Bread and circuses (i.e. panem et circenses) killed the Roman Empire.
The citizenry looked at it as easier to stop working and live off of other people than to get a job.
Very similar to the way the US is becoming a nation of disability fraud, food stamps, and the ACA.
(I realize people on \. are going to disagree with this, which is OK, but please... in the name of writing something worth reading... provide some details about how you think I've erred).
I can't believe you are encouraging people to look at death *through the eyes of a PROFESSIONAL* instead of through their own eyes personally.
"Ah... millions of people die every day so it is no big deal". Millions die every day, sure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter to me when I'm about to die, my loved one, or my neighbor is about to die. And if it matters I'm going TO DO something about it.
I can't imagine a more superficial way to evaluate anything. Are you going to ask an anthropologist if you should marry? Or a sociologist what religion you should join?
Only within the death-worshiping culture of slashdot is life extension considered bad. I will have nothing to do with it.
Once you delve into which ethnic groups should be promoted by the government, you get into a lot of atom-splitting. Notice your expression above: "by a small margin".
When the US started there was a lot of contention about which denominations should be promoted, subsidized, effectively "established" by the government.
The government should not be establishing ethnicities, denominations, religion, political viewpoints (e.g. PBS, IRS, etc). It should focus on fighting criminal practices and checking our enemies abroad.
I'm not real sure on that one. Could we switch to drones? Well, Iran seems to be OK with our drones. The F-35 program was initiated to save money. You agree the motive there was good, right? The F-35 might be poor execution (probably a major over-estimation in savings was involved), but at the end of the day if someone is thinking about hurting the US they have to think twice about us putting $850 into just the F-35.
Putting money into space is not going to make those folks (who I want deterred if we can't outright defeat them) to think twice about it.
You said: "No-one said anything about living on this place."
The summary says: "Scientists on the hunt for Earth's twin are focused on worlds that could support liquid surface water, which may be necessary to brew the chemistry of life."
So I think everyone pretty much agrees that the water/life thing is very important to scientists. My interpretation that scientists are obessive about it (with my tax money) is something I'm entitled to.
Maybe you should ask why you think my worldview is so narrow when you don't think I'm entitled to my opinion. That seems kind of narrow to me.
I don't have a problem with any of the things you brought up.
We have a big military to allow commerce. That means I can buy cheap things from overseas and sell things to buyers overseas as well. Everyone mutually profits and it's worth the bucks to me. The money that goes into space is just *gone*.
Any tax break on the wealthy is money THEY earned. Can you imagine if the government had to earn its money instead of mandating it by law? Can you imagine how much people would pay to stand in line at the DMV? Or the post office?
The wealthy are the only ones paying taxes in this country. Maybe *you* should be thanking *them*.
I'd be interested in hearing the case for your third argument. I suspect the free market could have come up with Velcro eventually.
To be honest, I'd rather have Velcro taken away and the $100 billion dollars NASA has disappeared from the pockets of tax payers.
You're making some huge Keynesian assumptions here. Are you intentionally equating funding NASA with paying people to dig ditches? I honestly can't tell. Is it going out on a limb to claim private individuals do a better job of spending the money they earn than spending it on ditch digging projects? I think there is enough aggregate demand in the free market to keep things going just fine without robbing the folks. The lawyers in DC disagree with me.
You say the planet will meet it's doom. Well, these newly discovered planets won't out-live the heat death of the universe (if you're going to go along with Karl Sagan's naturalist opinions about astronomy). We could be planning things out decillions of years out from now... or we could carpe diem and prepare for the day when each one of us will have to explain our choices to the Almighty.
The problem is you're looking at speculative world historical significance instead of value for actual, existing things like people.
It's pretty clear to me what value my cell phone has in my life.
I'm not sure how NASA has done much for me besides reaching out to muslim nations. To be totally honest I have doubts it is doing much for the Muslims either.
The modern organization with the name of NASA knows less about how to get into space than Von Braun and Goddard.
Historically speaking centrally distributed resources lead to hoarding by the government and supplier starvation. See the Ukraine under the USSR where 4-6 million people starved to death as a result of central distribution (which became a political weapon).
In crisis situations the valuable skill is not who open the refrigerator only once, or squeeze their belt the tightest, or any other neurotic practice. Market value reflects what is valuable a lot better than the nerds with the pencils in their ears.
Another example: the only US president who was an engineer: Herbert Hoover. He was also the LAST engineer president for the same reason.
Excellently said. This is the unspoken truth that people have a hard time recognizing.
In the modern world people want to feel as though they don't have to make a choice. That everything is obvious. That you can just put everything under a microscope and it becomes clear. This is simply a failure of the people running with the herd to own their wishes/choices and jump out there with that. We are devolving into invertibrates.
Slashdot Mirror
You're not (necessarily) a hypocrite.
If I had to solder my own electronics I would live like a Quaker*.
(*setting aside that Quakers often have cell phones, access Facebook, etc)
Bread and circuses (i.e. panem et circenses) killed the Roman Empire.
... in the name of writing something worth reading ... provide some details about how you think I've erred).
The citizenry looked at it as easier to stop working and live off of other people than to get a job.
Very similar to the way the US is becoming a nation of disability fraud, food stamps, and the ACA.
(I realize people on \. are going to disagree with this, which is OK, but please
The one thing science can't provide, automate, or explain since it can't be scientifically detected or created: meaning.
I can't believe you are encouraging people to look at death *through the eyes of a PROFESSIONAL* instead of through their own eyes personally.
... millions of people die every day so it is no big deal". Millions die every day, sure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter to me when I'm about to die, my loved one, or my neighbor is about to die. And if it matters I'm going TO DO something about it.
"Ah
I can't imagine a more superficial way to evaluate anything. Are you going to ask an anthropologist if you should marry? Or a sociologist what religion you should join?
Only within the death-worshiping culture of slashdot is life extension considered bad. I will have nothing to do with it.
Once you delve into which ethnic groups should be promoted by the government, you get into a lot of atom-splitting. Notice your expression above: "by a small margin".
When the US started there was a lot of contention about which denominations should be promoted, subsidized, effectively "established" by the government.
The government should not be establishing ethnicities, denominations, religion, political viewpoints (e.g. PBS, IRS, etc). It should focus on fighting criminal practices and checking our enemies abroad.
Or Elizabeth Warren becoming the first minority professor at Harvard because she's 1/32nd "Cherokee".
I applaud the effort to give people the benefit of the doubt, but you go to far here.
This is the woman who said she hoped a wise latina would make better calls than people of other ethnicities.
Blatant.
Testimony is evidence.
Historically the testimony of two witnesses is sufficient for capital sentences.
I do NOT want the government to mandate animals be served food from clean dishes.
I do NOT want to pay for animals to have clean dishes.
If it was so clear, why are you resorting to swearing? That seems kind of desperate to me.
And why just an assertion? That seems hollow. Like just saying, "I'm right because I say so."
I'm not real sure on that one. Could we switch to drones? Well, Iran seems to be OK with our drones. The F-35 program was initiated to save money. You agree the motive there was good, right? The F-35 might be poor execution (probably a major over-estimation in savings was involved), but at the end of the day if someone is thinking about hurting the US they have to think twice about us putting $850 into just the F-35.
Putting money into space is not going to make those folks (who I want deterred if we can't outright defeat them) to think twice about it.
You said: "No-one said anything about living on this place."
The summary says: "Scientists on the hunt for Earth's twin are focused on worlds that could support liquid surface water, which may be necessary to brew the chemistry of life."
So I think everyone pretty much agrees that the water/life thing is very important to scientists. My interpretation that scientists are obessive about it (with my tax money) is something I'm entitled to.
Maybe you should ask why you think my worldview is so narrow when you don't think I'm entitled to my opinion. That seems kind of narrow to me.
How many bumper stickers do you see that say, "Abortion stops a father's authority". Like zero, right? I've never seen it.
And how many say, "Abortion stops a beating heart"? Like all of them.
You are straw-manning someone else's argument and got modded up just because you're posting in slashdot.
I don't have a problem with any of the things you brought up.
We have a big military to allow commerce. That means I can buy cheap things from overseas and sell things to buyers overseas as well. Everyone mutually profits and it's worth the bucks to me. The money that goes into space is just *gone*.
Any tax break on the wealthy is money THEY earned. Can you imagine if the government had to earn its money instead of mandating it by law? Can you imagine how much people would pay to stand in line at the DMV? Or the post office?
The wealthy are the only ones paying taxes in this country. Maybe *you* should be thanking *them*.
+1. I'd like a refund please.
So kissing a beautiful woman is the same thing as kissing a slab of concrete then?
That's a bland way to live. But then are empiro-naturalists really living or merely converting O2 to CO2?
I'd be interested in hearing the case for your third argument. I suspect the free market could have come up with Velcro eventually.
... or we could carpe diem and prepare for the day when each one of us will have to explain our choices to the Almighty.
To be honest, I'd rather have Velcro taken away and the $100 billion dollars NASA has disappeared from the pockets of tax payers.
You're making some huge Keynesian assumptions here. Are you intentionally equating funding NASA with paying people to dig ditches? I honestly can't tell. Is it going out on a limb to claim private individuals do a better job of spending the money they earn than spending it on ditch digging projects? I think there is enough aggregate demand in the free market to keep things going just fine without robbing the folks. The lawyers in DC disagree with me.
You say the planet will meet it's doom. Well, these newly discovered planets won't out-live the heat death of the universe (if you're going to go along with Karl Sagan's naturalist opinions about astronomy). We could be planning things out decillions of years out from now
The problem is you're looking at speculative world historical significance instead of value for actual, existing things like people.
It's pretty clear to me what value my cell phone has in my life.
I'm not sure how NASA has done much for me besides reaching out to muslim nations. To be totally honest I have doubts it is doing much for the Muslims either.
The modern organization with the name of NASA knows less about how to get into space than Von Braun and Goddard.
The scientists act like any place with liquid water will magically be a great place to live.
So why not have a wonderful life on this planet with water and not ship our tax dollars into outer space?
YES !! Hit the nail on the head.
The summary seems to reflect the way 2 bodies in space interact when they pass the Roche limit and the smaller body dissolves due to tidal forces.
Historically speaking centrally distributed resources lead to hoarding by the government and supplier starvation. See the Ukraine under the USSR where 4-6 million people starved to death as a result of central distribution (which became a political weapon).
In crisis situations the valuable skill is not who open the refrigerator only once, or squeeze their belt the tightest, or any other neurotic practice. Market value reflects what is valuable a lot better than the nerds with the pencils in their ears.
Another example: the only US president who was an engineer: Herbert Hoover. He was also the LAST engineer president for the same reason.
You have yet to learn how to be comfortable with your own opinion. Example:
>> in fact, making the situation worse
Better/worse is a matter of opinion. Not fact.
It's kind of sad there is not much of an economy for this (unless you are very specialized and scaled into these things).
Excellently said. This is the unspoken truth that people have a hard time recognizing.
In the modern world people want to feel as though they don't have to make a choice. That everything is obvious. That you can just put everything under a microscope and it becomes clear. This is simply a failure of the people running with the herd to own their wishes/choices and jump out there with that. We are devolving into invertibrates.