StringJunky

But a mutation is an alteration to the design of the RNA/DNA molecule. It doesn't require sentience to alter the design. The human mind was designed by deterministic behaviour of DNA molecles, mutation and environmental pressures.

That's generally what happens when something becomes recognized and understood better. It's not unusual.

The other issue is the societal expectation that people fall into one of the categories. I'm sure some gender dysphorics are just gender-fluid and just want to be what they are, when they are, without any aspiration towards surgical reassignment.

I think it will be ex post facto when we find out what a synthetic recipe for consciousness looks like. I think this is to be expected, being emergent and, as such, only a retrospective analysis will allow us to find out. Hopefully, we find the blighter before they can become too autonomous in a way that might be detrimental to us.

The OP doesn't seem be familiar with emergence as a concept or indeed the view of complex systems from the hard sciences perspectives. This seems to be an issue with being familiar with computer logic systems but not biological/molecular systems, and that, I think, that tends to instil a Cartesian duality view of things, since computers are non-biological in substrates. That can lead to a metaphysical interpretation of living systems as somehow distinct from the physical substrate,

Nature does it.

There is no depth he won't stoop to.

The reality is that things don't change significantly until the next fresh generation takes it on board without resistance. The vociferous old naysayers from the pioneering days by then are putting their teeth in a glass or are compost. Civil unions didn't start in the UK until 2005. It took 38 years from homosexuality not being illegal i.e. tolerated, to them being allowed to be in a recognised partnership.

You've got interstellar space with a density of 1 atom/cm3 and intergalactic space at 1 atom/ metre3. How long will it last colliding with them at relativistic speeds? I would imagine if it collided with a mass in grams, or less, it would be toast.

Nice illustrative example. Reminds me of the expression Evolution is a blind watchmaker, whereby there is stochastic and deterministic phenomena occurring simultaneously.

When I read about it, the range 100-300 words was deemed acceptable, but it really depends what your country defines as fair use.

In what country?

Stand up humour is nearly always at the expense of someone or some group. I don't class his humour as unduly nasty.

RG isn't anti-any minority. It's important to him to not discriminate, so every group gets it whenever his humour takes him there... he is equal in his piss-taking. I think that's fair. We need humour and astutely observed ridicule is part of it.

You need to go and learn some science. This post tells me everything I need to know what you know, and it's very little.

It's not possible to detect anything that has less than a quantum of energy i.e. virtual particles . AFAIK we can infer their existence when two occasionally combine to make the necessary quantum in the form of detectable particle.

It isn't whether it's logical or not, what interests physicists is lots of maths... that is their language.

There's no maths in it for a start, so a physicist wouldn't give it a second glance.

An example of the size of the task: Suppose we aim for Alpha Proxima, as it's 'only' 3.2LYRs away. Suppose we had a rocket that could travel a million mph. It'll take us 19 200 000 years to get there... and we've got to slow down as well before we arrive, so delta v to consider as well. Can you see a generation ship and its occupants lasting 19 million years? It's poppycock according to what we know now. You know this already as we've been over it umpteen times in the last 10 years or so. All swansont should have to say to you is 'physics' and you should by now know what he means.

Because of the morons that don't get vaccinated. Where is the virus going to mutate to learn to bypass the protection of people already immune to existing virus strains? People like you. People like you are the problem.

Anti-vax evangelist on a mission to spread lies, half-truths and doubt.

Kristi Noem and MTG make me think of fascists. I know more about US politicians than I do British ones. Something wrong there. Noem is even trying to influence the primaries for her favoured local candidates... one of which happens to be her old babysitter. Gotta say Phi, the US system is corrupt as **** atm. Why do the gun lobby need guns in a country full of 'patriots'? Why do the gun lobby need to protect themselves from their 'fellow Americans'? From afar, the dissonance on this is really pronounced.

Right. OK.

@CharonY I suppose an issue I glean from your links, is that researchers belonging to an ethnic group see more variation within their own group than those outside their group, leading either side to treat other less familiar groups in a more monolithic, stereotyped way, which is reflected in research results.

Until someone finds a method/principle that sorts out the physical problems of travelling surviving astronomical distances , it's no more plausible than Star Trek. You can't assume that they aren't bound by the same physical constraints that we are. We may as well assume God exists. I can accept that aliens exist, but I can't accept, in the light of present scientific knowledge, that we have the means to make either aware of the other.