5 ms·

whats next? a fake life size cut out image of a doctor with a smartphone attached to it for a speaker? its sad that people have to die because they don't have

by readhn 10y ago

whats next? a fake life size cut out image of a doctor with a smartphone attached to it for a speaker? its sad that people have to die because they don't have access to the technology that's not that expensive and readily available in the "developed countries". And now we have to come up with some pathetic paper gizmos to justify our actions? Are we really that developed? Seems to me that we are going backwards...

witty_username 10y ago
Justify what actions? How does this make the West go backward? The researches are helping to improve the situation. If you are so concerned, you can go donate to charities that distribute vaccines.
- readhn 10y ago
  What actions? We keep voting for the government that chooses to fund programs that kill people instead of saving lives. Iraq - Iran - 1 million dead Vietnam - up to 4 million dead Afghanistan - up to 1.5 million dead + trillions of dollars we spent to support all of this.
hxegon 10y ago
I'm not really sure what you are trying to say here. If you have a better solution to centrifuge availability than a 20c one made out of paper, please enlighten us.
- readhn 10y ago
  yes i have a better solution - kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money to buy lifesaving medical equipment to the places that need it. equip research facilities with equipment and provide local training. paper centrifuge? its like a slap on the face.
  - hx87 10y ago
    > kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money And how are the inventors supposed to do that?
    - readhn 10y ago
      we, the citizens who vote are supposed to do that.
      - hx87 10y ago
        So you're criticizing the situation that makes this invention such an improvement, not the invention itself? I certainly understand that, but your comments on first reading to me (and probably to other readers) appear to be criticizing the invention itself, which I and other readers vehemently disagree with.
      - burntwater 10y ago
        And what happens if the people I vote for, who are supposed to fix this situation, don't win the election? Should I just sit around for a couple more election cycles and do nothing?
  - HCIdivision17 10y ago
    Those expensive medical machines require a lot of infrastructure to operate properly. You could get a machine there, but you likely couldn't provide it clean and reliable power without additional equipment and technicians to maintain it. Bootstrapping infrastructure is stupendously hard and expensive (and is a huge measure of a country's wealth - a lot of the US wealth is tied up in structural infrastructure like power lines, roads, plants, etc). It's a generational process taking decades to bootstrap. All the while that is getting built people need help now, and this clever adaptation of a toy fills that niche. Eventually they'll have access to the more advanced modern wonders, but for now this can help people almost immediately.
    - pg314 10y ago
khedoros1 10y ago
> technology that's not that expensive "Expensive" is relative, and the technology has extra costs outside of itself that have been paid in some parts of the world, but not in others. In a part of the world where electricity may as well be unobtainium, that heavy, carefully-calibrated, $1000 centrifuge isn't much better than the scrap value of the metal it's made from (while still being obscenely, prohibitively expensive for the people it would help). > justify our actions Who's talking about justification, besides you? There isn't anything to justify. > Are we really that developed? We've got shinier toys, if you want to call that "developed". We haven't improved upon the human race itself, if that's what you mean. Humans are naturally selfish and tribal. Society shifts tribal boundaries, and social structures like government can force selfishness into a longer-term view, but that's about all.

by readhn 10y ago

witty_username 10y ago

Justify what actions? How does this make the West go backward? The researches are helping to improve the situation. If you are so concerned, you can go donate to charities that distribute vaccines.

readhn 10y ago
What actions? We keep voting for the government that chooses to fund programs that kill people instead of saving lives. Iraq - Iran - 1 million dead Vietnam - up to 4 million dead Afghanistan - up to 1.5 million dead + trillions of dollars we spent to support all of this.

hxegon 10y ago

I'm not really sure what you are trying to say here. If you have a better solution to centrifuge availability than a 20c one made out of paper, please enlighten us.

readhn 10y ago
yes i have a better solution - kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money to buy lifesaving medical equipment to the places that need it. equip research facilities with equipment and provide local training. paper centrifuge? its like a slap on the face.
- hx87 10y ago
  > kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money And how are the inventors supposed to do that?
  - readhn 10y ago
    we, the citizens who vote are supposed to do that.
    - hx87 10y ago
      So you're criticizing the situation that makes this invention such an improvement, not the invention itself? I certainly understand that, but your comments on first reading to me (and probably to other readers) appear to be criticizing the invention itself, which I and other readers vehemently disagree with.
    - burntwater 10y ago
      And what happens if the people I vote for, who are supposed to fix this situation, don't win the election? Should I just sit around for a couple more election cycles and do nothing?
- HCIdivision17 10y ago
  Those expensive medical machines require a lot of infrastructure to operate properly. You could get a machine there, but you likely couldn't provide it clean and reliable power without additional equipment and technicians to maintain it. Bootstrapping infrastructure is stupendously hard and expensive (and is a huge measure of a country's wealth - a lot of the US wealth is tied up in structural infrastructure like power lines, roads, plants, etc). It's a generational process taking decades to bootstrap. All the while that is getting built people need help now, and this clever adaptation of a toy fills that niche. Eventually they'll have access to the more advanced modern wonders, but for now this can help people almost immediately.
  - pg314 10y ago

khedoros1 10y ago

> technology that's not that expensive "Expensive" is relative, and the technology has extra costs outside of itself that have been paid in some parts of the world, but not in others. In a part of the world where electricity may as well be unobtainium, that heavy, carefully-calibrated, $1000 centrifuge isn't much better than the scrap value of the metal it's made from (while still being obscenely, prohibitively expensive for the people it would help). > justify our actions Who's talking about justification, besides you? There isn't anything to justify. > Are we really that developed? We've got shinier toys, if you want to call that "developed". We haven't improved upon the human race itself, if that's what you mean. Humans are naturally selfish and tribal. Society shifts tribal boundaries, and social structures like government can force selfishness into a longer-term view, but that's about all.