Cancer Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 I think otherwise. It seems clear to me that Big Oil has recognized that climate change is real, and it is anthropogenic in origin, and the fossil fuels are the principal cause, and even neglecting what they have done already (Torrey Canyon, Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, Ixtoc I, ...) the economic damage is going to be incalculably great. Since that realization impacts their image and their profits, they are doing the obvious: attack the messengers and suppress the warnings. It is avarice, not horror, not Faustian hubris, that is our greatest enemy now, and the reason humans will go extinct, with a considerable fraction of the rest of Kingdom Animalia, in the accumulated toxins and collateral damage created in an economic Ponzi scheme that must consume exponentially to continue. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 That's the threat now. Thirty years ago, it was nuclear war. Heck, it may be nuclear war again in thirty years. For some reason, our species seems to exist along a thin line between self-destruction and incompetence. We have the capacity--and, by all appearances the desire--to remove ourselves from the planet, but we never quite succeed in doing so. On the other hand, it's possible that I'm just delirious from being awake since 3:30 this morning and am spouting nonsense. Perhaps I should just go to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 We made our Faustian pact a few centuries ago. But the timeline shifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 Humans have never been good at dealing with timescales comparable to or longer than a human lifetime. And only rarely do you encounter someone who thinks even as far as 20 years out. We seem to have lost all thoughts of "posterity", of what subsequent generations will think of us as individuals. Even Teddy Roosevelt mentioned it in his speeches, so it hasn't been gone that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 9, 2017 Report Share Posted May 9, 2017 Humans have never been good at dealing with timescales comparable to or longer than a human lifetime. And only rarely do you encounter someone who thinks even as far as 20 years out. We seem to have lost all thoughts of "posterity", of what subsequent generations will think of us as individuals. Even Teddy Roosevelt mentioned it in his speeches, so it hasn't been gone that long. tl;dr Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Oh I just understood "cosmological" is "kosmos" plus "logical". One was given meaning by Pythagoras & the other by Heraclitus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 My use of it is in the modern scientific discipline sense, which really only began in the 1920s, and started going in a big way only in the 1950s/60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Acknowledged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Hm. Very tired. Not thinking cleanly. Not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Filthy mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 That's what happens when it's in the gutter so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 It must be scrubbed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylwin13 Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 * hands Cancer the brain bleach * Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Is it chlorine bleach? Then I could add ammonia and breathe deeply.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylwin13 Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 * reads the label closely * Oops, it's not bleach. It's pure chlorine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Think how clean the mind will get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 You could use that in a neutrino capture experiment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 Would you, though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 14, 2017 Report Share Posted May 14, 2017 No, I am in no way a good enough analytical chemist to be able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 Exam today. The fear is palpable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 ... Theirs, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 Oh yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 Where is the evil laugh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 I keep an unconnected plug in the microphone jack on my workstation, so I can't be recorded through it. Kinda like how I keep a sticky note over the camera lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 Using artificial intelligence to avoid bias in job hiring may not be practical. [...] at University of Bath and Princeton University studied the implicit bias of AI using a word-embedding association test (WEAT), similar to an implicit association test (IAT) for humans. While IAT relies on rapid-reactions to test subconscious associations, WEAT is based on the contexts in which words usually appear in writing. Bryson and her colleagues found that WEAT uncovered reasonable word associations, for example musical instruments are more pleasant than weapons.. Totally true. There's been lots of musical instruments played where I'd rather listen to automatic weapons fire than the butchery of the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.