This is the result of the failure of democracy. Democracy created a society where the dumb can rule the clever. That is because there will be always more dumb people than clever people.
Also, democracy introduced the notion that everyone is equal which is clearly not the case. People are different. This creates jealousy among the majority if a few people distinguish themself from the masses.
The real values of society are completely destroyed by democracy. We should return to Natural Order where the qualified people receive esteem and position in society (aka the wise man of the village in the old times).
I'm not so sure this is generally true for black holes. The larger a black hole the lesser its tidal effect. Which means a giant black hole can swallow whole stars without tearing them apart. This led to the theory that the universe itself is a black hole.
...only works if the following 3 statements are realized:
1. Moving of goods shoud be free
This has been realized. The moving of goods from one country to the other is cheap.
2. Moving of workforce should be free
This has been partly realized. For example, within the EU workforce can move freely. However, in many countries you have to get a work permit to work there which restricts getting a job in the country. The cultural differences and the cost of the moving are also an obstacle.
3. Moving of knowledge should be free
This is far from realized. Patents restrict transferring of knowledge from one person to another.
So, corporations exploit the latter two points to their advantage.
Sometimes governement interference is bad, sometimes its not.
Government intererence is always bad. And if it looks like it's not bad, in that case the government just tries to undo the bad which the government itself has created in the first place. However, in most cases this second intevention just makes things worse. Which, of course, requires another intervention... catch 22.
Unrestrained, true capitalism will lead to a market dominated by huge corporations, who will then make big brother look like a sunday cartoon.
As if the situation today was different, right? Anyway, the market, most probably, wouldn't be dominated by huge corporations in an true capitalist world (no government intervention), because there wouldn't be patents, copyrights and trademarks which restrict a new entity entering the market.
You hit the nail on its head. Democracy is majority rule. I think you should read:
Democracy: The God that Failed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe (read the comments on Amazon what this book is about)
This is an exellent book about the failures of democracy and every/.-er should read it. Democracy failed at least twice in the past and sooner or later it will fail again.
...is that no mainstream theory predicts its existance. It is based solely on observations. Scientists try to bend/modify current theories in order to include Dark Energy.
Many formulas and theories are based on observations, however, a good theory not only describes current observations, but predicts things which are not observed, yet. Like Einstein's theory predicted time-dilation, the curvature of space-time, etc. and gave a solution to the orbit of Mercur (which Newton's theory was unable to explain).
A new theory may be needed to include the Dark Enegy from its foundations or to explain these phenomenas without Dark Energy.
Ideas do not manifest in a person's mind out of nothing. A person can invent a thing because society created the right conditions through education, health care, etc. This person cannot invent anything without the aid of the society. With an invention this person just pays back his debt to society.
Also, there is no non-obvious thing to invent. Competent people in a field will solve a problem in a similar way. This is called progress and not an invention.
Patents try to establish a notion like saying 'Without Einstein there will be no GR today', which is not true. Without Einstein we would have had GR 5 or 10 years later, because the time was ripe to invent it.
I have read many comments on/. about copyright, pro and contra, but I think RMS hit the nail on its head with his Reevaluating Copyright: The copyright system developed along with the printing press. In the age of the printing press, it was unfeasible for an ordinary reader to copy a book. Copying a book required a printing press, and ordinary readers did not have one. What's more, copying in this way was absurdly expensive unless many copies were made--which means, in effect, that only a publisher could copy a book economically.
So when the public traded to publishers the freedom to copy books, they were selling something which they *could not use*. Trading something you cannot use for something useful and helpful is always good deal. Therefore, copyright was uncontroversial in the age of the printing press, precisely because it did not restrict anything the reading public might commonly do.
But the age of the printing press is gradually ending. The xerox machine and the audio and video tape began the change; digital information technology brings it to fruition. These advances make it possible for ordinary people, not just publishers with specialized equipment, to copy. And they do!
I think the musicians have to perform live as they had to do a hundred years ago and as many musicians have to do now (except the so called stars). The era to become rich by selling millions of CDs without any real work is over.
In the places where it is trouble to carry lockpicks et al., you can't get busted for possession or ownership of the devices in the same way that you can get busted for possessing, say, pot or cocaine. Instead, the possession of those kinds of tools, WITHOUT a reasonable excuse, is considered prima facie evidence of an intent to commit wrongdoing. So if a cop catches you with lockpicks in one of these states, he can bust you for conspiring to commit a burgalary.
It's kinda like Thought Police, isn't it? To intend to do sg and to do sg are two different things. I think Minority Report taught us that every person can change his mind even in the last minute. So, no crime will be commited. I think banning possesing such harmless (in the sence that it is harmless until used, not like some explosives) physical items like lockpicks is a severe violation of human rights.
No, it's not just that. Let's see an example: A hires B to kill C. B has two choices: 1. refuse 2. kill C B decides to kill C. Police catch B. B tells police A hired him. Police catch A who actually did not commit the crime, but will also go to jail.
Actually, it's not clear to me that A should be punished at all. It was B who did the crime and B should be responsible for his own actions. B had the choice to refuse. He chose to kill C. A should not be responsible for B's choice even if A hired B (If A forced B to kill C that would be an other matter. In this case B would be innocent).
As an AC stated before starvation is not caused by goverments not allowing the food to get to the people who need it. All the food of the developed world is not enough to feed all the starving people.
Actually, starvation is caused by modern medicine. The child, who died in an illness 50 years ago, is cured by modern medicine now. However, the environment can't support the increased population in most third world countries. It sounds crude but we should not give medicine to the third world countries and nature takes care of the rest.
Or we can give them technology and enducation to make their own food and necessities of life, but in this case they will began to compete against us and we do not want that to happen, do we?
In short: starvation is caused by the interference of the white man which began centuries ago. Stop the interferece and starvation will cease to exist (or do something really helpful, not just throwing some food to the starving).
In Austria, a regular player sued a casino and got back half a million euros after losing 2 million. Apparently there is a law in Austria which states the casinos can't let a player to play games if the player can't allow it. In this case the player asked the casino to ban him from playing and the casio complied. Later, the player asked to lift the ban which the casino did, but it should not have. The casino should have investigated the matter first.
The computers of the future will be capable of rendering a picture indistinguishable from a real one. In this case no real harm is done to anybody by making such a picture. So, the defendant will claim he/she just rendered those pictures. Can anyone be arrested for rendering a picture?
As far as I know when somebody sues you and he/she lost against you then he/she also has to pay (to a certain ammount decided by the court) for your lawyer in many countries. In such a case as this you may not have to pay in advance to your lawyer, because the lawyer knows you can't lose this ridiculous case and he can get his money from the plaintiff.
That is the title of a book written by a hungarian writer. It raises quite a few question about the great pyramid and tries to give some answers. Interestingly, I have not read the same conclusions in other books.
Ever wonder about the chamber with the 'well' under the pyramid? I think the official theory is that it was supposed to be where the pharaoh would be buried originally. However, a more plausible theory is that it was used to test whether the ground above could support the weight of the pyramid. A pendulum was used to test this, one end was attached to the ceiling and the other was lowered into the well.
Another mystery is the great gallery. In this book the writer assumes it was used as some kind of elevator. There are some interesting markings on either side of the gallery along the walls which a cogwheel can hang on to. Considering the Egyptians did not know the wheel it is quite a bold assumption.
Do not forget that there are some blocks in the pyramid which weigh 70 tons or so. And there is the king's sarcophagus in the king's chamber. It carved from one block of gratine, one of the hardest material on Earth.
Also, there is absolutly no evidence about that a pharaoh was ever buried in the pyramid. Considering all the mysteries, is it really surprising I am more inclined to believe the pyramid was not build by Egyptians?
What if SCO took some code from Linux and inserted into its own code? Even if there are some similarities between SCO's code and Linux's code how can SCO prove that it was stolen from SCO and not vice versa?
and I do not think hugarian IT workers are cheaper than the Indian IT workers, to the contrary. One of the problems my coutry is facing currently is that the workforce is not as cheap as a few years ago. Many corporations plan to move towards east (Russia, China, etc) if the situation does not change. I think the same can be said on the neighbouring countries, too. Workforce in the eastern block is not as cheap as it used to be.
AFAIK neutron stars form from a supernova and they are the second most dense objects after the black holes. How can any planets survive the supernova blast of the original star?
This is not so simple. You do not travell to Mars from Earth and vice versa in a straight line. It's more like a spiral which means you will circle the sun at least once to reach Mars. I think the most important thing is the turn around time of the communication. So, you want Mars to be closest when the astronaunts on Mars, because communication turn around is less than 7 minutes in such a case.
Slashdot Mirror
This is the result of the failure of democracy. Democracy created a society where the dumb can rule the clever. That is because there will be always more dumb people than clever people.
Also, democracy introduced the notion that everyone is equal which is clearly not the case. People are different. This creates jealousy among the majority if a few people distinguish themself from the masses.
The real values of society are completely destroyed by democracy. We should return to Natural Order where the qualified people receive esteem and position in society (aka the wise man of the village in the old times).
I'm not so sure this is generally true for black holes. The larger a black hole the lesser its tidal effect. Which means a giant black hole can swallow whole stars without tearing them apart. This led to the theory that the universe itself is a black hole.
...my chances to become a brain surgeon are improved.
...only works if the following 3 statements are realized:
1. Moving of goods shoud be free
This has been realized. The moving of goods from one country to the other is cheap.
2. Moving of workforce should be free
This has been partly realized. For example, within the EU workforce can move freely. However, in many countries you have to get a work permit to work there which restricts getting a job in the country. The cultural differences and the cost of the moving are also an obstacle.
3. Moving of knowledge should be free
This is far from realized. Patents restrict transferring of knowledge from one person to another.
So, corporations exploit the latter two points to their advantage.
Sometimes governement interference is bad, sometimes its not.
Government intererence is always bad. And if it looks like it's not bad, in that case the government just tries to undo the bad which the government itself has created in the first place. However, in most cases this second intevention just makes things worse. Which, of course, requires another intervention... catch 22.
Unrestrained, true capitalism will lead to a market dominated by huge corporations, who will then make big brother look like a sunday cartoon.
As if the situation today was different, right?
Anyway, the market, most probably, wouldn't be dominated by huge corporations in an true capitalist world (no government intervention), because there wouldn't be patents, copyrights and trademarks which restrict a new entity entering the market.
You hit the nail on its head. Democracy is majority rule. I think you should read:
/.-er should read it. Democracy failed at least twice in the past and sooner or later it will fail again.
Democracy: The God that Failed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe (read the comments on Amazon what this book is about)
This is an exellent book about the failures of democracy and every
...is that no mainstream theory predicts its existance. It is based solely on observations. Scientists try to bend/modify current theories in order to include Dark Energy.
Many formulas and theories are based on observations, however, a good theory not only describes current observations, but predicts things which are not observed, yet. Like Einstein's theory predicted time-dilation, the curvature of space-time, etc. and gave a solution to the orbit of Mercur (which Newton's theory was unable to explain).
A new theory may be needed to include the Dark Enegy from its foundations or to explain these phenomenas without Dark Energy.
Ideas do not manifest in a person's mind out of nothing. A person can invent a thing because society created the right conditions through education, health care, etc. This person cannot invent anything without the aid of the society. With an invention this person just pays back his debt to society.
Also, there is no non-obvious thing to invent. Competent people in a field will solve a problem in a similar way. This is called progress and not an invention.
Patents try to establish a notion like saying 'Without Einstein there will be no GR today', which is not true. Without Einstein we would have had GR 5 or 10 years later, because the time was ripe to invent it.
I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution.
-- Wernher Magnus Maximilian von Braun (1912-77)
Then just go here.
I have read many comments on /. about copyright, pro and contra, but I think RMS hit the nail on its head with his Reevaluating Copyright:
The copyright system developed along with the printing press. In the age of the printing press, it was unfeasible for an ordinary reader to copy a book. Copying a book required a printing press, and ordinary readers did not have one. What's more, copying in this way was absurdly expensive unless many copies were made--which means, in effect, that only a publisher could copy a book economically.
So when the public traded to publishers the freedom to copy books, they were selling something which they *could not use*. Trading something you cannot use for something useful and helpful is always good deal. Therefore, copyright was uncontroversial in the age of the printing press, precisely because it did not restrict anything the reading public might commonly do.
But the age of the printing press is gradually ending. The xerox machine and the audio and video tape began the change; digital information technology brings it to fruition. These advances make it possible for ordinary people, not just publishers with specialized equipment, to copy. And they do!
I think the musicians have to perform live as they had to do a hundred years ago and as many musicians have to do now (except the so called stars). The era to become rich by selling millions of CDs without any real work is over.
Computer! What's the situation down on the planet?
You have your mind on computers, it seems.
You think too much about computers.
You should try taking your mind off of computers.
Are you a computer hacker?
In the places where it is trouble to carry lockpicks et al., you can't get busted for possession or ownership of the devices in the same way that you can get busted for possessing, say, pot or cocaine. Instead, the possession of those kinds of tools, WITHOUT a reasonable excuse, is considered prima facie evidence of an intent to commit wrongdoing. So if a cop catches you with lockpicks in one of these states, he can bust you for conspiring to commit a burgalary.
It's kinda like Thought Police, isn't it? To intend to do sg and to do sg are two different things. I think Minority Report taught us that every person can change his mind even in the last minute. So, no crime will be commited. I think banning possesing such harmless (in the sence that it is harmless until used, not like some explosives) physical items like lockpicks is a severe violation of human rights.
Actually committing a crime? That's a crime.
No, it's not just that. Let's see an example:
A hires B to kill C. B has two choices: 1. refuse 2. kill C
B decides to kill C. Police catch B. B tells police A hired him.
Police catch A who actually did not commit the crime, but will also go to jail.
Actually, it's not clear to me that A should be punished at all. It was B who did the crime and B should be responsible for his own actions. B had the choice to refuse. He chose to kill C. A should not be responsible for B's choice even if A hired B (If A forced B to kill C that would be an other matter. In this case B would be innocent).
As an AC stated before starvation is not caused by goverments not allowing the food to get to the people who need it. All the food of the developed world is not enough to feed all the starving people.
Actually, starvation is caused by modern medicine. The child, who died in an illness 50 years ago, is cured by modern medicine now. However, the environment can't support the increased population in most third world countries. It sounds crude but we should not give medicine to the third world countries and nature takes care of the rest.
Or we can give them technology and enducation to make their own food and necessities of life, but in this case they will began to compete against us and we do not want that to happen, do we?
In short: starvation is caused by the interference of the white man which began centuries ago. Stop the interferece and starvation will cease to exist (or do something really helpful, not just throwing some food to the starving).
In Austria, a regular player sued a casino and got back half a million euros after losing 2 million. Apparently there is a law in Austria which states the casinos can't let a player to play games if the player can't allow it. In this case the player asked the casino to ban him from playing and the casio complied. Later, the player asked to lift the ban which the casino did, but it should not have. The casino should have investigated the matter first.
The computers of the future will be capable of rendering a picture indistinguishable from a real one. In this case no real harm is done to anybody by making such a picture. So, the defendant will claim he/she just rendered those pictures. Can anyone be arrested for rendering a picture?
As far as I know when somebody sues you and he/she lost against you then he/she also has to pay (to a certain ammount decided by the court) for your lawyer in many countries. In such a case as this you may not have to pay in advance to your lawyer, because the lawyer knows you can't lose this ridiculous case and he can get his money from the plaintiff.
Why does it not work this way in the USA?
That is the title of a book written by a hungarian writer. It raises quite a few question about the great pyramid and tries to give some answers. Interestingly, I have not read the same conclusions in other books.
Ever wonder about the chamber with the 'well' under the pyramid? I think the official theory is that it was supposed to be where the pharaoh would be buried originally. However, a more plausible theory is that it was used to test whether the ground above could support the weight of the pyramid. A pendulum was used to test this, one end was attached to the ceiling and the other was lowered into the well.
Another mystery is the great gallery. In this book the writer assumes it was used as some kind of elevator. There are some interesting markings on either side of the gallery along the walls which a cogwheel can hang on to. Considering the Egyptians did not know the wheel it is quite a bold assumption.
Do not forget that there are some blocks in the pyramid which weigh 70 tons or so. And there is the king's sarcophagus in the king's chamber. It carved from one block of gratine, one of the hardest material on Earth.
Also, there is absolutly no evidence about that a pharaoh was ever buried in the pyramid. Considering all the mysteries, is it really surprising I am more inclined to believe the pyramid was not build by Egyptians?
...seem to kill the goldeneggslayinggoose...
Has anybody read that as the golden egg slaying goose or it was just me.
What if SCO took some code from Linux and inserted into its own code? Even if there are some similarities between SCO's code and Linux's code how can SCO prove that it was stolen from SCO and not vice versa?
and I do not think hugarian IT workers are cheaper than the Indian IT workers, to the contrary. One of the problems my coutry is facing currently is that the workforce is not as cheap as a few years ago. Many corporations plan to move towards east (Russia, China, etc) if the situation does not change. I think the same can be said on the neighbouring countries, too. Workforce in the eastern block is not as cheap as it used to be.
AFAIK neutron stars form from a supernova and they are the second most dense objects after the black holes. How can any planets survive the supernova blast of the original star?
This is not so simple. You do not travell to Mars from Earth and vice versa in a straight line. It's more like a spiral which means you will circle the sun at least once to reach Mars. I think the most important thing is the turn around time of the communication. So, you want Mars to be closest when the astronaunts on Mars, because communication turn around is less than 7 minutes in such a case.