The article should have gotten Gary Larson (Far Side) to illustrate the concept. I picture the Cow standing on hind legs running on a treadmill at the gym with an ipod and watching Oprah.
Sure, it's anecdotal but, when I was a kid in the 70's, my uncle told me about the night of that broadcast. He was at a gas station that night in Indianapolis. Cars began coming in large numbers and a line developed. Some people were genuinely frightened. They were filling up with gas and advising everyone else there to "get out of the city because Martians were coming". They were completely serious. My uncle and his friends thought the whole thing was likely some Halloween stunt. But they also laughed at the frightened people because they reasoned that "Even if it were true, if Martians had the ability to come all the way from Mars to kill us all, wouldn't they get us in the country just as easily as they would in the city?"
Sure I agree that we may be circling the drain waiting for a democratically acceptable solution to the problem. But claiming that democracy should be suspended while intelligent people set about saving the rest of us is just the sort of thing that has the tea bag party threatening to revolt. Last weekend they kicked it off in Searchlight, NV, and one of their rants is that global warming is part of a plot to eliminate American sovereignty. Now after sensible people tried to assure them that this isn't so, this egghead pops up with all this elitist crap.
Oh yeah, how can I form a valid opinion in an atmosphere of freedom? Only through oppression and control of the people's thought processes can they be guided to proper conclusions.
The word disgruntled always sends up red flags for me. It is almost always used by employers (or those who speak from an employer's viewpoint). I infer from it that the (ex-)employee is considered unhappy because their employer wouldn't concede to unreasonable expectations. The possibility that the expectations were entirely reasonable is completely outside of the realm of thought.
Orange County prosecutes you for putting in desert landscaping? Wow! Too bad they didn't live in Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority pays customers $1.50 per square foot to convert lawns to desert landscaping.
Back in the late eighties, I was required to get an EPA certification that allowed me to work on refrigeration and air conditioning. The course and EPA test centered on the effects that refrigerants were having on the ozone layer and techniques to mitigate the problem. Out of a class of twenty or so, I was the only person taking the course who actually believed that CFC's might be having a real environmental impact. Everyone else there believed that CFC's destroying the ozone layer was a hoax masterminded by DuPont because their patents on old refrigerants had lapsed. AC techs typically follow procedures to capture old refrigerants and re-use them, thus reducing their release into the atmosphere. But they don't do this because they actually believe there's a real environmental problem. Most of them just do it because the price of new refrigerants was too high to waste them. So to apply this to today's concern over greenhouse gases, if you want the Dale Dribbles of the world to reduce their use of fossil fuels, you're going to have to raise the price of those fuels. You're not going to convince them that the science is anything other than a conspiracy theory.
Even as a kid I noticed that nearly all the comic book heroes had super human powers, bestowed on them by magic or some other pseudo-scientific explanation, except for Batman. Under the suit Batman was still only human. Very smart, in good physical shape, disciplined, and with all the technology his billionaire wealth could buy, but still just human. Comparing them to the ancient myths, Batman was like Odysseus, an extraordinarily smart man, while Superman, Spiderman, (Hercules, Perseus) etc. were gods. In my childhood fantasies, my understanding was that Superman's powers would forever be denied to me in the real world. But Batman was something I could actually become. (At least that's what I thought when I was five).
I'm curious about what behavior the school officials deemed improper in the student's home environment, and why they thought it was any of their business. But mostly I'm curious how they thought that revealing to the student how they had uncovered the activity wouldn't cause them to wind up in a civil suit, or in jail. Are they really that presumptuous about what limits there are to their authority?
You're right about his romanticizing what life was like 100 years ago. I need to kick back and watch TV and have a cold soda from the fridge after work. I also want to take a hot shower when I get home. On the weekends I might enjoy camping or fishing. None of those were available 100 years ago. Life was pretty bleak unless you were one of the robber barons. But 40 years ago, Mom was at home. Dad put in a 40 hour week at the factory. The working class was entitled to a pretty good share of the wealth that they were creating. Now between Mom and Dad, the family puts in 80+ hours on the job. College degrees just to have comparable living standards. Where the hell is my flying car? Where did we go wrong? At least part of today's 10% unemployment rate stems from the fact that we use machines to do what people used to do. Imagine how many of us will be unemployed when we don't need any human beings who can think. How will you earn a living then?
I drove through South Carolina not long ago. You see lots of rebel flags flying, especially in the rural areas. Is that subversive? Is the state going to go after them?
"People don't like political messages in their entertainment if they disagree with the politics."
I tend to agree with Cameron's message here. But the film left me with the impression that Cameron considers those who disagree with him to be lacking in intelligence, and I think that's counterproductive. Despite this and the lack of originality in the story, I enjoyed the film.
I'm an engineer. (Civil PE, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering). I think the primary reason that terrorists recruit from engineers is because so many of the security measures (in airports for example) are transparent to us. Many of the TSA's measures are for the purpose of making the general public feel safe. Not that that's a bad thing, because there is no such thing perfectly safe in reality. The only way air travel can be perfectly safe is for it not to exist.
"The US has invaded 2 countries resulting in the deaths of over a million people, what about their human rights? Like China the US executes the mentally ill and the list goes on. Do you protest in the same way about the US ?"
Yes, actually we do protest the behavior of our own government. And no one threatens to run over us with a tank when we do so. Someone has to protest human rights abuses in China. The Chinese are too submissive to do it.
Slashdot Mirror
The article should have gotten Gary Larson (Far Side) to illustrate the concept. I picture the Cow standing on hind legs running on a treadmill at the gym with an ipod and watching Oprah.
"How much can you buy with 66 cent in China?"
That's easy. You can buy the labor of a Chinese teenager for one hour.
That's different. We have to lie, cheat, steal and kill. We're the good guys.
If looking at sick people boosts the immune system, then looking at dead people should make me immortal.
Sure, it's anecdotal but, when I was a kid in the 70's, my uncle told me about the night of that broadcast. He was at a gas station that night in Indianapolis. Cars began coming in large numbers and a line developed. Some people were genuinely frightened. They were filling up with gas and advising everyone else there to "get out of the city because Martians were coming". They were completely serious. My uncle and his friends thought the whole thing was likely some Halloween stunt. But they also laughed at the frightened people because they reasoned that "Even if it were true, if Martians had the ability to come all the way from Mars to kill us all, wouldn't they get us in the country just as easily as they would in the city?"
How is any IQ score something to brag about? It's not an accomplishment. It's just an accident.
Sure I agree that we may be circling the drain waiting for a democratically acceptable solution to the problem. But claiming that democracy should be suspended while intelligent people set about saving the rest of us is just the sort of thing that has the tea bag party threatening to revolt. Last weekend they kicked it off in Searchlight, NV, and one of their rants is that global warming is part of a plot to eliminate American sovereignty. Now after sensible people tried to assure them that this isn't so, this egghead pops up with all this elitist crap.
Oh yeah, how can I form a valid opinion in an atmosphere of freedom? Only through oppression and control of the people's thought processes can they be guided to proper conclusions.
The word disgruntled always sends up red flags for me. It is almost always used by employers (or those who speak from an employer's viewpoint). I infer from it that the (ex-)employee is considered unhappy because their employer wouldn't concede to unreasonable expectations. The possibility that the expectations were entirely reasonable is completely outside of the realm of thought.
I'd have to say that I'm opposed to this "baby eating" that you advocate, laser-vision notwithstanding.
The ancient Romans were smarter than we are. At least they were, until they started drinking water from those lead pipes.
Orange County prosecutes you for putting in desert landscaping? Wow! Too bad they didn't live in Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority pays customers $1.50 per square foot to convert lawns to desert landscaping.
Back in the late eighties, I was required to get an EPA certification that allowed me to work on refrigeration and air conditioning. The course and EPA test centered on the effects that refrigerants were having on the ozone layer and techniques to mitigate the problem. Out of a class of twenty or so, I was the only person taking the course who actually believed that CFC's might be having a real environmental impact. Everyone else there believed that CFC's destroying the ozone layer was a hoax masterminded by DuPont because their patents on old refrigerants had lapsed. AC techs typically follow procedures to capture old refrigerants and re-use them, thus reducing their release into the atmosphere. But they don't do this because they actually believe there's a real environmental problem. Most of them just do it because the price of new refrigerants was too high to waste them. So to apply this to today's concern over greenhouse gases, if you want the Dale Dribbles of the world to reduce their use of fossil fuels, you're going to have to raise the price of those fuels. You're not going to convince them that the science is anything other than a conspiracy theory.
Even as a kid I noticed that nearly all the comic book heroes had super human powers, bestowed on them by magic or some other pseudo-scientific explanation, except for Batman. Under the suit Batman was still only human. Very smart, in good physical shape, disciplined, and with all the technology his billionaire wealth could buy, but still just human. Comparing them to the ancient myths, Batman was like Odysseus, an extraordinarily smart man, while Superman, Spiderman, (Hercules, Perseus) etc. were gods. In my childhood fantasies, my understanding was that Superman's powers would forever be denied to me in the real world. But Batman was something I could actually become. (At least that's what I thought when I was five).
I'm curious about what behavior the school officials deemed improper in the student's home environment, and why they thought it was any of their business. But mostly I'm curious how they thought that revealing to the student how they had uncovered the activity wouldn't cause them to wind up in a civil suit, or in jail. Are they really that presumptuous about what limits there are to their authority?
I'm looking at it. It's pretty hanging there in the sky just where God put it 6000 years ago. LOL.
You're right about his romanticizing what life was like 100 years ago. I need to kick back and watch TV and have a cold soda from the fridge after work. I also want to take a hot shower when I get home. On the weekends I might enjoy camping or fishing. None of those were available 100 years ago. Life was pretty bleak unless you were one of the robber barons. But 40 years ago, Mom was at home. Dad put in a 40 hour week at the factory. The working class was entitled to a pretty good share of the wealth that they were creating. Now between Mom and Dad, the family puts in 80+ hours on the job. College degrees just to have comparable living standards. Where the hell is my flying car? Where did we go wrong?
At least part of today's 10% unemployment rate stems from the fact that we use machines to do what people used to do. Imagine how many of us will be unemployed when we don't need any human beings who can think. How will you earn a living then?
I drove through South Carolina not long ago. You see lots of rebel flags flying, especially in the rural areas. Is that subversive? Is the state going to go after them?
Nearly spewed my coffee. From offtopic to 5 funny. Great recovery.
Yeah. Well it also says there that it is a "republic" that belongs to the "people". So when do the Chinese people get to start electing their leaders?
How about Soylent Green: the Musical?
"People don't like political messages in their entertainment if they disagree with the politics."
I tend to agree with Cameron's message here. But the film left me with the impression that Cameron considers those who disagree with him to be lacking in intelligence, and I think that's counterproductive. Despite this and the lack of originality in the story, I enjoyed the film.
Once we started reading, writing, living in cities, etc., it was all downhill.
I'm an engineer. (Civil PE, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering). I think the primary reason that terrorists recruit from engineers is because so many of the security measures (in airports for example) are transparent to us. Many of the TSA's measures are for the purpose of making the general public feel safe. Not that that's a bad thing, because there is no such thing perfectly safe in reality. The only way air travel can be perfectly safe is for it not to exist.
"The US has invaded 2 countries resulting in the deaths of over a million people, what about their human rights? Like China the US executes the mentally ill and the list goes on. Do you protest in the same way about the US ?"
Yes, actually we do protest the behavior of our own government. And no one threatens to run over us with a tank when we do so. Someone has to protest human rights abuses in China. The Chinese are too submissive to do it.