Sounds a lot like the logic from one of Louie's ex-girlfriends on Taxi, when she managed to convince him that in order to make her truly belong to him, he had to leave forever and never come back. "My first sophisticated relationship!"
I don't recall who said it (C.S. Lewis, maybe?), and I may be paraphrasing, but: "The worst tyrant is the benevolent tyrant, for he exercises his tyranny with the full sanction of his conscience."
And just who does the random drawing? And how is the drawing ensured to be honestly random? And what is "legal age" -- and how do we guard against that being raised capriciously by a legislature that happens to be older than the average? And just how do you intend to make sure everyone is intelligent, when we can't even agree on what intelligence is and how to foster it? And how do you filter out the people who say "no" because they know that saying "no" is really saying "yes"?
I'm not saying I think your suggestion is a bad one. But it has a LOT of bugs to work out before it could even get to alpha status, much less beta. And I suspect that by the time it got to 1.0, it wouldn't much resemble the system you've described.
Some other social problems, which come from human nature, will never go away and we can't let that hold us back.
Man, I wish I had mod points. The whole post is damn insightful, but this last sentence should be emblazoned on cards to hand to every person who rants "Why are we even doing X when we haven't solved Y yet?" -- especially since the whiners are usually the ones doing nothing to solve Y OR to do X.
I've lived in both the city (8 yrs. total) and the country (36 years total). I far prefer the country. Contrary to your assertion that "you can't even find a place to buy" all that stuff, there are places aplenty in my area where you can buy all of that except maybe the aircraft (I haven't looked into that. Yet.)
What's more, during my eight years in the city, I was robbed at gunpoint once, and gay-bashed by random thugs on the street, and had my dog stolen, my car keyed, and stones thrown at the windows of my house.
In more than four times that span of time in the country, not one of those things, nor anything comparable, has happened to me. I'm an out gay man whose friends and family are all at least tolerant, and mostly downright supportive.
I've never had any lack of things to do. Swimming, hunting, a thriving local community theater that rivals the best professional productions I ever saw in the city, choirs to sing with, many good friends to share these things with. There are excellent theaters and a world-class symphony only an hour's drive away (admittedly, in urban areas). I walk a mile to work; when I do drive, it's only a five-minute drive. There is an excellent farmer's market that supplies most of the produce I could need about as far away.
Certainly better than the old "Superboy" TV series, which is perhaps better forgotten.
But... but... but it had such... such... how shall I put this?... Lex Luthor's mulleted boytoy in a zebra Speedo! How can anyone forget that?
Actually, the Silver Age Fortress of Solitude contained samples of every kind of kryptonite -- green, white, gold, and red -- in lead boxes. These samples figured prominently in several stories (including quite a few of the "imaginary story" variety).
Yeah, I'm older than dirt...
1. Frodo
2. Gandalf
3. Sam
4. er... wait, no, that's Sam
5. get rid of the Ring
6. take it to Rivendell
7. offer it to Galadriel, who goes all glowy and starts talking like a possessed guy holding a paper towel tube up to his mouth
8. Gargamel
9. Infinite Crisis
10. Triple H defeats Goldberg!
11.... with whales in the cargo hold. Say goodnight, Gracie.
12. Dude, where's my car? -- or is that after the party?
Hmm. I think I got the plot a little confused somewhere in there... but yeah, I think it holds up.
For him robot are just machine created by a man and shouldn't be any more homicidal than, say, a computer (remember this was happening long time before Microsoft Windows).
Thanks for one of the best laughs I've had all week.... !!!
We have also managed to trigger parts of the brain which give people the experience of color, light, smells, memories, sounds, tastes, movement, and sensations. Based on the brain-part triggers, I am no more convinced that the religious experience is not a genuine perception of something that exists independently from us, than that there exists nothing independent from us to smell, taste, see, etc.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if a lot of libraries get grants to cover at least part of the $50k and buy up machines. Or if they pool their resources and buy a machine per county, or a machine per state, or some such model. Most public libraries are all about collaborative projects.
Speaking as a librarian, I have to agree with you that there would be all sorts of physical problems we'd be dealing with, and that the learning curve for getting our patrons up to snuff with using one of these beasties would be steep. (Ever watched one of us trying to patiently explain to a patron, "No, sir, the mouse doesn't work like a remote. It only works when it's on the desktop. That's right. Right. Now slide it around and watch the arrow move on the screen. The screen? Oh. That's the TV-ish part of the computer. Right, that. Okay, now if you move the mouse -- oh, remember to keep the mouse on top of the desk. Flat down on it. There's no need to pick it up. There you go"... ad insanitatem?)
However -- also speaking as a librarian -- I am thrilled at the prospect that my library may one day have one of these machines. No more embarrassment at not having the particular Shakespeare play the patron wants, no more being caught with our only copy of the Kalevala out right when a teacher assigns it to her entire class without checking first to see if the library has 30 copies for them, no more having to wait weeks to interlibrary loan some semi-obscure book by a classic author that the patron thinks EVERY library should have. "Oh, you need a copy of Sylvie and Bruno? Here, just have a seat over there and I'll have a copy for you in just a few minutes."
Because there are thousands of titles that aren't available in mass market paperback (or trade paperback, or hardcover) because they've gone out of print. Bringing things back into print for a single-copy run is an exciting prospect to me. I can't wait to print myself the entire run of the Rick Brant Science-Adventure mysteries.
Slashdot Mirror
It will come as a surprise to those who are genetically programmed to be surprised by it.
Sounds a lot like the logic from one of Louie's ex-girlfriends on Taxi, when she managed to convince him that in order to make her truly belong to him, he had to leave forever and never come back. "My first sophisticated relationship!"
I don't recall who said it (C.S. Lewis, maybe?), and I may be paraphrasing, but: "The worst tyrant is the benevolent tyrant, for he exercises his tyranny with the full sanction of his conscience."
And just who does the random drawing? And how is the drawing ensured to be honestly random? And what is "legal age" -- and how do we guard against that being raised capriciously by a legislature that happens to be older than the average? And just how do you intend to make sure everyone is intelligent, when we can't even agree on what intelligence is and how to foster it? And how do you filter out the people who say "no" because they know that saying "no" is really saying "yes"?
I'm not saying I think your suggestion is a bad one. But it has a LOT of bugs to work out before it could even get to alpha status, much less beta. And I suspect that by the time it got to 1.0, it wouldn't much resemble the system you've described.
Some other social problems, which come from human nature, will never go away and we can't let that hold us back.
Man, I wish I had mod points. The whole post is damn insightful, but this last sentence should be emblazoned on cards to hand to every person who rants "Why are we even doing X when we haven't solved Y yet?" -- especially since the whiners are usually the ones doing nothing to solve Y OR to do X.
I've lived in both the city (8 yrs. total) and the country (36 years total). I far prefer the country. Contrary to your assertion that "you can't even find a place to buy" all that stuff, there are places aplenty in my area where you can buy all of that except maybe the aircraft (I haven't looked into that. Yet.)
What's more, during my eight years in the city, I was robbed at gunpoint once, and gay-bashed by random thugs on the street, and had my dog stolen, my car keyed, and stones thrown at the windows of my house.
In more than four times that span of time in the country, not one of those things, nor anything comparable, has happened to me. I'm an out gay man whose friends and family are all at least tolerant, and mostly downright supportive.
I've never had any lack of things to do. Swimming, hunting, a thriving local community theater that rivals the best professional productions I ever saw in the city, choirs to sing with, many good friends to share these things with. There are excellent theaters and a world-class symphony only an hour's drive away (admittedly, in urban areas). I walk a mile to work; when I do drive, it's only a five-minute drive. There is an excellent farmer's market that supplies most of the produce I could need about as far away.
So, yeah. I'm sticking with rural life.
Just wait till you're older, young whippersnapper. They say the memory is the first thing to ... um ...
Philip Pullman? Is that you?
Philip Pullman? Is that you?
Certainly better than the old "Superboy" TV series, which is perhaps better forgotten. ... but ... but it had such ... such ... how shall I put this? ... Lex Luthor's mulleted boytoy in a zebra Speedo! How can anyone forget that?
But
Actually, the Silver Age Fortress of Solitude contained samples of every kind of kryptonite -- green, white, gold, and red -- in lead boxes. These samples figured prominently in several stories (including quite a few of the "imaginary story" variety). Yeah, I'm older than dirt ...
Coasters? Gee, I chop them up and make lovely mosaics to line my swimming pool. ... wait, sorry, channeled Martha Stewart there for a second.
... does this extension work in Flock?
Its not like there is one master brain that controls all of those groups and people.
... there is...
Oh yes I do... I mean
Wait, I thought footy was coke and hookers.
Okay, let's test this:
... wait, no, that's Sam ... with whales in the cargo hold. Say goodnight, Gracie.
... but yeah, I think it holds up.
1. Frodo
2. Gandalf
3. Sam
4. er
5. get rid of the Ring
6. take it to Rivendell
7. offer it to Galadriel, who goes all glowy and starts talking like a possessed guy holding a paper towel tube up to his mouth
8. Gargamel
9. Infinite Crisis
10. Triple H defeats Goldberg!
11.
12. Dude, where's my car? -- or is that after the party?
Hmm. I think I got the plot a little confused somewhere in there
For him robot are just machine created by a man and shouldn't be any more homicidal than, say, a computer (remember this was happening long time before Microsoft Windows).
Thanks for one of the best laughs I've had all week.... !!!
Is that why we see all those "END CONSTRUCTION" signs on the Interstates?
You're not that far off. Mozart was the heavy metal of his day.
But then what about Windows Live?
We have also managed to trigger parts of the brain which give people the experience of color, light, smells, memories, sounds, tastes, movement, and sensations. Based on the brain-part triggers, I am no more convinced that the religious experience is not a genuine perception of something that exists independently from us, than that there exists nothing independent from us to smell, taste, see, etc.
Explain, please ... ;-)
I wouldn't be surprised at all if a lot of libraries get grants to cover at least part of the $50k and buy up machines. Or if they pool their resources and buy a machine per county, or a machine per state, or some such model. Most public libraries are all about collaborative projects.
Speaking as a librarian, I have to agree with you that there would be all sorts of physical problems we'd be dealing with, and that the learning curve for getting our patrons up to snuff with using one of these beasties would be steep. (Ever watched one of us trying to patiently explain to a patron, "No, sir, the mouse doesn't work like a remote. It only works when it's on the desktop. That's right. Right. Now slide it around and watch the arrow move on the screen. The screen? Oh. That's the TV-ish part of the computer. Right, that. Okay, now if you move the mouse -- oh, remember to keep the mouse on top of the desk. Flat down on it. There's no need to pick it up. There you go"... ad insanitatem?)
However -- also speaking as a librarian -- I am thrilled at the prospect that my library may one day have one of these machines. No more embarrassment at not having the particular Shakespeare play the patron wants, no more being caught with our only copy of the Kalevala out right when a teacher assigns it to her entire class without checking first to see if the library has 30 copies for them, no more having to wait weeks to interlibrary loan some semi-obscure book by a classic author that the patron thinks EVERY library should have. "Oh, you need a copy of Sylvie and Bruno? Here, just have a seat over there and I'll have a copy for you in just a few minutes."
Because there are thousands of titles that aren't available in mass market paperback (or trade paperback, or hardcover) because they've gone out of print. Bringing things back into print for a single-copy run is an exciting prospect to me. I can't wait to print myself the entire run of the Rick Brant Science-Adventure mysteries.