"The names of the constellations are useful for Astronomers. That's it."
I've heard Astrologers can turn them into gold.
Make this guy science editor at the Gaurdian.
on
Bad Science in the Press
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I like New Scientist but put more faith in Nature and Science. There are also some good narrow focus ".org's" out there such as RealClimate
I also like the Gaurdian. From TFA, "What did you think of this article? Mail your responses to life@guardian.co.uk and include your name and address."
I think every slashdotter who agrees with TFA sentiments should take a couple of minutes to write and suggest that they promote the author to "science editor" (if they have one?). Be sure to include any relevant qualifications (eg:B.Sc, Dr, etc) in your title.
"Well, the earth is huge. Sure, humans have a huge impact on the earth, but the area we occupy is a small percentage. Volcanos put out large amounts of CO2. The believe that when earth was a complete snowball (entirely covered with ice) it was the volcanos putting CO2 into the atmosphere which warmed the earth again (despite the high reflectivity of the snow/ice)."
There have been several "snowball" episodes, the end of some of them may be connected to Volcanoes but this was at a time before multi-cellular life evolved. It is belived that when worms first apeared on earth (2+ billion years ago) they triggered the melting of the last "snowball" and have kept it from reforming ever since (worms convert organic material into CO2, among other things).
"...seed the shallow seas with powdered iron..."
They have tried it on a small scale, it causes more problems than it solves.
"Let me get this straight. For 4 billion years the climate fluctuated wildly over the eons. But once mankind showed up on the scene then any fluctuations are attributable to his existence over that 1/10,000th fraction of the Earth's age."
No, not "any" fluctuation, the change in CO2 is directly attributable to Man. The size of the "fluctuation" has been seen before on the planet, the fact that the increase has occured in such a short time is (as far as we know) unprecendented in earth's history. Not to mention that 4 billion years ago the earths atmosphere was more akin to a warm Titan and would be toxic to humans. Muli-cellular life did not even get started until around 2 billion years ago. If you study Earths long and colourfull history you will find that when CO2 is up the temprature is also up.
Any dweeb with a keyboard can point out times in earths history when the climate "fluctuated wildly", it has gone from snowball earth to tropical paradise and everywhere in between. What nobody can point to is a time when CO2 has increased at anywhere near the rate we have achived with the industrial revolution. The Earths history also shows that when things change rapidly, advanced life-forms seems to disappear rapidly.
"A warmer Earth would likely be quite a nice place for all living things."
Like so many others who don't have a clue, you are missing the point. If "all living things" were given a few million years to adapt then earth would likely be a much more "lush" environment. Sady the rate of change is much faster than this and left unchecked will complete the "sixth great extinction" in a very short space of time. When the ocean is turning acidic because of all the extra carbon in the atmosphere what do you think will happen to the food chain? Plankton are very sensitive to the water they live in, a few hundred years is not enough time for them to adapt. So before it becomes "a nice place" I think Nature will wipe the slate clean for the sixth time and start again using microbes and cockroaches.
There is plenty of fossil evidence.
Yes there is, it shows Antartica to have been tropical because it was in a different place, thousands of miles North of where it is now!
"Where was all that carbon, if not in the atmosphere, to be accessible to those plants?
Carbon has been released from the bowels of the earth for at least 4.5 billion of years via volcanoes, etc. Life has taken up alot of that carbon over the last 2-3 billion years and stored it as limestone, peat, soil, coal and oil. The planet did not start with a fixed amount CO2 in the atmosphere and then plants came along and turned it into petrol for your SUV. You SUV is not resoring the CO2 that was already there, it will not make more plants grow to make the oil and coal for future generations.
"All of these effects could combine to actually lower the level of the oceans."
I don't know what the obsession with ocean levels is all about, displaced people will be much less of a problem than the crop failures and famine headed our way. However if enough water vapour got into the atmosphere to lower the sea level significantly then we really would be in deep shit. Water vapour is a "greenhouse gas", the oceans evaporating in this manner would be called a "runaway geenhouse effect".
".....This proves once again feel good regulations aren't based on science....."
No, this proves you wouldn't know "science" if it bit you on the arse.
You raise an interesting point, this summer has the highest gulf water tempratue ever recorded. I know that a individual storm event cannot be directly contributed to GW but it is interesting to note the path Katrina took across the US. It headed straight for Greenland and eventually disipated over Larbrador (IIRC, Andrew did the same). Heat energy must distribute itself around the planet one way or another (thermal equilibrium). If the ocean currents carry less heat toward the poles then the only way left for the heat to "escape" the Gulf is for the atmosphere to carry it away.
"Greenhouse gasses not only reflect heat back at us from earth, but deflect heat from the sun. A given section of the planet loses less heat at night as it's reflected back at us, but also picks up less heat during the day as heat is reflected away."
Sorry not even close, the radiation that comes in (light) is at a different wavelength than the radiation that goes out (heat), this is because it has been absorbed and re-emmited by the surface of the Earth. CO2 lets visible light get in but blocks infra-red "heat" getting out. True it would block infra-red from getting in but this has very little effect since the Sun gives of nearly all of it's radiation at higher frequencies. If there is any extra relection, (cooling) to be had, it would be because of extra water vapour (clouds) in the atmosphere. Nobody has a firm idea of the effect GW will have on clouds, they are one of the least understood variables. Lets just say for agrguments sake that there are more clouds. If this were the outcome then the situation would get even worse since water vapour is also a strong "greenhouse gas".
This news plus the Siberian peat thawing out, plus the SE.Asian tropical peat fires, plus the oceans absorbing enough carbon to start becoming acidic all in the last few months is not good (to say the least). Taken as a whole, it would seem to indicate that the positive feedback effects that we have been warned about for at least the last 15yrs, are making a significant impact much sooner than was predicted. The system has built in "momentum" and even if we stopped pumping CO2 today, GW will keep right on rolling for millenia. I have no doubt that technology could give us the ability to adapt to a turbulent climate, but what the fuck are six billion+ people going to eat when the planets food web suddenly colapses.
"Guns aren't "banned" in Australia. They're merely not as easy to get as they are in some other countries"
Since you are from Oz I am probably not telling you anything you don't know already, but the truth is alot of firearms available in the US are "banned" over here. The gun in the GP post's quote, (from Fight Club IIRC), would be illegal and near impossible to obtain. Most people only have access to registered single shot rifles and "snap-load" shotguns, pistols must be kept in a secure armory at a registered gun club. Semi-auto rifles are a big no-no, getting caught with a machine-gun will give you your 15 minutes of fame in the media.
A few studies have been published showing the laws have made a slight improvement in the rate of shooting deaths but it's harder than you think to measure. Common-sense says a nut can no longer go hunting humans on a whim, the nuts now have to plan ahead, not to mention the extreme difficulty in finding the firearms and ammo on our island continent. Making it difficult for a nut to shoot multiple people in a short space of time is what the Port Aurthur laws were designed to accomplish and I think they have worked well.
"America is simply a violent culture. If they weren't shooting each other, they'd be stabbing and bludgeoning each other. The problem isn't mechanical, it's social"
I have to agree that gun control is largely a cultural thing, but not all of it. Mechanics can play a significant part in some common senarios. For example, statistically (in the US) shootings are roughly 5X more lethal than stabbings so more "heat of the moment" events (including suicide) end in death when there is a loaded gun in the top draw of the dresser. Those who survive a gun shot wound are 20X more likely to be permenantly disabled in some way compared to a stabbing victim. (Ref: old Scientific American magazine on my bookshelf).
I have lived in Oz for 40+ years and I think the Gun laws have kept pace with our culture over that time. I am usually the last to praise politicians but I think our Government has done a pretty good job at finding sensible bi-partisan compromises over the years. I can't walk into k-mart and buy ammo anymore but I can still go and shoot rabbits if I want to. I have nothing against responsible hunting and target sports, personally I just don't feel the young man's urge to blow furry things apart anymore, even if they are a tasty pest for the dog.
Ok, I grew up in the 60's, so point taken. However I don't know of anyway to solve a mexican stand-off other than mutual trust, that is not going to happen in my life-time.
"deal with Mr. Bush with his finger on the red button"
I distinctly remember people worrying about Reagan getting the "Nurse" and "Nuke" buttons confused..
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
Yes, according to most the Universe will die a "heat death", however I want my kids and beyond to have long and fruitfull timelines. Wether the human race vaporises itself or just dies in it's own fith is of no real importance to the Universe. To think it could happen to your grandkids puts that loss of potential in a different light.
From TFA..."Stars are an electrical plasma discharge phenomenon. Electrical energy produces heavy elements near the surface of all stars. The energy is transferred over cosmic distances via Birkeland current transmission lines. The energy may be released gradually or stored in a stellar circuit and unleashed catastrophically. It is these cosmic circuits that are the energy source for the supernova explosion not the star."
Even if TFA was mildly belivable there is still the problem of where does all the electrical energy come from, where is the "power station" at the other end of the "Birkeland current transmission lines".
Skip to the end of the article and it starts dribbling on about the geometry of Stonehenge. The fact that it was posted seems to indicate that slashdot will soon have an astrology section.
Nobody can say if Katrina was caused by global warming, but global warming will tend to impart more energy to the atmosphere (storms, high winds). I live over in Australia and had seen documentaries about New Orleans venerability over 10yrs ago, yet the nation was unprepared?
The scientific community is doing a lot of arm waving and unified declarations, basically saying Humans are an endagered species. The biggest threat ever to mankind and yet most US (and Australian) polititians would prefer not to look at it, let alone acknowlage it. How many times does the media report that the Global demand for grain has outstripped supply five years running and that reserve stocks have fallen by 50% since 2000. People are either not interested or don't understand that the biggest dangers from increased CO2 is not rising sea levels and extreme weather. The biggest and arguably most imminent[sic?] dangers are prolonged crop failures and acidic oceans.
"I know this is/. but to even claim an app saved civilisation does serious injustice to the men and women who gave their lives fighting the war. The information helped but armies still had to be defeated with weapons and courage."
The destruction of the U-Boat fleet and the battle of Midway are the best known examples of Allied ambushes in WW2. The Allies were able to entice the enemy into vunerable positions as a direct result of the code breaking abilities of Allan Turing (among others).
Nobody can "do justice" for the casualties of war but the dead are not forgotten, the victims and heros on both sides are honoured in countless memorials, speeches and parades. OTOH: Turing played a key role, "tipping the balance" in the Allies favour. At the very least, his insights prevented countless deaths amongst the front line troops and the merchant navy of the Allies. The "serious injustice" is not the overstatement of Turing's role during the war, the "serious injustice" was the treatment he recieved from a homophobic "civilization" he helped to save.
There is a name for the DMZ between science and philosophy, it is called metaphysics. Many people would regard "string theory" as science but until an experiment turns up, it's really no more than metaphysics. Just like God, string theory is an idea that "solves" many puzzles.
This doensn't mean metaphysics, philosophy, God, string theory, art and beauty are all usless in general, it just means that they are generally not usefull as a subject for scientific study. Until someone, anybody, can come up with an experiment to support/refute ID it is "useless" to science. Making the comparison between ID and Evolution is like the proverbial oranges and apples.
As for my metaphysics, I have have my money on the infinitely dividing universe theory. Somewhere, in at least one other Universe, I am banging Madonna (quantum physics is a strange place).
"ID is about being open minded to the future, not close minded about our past."
There is no past or future, all that exists and all that can exist, is now.
I agree with what you say about human desperation and anarchy, all major disaters have villans and heros to a varying degree, what has triggered this particularly nasty reaction???
I read this on the BBC: "People are going to kill you for water," Thomas Jessie, a 31-year-old roofer, told the AFP news agency after spending the night in the convention centre.
The disaster happened Monday, people were on TV shouting about a lack of water on Wednesday, water started arriving on Thursday. Most people can't last more than 3 days without water, even one day without water is unplesant for a healthy adult. Most are either totaly freaked out or dying after two, add to that the tropical heat and humidity. When people think they are going to die they do some nasty things to survive, none of us are immune to that kind of depravity given the right conditions. Certainly there are a small minority who will do the perverse shit the first chance they get (eg:rape) but they are there every day of the week, disasters just bring them out in the open.
Between Monday and Thursday, what took priority over bottled water drops to the designated shelters?
Why were tens of thousands of people who had gathered at the designated shelters left thinking they were going to die from dehydration for 3 days?
"A computer will fully master language, when it has equal intelligence to those speaking the language."
Even when people have grown up together they can have a hard time understanding each other. I often wittness and sometimes participate in conversations, where both parties are talking about completely different things, yet every word makes sense. These types of conversations are the bread and butter of sitcoms such as "Frasier".
AI to one side, I would say that humans need to "fully master language" before we can expect to see computers compose text in a "natural" manner. If we don't we will spend even more time arguing with them.
Slashdot Mirror
An arrogant Aussie? Touche! :)
"The names of the constellations are useful for Astronomers. That's it."
I've heard Astrologers can turn them into gold.
I like New Scientist but put more faith in Nature and Science. There are also some good narrow focus ".org's" out there such as RealClimate
I also like the Gaurdian. From TFA, "What did you think of this article? Mail your responses to life@guardian.co.uk and include your name and address."
I think every slashdotter who agrees with TFA sentiments should take a couple of minutes to write and suggest that they promote the author to "science editor" (if they have one?). Be sure to include any relevant qualifications (eg:B.Sc, Dr, etc) in your title.
In Australia everyone knows it's Beer or sometimes alcohol in general (as in "we need more grog").
" just hope the company that makes this isn't the same company that makes their submarines."
...or even worse, the company advertising "Chernobal Eco tours" on the left hand side of the page.
"Well, the earth is huge. Sure, humans have a huge impact on the earth, but the area we occupy is a small percentage. Volcanos put out large amounts of CO2. The believe that when earth was a complete snowball (entirely covered with ice) it was the volcanos putting CO2 into the atmosphere which warmed the earth again (despite the high reflectivity of the snow/ice)."
There have been several "snowball" episodes, the end of some of them may be connected to Volcanoes but this was at a time before multi-cellular life evolved. It is belived that when worms first apeared on earth (2+ billion years ago) they triggered the melting of the last "snowball" and have kept it from reforming ever since (worms convert organic material into CO2, among other things).
"...seed the shallow seas with powdered iron..."
They have tried it on a small scale, it causes more problems than it solves.
"Let me get this straight. For 4 billion years the climate fluctuated wildly over the eons. But once mankind showed up on the scene then any fluctuations are attributable to his existence over that 1/10,000th fraction of the Earth's age."
No, not "any" fluctuation, the change in CO2 is directly attributable to Man. The size of the "fluctuation" has been seen before on the planet, the fact that the increase has occured in such a short time is (as far as we know) unprecendented in earth's history. Not to mention that 4 billion years ago the earths atmosphere was more akin to a warm Titan and would be toxic to humans. Muli-cellular life did not even get started until around 2 billion years ago. If you study Earths long and colourfull history you will find that when CO2 is up the temprature is also up.
Any dweeb with a keyboard can point out times in earths history when the climate "fluctuated wildly", it has gone from snowball earth to tropical paradise and everywhere in between. What nobody can point to is a time when CO2 has increased at anywhere near the rate we have achived with the industrial revolution. The Earths history also shows that when things change rapidly, advanced life-forms seems to disappear rapidly.
"A warmer Earth would likely be quite a nice place for all living things."
Like so many others who don't have a clue, you are missing the point. If "all living things" were given a few million years to adapt then earth would likely be a much more "lush" environment. Sady the rate of change is much faster than this and left unchecked will complete the "sixth great extinction" in a very short space of time. When the ocean is turning acidic because of all the extra carbon in the atmosphere what do you think will happen to the food chain? Plankton are very sensitive to the water they live in, a few hundred years is not enough time for them to adapt. So before it becomes "a nice place" I think Nature will wipe the slate clean for the sixth time and start again using microbes and cockroaches.
There is plenty of fossil evidence.
Yes there is, it shows Antartica to have been tropical because it was in a different place, thousands of miles North of where it is now!
"Where was all that carbon, if not in the atmosphere, to be accessible to those plants?
Carbon has been released from the bowels of the earth for at least 4.5 billion of years via volcanoes, etc. Life has taken up alot of that carbon over the last 2-3 billion years and stored it as limestone, peat, soil, coal and oil. The planet did not start with a fixed amount CO2 in the atmosphere and then plants came along and turned it into petrol for your SUV. You SUV is not resoring the CO2 that was already there, it will not make more plants grow to make the oil and coal for future generations.
"All of these effects could combine to actually lower the level of the oceans."
I don't know what the obsession with ocean levels is all about, displaced people will be much less of a problem than the crop failures and famine headed our way. However if enough water vapour got into the atmosphere to lower the sea level significantly then we really would be in deep shit. Water vapour is a "greenhouse gas", the oceans evaporating in this manner would be called a "runaway geenhouse effect".
".....This proves once again feel good regulations aren't based on science....."
No, this proves you wouldn't know "science" if it bit you on the arse.
You raise an interesting point, this summer has the highest gulf water tempratue ever recorded. I know that a individual storm event cannot be directly contributed to GW but it is interesting to note the path Katrina took across the US. It headed straight for Greenland and eventually disipated over Larbrador (IIRC, Andrew did the same). Heat energy must distribute itself around the planet one way or another (thermal equilibrium). If the ocean currents carry less heat toward the poles then the only way left for the heat to "escape" the Gulf is for the atmosphere to carry it away.
"Greenhouse gasses not only reflect heat back at us from earth, but deflect heat from the sun. A given section of the planet loses less heat at night as it's reflected back at us, but also picks up less heat during the day as heat is reflected away."
Sorry not even close, the radiation that comes in (light) is at a different wavelength than the radiation that goes out (heat), this is because it has been absorbed and re-emmited by the surface of the Earth. CO2 lets visible light get in but blocks infra-red "heat" getting out. True it would block infra-red from getting in but this has very little effect since the Sun gives of nearly all of it's radiation at higher frequencies. If there is any extra relection, (cooling) to be had, it would be because of extra water vapour (clouds) in the atmosphere. Nobody has a firm idea of the effect GW will have on clouds, they are one of the least understood variables. Lets just say for agrguments sake that there are more clouds. If this were the outcome then the situation would get even worse since water vapour is also a strong "greenhouse gas".
This news plus the Siberian peat thawing out, plus the SE.Asian tropical peat fires, plus the oceans absorbing enough carbon to start becoming acidic all in the last few months is not good (to say the least). Taken as a whole, it would seem to indicate that the positive feedback effects that we have been warned about for at least the last 15yrs, are making a significant impact much sooner than was predicted. The system has built in "momentum" and even if we stopped pumping CO2 today, GW will keep right on rolling for millenia. I have no doubt that technology could give us the ability to adapt to a turbulent climate, but what the fuck are six billion+ people going to eat when the planets food web suddenly colapses.
Premtive Simpsons joke: Mmmmm, soylent greeeeen.
"Semiauto's are illegal? Last time I checked, here in NZ semi's are legal."
Last time I checked NZ was a different country.
"Personally I consider self-defense the single best argument for owning a gun"
So move to the US or Iraq, most people over here don't buy that self-defense crap anymore.
"Guns aren't "banned" in Australia. They're merely not as easy to get as they are in some other countries"
Since you are from Oz I am probably not telling you anything you don't know already, but the truth is alot of firearms available in the US are "banned" over here. The gun in the GP post's quote, (from Fight Club IIRC), would be illegal and near impossible to obtain. Most people only have access to registered single shot rifles and "snap-load" shotguns, pistols must be kept in a secure armory at a registered gun club. Semi-auto rifles are a big no-no, getting caught with a machine-gun will give you your 15 minutes of fame in the media.
A few studies have been published showing the laws have made a slight improvement in the rate of shooting deaths but it's harder than you think to measure. Common-sense says a nut can no longer go hunting humans on a whim, the nuts now have to plan ahead, not to mention the extreme difficulty in finding the firearms and ammo on our island continent. Making it difficult for a nut to shoot multiple people in a short space of time is what the Port Aurthur laws were designed to accomplish and I think they have worked well.
"America is simply a violent culture. If they weren't shooting each other, they'd be stabbing and bludgeoning each other. The problem isn't mechanical, it's social"
I have to agree that gun control is largely a cultural thing, but not all of it. Mechanics can play a significant part in some common senarios. For example, statistically (in the US) shootings are roughly 5X more lethal than stabbings so more "heat of the moment" events (including suicide) end in death when there is a loaded gun in the top draw of the dresser. Those who survive a gun shot wound are 20X more likely to be permenantly disabled in some way compared to a stabbing victim. (Ref: old Scientific American magazine on my bookshelf).
I have lived in Oz for 40+ years and I think the Gun laws have kept pace with our culture over that time. I am usually the last to praise politicians but I think our Government has done a pretty good job at finding sensible bi-partisan compromises over the years. I can't walk into k-mart and buy ammo anymore but I can still go and shoot rabbits if I want to. I have nothing against responsible hunting and target sports, personally I just don't feel the young man's urge to blow furry things apart anymore, even if they are a tasty pest for the dog.
"George Bush is responsible somehow."
That's what the Commie / Greenie / Hippy / Unwashed / Socialist / Liberal / Lesbian / Girly men at the NYT want you to think.
******>> Puts on tinfoil hat and sticks toy US flag ontop of the monitor.
Do the planetary Birkeland currents regularly blow up large planets?
Ok, I grew up in the 60's, so point taken. However I don't know of anyway to solve a mexican stand-off other than mutual trust, that is not going to happen in my life-time.
"deal with Mr. Bush with his finger on the red button"
I distinctly remember people worrying about Reagan getting the "Nurse" and "Nuke" buttons confused..
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
Yes, according to most the Universe will die a "heat death", however I want my kids and beyond to have long and fruitfull timelines. Wether the human race vaporises itself or just dies in it's own fith is of no real importance to the Universe. To think it could happen to your grandkids puts that loss of potential in a different light.
All you got from my post was the bad english, hows that new job with the deck chairs working out for you?
"Unless of course governments are artificially reducing the price, in which case of course that will happen."
The allmighty free market is what got us into this mess, money cannot buy food and water that does not exist.
From TFA..."Stars are an electrical plasma discharge phenomenon. Electrical energy produces heavy elements near the surface of all stars. The energy is transferred over cosmic distances via Birkeland current transmission lines. The energy may be released gradually or stored in a stellar circuit and unleashed catastrophically. It is these cosmic circuits that are the energy source for the supernova explosion not the star."
Even if TFA was mildly belivable there is still the problem of where does all the electrical energy come from, where is the "power station" at the other end of the "Birkeland current transmission lines".
Skip to the end of the article and it starts dribbling on about the geometry of Stonehenge. The fact that it was posted seems to indicate that slashdot will soon have an astrology section.
Nobody can say if Katrina was caused by global warming, but global warming will tend to impart more energy to the atmosphere (storms, high winds). I live over in Australia and had seen documentaries about New Orleans venerability over 10yrs ago, yet the nation was unprepared?
The scientific community is doing a lot of arm waving and unified declarations, basically saying Humans are an endagered species. The biggest threat ever to mankind and yet most US (and Australian) polititians would prefer not to look at it, let alone acknowlage it. How many times does the media report that the Global demand for grain has outstripped supply five years running and that reserve stocks have fallen by 50% since 2000. People are either not interested or don't understand that the biggest dangers from increased CO2 is not rising sea levels and extreme weather. The biggest and arguably most imminent[sic?] dangers are prolonged crop failures and acidic oceans.
"I know this is /. but to even claim an app saved civilisation does serious injustice to the men and women who gave their lives fighting the war. The information helped but armies still had to be defeated with weapons and courage."
The destruction of the U-Boat fleet and the battle of Midway are the best known examples of Allied ambushes in WW2. The Allies were able to entice the enemy into vunerable positions as a direct result of the code breaking abilities of Allan Turing (among others).
Nobody can "do justice" for the casualties of war but the dead are not forgotten, the victims and heros on both sides are honoured in countless memorials, speeches and parades. OTOH: Turing played a key role, "tipping the balance" in the Allies favour. At the very least, his insights prevented countless deaths amongst the front line troops and the merchant navy of the Allies. The "serious injustice" is not the overstatement of Turing's role during the war, the "serious injustice" was the treatment he recieved from a homophobic "civilization" he helped to save.
There is a name for the DMZ between science and philosophy, it is called metaphysics. Many people would regard "string theory" as science but until an experiment turns up, it's really no more than metaphysics. Just like God, string theory is an idea that "solves" many puzzles.
This doensn't mean metaphysics, philosophy, God, string theory, art and beauty are all usless in general, it just means that they are generally not usefull as a subject for scientific study. Until someone, anybody, can come up with an experiment to support/refute ID it is "useless" to science. Making the comparison between ID and Evolution is like the proverbial oranges and apples.
As for my metaphysics, I have have my money on the infinitely dividing universe theory. Somewhere, in at least one other Universe, I am banging Madonna (quantum physics is a strange place).
"ID is about being open minded to the future, not close minded about our past."
There is no past or future, all that exists and all that can exist, is now.
I agree with what you say about human desperation and anarchy, all major disaters have villans and heros to a varying degree, what has triggered this particularly nasty reaction???
I read this on the BBC: "People are going to kill you for water," Thomas Jessie, a 31-year-old roofer, told the AFP news agency after spending the night in the convention centre.
The disaster happened Monday, people were on TV shouting about a lack of water on Wednesday, water started arriving on Thursday. Most people can't last more than 3 days without water, even one day without water is unplesant for a healthy adult. Most are either totaly freaked out or dying after two, add to that the tropical heat and humidity. When people think they are going to die they do some nasty things to survive, none of us are immune to that kind of depravity given the right conditions. Certainly there are a small minority who will do the perverse shit the first chance they get (eg:rape) but they are there every day of the week, disasters just bring them out in the open.
Between Monday and Thursday, what took priority over bottled water drops to the designated shelters?
Why were tens of thousands of people who had gathered at the designated shelters left thinking they were going to die from dehydration for 3 days?
"A computer will fully master language, when it has equal intelligence to those speaking the language."
Even when people have grown up together they can have a hard time understanding each other. I often wittness and sometimes participate in conversations, where both parties are talking about completely different things, yet every word makes sense. These types of conversations are the bread and butter of sitcoms such as "Frasier".
AI to one side, I would say that humans need to "fully master language" before we can expect to see computers compose text in a "natural" manner. If we don't we will spend even more time arguing with them.
In the natural language processing business they call this "the same level of understanding as a two-year-old child".
Can you teach it to take a breath?