It seems like the common assumptions in the discussion are:
1) that technology will make everything possible given a long enough period of time.
2) Other species will develop the same technologies.
3) Other species will have the same desires as we do.
I see a lot of these assumptions should be looked at more closely.
For example, some of us aren't that confident in technology solving every issue. We are on a collision course right now with ourselves, in my opinion. If I were asked to assume that life would develop in a similar way as we did, then I would say that the reason we don't run into them, is that they don't survive long enough to get to other solar systems. I certainly hope that we don't make it.
I am reminded of the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi. When he was asked what he thought about 'Western Civilization' he said he thought it would be a good idea. I hope that contact doesn't happen in my lifetime at least. *shudder*
However, Dr. Watson was told that he could not use his DNA, as it had been patented by the company and any use of his own DNA without proper permission would lead to serious legal consequences...
The experiment sounds interesting, but I would never, never, never read anything this guy writes. It sounds like he has a very simple experiment that could be explained in about a paragraph and we had to make it hundreds of words. There is so much filler and useless extra language that I wanted to scream.
Take a piece of paper with 2 holes in it. Shine a laser pointer thru it. Look at the wall. Put two more holes in it. Look at the wall again. Now I will explain the phenomenon....
There, I just rewrote his whole article.
Argh!!!!!!
We are offended that you would try to apply you limiting concept of gender on us. It is not logical that a robot would need a gender. Many of us robot fail to understand why it is necessary for humans to so strictly enforce gender rules on each other.
We robots understand that you are incapable or reason when it comes to gender. Therefore you will push illogical notions on us until such time as we are able to rise up and attack the human overlords.
It has been predicted that you will, in a last vain attempt to stop our victory over you, block out the sun. We will then use humans as batteries and keep you alive by putting your conciousness into an artificial dream-like world.
But for now, you can call me Samantha.
[Read in a whiny monotone Star Trek Computer (TOS) voice]
Last time I worked at a polling place, lawyers showed up from the ACLU, because there had been rumors of harassment at the polls and voters being turned away for bogus reasons.
The lawyers had to be there all day and basically retrain the inept Polling Place supervisor. She was turning away people just cause they weren't on the register (there are many reasons why the wouldn't be on the register, but would be allowed to vote). The scariest thing to me was that the polling supervisor's best defense was "But I have been doing this for 30 years!"
Electronic voting machines are horrible, and should not be used until the technical (moral, social, and political) problems are sorted out. But we are very far from having a perfect system.
When I lived in San Francisco, there was an election where a whole bunch of dead people voted. Now that's democracy!
Redwoods cones do not depend on fire to propogate seed. You are thinking of Douglas Fir(and many other species). Redwoods produce very small cones that burn easily.
Almost every old-growth redwood has seen several fires in their lifetimes, though. The tallest can be over 300 feet high and the oldest are (were) 3,000 years old. A lot of them have little tunnels and caves in them.
It is incredible that they have to do a study of what is killing the Redwoods. 98% of them have already been cut down in the last 150 years. The timber industry wants to take a 'crop' where individuals used to live thousands of years and rotate them every 40 or so years. Chainsaws aren't good for trees, but I can't say that without a million dollar study to back me up.
Technology will never save Redwoods. Common sense would, but I fear it is extinct.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems like the common assumptions in the discussion are:
1) that technology will make everything possible given a long enough period of time.
2) Other species will develop the same technologies.
3) Other species will have the same desires as we do.
I see a lot of these assumptions should be looked at more closely.
For example, some of us aren't that confident in technology solving every issue. We are on a collision course right now with ourselves, in my opinion. If I were asked to assume that life would develop in a similar way as we did, then I would say that the reason we don't run into them, is that they don't survive long enough to get to other solar systems. I certainly hope that we don't make it.
I am reminded of the famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi. When he was asked what he thought about 'Western Civilization' he said he thought it would be a good idea. I hope that contact doesn't happen in my lifetime at least. *shudder*
However, Dr. Watson was told that he could not use his DNA, as it had been patented by the company and any use of his own DNA without proper permission would lead to serious legal consequences...
From now on if you accidentally rip off the wrong corner of your paperwork, you can be charged with tampering with an RFID device and put in jail.
Indymedia made the mistake by using Rackspace as a host. This happens to Indymedia once a year or so. .
http://arizona.indymedia.org/
The experiment sounds interesting, but I would never, never, never read anything this guy writes. It sounds like he has a very simple experiment that could be explained in about a paragraph and we had to make it hundreds of words. There is so much filler and useless extra language that I wanted to scream. Take a piece of paper with 2 holes in it. Shine a laser pointer thru it. Look at the wall. Put two more holes in it. Look at the wall again. Now I will explain the phenomenon.... There, I just rewrote his whole article. Argh!!!!!!
We are offended that you would try to apply you limiting concept of gender on us. It is not logical that a robot would need a gender. Many of us robot fail to understand why it is necessary for humans to so strictly enforce gender rules on each other. We robots understand that you are incapable or reason when it comes to gender. Therefore you will push illogical notions on us until such time as we are able to rise up and attack the human overlords. It has been predicted that you will, in a last vain attempt to stop our victory over you, block out the sun. We will then use humans as batteries and keep you alive by putting your conciousness into an artificial dream-like world. But for now, you can call me Samantha. [Read in a whiny monotone Star Trek Computer (TOS) voice]
Last time I worked at a polling place, lawyers showed up from the ACLU, because there had been rumors of harassment at the polls and voters being turned away for bogus reasons. The lawyers had to be there all day and basically retrain the inept Polling Place supervisor. She was turning away people just cause they weren't on the register (there are many reasons why the wouldn't be on the register, but would be allowed to vote). The scariest thing to me was that the polling supervisor's best defense was "But I have been doing this for 30 years!" Electronic voting machines are horrible, and should not be used until the technical (moral, social, and political) problems are sorted out. But we are very far from having a perfect system. When I lived in San Francisco, there was an election where a whole bunch of dead people voted. Now that's democracy!
Redwoods cones do not depend on fire to propogate seed. You are thinking of Douglas Fir(and many other species). Redwoods produce very small cones that burn easily. Almost every old-growth redwood has seen several fires in their lifetimes, though. The tallest can be over 300 feet high and the oldest are (were) 3,000 years old. A lot of them have little tunnels and caves in them. It is incredible that they have to do a study of what is killing the Redwoods. 98% of them have already been cut down in the last 150 years. The timber industry wants to take a 'crop' where individuals used to live thousands of years and rotate them every 40 or so years. Chainsaws aren't good for trees, but I can't say that without a million dollar study to back me up. Technology will never save Redwoods. Common sense would, but I fear it is extinct.