100-year-old package to be opened Friday.
The ego of humanity never ceases to amaze.
People bury time capsules for whatever reason, but even the people most likely to be interested in viewing the contents, archaeologists, would be more interested in the consumable items in high popularity at the time, that people packing the capsule would consider mundane.
It's the same with mummification and cryogenics. Due to gigantic egos, people think they're worth saving, but think about it; has anyone tried cloning king Tut? Why would you?
If Einstein were alive today, how long do you think it'd take him to catch up to modern physics, especially when some of the assumptions and theories we rely on today were originally posed as jokes by physicists! He'd probably take one look at Schrodinger's Cat and kill himself.
If we could revive a frozen corpse of Thomas Jefferson or James Madison, how many people do you think would side with them and how many would call them "out of touch"? Even in the years after the constitution were ratified, the founders themselves immediately started arguing about the meaning. Nothing about that has changed in the past 230 years. A topic such as abortion would be alien to them. Modern birth mortality rates (both mother and child) are closer to zero than they've ever been; the idea of having a small family would have been contrary to their way of life.
Damascus steel was an amazing innovation at the time, but modern crucible forging and pattern welding accomplishes the same effect, with modern technology.
We're living in the future, and the future is interested almost exclusively in the future. It's egotistical for anyone to assume that the future would be interested in someone from the past.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Evolution
Someone told me that a theory was one man's view on what he thinks facts are (on the internet no less, can you imagine?!), and then proceeded to tell me to get an education before criticizing "other's education levels"
The following was my response, unedited:
This is so wrong I feel like I'm being trolled, but I'll use this very common religious straw man grunting to illustrate what the problem is.
A theory is in no way one man's view of what might be fact.
Facts are agreed-upon observed occurrences. Theories are used to explain what facts are, why facts happen, and make predictions concerning facts.
Theories are rigorously tested, and while being potentially falsifiable, have never been proven wrong. Can be, haven't. It's because of this that one man alone cannot craft an entire theory
The predictions made by theories are used in science every single day, across the Earth and in space. There are thousands of practical aspects to the theory of evolution: genetic drift, part of evolution, helps us craft immunization regimens which are proven to reduce things like epidemic levels of influenza.
The concept of change over time allows us to ascertain what kind of strata certain fossils will be found in. Combined with continental drift theory, we can know exactly where to look to find intermediate species, which is exactly how ambulocetus natans—the missing link between land animals and whales—was discovered.
In closing, try to get rid of your ignorance, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR GOD, TRY!
It felt really really good to write this, even with the punctuation error.
I regret nothing.
The following was my response, unedited:
This is so wrong I feel like I'm being trolled, but I'll use this very common religious straw man grunting to illustrate what the problem is.
A theory is in no way one man's view of what might be fact.
Facts are agreed-upon observed occurrences. Theories are used to explain what facts are, why facts happen, and make predictions concerning facts.
Theories are rigorously tested, and while being potentially falsifiable, have never been proven wrong. Can be, haven't. It's because of this that one man alone cannot craft an entire theory
The predictions made by theories are used in science every single day, across the Earth and in space. There are thousands of practical aspects to the theory of evolution: genetic drift, part of evolution, helps us craft immunization regimens which are proven to reduce things like epidemic levels of influenza.
The concept of change over time allows us to ascertain what kind of strata certain fossils will be found in. Combined with continental drift theory, we can know exactly where to look to find intermediate species, which is exactly how ambulocetus natans—the missing link between land animals and whales—was discovered.
In closing, try to get rid of your ignorance, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR GOD, TRY!
It felt really really good to write this, even with the punctuation error.
I regret nothing.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Romney's Veep
What makes a good Veep candidate?
Likability is unimportant (Cheney), as are charisma (Gore) and intelligence (Palin).
Being a natural-born US Citizen is obviously a necessity, so that eliminates a good 95% or so of the human population. Past political experience is also a must, and the lower age limit is 35. Party alignment is also a crux, and it's always good to pander to your base. It's also important that this person won't try to secretly assassinate the sitting POTUS.
The single most common factor among all Veep candidates is that they're always someone regrettable. They're someone who, by contrast, makes the president look like the necessary measure to prevent the Veep from becoming POTUS.
Quite clearly, there's only one republican in America more regrettable than Romney, who doesn't seem to want for any power or likability:
Clearly, Romney's ideal choice would be Ted Nugent.
Likability is unimportant (Cheney), as are charisma (Gore) and intelligence (Palin).
Being a natural-born US Citizen is obviously a necessity, so that eliminates a good 95% or so of the human population. Past political experience is also a must, and the lower age limit is 35. Party alignment is also a crux, and it's always good to pander to your base. It's also important that this person won't try to secretly assassinate the sitting POTUS.
The single most common factor among all Veep candidates is that they're always someone regrettable. They're someone who, by contrast, makes the president look like the necessary measure to prevent the Veep from becoming POTUS.
Quite clearly, there's only one republican in America more regrettable than Romney, who doesn't seem to want for any power or likability:
Clearly, Romney's ideal choice would be Ted Nugent.
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