EdEarl

I watched Isaac Arthur's Post Scarcity Civilizations on youtube this morning, which tells how a civilization might grow to inhabit a galaxy. I read an article on phys.org about a Japanese company growing lettuce in a factory that will not be touched by human hands until it is opened by someone in their kitchen; their first factory will produce 100,000 heads per day, and they intend to grow to more than a million heads per day. If this is the future of agriculture, then we will be able to survive anywhere including space. I think it is too soon to toll the death bell on humanity.

My life was screwed by religion. My mother and father divorced, and she married another, my stepfather. Now, in her religion it was a sin to divorce, but it happened. Then, when my stepfather punched me in the stomach when I was three, she consulted with the preacher who advised her to remain with the marriage and fix it. But, her marriage to my abusive stepfather eventually failed. In the mean time, he continued to abuse me. She made poor decisions on who to marry that had nothing to do with religion, but tended to hang in there when she should have left, at least partly rationalized by her religious beliefs. I'm sure that I am not the only abused child who suffered unnecessarily because of religious teachings, and others, including "witches" who suffered at the hands of religious people. Moreover, all those people who believe in creationism, who question rational thought and science are softly abused, because they are taught to make irrational decisions based on a book of nonsense. I am 70+, and still have very hard feelings about religion. Many religious people live a fantasy or delusion, and do not understand how to think rationally. Yes, religion harms. That some religious people are good, does not outweigh the harm, IMO.

That's true, and people might be able to live there; although, radiation would kill many prematurely. Animals, with shorter lives aren't much affected. On the other hand, salt in farmland does not recover quickly, and heavy metals like lead and chromium in soil may remain forever, and eventually be covered by additional soil being deposited, which might take eons. However, it is unimaginable that the entire Earth would be affected to make it uninhabitable. The Limits to Growth suggested half the world's population might die from starvation, but I think that will not happen. The worst I've heard is the Earth warming enough to release incredible amounts of methane from methane hydrate under the ocean, which might cause a 95% extinction.

That statement, "The Earth is risking a major ecological breakdown that could eventually render it largely uninhabitable," must not mean uninhabitable as the Moon, rather uninhabitable for man. We have polluted extensively, and vast swaths of farm land have become too salty to grow food because of irrigation. Perhaps the statement means we are poisoning the Earth enough to make it incapable of supporting humanity. That's my guess.

I haven't read the book. Is this news or undue alarm? I know a few scientists believe we have already gone past the point of no return on climate change, but this book may be more encompassing than climate change.

What can we imply from this illogical, poorly reasoned post? A person who is paranoid may reason that they need to kill anyone who comes close to them. I claim that is unreasonable, but it may make sense to a someone who is paranoid. Thus, your statement is illogical and not reasonable.

As virtual reality environments improve, our ability to visit the Louvre, Pyramids, Grand Canyon, etc., will become closer to reality; will it matter whether we live in Dallas or elsewhere.

In the country it is easier to find a place with no one near, rather than being surrounded by strangers.

It can work both ways. If you live in the city, you may have many friends and acquaintances who know your business.

I am in favor of giving individuals as much freedom as possible; however, there must be limits, for example prohibition against murder. A controversy exists over the amount of government control v individual freedom, on an issue by issue basis. Many of the issues are emotional and unresolvable, for example abortion; thus, making a perpetual controversy. Government rules tend to handle all scenarios uniformly, and individual decisions tend to handle some scenarios differently. Both can lead to injustice, but government rules are slow to change when laws are poorly written. Thus, I tend to prefer a minimum number of laws and government regulations, but those needed are numerous in any case. It seems an abortion law that satisfies most people cannot be written; neither government nor individual control is satisfactory to most people.

I have a similar feeling, because the Republicans are committed to slow the conversion to renewable energy, which will assure a greater affect from climate change. And climate change has killed and will kill many people. The greater its affect, the more people will die. WHO says, The 3000 deaths on 9/11 are as a drop in the bucket. Trump being elected seems to me to be a tragedy in the making.

The Chinese made super factories to cut production costs of PV panels, and reduced the price of solar PV electricity to less than coal produced electricity. They are using them in China and selling to the world. ATM production capacity limits installation rate, many more factories are needed.

IMO, China will continue to increase its use of renewable energy and eventually eliminate coal power plants. I think India will continue as well. Since power from solar PV is now less than power from coal, most of the world will continue to install PV. However, the Republicans will slow conversion in the US as much as possible. If they put a high tax on solar PV from other countries, Tesla will sell solar roofs. If the republicans put a tax on all solar PV, they could stop the conversion. I expect businesses to lobby for tax breaks on solar and wind farms. They may make it too expensive for individual home owners to own their own. I expect an assault on education to allow creationism, perhaps a constitutional amendment, and similar action on abortion. Protests are an important exercise of political will, but the violence and property destruction is tragic and premature. At this time Trump hasn't done anything to warrant a revolution or any kind of violence. I hope the situation doesn't degrade that much.

I think the split is more about what policies will do good rather than what is good. Although, there are a few issues (e.g., abortion) where people disagree on what is good. However, most people want the economy to be strong, want less crime, and want low prices.

Corporations are automating rather than hiring. That AlphaGo beat a strong Go master, that cars are driving themselves, and AI deep learning is general purpose means AI can be trained to do just about anything from medical diagnosis to writing fiction. Moreover, robots are becoming very agile and relatively inexpensive. Jobs are being automated faster than new jobs are being created. I think you need to reconsider what can be done to improve the economy because technology is changing things in new ways that make it difficult to predict what will happen. Things that once worked cannot as automation takes almost all jobs. We need to rethink the way we live.

I've seen the country go down hill since the 70's, as Republican policies have been enacted. If you haven't seen the trend, one more year will make no difference.

I agree with what Delta said in the previous post. In addition, the Republican position on climate change is, IMO, criminal because people are dieing and more will die as climate change gets worse. IMO, those who prevent measures to abate climate change should be tried for crimes against humanity. There is a real chance that humanity will not survive climate change, and most Republicans are increasing that chance. Your rosy picture of 4 years of Trump is pure fantasy.

I think rights are not absolute. For example, conjoined twins share the responsibility for their body; one cannot commit suicide without murdering the other. One may not stab someone else to watch them die. There are always limits on what a person may do legally. The scenario of a pregnant woman is unique to females, and they have some rights curtailed during the process. She can have a baby and loose some rights temporarily, or not. However, the loss of rights is not limited to gestation; parents must forgo some rights until their children leave the nest, for example parents give up some freedom of mobility because they must care for children. Rights are relative to the current situation as we interact with others; they are not absolute.

What, exactly, do you mean by making the economy good again? For example, more jobs, higher paying jobs, lower cost staples, stock values increasing, lower inflation, etc.

I'd be surprised if anything substantial is ever found, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Over 9000 and sock puppet have been banned. It seems the off-topic discussion has ended.

I've felt disenfranchised for forty years, and consider both parties deplorable and corrupt. I don't believe the newly elected administration will deliver what the people need, their wants have been perverted by the media and political ads, so their wants and needs don't coincide. I don't believe the Dems would do much better. One of the few issues people understand is Roe v. Wade, the issue that turned southern democrats to the republicans and weakened the democratic party. The other issues are so complex that sound-bytes, not reason, drive emotions and votes. The UN estimates 100 million people will die from climate change over the next few decades, which IMO makes it the important issue, and eliminates Republicans as a reasonable political choice. Yes people voted Republican to try to take back a strong America, but they voted for an empty sound byte. Regardless of their reasons, IMO they made poor choices. In addition, I despise Trump.

I've seen 10 presidents in my lifetime, and had no strong feelings about any of them. Some were better than others, I've agreed and disagreed with their policies, and they have come and gone. However, I find Trump personally disgusting, politically inept, and morally corrupt. If I were capable, I'd move out of the US. I believe the people who voted for Trump because they want to make America strong again, have done the opposite, and the US will now decline more quickly than ever.

Trump as president seems like it should be a scene from the Rocky Horror Show. It's hard to accept as reality.

I fear it will be much worse. One can only hope for better than ones expectations.