Mars base is zero? What do you propose instead? Space habitats? Colonizing asteroids? Or are you saying that we are just gonna hang around on the Earth for a while and then die?
I guess I overreacted. EVE being "just a videogame" approach works both ways. The other way being that the developers are not too likely by any stretch of imagination to scheme and plot ways to fool their customers. Some people cheated, they got caught, they got punished, what's the problem? Maybe I have missed some details, but from what I infer from my limited contact with EVE related articles during the last year, it seems that the incident is resolved. Some developer/developers were being douchebags and got slapped. Also, CCP did stuff to prevent abuse from happening again. Where's the problem? Also, while still a game, EVE is a pretty impressive and serious game. Obviously people working on it must be "into it" and enjoy the actual product and what it stands for. Why would they want to consciously poo on their own model train set?
Hey! Get a life! It's just a bloody videogame!
There are even some crackpots who want to try to set up some sort of permanent manned presence there - the poor, deluded fools... go figure!
You gotta be joking or trolling! If not, than what the hell are you doing on Slashdot?
2,2s/were/where Sorry.