Jump to content

Goredho

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    8230
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Goredho

  1. Pessimism, realism. Optimism, naïveté. Again, our intelligent species has been around for 200,000 years on a single planet. The universe has existed for 13.7 billion years. The average star is orbited by 10 planets, the average galaxy contains 100 billion stars, and there are an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. And you are optimistically postulating that the only path for an intelligent species is inexorably forward to greater achievement, overcoming every existential obstacle encountered every time to the end of time, even as their problems become planetary in scope. And yet, for all those places and for all that time for intelligent life to birth and grow and surpass our own limits and make itself known, none has. The only evidence we have of an intelligent life in the universe is our own. If what you are suggesting is accurate, the universe should be overflowing with intelligent life that we couldn't help but observe in some way. But we don't. We just observe a vast and empty void. I'm all for the looking, and if we wind up with scientific observations that suggest a different conclusion is more likely, I'm happy to change my views. But what is most likely given what we know at this time is that simple life is likely out there, and fairly common. But intelligent life is rare and either hasn't developed or has hit some cap in its advancement before its disappearance from the universe.
  2. I had almost the exact same experience.
  3. I pretty much completely disagree. Civilizations collapse all the time, generally with a big dose of hubris and self-inflicted wounds. Look at Easter Island, the Anasazi, Mayans, Incans, Norse/Vikings, etc... All of those people had a chance to course correct or invent solutions to the problems they were faced with and did not. Within about 200,000 years, humans went from cavemen to being able to annihilate all life on our home planet save for maybe a few hardy cockroaches. Our population growth is outpacing our ability to solve the problems associated with overpopulation. And we're not close to putting a foot on our nearest neighboring planet in our solar system, let alone reaching across the galaxy to contact anything else that may be out there. Not because we aren't capable of fixing our problems or developing technology given an infinite amount of time, but because we'll argue over what the fuck is a problem right up until it becomes insurmountable and takes us out. Could another form of life follow a different trajectory? Sure, but there's no evidence of it. I believe the far most likely scenario is that primordial life is fairly common, but intelligent life gets snuffed out long before it could really make itself known in the vast ocean of the Universe.
  4. Gotta get my 2:30am cardio in.
  5. I’m starting to think the October surprise in this election cycle will be the lack of an assassination attempt.
  6. I’m trying to do my part!
  7. Gonna be at the Half Step tonight if anyone wants to buy me a drink. Whatcha say, @Nicole44?
  8. Imagine what we could do with the wreath fund!
  9. That’s the big thing to me. The trajectory of our own species show that it’s far more likely that “intelligent” life destroys itself before it learns to conquer the laws of physics and vastness of space.
  10. Hard to know what the real story is. The family of one of the Americans (Tyler Thompson Jr) says that they and their son had no idea he was going to participate in a coup. They say it was sold just as an amazing trip abroad. Maybe, I dunno, but you can help support their fight on their gofundme. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-tylers-freedom-and-safety
  11. 20,000 Hannibal Lecters. Those poor townspeople didn't stand a chance.
  12. If bee stings caused that, she needs about 2 dozen epipens stat.
  13. Huh, these are not the most lifelike sex dolls I've ever seen.
  14. I read that in Gilbert Gottfried’s voice, and it was glorious.
  15. I choose to call it “Grifto”
  16. At this rate, Kamala wins +104 to -9!!!
  17. Those cat-eating Haitians are getting out of control!
  18. His ego is interplanetary in scale.
  19. She baited him into doing what she wanted and pointed out to everyone tuned in that people like Putin and Xi could easily do the same. Trump certainly made her look great in comparison, but her execution of this was masterful. I haven't ever seen anything like it before, where someone so successfully goads their opponent into exposing themselves and their fatal flaw in front of the world in real time.
  20. You are both right. It was bad for Trump with anyone who hadn't already swallowed the MAGA pill, but most of the people on the Trump bus are going to ride it until the crash because they A) live in a mental prison constructed of lies and bullshit and B) have no alternative to Trump that allows them to remain in denial that they are living in a mental prison constructed of lies and bullshit. I find it extremely funny how they sound almost exactly like the people on the D side arguing to stay the course with Biden a few scant weeks ago. Did I do that right, @Anastasis? Except for this detail: the GOP is actually locked in to making their 2024 run with Trump at the wheel, and he seems intent on driving their bus off the cliff. Its still early and anything can happen, but I think Nikki Haley will prove to have been right when she said the first party to ditch their unviable geriatric candidate will win. I am typically very critical of Democrat strategery, but they deserve credit for having the foresight and cojones to pull the starter and put in their backup when they had the opportunity.
  21. How can you detail a plan in a debate with 2 minutes on the clock? All you can do is describe and sell a vision. Or, in Trump’s case, demonstrate that you don’t even have that.
×
×
  • Create New...