Is humanity inevitably heading toward disaster led by idiocy?

[Genady]

9 minutes ago, Sensei said:

You are an exception

 

Another exception here.

[Sensei]

..I have known many people who claimed to be scientists, but never bothered to do any experiment that could find something useful for humanity.. This forum is full of them, especially in the speculation section..

 

 

Being a "scientist" is not just about graduating from the right school or not.. it's about a general approach to the subject.. Priorities etc.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Sensei

[Genady]

9 hours ago, Sensei said:

Teachers, scientists, engineers plan their careers based on how much they will earn.

This was not only about scientists.

[dimreepr]

55 minutes ago, Genady said:

This was not only about scientists.

Indeed, we will continue to grow until physics says we can't...

[Genady]

Molecules will keep bouncing and interacting as long as their environment allows.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Genady

[Sensei]

..when i read people on science forums i want to rerun the simulation again..

(and even more if I read people on other social forums!)

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Sensei

[Genady]

Humanity is too small - 14 orders of magnitude smaller than Avogadro's number - for overall patterns to emerge. 

[Ken Fabian]

20 hours ago, Sensei said:

Of course it is feasible

I don't see any of course about it given the extreme distance, extreme costs of transport and the extreme conditions. We don't even have an inventory of what minerals are essential vs which are available there let alone what it would take to exploit them cost effectively - cost being about how much time and work people there must do to produce what is needed, which inconveniently includes what colonists can exchange for what they import.

It is possible that nations would make a space colony and commit to supporting it in perpetuity in the hope it can become a self reliant Planet B in order to preserve an independent remnant of the human race from distant global catastrophe but that is not currently the case and I am not convinced it would have widespread support - although I expect there are some with bunkers intended for preserving a remnant from much nearer term catastrophes.

Having to rely for day to day survival on large scale taxpayer support from very far away, that must persist unbroken for unforeseeable lengths of time doesn't sound like a sound plan.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Ken Fabian

[dimreepr]

19 hours ago, Genady said:

Humanity is too small - 14 orders of magnitude smaller than Avogadro's number - for overall patterns to emerge. 

Really? It's big enough for steotypes to emerge...

[Genady]

17 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Really? It's big enough for steotypes to emerge...

That needs only a handful of people.

[dimreepr]

19 minutes ago, Genady said:

That needs only a handful of people.

Indeed, so what's your point, in the context of this topic?

[Genady]

2 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Indeed, so what's your point, in the context of this topic?

Unpredictable. Depends on circumstances, random factors and events, incidences and coincidences, etc.

[dimreepr]

Just now, Genady said:

Unpredictable. Depends on circumstances, random factors and events, incidences and coincidences, etc.

But this is Schrodinger's cat in reverse, it has no place in this particular conversation...

[Genady]

2 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

it has no place in this particular conversation

I leave it up to moderators to decide.

[dimreepr]

1 minute ago, Genady said:

I leave it up to moderators to decide.

OK, but which part?

[Genady]

Just now, dimreepr said:

OK, but which part?

Which part what?

[dimreepr]

7 minutes ago, Genady said:

Which part what?

Well, Schrodinger's cat is designed to show the absurdity of comparing the little with the big, and you seem to be doing that, but in the antipode.

I'm just pointing out that this topic is, macro, so the micro need not apply...

[Genady]

1 minute ago, dimreepr said:

Well, Schrodinger's cat is designed to show the absurdity of comparing the little with the big, and you seem to be doing that, but in the antipode.

I'm just pointing out that this topic is, macro, so the micro need not apply...

And I am pointing out that macro does not apply because the population is not on the macro level.

[dimreepr]

37 minutes ago, Genady said:

And I am pointing out that macro does not apply because the population is not on the macro level.

How big are you???

[Genady]

6 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

How big are you???

I am an atom in the human population.

[StringJunky]

5 hours ago, Genady said:

I am an atom in the human population.

Or a quark in the universe. On second thoughts, virtual particle, as you are a transient manifestation.  

Edited August 1, 2023 by StringJunky

[Genady]

26 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Or a quark in the universe. On second thoughts, virtual particle, as you are a transient manifestation.  

OTOH, a scientist in SFn:

 

[swansont]

On 7/31/2023 at 7:32 AM, Sensei said:

..I have known many people who claimed to be scientists, but never bothered to do any experiment that could find something useful for humanity.. This forum is full of them, especially in the speculation section..

 

What does “useful for humanity” have to do with this?