I damn the men of earth.

[atlashead]

When I turned 5 I wanted to be an *********.  I had never read *** ************.  I'm 25 now.  I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.  We have the internet, which has supplied the leeches with a never-ending fountain of history from which to snatch and/or consume.  If I make it through this day, I pray that **** **** destroys man and that he never comes for me.

[jts]

37 minutes ago, atlashead said:

When I turned 5 I wanted to be an *********.  I had never read *** ************.  I'm 25 now.  I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.  We have the internet, which has supplied the leeches with a never-ending fountain of history from which to snatch and/or consume.  If I make it through this day, I pray that **** **** destroys man and that he never comes for me.

At age 25 you should be in your prime, both body and mind. If you are healthy and remain so and nothing unexpected happens, you should have several decades of good living ahead of you.

What are you about to give up on? Klingon warriors do not give up. Klingon warriors prefer to die in battle. Then they have died with honor. If you give up, you will not cross the river of blood and enter stovokor.

What philosophical background are you coming from?

 

[BaalChatzaf]

51 minutes ago, jts said:

At age 25 you should be in your prime, both body and mind. If you are healthy and remain so and nothing unexpected happens, you should have several decades of good living ahead of you.

What are you about to give up on? Klingon warriors do not give up. Klingon warriors prefer to die in battle. Then they have died with honor. If you give up, you will not cross the river of blood and enter stovokor.

What philosophical background are you coming from?

 

qPlakh!

[atlashead]

I'm politically AnCap, objectivist, and benevolent world premise.  I'm clinging to my benevolent premise

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

16 hours ago, atlashead said:

I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.

A,

If that's your beef, then go do some.

 

What?

You want learning skills and devising wonders to be easy?

You want others to live for you so you can blame them when you feel bad?

You've got a precious unrepeatable mind. Use it or lose it. I hope you use it...

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

19 hours ago, atlashead said:

When I turned 5 I wanted to be an *********.  I had never read *** ************.  I'm 25 now.  I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.  We have the internet, which has supplied the leeches with a never-ending fountain of history from which to snatch and/or consume.  If I make it through this day, I pray that **** **** destroys man and that he never comes for me.

The only problem is you've let yourself indulge in victimhood. You're wallowing in it. Go read James Altucher's Choose Yourself and get on with your American life--even if you aren't in and of America.

--Brant

if you're in a hole stop digging

[Brant Gaede]

7 hours ago, atlashead said:

I'm politically AnCap, objectivist, and benevolent world premise.  I'm clinging to my benevolent premise

Qua world it's neither benevolent nor malevolent. It's what you make of it and that's first what you let into your head evaluatively concerning your own person and what you make of yourself.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

10 hours ago, atlashead said:

I'm politically AnCap, objectivist, and benevolent world premise.  I'm clinging to my benevolent premise

The world has no intentions, beneficial or malevolent.  Humans are adapted biologically by evolution to be able to survive and even flourish in the world as it currently is. 

[anthony]

35 minutes ago, BaalChatzaf said:

The world has no intentions, beneficial or malevolent.  Humans are adapted biologically by evolution to be able to survive and even flourish in the world as it currently is. 

A benevolent universe is one that is the source of and can supply and be put to (thinking) man's useful, flourishing purpose. As it has served us, by dint of the efforts of innumerable rational men. The manifold effects are clear and visible. Therefore, the BU is unquestionable. Seen in this light, it's impossible to have a malevolent universe premise. (Towards other malicious, malevolent people, though - that's a different matter).

[BaalChatzaf]

14 minutes ago, anthony said:

A benevolent universe is one that is the source of and can supply and be put to (thinking) man's useful, flourishing purpose. As it visibly has served us, by dint of the efforts of innumerable rational men. Therefore, the BU is unquestionable. Seen in this light, it's impossible to have a malevolent universe premise. (Towards other malicious, malevolent people, though - that's a different matter).

Benevolent means having good intentions.  Nature has no intentions.  Nature is not a person. Nature is not sentient.  Consciousness and intention  is an emergent and rare property of some entities in nature.  Nature on the whole, is as dumb as a bagful of bricks. 

[anthony]

1 hour ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Benevolent means having good intentions.  Nature has no intentions.  Nature is not a person. Nature is not sentient.  Consciousness and intention  is an emergent and rare property of some entities in nature.  Nature on the whole, is as dumb as a bagful of bricks. 

The complete principle is named: "a benevolent universe premise", (i.e., to man, since only man can have premises) and you've seen it raised often, so should not have to split straws. Where is the intentionality of Nature in that? Think rather, the intentions of man.

If rational man can employ it and command nature to his ends, it is benevolent ... to men. It is consistent, it has identity ... to men.

[BaalChatzaf]

1 hour ago, anthony said:

The complete principle is named: "a benevolent universe premise", (i.e., to man, since only man can have premises) and you've seen it raised often, so should not have to split straws. Where is the intentionality of Nature in that? Think rather, the intentions of man.

If rational man can employ it and command nature to his ends, it is benevolent ... to men. It is consistent, it has identity ... to men.

In short, nature is human survivable at this juncture. 

[jts]

On 2017-02-07 at 10:52 AM, atlashead said:

[... ]  there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination. [...]

Advancing computer technology? Google Maps?

Anyway I will start a list of things a genius might be able to do, great innovations and great works of imagination.

1.  Make light emitting diodes (LEDs) cheap.  Incandescent light bulbs are inefficient in conversion of electricity to light. They make mostly heat. You touch them, they are hot. LEDs are much more efficient. They also make better quality light. And they last longer, maybe 20 years as opposed to 750 hours for incandescent bulbs. The one downside is currently they are expensive. Make LEDs cheap, lower lighting bills, have better quality light, revolutionize lighting, make money.

2.  Make aerogel insulation cheap.  An ice cube inside a box insulated with aerogel insulation in room temperature will take 3 years to melt. Make it cheap, lower the heating bill, revolutionize the insulation industry, make money. Even windows could be insulated with aerogel between 2 panes of glass because aerogel is sufficiently transparent.

3.  Invent a better battery.  The standard lead-acid battery, brand new and fully charged, produces a range of 14 miles on the electric scooter. As the battery ages the range is less and less until in 3-5 years or so it must be replaced. Invent a battery that performs the same but with one difference, 30 years later it still has a range of 14 miles on a full charge. This invention would be useful wherever batteries are used -- electric scooters, cars, flashlights, portable radios, solar energy, wind energy, maybe electric cars in the future.

4.  Improve the 3D printer.  I saw videos where they 3d printed an adjustable wrench with moving parts, a ridable bicycle, a gun that shoots bullets, even a large 3d printer that prints a house. In maybe 100 years from now, every affluent home will have a 3d printer as a standard household appliance along with stove and fridge and computer. Those who don't have their own personal 3d printer will go a few blocks to the friendly neighborhood 3d printing service and have stuff 3d printed for a price. 3d printing technology will be married to computer technology and internet technology and you will get to search millions of templates. You will get to see what it will look like after it is printed and you will get to select color and size and whatever other particulars. Improve the 3d printer, revolutionize the manufacturing industry.

5.  Make machines self maintaining and self repairing.  Computer quit working? Not too big a problem. Let it repair itself overnight, next morning it will work perfectly. Probably won't quit to begin with, because it will always maintain itself. What do you mean, not possible? Living bodies can repair themselves, that's called healing. Why can't machines be invented that will do the same? Create a HUGE technological revolution.

6.  Invent new materials.  Graphene is interesting, might have revoltionary applications. Diamond is the hardest natural material but a few artifical materials are harder. Invent materials that have greater tensile strength, compressive strength, shear strength by a factor of hundreds and engineers will find uses for these properties. Invent a superconductor that works at room temperature. With zero resistance to electricity, CPUs (central processing units of computers) would make little or no heat and therefore would not need a fan to cool them, would use less electricity, would be faster.

7.  Invent the Star Trek tricorder.  Dr. Len Horowitz is probably a bullshitter but if his theory about DNA is correct, it might have revolutionary applications. His theory is DNA is an antenna, receiving and emitting information. If this is true, it might be the basis of a device that can identify DNA at a distance. For example it might identify bed bug DNA. But more. Maybe the same device could emit energy that destroys specifically the selected DNA and be harmless to any other kind of DNA. This would be beyond Star Trek. If this works, you could destroy bacteria and viruses this way and you wouldn't need antibiotics.

8.  Write a science fiction novel or make a movie.  If you can't do the above listed things, maybe you can write a science fiction novel where all these inventions are invented and more. Or make it a movie. If you do a good job on that, it would qualify as a great work of imagination. You are not limited to my list, you can add more.

 

[Jules Troy]

I have an Emo lawn!

It cuts itself twice a week.

[Wolf DeVoon]

On 2/7/2017 at 11:52 AM, atlashead said:

When I turned 5 I wanted to be an *********.  I had never read *** ************.  I'm 25 now.  I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.  We have the internet, which has supplied the leeches with a never-ending fountain of history from which to snatch and/or consume.  If I make it through this day, I pray that **** **** destroys man and that he never comes for me.

I got curious about you because you posted some off the wall stuff about obligation. Are you still on the edge? Let's talk about it, if you wish.

[BaalChatzaf]

On 2/7/2017 at 0:52 PM, atlashead said:

When I turned 5 I wanted to be an *********.  I had never read *** ************.  I'm 25 now.  I'm making this post because I'm about to give up; there have been no great innovations in our time, no great works of imagination.  We have the internet, which has supplied the leeches with a never-ending fountain of history from which to snatch and/or consume.  If I make it through this day, I pray that **** **** destroys man and that he never comes for me.

The progress in physical science has been spectacular.  The progress in mathematics has been a secular miracle.  More has been discovered, created and invented in the past 200 years than in the preceding 5000 years.  Unfortunately the rapid advance of knowledge in the realm of physical science has not been matched by an advance of wisdom or goodness in mankind.  Perhaps that will come eventually. In areas unrelated to the physical sciences and mathematics people are still up to the same old tricks (so far).  But who knows?  We may advance.  We have the brains for it.

[Wolf DeVoon]

Perhaps Baal forgot because it's not his special interest, but the 21st century is a tremendously exciting time for biology.

[BaalChatzaf]

6 minutes ago, Wolf DeVoon said:

Perhaps Baal forgot because it's not his special interest, but the 21st century is a tremendously exciting time for biology.

Thank you for that correction.  We have learned more in the past 50 years in biology than in the previous  5000 years.  The Green Revolution in the production of disease free grains has virtually eliminated famine.  But the real whiz bang advance is in genetics.  Genomes can now be sequenced in a matter of weeks at very low cost and the gene editing technique CRSPR has made "designer genes"  feasible. 

Please see  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_editing

This is not  Grandpa Charlie's   biology (referring to Charles Darwin). 

[Peter]

Bob wrote, "Genomes can now be sequenced in a matter of weeks at very low cost and the gene editing technique CRSPR has made "designer genes"  feasible."

What spelling! It's spelled gnomes, crispy, and jeans. As in "Gnomes like the creases in their jeans, crispy, while hobbits and elves do not."  

Peter

[BaalChatzaf]

On 2/8/2017 at 0:40 PM, anthony said:

The complete principle is named: "a benevolent universe premise", (i.e., to man, since only man can have premises) and you've seen it raised often, so should not have to split straws. Where is the intentionality of Nature in that? Think rather, the intentions of man.

If rational man can employ it and command nature to his ends, it is benevolent ... to men. It is consistent, it has identity ... to men.

The more exact  locution  should be  "the beneficial universe premise"   "benevolent"  means having a good will or a good intention.

[Peter]

The Universe would not be benevolent if we go to another planet in another solar system and the rules change. But that is not going to happen. I still think we may discover other species messages, not to us, but to someone in another Solar System with whom they were conversing. 

[BaalChatzaf]

8 hours ago, Peter said:

The Universe would not be benevolent if we go to another planet in another solar system and the rules change. But that is not going to happen. I still think we may discover other species messages, not to us, but to someone in another Solar System with whom they were conversing. 

"Benevolent" is the wrong word.  The physical cosmos does not will or intend anything.  Beneficial is the better word.  Since we are adapted to the corner of the Cosmos where we live and sometimes flourish  we can say conditions in our corner  of existence are overall beneficial  for us. Our physical-biological nature is such that the environment currently supports our lives  and provides us with those conditions  and things   that we need to stay alive for a while.

[BaalChatzaf]

8 hours ago, Peter said:

The Universe would not be benevolent if we go to another planet in another solar system and the rules change. But that is not going to happen. I still think we may discover other species messages, not to us, but to someone in another Solar System with whom they were conversing. 

Another planet  might not be the optimal place for humans to live.  But if we did get to another planet that could support our kind over the years, decades and centuries  humans  perhaps could adapt themselves  so that humans could benefit themselves and be more at home in the new place. 

[Brant Gaede]

1 hour ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Another planet  might not be the optimal place for humans to live.

Strike "might not" for "would not."

--Brant

the equivocation is not true or needed--it's semantic grease

[MereMortal]

1 hour ago, BaalChatzaf said:

"Benevolent" is the wrong word.  

I think the phrase describes man's attitude about the universe, not the universe itself.  It goes like this: "I have a benevolent view of the universe.  It's a wonderful place and I can prosper in it."