At the most basic level, our brains are single neurons, which are molecules, which are atoms... etc. down to quarks or whatever is at the bottom. All we are, everything, is simple matter organized in an extremely complex way.... There's nothing special about us, other than we are very complex structures of matter.
That's where the problem is, i.e. what is a matter?. Take a look at quantum mechanics to see how deep our problems are. And I don't think we can claim without proof that it is just hardware and software is what only matters. My understanding is that it is just another belief that hardware and software are separate-able in human brains.
It is the nature of man to compare himself with others, and sadly
comparison is the root of discontentment. ... The real
roots of conflict within mankind are directly related to man's
relationship with truth.
First you rightly pointed out root
of our problems but then that truth thing suggests something external
or at least different from ego. Let me try to say it differently that
the root of our problems is conflict within oneself and even man to
compare himself with others is a side effect of it. It is not true
that conflict is inevitable in the world as it is outcome of
conflict within oneself. Resolve inner struggle and for that person
"world" conflict ceases to be.
Even if a man is in sync with
absolute truth in his worldview and life choices, he will be in
conflict with those who reject the truth.
Once the inner conflict
is not then there will be no conflict with those who rejects the truth but
a mere awareness of differences among the people. Conflict is always
internal. Looking at a tree does not necessarily evokes conflict that
I am not a tree, not so with people. It is possible not to be
in conflict with what there is or which ever name we name it.
>> technology has potential to annihilate
>...as well as the potential to protect us from annihilation.
On the other hand science and technology are the main sources of threat of annihilation.
Anyway, the whole point of self censorship in science is moot because it is not going
to work unless whole world run like one (police?) state, which is not
going to happen any time soon.
"...Government of the people, by the people and for the people..."
You see, that is a problem. Government is not what someone wrote in a
book or someone wants it to be no matter how benevolent that person
is. Government is a bunch of people most of whom are not even elected
(see Department of State in US) who are driven by all sorts of motives
and let me assure you that "for the people, etc. etc." is not
first on their list if on a to-do list at all. As someone put it in a
movie I saw awhile ago: "We all fighting here for our place under Sun"
(irony for Sun Microsystems). Someone wants to have a food on a table
and someone wants ten cars and a palace on Bahamas or be a president
of USofA and rule the world. We can hope on a good will of our
government(s) or try to influence them through elections or whatever,
but we should not count on them been any helpful because they
(i.e. people who constitute government) really do not care about any
one of us, be you an American or foreigner or from Mars. When
government does something good to you consider it to be a gift.
Yeah, Stalin thought so too - the collectivization of Soviet farms actually resulted in mass starvation.
Starvation in Ukraine was not a result of collectivizaton but was
intentionally induced by Stalin by essentially taking by force all the
food away from the country. It was done to crash resistance of those
who did not want to be collectivized.
Let's see how many "volunteers" you get to work in the fields so some geeks can sit in air conditioned offices all day.
Well, if we won't be able to collect enough volunteers then may be we
don't need such software.
Let's see if you can get your groceries for free because you wrote a device driver in the web server back in the company's head office.
If you can not get your groceries this way then may be you should get another job.
And best of all, we invented and own most of the internet.
I always wonder, how come people take pride in someone else's deeds.
Mind if I ask. Did you personally contribute to invention of the
internet or may be you were working on Appolo project? If not then
don't say 'we'. This whole discussion reminds me of current Russian state
of affairs. Movies on a past glory of Soviet space program are very
popular over there.
So, if I got it right what you say is that when you transfer money
from your bank account to the card bank signs transfered money with
some random key while card itself does not have to have an id of any
kind thus providing anonymity. But you see, the problem is that while
money transfer is in progress there is a link between your bank
account number and signature with bank signs your cash. So, you see
even if store where you used your card will not be able to figure out
who you are ( which may not be the case as well ), but the bank has to
hung over money to the store and depending on evilness of the bank and
a store they will be able to collect info on your purchasing habits.
Ok, let say banks and stores operated by holy people and they don't
want to know anything about you, just give them the cash in which ever
form, but what about the government ('Patriot Act 2' then 3 etc.).
In other words even ideal electronic money do not guarantee your
anonymity unlike plain old paper cash.
The last place I went to the guy looked at me and laughed and said, "Nice job, but its a university key -- the blanks and hardware are sold directly by to the University key shop. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't make a copy of it, I have no blanks that will work."
It should not be difficult anyway. Just buy a Dremel and some steel at Home Depot and do it yourself. You may also want to get a grinder.
Higher education starts from lower one, i.e. high schools and before. If
Americans valued education we would see much more American kids in
science and engineering schools (I am not talking arts here)
Here in California, we have high taxes and about 60% of state taxes goto education
Spending more money is not a panacea indeed. What is missing is
attitude of society as a whole that education matters in itself,
has its own intrinsic values not as a means to success, which defined
in materialistic monetary terms. As a result of luck of such attitude
kids choose to go law schools and alike.What is missing is that
Renaissance like vision, which gave rise to all arts and sciences we
value so much.
...their home countries do not value education as highly as the USA
Their countries may not value education but their people do and that
is the difference.
there are plenty of extremely talented American programmers
I have yet to see plenty of extremely talented programmers of any origin.
> There are plenty of extremely talented American programmers that are available
I question that.
> Talent comes at a price
I completely agree here though. And the price starts from lower
education high schools, middle schools and alike. You want more
American talent then fix the schools. The truth is, education is
not important in America, success is and in minds of average American
it is not tied up to education.If you don't believe me go to
engineering school in your nearest University and see how many there
foreign students or children of newly immigrated Chinese. The bottom
line is Americans do not value education.
I completely agree nationalism and racism are the same.
It is all matter of social acceptance, example: murder is bad
but murder at war (hero) it good, one implies remorse another
one pride, but both are the same. Human morality is very stretchable indeed.
What I am doing with my life... guess what, I am going to enjoy it.
The problem is that you either enjoy your life or not, you cannot prepare yourself to enjoy it. If that is what you are doing then so happens, you spend your life preparing to enjoy it.
A non-citizen, outside the borders of the US does not have any US rights.
I see it now. That is why US wants to attack Iraq, they are foreigners
outside of US borders, thus they have no rights whatsoever, like right to be alive for example. Then I
guess goes Iran, North Korea and the rest of the world.
... you are not a US citizen. You have no rights in the US.
You are really a scum. Does that mean we can detain, torture and kill
foreigners just because because they are not US citizens? Let me tell
how it works. First you say foreigners don't have rights in US, then
those citizens who were not born here don't have (all?) the rights,
i.e. it is ok to spy on them because they were born in Iran or
Afghanistan, then their children (Japanize Americans in WW2), then
blacks, Mexicans... and then they will come after you. Just don't tell
us you've not been warn.
While Solaris might be the most famous book from Lem, I much prefer "The Cyberiad"
This book is not for everyone, but indeed I value 'Cyberiad' much more
then Solaris. I don't think I saw any other book with so many
provocative ideas. It does make you think though:) and that is not
something most of us can do, even geeks. It was a bit sad for me to
learn about Lems political problems with US writers. And I think he
was right pointing at commercialization of American si-fi writers as a
some kind of Western decadence.
Handguns and rifles are also fun to shoot for target practice.
Rocket launchers are also fun to shoot. You just have to stop
somewhere, like for example do not permit sale of anything which serves
primarily killing live creatures unless you prove yourself to be a hunter.
Not me at least, since I don't hear any difference between high bitrate Ogg and FLAC, while Ogg is still far smaller.
The problem is most likely is not you inability to hear the difference but a poor audio equipment. By a good headphones (>$100) and you will hear the difference.
You may also think about trying different amplifiers.
Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theor
Well, the problem is that there are no such thing as a fact even in a sence you were talking about. When humans talk about fact it always implies interpretation. There is
no such thing as independent observer which could verify and present
all the facts to us. Within human/scientific fact that
connection between the actual FACT (inperceivable reality) and its interpretation
could be more or less loose, thus giving the base for criticism of the fact itself.
For example the fact that Universe expands is more loose then the fact the apples
fall down.
I am not trying to attack Darvin here, hust to explain that there is more merit in attacks against Darvin's facts then against
fact of falling apples.
Slashdot Mirror
At the most basic level, our brains are single neurons, which are molecules, which are atoms... etc. down to quarks or whatever is at the bottom. All we are, everything, is simple matter organized in an extremely complex way.... There's nothing special about us, other than we are very complex structures of matter.
That's where the problem is, i.e. what is a matter?. Take a look at quantum mechanics to see how deep our problems are. And I don't think we can claim without proof that it is just hardware and software is what only matters. My understanding is that it is just another belief that hardware and software are separate-able in human brains.
It is the nature of man to compare himself with others, and sadly comparison is the root of discontentment.
...
The real roots of conflict within mankind are directly related to man's relationship with truth.
First you rightly pointed out root of our problems but then that truth thing suggests something external or at least different from ego. Let me try to say it differently that the root of our problems is conflict within oneself and even man to compare himself with others is a side effect of it. It is not true that conflict is inevitable in the world as it is outcome of conflict within oneself. Resolve inner struggle and for that person "world" conflict ceases to be.
Even if a man is in sync with absolute truth in his worldview and life choices, he will be in conflict with those who reject the truth.
Once the inner conflict is not then there will be no conflict with those who rejects the truth but a mere awareness of differences among the people. Conflict is always internal. Looking at a tree does not necessarily evokes conflict that I am not a tree, not so with people. It is possible not to be in conflict with what there is or which ever name we name it.
>> technology has potential to annihilate
>...as well as the potential to protect us from annihilation.
On the other hand science and technology are the main sources of threat of annihilation. Anyway, the whole point of self censorship in science is moot because it is not going to work unless whole world run like one (police?) state, which is not going to happen any time soon.
It's called the "BIG LIE" tactic.
:)
Still, it is better than statistics. Remeber there is a lie, big lie and statistics.
"...Government of the people, by the people and for the people..."
You see, that is a problem. Government is not what someone wrote in a book or someone wants it to be no matter how benevolent that person is. Government is a bunch of people most of whom are not even elected (see Department of State in US) who are driven by all sorts of motives and let me assure you that "for the people, etc. etc." is not first on their list if on a to-do list at all. As someone put it in a movie I saw awhile ago: "We all fighting here for our place under Sun" (irony for Sun Microsystems). Someone wants to have a food on a table and someone wants ten cars and a palace on Bahamas or be a president of USofA and rule the world. We can hope on a good will of our government(s) or try to influence them through elections or whatever, but we should not count on them been any helpful because they (i.e. people who constitute government) really do not care about any one of us, be you an American or foreigner or from Mars. When government does something good to you consider it to be a gift.
Cheers.
Yeah, Stalin thought so too - the collectivization of Soviet farms actually resulted in mass starvation.
Starvation in Ukraine was not a result of collectivizaton but was intentionally induced by Stalin by essentially taking by force all the food away from the country. It was done to crash resistance of those who did not want to be collectivized.
Let's see how many "volunteers" you get to work in the fields so some geeks can sit in air conditioned offices all day.
Well, if we won't be able to collect enough volunteers then may be we don't need such software.
Let's see if you can get your groceries for free because you wrote a device driver in the web server back in the company's head office.
If you can not get your groceries this way then may be you should get another job.
And best of all, we invented and own most of the internet.
I always wonder, how come people take pride in someone else's deeds.
Mind if I ask. Did you personally contribute to invention of the internet or may be you were working on Appolo project? If not then don't say 'we'.
This whole discussion reminds me of current Russian state of affairs. Movies on a past glory of Soviet space program are very popular over there.
So, if I got it right what you say is that when you transfer money from your bank account to the card bank signs transfered money with some random key while card itself does not have to have an id of any kind thus providing anonymity. But you see, the problem is that while money transfer is in progress there is a link between your bank account number and signature with bank signs your cash. So, you see even if store where you used your card will not be able to figure out who you are ( which may not be the case as well ), but the bank has to hung over money to the store and depending on evilness of the bank and a store they will be able to collect info on your purchasing habits. Ok, let say banks and stores operated by holy people and they don't want to know anything about you, just give them the cash in which ever form, but what about the government ('Patriot Act 2' then 3 etc.). In other words even ideal electronic money do not guarantee your anonymity unlike plain old paper cash.
The last place I went to the guy looked at me and laughed and said, "Nice job, but its a university key -- the blanks and hardware are sold directly by to the University key shop. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't make a copy of it, I have no blanks that will work."
It should not be difficult anyway. Just buy a Dremel and some steel at Home Depot and do it yourself. You may also want to get a grinder.
No country values education more than America.
...their home countries do not value education as highly as the USA
Higher education starts from lower one, i.e. high schools and before. If Americans valued education we would see much more American kids in science and engineering schools (I am not talking arts here)
Here in California, we have high taxes and about 60% of state taxes goto education
Spending more money is not a panacea indeed. What is missing is attitude of society as a whole that education matters in itself, has its own intrinsic values not as a means to success, which defined in materialistic monetary terms. As a result of luck of such attitude kids choose to go law schools and alike.What is missing is that Renaissance like vision, which gave rise to all arts and sciences we value so much.
Their countries may not value education but their people do and that is the difference.
there are plenty of extremely talented American programmers
I have yet to see plenty of extremely talented programmers of any origin.
> There are plenty of extremely talented American programmers that are available
I question that.
> Talent comes at a price
I completely agree here though. And the price starts from lower education high schools, middle schools and alike. You want more American talent then fix the schools. The truth is, education is not important in America , success is and in minds of average American it is not tied up to education.If you don't believe me go to engineering school in your nearest University and see how many there foreign students or children of newly immigrated Chinese. The bottom line is Americans do not value education.
Rubbish - they are exactly the same
I completely agree nationalism and racism are the same . It is all matter of social acceptance, example: murder is bad but murder at war (hero) it good, one implies remorse another one pride, but both are the same. Human morality is very stretchable indeed.
What I am doing with my life... guess what, I am going to enjoy it.
The problem is that you either enjoy your life or not, you cannot prepare yourself to enjoy it. If that is what you are doing then so happens, you spend your life preparing to enjoy it.
A non-citizen, outside the borders of the US does not have any US rights.
I see it now. That is why US wants to attack Iraq, they are foreigners outside of US borders, thus they have no rights whatsoever, like right to be alive for example. Then I guess goes Iran, North Korea and the rest of the world.
Sorry for insult though.
... you are not a US citizen. You have no rights in the US.
You are really a scum. Does that mean we can detain, torture and kill foreigners just because because they are not US citizens? Let me tell how it works. First you say foreigners don't have rights in US, then those citizens who were not born here don't have (all?) the rights, i.e. it is ok to spy on them because they were born in Iran or Afghanistan, then their children (Japanize Americans in WW2), then blacks, Mexicans... and then they will come after you. Just don't tell us you've not been warn.
... Nintendo better start creating content (love that phrase) for adults pretty soon.
You are completely wrong. Considering that brain of average human stops developing at about 5 year old Nintendo is right on target.
If we don't even bother to look, how do we know there's nothing worth looking at? :-)
:-)
Movies I like I watch twice, movies I don't like I don't watch at all.
While Solaris might be the most famous book from Lem, I much prefer "The Cyberiad"
:) and that is not
something most of us can do, even geeks. It was a bit sad for me to
learn about Lems political problems with US writers. And I think he
was right pointing at commercialization of American si-fi writers as a
some kind of Western decadence.
This book is not for everyone, but indeed I value 'Cyberiad' much more then Solaris. I don't think I saw any other book with so many provocative ideas. It does make you think though
... the moon really was made of cheese
You mean ham and cheese.
Handguns and rifles are also fun to shoot for target practice.
Rocket launchers are also fun to shoot.
You just have to stop somewhere, like for example do not permit sale of anything which serves primarily killing live creatures unless you prove yourself to be a hunter.
If that meant my survival, sure I would rather be killing people.
I hate to point out, but you will die anyway. The difference is only how you lived, killing people or doing something good.
"Perfect is the enemy of good enough."
It really is a common Russian idiom not a saying of some particular admiral.
Saddam Hussein is an alien.
Illigal alien.
Not me at least, since I don't hear any difference between high bitrate Ogg and FLAC, while Ogg is still far smaller.
The problem is most likely is not you inability to hear the difference but a poor audio equipment. By a good headphones (>$100) and you will hear the difference.
You may also think about trying different amplifiers.
Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theor
Well, the problem is that there are no such thing as a fact even in a sence you were talking about. When humans talk about fact it always implies interpretation.
There is no such thing as independent observer which could verify and present all the facts to us. Within human/scientific fact that connection between the actual
FACT (inperceivable reality) and its interpretation could be more or less loose, thus giving the base for criticism of the fact itself. For example the fact that
Universe expands is more loose then the fact the apples fall down.
I am not trying to attack Darvin here, hust to explain that there is more merit in attacks against Darvin's facts then against fact of falling apples.