npts2020

Apparently, I am not smart enough to understand what you have posted because I fail to see what relevance 1984, which I have read, has to do with anything I have written...

IMO the function of this site is to discuss ideas and winnow out ones that can be shown to be false and expand on ones that seem to be true. The language at this site happens to be the one I am most able to communicate in, English, which is why I am here. I am sure that on the World Wide Web there are sites to discuss such things in virtually any language in existence but until I learned one of those languages, it would be useless for me to go there and try to participate. How can you include someone you are incapable of communicating with? When talking about "our fellow citizens" I am referring to people everywhere but doing so from the American perspective that I have been brought up in and lived. The fact that you don't like American spelling does nothing to invalidate any of the points I have made and the fact that there may not be consensus doesn't make the arguments come from every direction. I have yet to see anyone on this forum defending things like Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians during the olive harvest or ICE agents killing American citizens.

One of the problems is that words like "socialism", "communism", "capitalism", "oligarchy" etc are defined in such a way as to set off chemical reactions in the dinobrains of many of our fellow citizens, causing no small number of them to be unable to articulate or even follow a logical argument. IMO it is the use of such words, as shorthand for systems that place society ahead of the individual vs systems that prioritize the individual over society in general, does nothing positive for the side of the debate I have seen the majority on this forum seem to take.

One could do that (and even might be correct) but in the US it would mostly fall on deaf ears. And here I thought it was so they could keep everyone in the world under surveillance 24/7. 😉

We shall see. I don't see corporations being taxed or their power being much limited, even if that is what people want.

The only problem is that the establishment Democrats are doing everything they can to not do any of it. How many of them were saying their candidates are "too progressive"? The establishment Democrats are firmly in charge and Chuck Schumer will head the Senate with Hakeem Jeffries becoming House Speaker. Other than providing entertainment with all of the planned investigations, I have yet to hear a single concrete proposal they plan to push through. It will be interesting to see what HR-1 and S-1 in the new Congress is. (for those not versed in Washington-speak, HR- and S- are just the order of bills proposed by that Congress, many never even make it to the floor for a vote)

How'd that mid-decade gerrymandering work out for ya? When people wanted a "businessman" to be President, at least they should have elected a successful one. I wonder what people consider to be Trump's most successful "business"? AFAICT all of his money has come from bluster and scams...

There are all kinds of random patterns in nature. Why do you think there is meaning behind any particular one?

It would be helpful if you quoted what I have denied the plausibility of. AFAICT the only assertion I have made is that the death of an individual reduces the gene pool, the rest is opinion based on what little I know about evolution and genetics. I didn't think the fact that evolution has shown cooperation has advanced humans in ways beyond other species, needed an explanation of how more cooperative individuals would be more likely to survive and propagate...

I got a "video unavailable" message but butane can definitely be used however isobutane and propane are more efficient so generally used instead.

Killing anything reduces gene pool diversity. Whether it makes a significant difference is another matter. It seems to me that once human ancestors figured out that they were better off in groups than as individuals, genetics would select the more social types since they ought to be the most likely to survive and propagate.

a) It seems to me continuing the tradition would have little or no impact. It is only when things change that behavior has any reason to change, then you get into what is the sociopathic behavior and how is it affecting other members of the tribe? I don't think most people treat others any differently from how they expect to be treated themselves but I am not sure how one would go about objectively quantifying such a thing. b) I don't see a paradox if everyone in the community would expect the same treatment for similar behavior. IMO it is the sociopaths that lack the capacity for understanding why reciprocity is generally a "good" thing. c) "Good", like beauty, is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. It depends on what the goal is for any particular action. Murder is considered "bad" by most but in your example, is it "good" to murder a mass murderer or "good" to allow them to continue to be embedded in your society when it is pretty certain they will kill someone else? There is such a thing as Hobson's choice. Hobson's choice--- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice

Seems to me that you can attach ontology to virtually anything desired. Whether it is necessary or useful to do so is a different matter...

IMO reciprocity has much to do with people doing "good". How can you expect others to treat you differently from how you treat them? There are other reasons, as well, like enjoying seeing others be happy but I think reciprocity is a big (maybe the biggest) one.

My $.02... In the modern world, it is not possible for science and politics to coexist without significant intersection. One thing I would be very interested in is a robust discussion about how to get more science into politics when so much of the political body seems hostile to science. I don't see how that can be done without a politics forum but maybe I am the only one who would be interested. At least the politics forum here is relatively civil and people are expected to back up their statements with facts.

I wonder how much of that rice is fed to livestock? In the US anyway, most corn produced is not consumed directly by people. Worldwide (according to google) half of all grain produced in the world is not used as food for humans but used for livestock and industrial purposes.

Of course, the object being held is an American football. 😜

It might take centuries, but I think if humans are around long enough we will learn to manipulate DNA to the point of being able to produce any kind of creature possible. Since there are already species that change, I see no reason why that should be impossible in any species. The real question IMO is whether the resulting being is human or some other species?

It has been called off, supposedly because Hasan is now in a wheelchair after being shot during the incident. What I heard through the grapevine is the main reason was they were having trouble finding someone to stream it because it violates nearly all of their "terms of service" for using that platform (the terms are written specifically to keep extremists from showing beheadings, assassinations and the like, which would also include firing squads).

Didn't think bout it at the time because I haven't been on Facebook for several years but there is a group there called the "Australian beard and mustache club" with people from all over the world. Not only can they give advice about virtually anything dealing with facial hair but it's a pretty good bunch of chaps (only a few women).

The last time I shaved was in 1986 but I do trim to keep it even and the stache out of my mouth. Once the beard gets longer, it should get softer. Mine is only slightly stiffer than my hair. The only advice I would give anyone is to make sure you rinse well when you bathe, leftover soap can cause a rash.

I think with proper instruction we could understand most things. AFAIK the human brain hasn't changed much since neanderthal times so IMO our brains are close to maximization and if not, we will become a species as foreign to present day humans as we are to neanderthals.

And don't forget about "Operation Ep(stein)ic Fury"...

I don't see a Ringworld as being very practical. It seems to me anything as hard as "scrith" (the base material of Ringworld) would shatter if an object hit it hard enough to knock the whole thing out of orbit. However, as others point out there are lots of stories dealing with time travel, perpetual motion, and accelerating mass beyond the speed of light, in addition to materials that don't exist.

A long way to walk, for sure, but when the next closest galaxy is around 25,000 light years away and one like Andromeda is around 2.5 million LY, it doesn't seem so far. Even the closest star to the sun 4.5 LY. There is actually only around 1,000 (according to google, anyway) stars as close as that one. Pretty interesting how they eliminated other possibilities.