All of these are true, except that this holds true for all genres. Sci-Fi isn't just any genre; it has an additional purpose, which is to explore ideas, settings, and technology that don't yet exist. It is, by it's very nature speculative, and that should be item #6 on your list. And I think the argument is that sci-fi is not speculative enough. In this I would tend to agree.
The last good book I read that was truly speculative and actually pushed sci-fi in ways I havent seen in a long time is China Mieville's Embassytown. A must -read.
While it sucks, there's a good reason why companies have asked people about their past criminal history or have done searches.
If you have past felony convictions for, say grand larceny or other similar crimes, and are hired, and then go on to commit a crime against a customer while working, it's very easy for that company to get sued for millions. It's would be incredibly easy to make the argument that the company knew or should have known that Mr. Felon (who supposedly cleaned up his act) had prior convictions and was a risk to the company and its customers. Then, BLAM, the company is out millions of dollars, all because it didn't check or didn't care.
Now, while this sucks for the felon trying to land a job, it also sucks for the company, and lets face it, the recidivism rate among past felons is generally pretty high. Why should a company want to risk it's own livelihood or existence just to give you a second chance?
This is a risk mitigation issue, and maybe it's a good thing that states are making it difficult to ask or check, but companies will do it anyway, just for the reasons I've outlined. Maybe companies in other, "more enlightened" societies haven't had their pants sued off them enough to make this an issue, bit is one here.
Because humans generally differentiate between humans and non-humans. I know this comes as a shock to the non-specisists out there such as yourself, but there are differences between different species. Did you know that?
What about them? They are still human, so we give them human rights. What's not to understand?
Each society can have it's own definition of personhood, but those that defined a black person as less human than others are no longer around or are struggling for survival. Eventually societies that consider all people equal, at least in theory, will win out.
I have a suspicion that good old Abe probably suspected that 150 years hence, things would be vastly different from the time in which he lived and would be prepared to accept that, just as we are all probably aware that 150 years hence things will be vastly different, even morally and ethically...and we should probably just accept it.
They will still be human children and not chimp children. That which separates us from them is at a bare MINIMUM the fact we are a different species. Everything else is gravy.
Ah, the old Creationist argument! Fascinating to see it used for such a stupid purpose! To wit:
Sayeth Duane Gish, noted 6-day Creationist, in multiple debates: "So chimpanzees and humans are 99% genetically similar, so we must be related? Well, guess what! Watermelons and humans are made of 90% water, so does that mean I'm related to a watermelon?"
Seriously, if you can't see exactly what separates Humans from chimps, then maybe you have the intellectual capacity of a chimp.
You will note that Mr. Cilurzo has not published recipes for Pliny the Younger, which causes people to foolishly camp outside the brewery and go on ridiculous searches for the beer as soon as rumors abound that it is in season.
Why is this even an article? The local brewcraft shop down the street has dozens of great recipes, and they will even make one up for you on the spot when you order the ingredients for a 5-gallon batch of beer. They have a small area where you can grab a copy of many of their past recipes for beer as you walk out the door. Big deal. It's my understanding this is quite common. Why is this an article again?
No, math was hard. To this day I remember swearing up and down to my mother, despite her showing me on a calculator that 50 + 50 = 100, that it actually was 110. I also had great difficulty with subtraction.
"This would be most useful for flipped classrooms [wikipedia.org] so the teacher does not need to return to the desktop dashboard between helping students, but can go from student-to-student-to-student. "
Or...and I know this is a shocking concept...the students could raise their hands when they need assistance?
This is what the OP meant by a solution in search of a problem.
No one owns your information, least of all you. It's publicly accessible information that Joe Schmuckatelli lives at 1234 Schmuckatelli Lane. Dig a little further and you find out that Mr. Schmucklatelli went to a certain high school in a certain town. You don't own this information, and neither do they. They just aggregate it and make it easily available. What's wrong with that?
It will not. It's much cheaper to take public transportation in most cities; the only time it would make sense would be on longer trips, because you are saving alot of time by taking Lyft or Uber, but you sure the hell aren't saving money.
And it's much easier to find a cab in San Francisco nowadays, not only because they are having to compete with rideshares, but they actually will notice you now when you wave a hand. So why not take a cab instead of Uber and Lyft?
And so you think hipsters, as you define them, are unaware of why those things are cool at one time? or are you just pulling this out of your ass?
Do you realize that David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo" was a remake of a 1929 song by Irving Ceasar? So all those people who loved the remake in the 80's were just ignorant and being "ironic" for liking the song without know the original context?
And the original Irving Cesar version was a remake of an Austrian song, "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", composed in 1928 in Vienna by Leonello Casucci. So all those "hipsters" in 1929 who liked the remake were too cool for their own good for liking a song without knowing the original context?
This is the stupidity of the anti-hipster "movement". Virtually everything put out these days is a rehash, remake, or takes something from something that came before it. Liking those things without knowing the original "context" of it doesn't make you less of a person, or more importantly, worthy of ridicule.
I'm 41 with a gigantic oustache. I work in tech, live in San Francisco, like craft beer, and bike to work, all things associated with being a hipster (except my age). I don't define myself around my consumption habits; I just am. I like to bike. I like to drink craft beer. I like working in tech, and my facial hair rocks. It's the idiots out there like you who feel it's necessary to label folks different than themselves as " empty soulless yuppie shitheads." If you think that having a mustache or liking craft beer is what makes a person a shithead, then you are part of the problem.
Slashdot Mirror
+1 funny
All of these are true, except that this holds true for all genres. Sci-Fi isn't just any genre; it has an additional purpose, which is to explore ideas, settings, and technology that don't yet exist. It is, by it's very nature speculative, and that should be item #6 on your list. And I think the argument is that sci-fi is not speculative enough. In this I would tend to agree.
The last good book I read that was truly speculative and actually pushed sci-fi in ways I havent seen in a long time is China Mieville's Embassytown.
A must -read.
While it sucks, there's a good reason why companies have asked people about their past criminal history or have done searches.
If you have past felony convictions for, say grand larceny or other similar crimes, and are hired, and then go on to commit a crime against a customer while working, it's very easy for that company to get sued for millions. It's would be incredibly easy to make the argument that the company knew or should have known that Mr. Felon (who supposedly cleaned up his act) had prior convictions and was a risk to the company and its customers. Then, BLAM, the company is out millions of dollars, all because it didn't check or didn't care.
Now, while this sucks for the felon trying to land a job, it also sucks for the company, and lets face it, the recidivism rate among past felons is generally pretty high. Why should a company want to risk it's own livelihood or existence just to give you a second chance?
This is a risk mitigation issue, and maybe it's a good thing that states are making it difficult to ask or check, but companies will do it anyway, just for the reasons I've outlined. Maybe companies in other, "more enlightened" societies haven't had their pants sued off them enough to make this an issue, bit is one here.
Because humans generally differentiate between humans and non-humans. I know this comes as a shock to the non-specisists out there such as yourself, but there are differences between different species. Did you know that?
Human children and chimps belong to a different species. You do realize this, right?
What about them? They are still human, so we give them human rights. What's not to understand?
Each society can have it's own definition of personhood, but those that defined a black person as less human than others are no longer around or are struggling for survival. Eventually societies that consider all people equal, at least in theory, will win out.
I have a suspicion that good old Abe probably suspected that 150 years hence, things would be vastly different from the time in which he lived and would be prepared to accept that, just as we are all probably aware that 150 years hence things will be vastly different, even morally and ethically...and we should probably just accept it.
They will still be human children and not chimp children. That which separates us from them is at a bare MINIMUM the fact we are a different species. Everything else is gravy.
They both have legs you know, and you can sit on them. They aren't that dissimilar.
Ah, the old Creationist argument! Fascinating to see it used for such a stupid purpose! To wit:
Sayeth Duane Gish, noted 6-day Creationist, in multiple debates: "So chimpanzees and humans are 99% genetically similar, so we must be related? Well, guess what! Watermelons and humans are made of 90% water, so does that mean I'm related to a watermelon?"
Seriously, if you can't see exactly what separates Humans from chimps, then maybe you have the intellectual capacity of a chimp.
Well, if we are 99% genetically similar to these aliens as chimps are to us, then we have other issues to worry about.
Cosmetics are not necessary, but fighting cancer is, as it is a leading cause of human mortality.
Which is why we often experiment on chimps when experimenting on rats won't do.
You will note that Mr. Cilurzo has not published recipes for Pliny the Younger, which causes people to foolishly camp outside the brewery and go on ridiculous searches for the beer as soon as rumors abound that it is in season.
--Jeremy
Why is this even an article? The local brewcraft shop down the street has dozens of great recipes, and they will even make one up for you on the spot when you order the ingredients for a 5-gallon batch of beer. They have a small area where you can grab a copy of many of their past recipes for beer as you walk out the door. Big deal. It's my understanding this is quite common. Why is this an article again?
No, math was hard. To this day I remember swearing up and down to my mother, despite her showing me on a calculator that 50 + 50 = 100, that it actually was 110. I also had great difficulty with subtraction.
I've got it! A Nerf Barbie with a smartphone gun! I'll make billions!
I do. So that's at least one.
"This would be most useful for flipped classrooms [wikipedia.org] so the teacher does not need to return to the desktop dashboard between helping students, but can go from student-to-student-to-student. "
Or...and I know this is a shocking concept...the students could raise their hands when they need assistance?
This is what the OP meant by a solution in search of a problem.
No one owns your information, least of all you. It's publicly accessible information that Joe Schmuckatelli lives at 1234 Schmuckatelli Lane. Dig a little further and you find out that Mr. Schmucklatelli went to a certain high school in a certain town. You don't own this information, and neither do they. They just aggregate it and make it easily available. What's wrong with that?
It will not. It's much cheaper to take public transportation in most cities; the only time it would make sense would be on longer trips, because you are saving alot of time by taking Lyft or Uber, but you sure the hell aren't saving money.
And it's much easier to find a cab in San Francisco nowadays, not only because they are having to compete with rideshares, but they actually will notice you now when you wave a hand. So why not take a cab instead of Uber and Lyft?
And so you think hipsters, as you define them, are unaware of why those things are cool at one time? or are you just pulling this out of your ass?
Do you realize that David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo" was a remake of a 1929 song by Irving Ceasar? So all those people who loved the remake in the 80's were just ignorant and being "ironic" for liking the song without know the original context?
And the original Irving Cesar version was a remake of an Austrian song, "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", composed in 1928 in Vienna by Leonello Casucci. So all those "hipsters" in 1929 who liked the remake were too cool for their own good for liking a song without knowing the original context?
This is the stupidity of the anti-hipster "movement". Virtually everything put out these days is a rehash, remake, or takes something from something that came before it. Liking those things without knowing the original "context" of it doesn't make you less of a person, or more importantly, worthy of ridicule.
I'm 41 with a gigantic oustache. I work in tech, live in San Francisco, like craft beer, and bike to work, all things associated with being a hipster (except my age). I don't define myself around my consumption habits; I just am. I like to bike. I like to drink craft beer. I like working in tech, and my facial hair rocks. It's the idiots out there like you who feel it's necessary to label folks different than themselves as " empty soulless yuppie shitheads." If you think that having a mustache or liking craft beer is what makes a person a shithead, then you are part of the problem.
Ravers back in the 90's used to wear very long t-shirts to raves, down to the knees, so that's close enough. It's been done already.
I love it. Hipster-hate, in all it's forms, is the latest new thing! It's the latest trend.
Which makes you a hipster. And if you were disparaging hipsters *before* it was cool, the you are definitely a hipster.
Quick, get on board the hipster-hate train, before it becomes uncool!
But the recent movie True Grit was in fact NOT terrible, very rewatchable, and won an Academy Award.