4 ms·

I would never say "it won't work", but I do think we humans have a tendency to turn to technology to solve our most basic problems, while the real solutions lie

by benevol 10y ago

I would never say "it won't work", but I do think we humans have a tendency to turn to technology to solve our most basic problems, while the real solutions lie within us (where most people never look). I believe we should first learn to clean up our act on planet Earth before we export anything of our existence and what we do. To me, the real revolution that needs to happen is a spiritual one - a statement that will only be understood by those practicing meditation. Our brain has so many "undiscovered" capabilities. Discovering them will change our behavior and ultimately allow us to survive on Earth.

Osiris 10y ago
It's weird for people to suggest that "we" as a human race should/can only focus on one goal at a time. There are enough humans on the planet that different people can focus on different goals at the same time. It's not like Elon Musk building this rocket is at the expense of SolarCity (improving the environment through solar energy).
TeMPOraL 10y ago
The more I look around, the more I'm opposed to that concept. Sure, I've seen humans change - but only under heavy "brainwashing", i.e. internalizing an ideology that values being fair, helpful and truthful, and that only holds with a support structure of adherents. And I doubt it scales. If you look at the world, a lot if not most changes for the better are technology-driven. Technology alters the economical landscape, which makes people do things better, even though they're still following the same behaviours as they always did. TL;DR: I think individuals have much less agency than we'd like to think.
hvmonk 10y ago
+1. Very correct view, but just a wrong thread/forum. Don't worry about the down votes.
kolinko 10y ago
Meditation can go hand in hand with space exploration. Besides that, Musk is doing two things at the same time. He tries both to protect the earth (Tesla, solar power), and initiate a base in case something happened to our home. Spirituality alone won't help you survive winter, regardless of how developed your mind is.
- benevol 10y ago
  > Spirituality alone won't help you survive winter, regardless of how developed your mind is. It's funny that you would say that - you may want to take a quick look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XKcsm3dKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XKcsm3dKs (The main site is: http://www.icemanwimhof.com/ http://www.icemanwimhof.com/)
  - jdietrich 10y ago
    There is no good scientific evidence that Hof's breathing techniques account for his ability to withstand cold temperatures, rather than some kind of genetic difference. Four people have died while attempting to follow his 'technique'. http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/-iceman-oefening-eist-opnieuw-leven~a4332186 http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/-iceman-oefening-eist-opnieu...
    - benevol 10y ago
      It's sad, but also stupid, to be brutally honest. You don't do these exercises in water (btw, they always have these warnings everywhere in their material). You also don't drink and drive.
    - lettergram 10y ago
      On a related note, you might find this story about a frozen guru who is still "meditating" after several years of attempting to withstand the cold... http://loweringthebar.net/2016/09/frozen-guru-update-iii.html http://loweringthebar.net/2016/09/frozen-guru-update-iii.htm...
      - hx87 10y ago
        I'm becoming more and more convinced that these magical guru stories are the south Asian equivalent of the National Enquirer, except more aimed towards gullible foreigners.
        lettergram 10y ago
sqeaky 10y ago
> the real revolution that needs to happen is a spiritual one I think the only "spiritual" anything we need is to drop anything spiritual and focus more intensely on reality and evidence based reasoning. Spirituality has done plenty of harm and it is not hard to argue more harm than good if you can lump religion in there with it. Your ridiculous claims about undiscovered capacities in our brains allowing to to survive is non-sense. Our ability to problem solve base on past experience/evidence is the real miracle and our gradual takeover of every ecosystem is why we have survived this far. Now we need to use this capacity we already demonstrated to not kill ourselves. Going to space is one possible option.
jacinda 10y ago
Ultimately allow us to survive on Earth...until the next major extinction event. Meditation won't allow us to survive a massive meteor impact (which is just a matter of when, not if).
jeshwanth 10y ago
It is important to people do things whichever areas they are interesting. Everybody knows many problems around us, but nobody cares until it is a priority or if they are not interested. So, let him do what he is doing, he is doing everything right, now if you are communicating with people through mobile phones is just because of satellites, that happened only because people explored the space and it's application. So, the final goal of Elon is great, support people so that you will also get good support when you have a great idea.
hx87 10y ago
True, technology doesn't necessarily make a person better, but it does make being a good person easier and more probable, and in a large population that probability makes all the difference.

by benevol 10y ago

Osiris 10y ago

It's weird for people to suggest that "we" as a human race should/can only focus on one goal at a time. There are enough humans on the planet that different people can focus on different goals at the same time. It's not like Elon Musk building this rocket is at the expense of SolarCity (improving the environment through solar energy).

TeMPOraL 10y ago

The more I look around, the more I'm opposed to that concept. Sure, I've seen humans change - but only under heavy "brainwashing", i.e. internalizing an ideology that values being fair, helpful and truthful, and that only holds with a support structure of adherents. And I doubt it scales. If you look at the world, a lot if not most changes for the better are technology-driven. Technology alters the economical landscape, which makes people do things better, even though they're still following the same behaviours as they always did. TL;DR: I think individuals have much less agency than we'd like to think.

hvmonk 10y ago

+1. Very correct view, but just a wrong thread/forum. Don't worry about the down votes.

kolinko 10y ago

Meditation can go hand in hand with space exploration. Besides that, Musk is doing two things at the same time. He tries both to protect the earth (Tesla, solar power), and initiate a base in case something happened to our home. Spirituality alone won't help you survive winter, regardless of how developed your mind is.

benevol 10y ago
> Spirituality alone won't help you survive winter, regardless of how developed your mind is. It's funny that you would say that - you may want to take a quick look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XKcsm3dKs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XKcsm3dKs (The main site is: http://www.icemanwimhof.com/ http://www.icemanwimhof.com/)
- jdietrich 10y ago
  There is no good scientific evidence that Hof's breathing techniques account for his ability to withstand cold temperatures, rather than some kind of genetic difference. Four people have died while attempting to follow his 'technique'. http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/-iceman-oefening-eist-opnieuw-leven~a4332186 http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/-iceman-oefening-eist-opnieu...
  - benevol 10y ago
    It's sad, but also stupid, to be brutally honest. You don't do these exercises in water (btw, they always have these warnings everywhere in their material). You also don't drink and drive.
  - lettergram 10y ago
    On a related note, you might find this story about a frozen guru who is still "meditating" after several years of attempting to withstand the cold... http://loweringthebar.net/2016/09/frozen-guru-update-iii.html http://loweringthebar.net/2016/09/frozen-guru-update-iii.htm...
    - hx87 10y ago
      I'm becoming more and more convinced that these magical guru stories are the south Asian equivalent of the National Enquirer, except more aimed towards gullible foreigners.
      - lettergram 10y ago

sqeaky 10y ago

> the real revolution that needs to happen is a spiritual one I think the only "spiritual" anything we need is to drop anything spiritual and focus more intensely on reality and evidence based reasoning. Spirituality has done plenty of harm and it is not hard to argue more harm than good if you can lump religion in there with it. Your ridiculous claims about undiscovered capacities in our brains allowing to to survive is non-sense. Our ability to problem solve base on past experience/evidence is the real miracle and our gradual takeover of every ecosystem is why we have survived this far. Now we need to use this capacity we already demonstrated to not kill ourselves. Going to space is one possible option.

jacinda 10y ago

Ultimately allow us to survive on Earth...until the next major extinction event. Meditation won't allow us to survive a massive meteor impact (which is just a matter of when, not if).

jeshwanth 10y ago

It is important to people do things whichever areas they are interesting. Everybody knows many problems around us, but nobody cares until it is a priority or if they are not interested. So, let him do what he is doing, he is doing everything right, now if you are communicating with people through mobile phones is just because of satellites, that happened only because people explored the space and it's application. So, the final goal of Elon is great, support people so that you will also get good support when you have a great idea.

hx87 10y ago

True, technology doesn't necessarily make a person better, but it does make being a good person easier and more probable, and in a large population that probability makes all the difference.