... for now. What about in 30 years? 50? someone has to think of the long term. In the short term, the problem comes down to distribution. In the long term, the problem will be production, unless a large part of the worlds population decides to stop reproducing. I, for one, do not think that is going to happen. So we will need golden rice, saltwater farming, and any other solutions people think of which will work. Now, we see those solutions coming along.
I do agree that we need to take care of the short-term problem as well. Right now, it is the most important issue. Still, finding additional solutions to the long-term problem is a Good Thing (tm).
The tivo hackers over at http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/ are working on adding an Ethernet card to the Tivo. I've previously read that they have seen traces of an ethernet driver possibly used to telnet to the Tivo for testing and the like.
I think you're mixing the will to live and the instinct to stay alive here. Most people who think they're better off dead and who doesn't kill themselves doesn't choose not to take their own life - they just can't bring themselves to do it.
This comes, of course, from evolution. Not killing oneself is a major survival trait, and in non-sentient beings there exists no suicidal thoughts. Humans, on the other hand, are sentient beings. This means that rational thought control our lives, instead of pure instinct. Still, some instinct still lingers. This instinct is what hinders most people with suicidal tendencies from killing themselves, and it is also what prevents most people from going around their neighbourhood, killing people they don't like - shooting one's own speices is not a good thing.
I realize this is a bit off-topic and that my prose sucks, but all these posts about "if she thougt she'd be better off dead, she'd be dead." really irritated me. The duality of a suicidal mind makes that state even more miserable. I still think it's good when people recover from this, though. There's evolution for you.
A friend of mine knows a girl who was a potential victim of a rapist. She had been training ninjutsu for 9 years, and when the rapist tried to rape her, she applied her skills. After a visit to the hospital, the guy went to prison. As this was in norway, she was in little danger of being sued. That would be harder in the US, though. Anyway, the point is, martial arts do make a difference - at least on the victim side.
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I do agree that we need to take care of the short-term problem as well. Right now, it is the most important issue. Still, finding additional solutions to the long-term problem is a Good Thing (tm).
.sig
The tivo hackers over at http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/ are working on adding an Ethernet card to the Tivo. I've previously read that they have seen traces of an ethernet driver possibly used to telnet to the Tivo for testing and the like.
I think you're mixing the will to live and the instinct to stay alive here. Most people who think they're better off dead and who doesn't kill themselves doesn't choose not to take their own life - they just can't bring themselves to do it.
This comes, of course, from evolution. Not killing oneself is a major survival trait, and in non-sentient beings there exists no suicidal thoughts. Humans, on the other hand, are sentient beings. This means that rational thought control our lives, instead of pure instinct. Still, some instinct still lingers. This instinct is what hinders most people with suicidal tendencies from killing themselves, and it is also what prevents most people from going around their neighbourhood, killing people they don't like - shooting one's own speices is not a good thing.
I realize this is a bit off-topic and that my prose sucks, but all these posts about "if she thougt she'd be better off dead, she'd be dead." really irritated me. The duality of a suicidal mind makes that state even more miserable. I still think it's good when people recover from this, though. There's evolution for you.
Terje
A friend of mine knows a girl who was a potential victim of a rapist. She had been training ninjutsu for 9 years, and when the rapist tried to rape her, she applied her skills. After a visit to the hospital, the guy went to prison. As this was in norway, she was in little danger of being sued. That would be harder in the US, though.
Anyway, the point is, martial arts do make a difference - at least on the victim side.