4 ms·

Deciding what is fundamentally good or drawing the line (eg the glassware) is the muddy part. The road to hell is paved with good intentions -- next thing you k

Deciding what is fundamentally good or drawing the line (eg the glassware) is the muddy part. The road to hell is paved with good intentions -- next thing you know, science chemistry kits are illegal & large swaths of population no longer believe in a spherical earth, evolution, and climate science.

kixiQu 7y ago
Even setting aside the questionable association of beakers and evolution, you can take the same logic both ways: "next thing you know, asbestos is in every home and large swaths of the population take mass shootings for granted as an unpreventable phenomenon."
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Asbestos used to be in most homes. There was a good reason and a replacement for it, as well as good rules for disposal. With high explosives, governments tend to go so far as to require a licence for handling. Fine for breaking that is enough of a deterrent. It's relatively easy to acquire, because otherwise that makes explosive use rather tricky to monitor. Sales and widespread manufacturing is regulated separately. Easier and cheaper to get than CFC gas license. Or the general chemical laboratory license required to do such experiments like synthesis. (You can go to a lab and practice there, with supervision. Much less silly, more expensive.) They're of course limited by volume, just so you don't go building unlicensed rockets and mines.
WalterBright 7y ago
Chemistry sets were emasculated right around 1970. I know because I got one of the good ones immediately prior. Had lots of fun making stink bombs, burning various chemicals just to see what would happen, dissolving things in acid, generating hydrogen gas, etc. The ones after 1970 were like "hey, watch salt dissolve in water."
- ethbro 7y ago
  Looking back on it, the chemistry set I got in the 90s could have easily been outdone by rooting around under the kitchen sink with a copy of the AC.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- tonyarkles 7y ago
  I was lucky enough that mine (late 80s) at least had some acid and magnesium. And although “just burn the magnesium” wasn’t part of the instruction booklet, my dad knew enough to make it cool. We also filled balloons with hydrogen and lit them with a match. Otherwise though, grew lots of copper sulfate crystals...
- LargoLasskhyfv 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Book_of_Chemistry_Experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Book_of_Chemistry_E... https://archive.org/details/GoldenBookOfChemistryExperiments/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/GoldenBookOfChemistryExperiments...
est31 7y ago
I think more regulation is kinda inevitable. Technological progress gives single bad actors more and more tools to cause damage. The issue is that single bad actors or small groups are far more common than entire developed states. Right now a drone can disable an entire airport. To give an example with current technology, drones are being regulated now and likely will get remote off switches one day that police can trigger, but for that regulation to be effective, self built drones have to be under a similar regime... so maybe in the future it will become illegal to own innocous drone parts without a permit, etc. Do we want to distribute science kits that allow people to play around with viruses? Sure, most viruses are affecting bacteria and playing around with them is fun, but if you can also change their genomes with those kits, some idiots might use them to make a superbug.
whatawaste8383 7y ago
No it isn’t. We’re told it’s fuzzy to let politicians off the hook. Your rights end where mine start. Let’s be real here: a mathematical majority is unable to afford flying anyway. This freedom people ramble on is really economic dominance of the majority for minority benefit. Stop living in an emotional clean room. The literal world doesn’t have to give a shit about your bubble.

kixiQu 7y ago

Even setting aside the questionable association of beakers and evolution, you can take the same logic both ways: "next thing you know, asbestos is in every home and large swaths of the population take mass shootings for granted as an unpreventable phenomenon."

AstralStorm 7y ago
Asbestos used to be in most homes. There was a good reason and a replacement for it, as well as good rules for disposal. With high explosives, governments tend to go so far as to require a licence for handling. Fine for breaking that is enough of a deterrent. It's relatively easy to acquire, because otherwise that makes explosive use rather tricky to monitor. Sales and widespread manufacturing is regulated separately. Easier and cheaper to get than CFC gas license. Or the general chemical laboratory license required to do such experiments like synthesis. (You can go to a lab and practice there, with supervision. Much less silly, more expensive.) They're of course limited by volume, just so you don't go building unlicensed rockets and mines.

WalterBright 7y ago

Chemistry sets were emasculated right around 1970. I know because I got one of the good ones immediately prior. Had lots of fun making stink bombs, burning various chemicals just to see what would happen, dissolving things in acid, generating hydrogen gas, etc. The ones after 1970 were like "hey, watch salt dissolve in water."

ethbro 7y ago
Looking back on it, the chemistry set I got in the 90s could have easily been outdone by rooting around under the kitchen sink with a copy of the AC.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
tonyarkles 7y ago
I was lucky enough that mine (late 80s) at least had some acid and magnesium. And although “just burn the magnesium” wasn’t part of the instruction booklet, my dad knew enough to make it cool. We also filled balloons with hydrogen and lit them with a match. Otherwise though, grew lots of copper sulfate crystals...
LargoLasskhyfv 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Book_of_Chemistry_Experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Book_of_Chemistry_E... https://archive.org/details/GoldenBookOfChemistryExperiments/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/GoldenBookOfChemistryExperiments...

est31 7y ago

I think more regulation is kinda inevitable. Technological progress gives single bad actors more and more tools to cause damage. The issue is that single bad actors or small groups are far more common than entire developed states. Right now a drone can disable an entire airport. To give an example with current technology, drones are being regulated now and likely will get remote off switches one day that police can trigger, but for that regulation to be effective, self built drones have to be under a similar regime... so maybe in the future it will become illegal to own innocous drone parts without a permit, etc. Do we want to distribute science kits that allow people to play around with viruses? Sure, most viruses are affecting bacteria and playing around with them is fun, but if you can also change their genomes with those kits, some idiots might use them to make a superbug.

whatawaste8383 7y ago

No it isn’t. We’re told it’s fuzzy to let politicians off the hook. Your rights end where mine start. Let’s be real here: a mathematical majority is unable to afford flying anyway. This freedom people ramble on is really economic dominance of the majority for minority benefit. Stop living in an emotional clean room. The literal world doesn’t have to give a shit about your bubble.