courtf

10 ms·

31.
by courtf 5y ago
> Physical and cultural evolution don't stop. If someone lives forever, they don't evolve physically. This is basic. To the degree we evolve culturally, most of our culture comes to us in our eponymous "formative years.&qu
32.
by courtf 5y ago
The quest for immortality is popular, but it would mean the end of physical and cultural evolution. Seems as though this topic is gaining steam now, only as a large corpus of aging narcissists are finally grappling with the concept of death
33.
by courtf 5y ago
... yes? Preventing immortal dictators is absolutely worth keeping death around. It's hilarious to me how shortsighted this whole thing is, if immortal dictators rule humanity indefinitely, how long do you think they'll let you li
34.
by courtf 5y ago
On a long enough timescale aliens will come and rescue us! See how silly that sounds? Pretending to save humanity with absurdities is a cowardly way of facing the real, imminent problems we actually have here and now.
35.
by courtf 5y ago
It's a religion at this point. The problems facing humanity on Earth appear daunting, so it's easier psychologically to put faith in sci-fi ideas that might be impossible, but are simple by comparison to thinking through concrete
36.
by courtf 5y ago
There's no reason to believe we can sustain human life on Mars. Immense technical and biological hurdles stand in the way of that being possible, much less worth focusing on while the planet that does sustain life can still be saved. B
37.
by courtf 5y ago
Yeah of course there's gravity, there's gravity in space too. I'm saying it won't be enough.
38.
by courtf 5y ago
Getting to the moon and Mars won't save the human race, Earth is where life can be sustained. Humans cannot reproduce in space, on the moon or on Mars because gravity has a strong and vital role in gestation in mammals. Beyond that, th
39.
by courtf 5y ago
They are great choices, it's a generous and interesting form of charity. The focus on civility is a strange demand from the guy who has his workers peeing in bottles, but ok, I guess you need to stand for something at some point in the
40.
by courtf 5y ago
It's not really about the individual billionaires, that's missing the forest for the trees. That individuals can afford glamor rides to the edge of space in personal rockets is merely a symptom of gross inequality that has many mo
41.
by courtf 5y ago
There is a certain zealousness that comes with learning new things and looking for ways to apply them. Any programmer likes to do this regardless of experience or maturity, so it's a little inaccurate to say programmers need to grow up
42.
by courtf 5y ago
> What happened to the programmer’s time is more important than the machine’s? I've never thought this way, primarily because I sympathize with and love computers, and don't like to watch them suffer. But there's more than
43.
by courtf 5y ago
Branson got infinitesimally closer to the stars and supposedly achieved his dream, although the 50 years spent on other businesses would seem to indicate he took a rather circuitous route to that dream. His pyramid is made of assets and hol
44.
Twisted Toys: Toying with Children's Lives(twisted-toys.com)
1 points by courtf 5y ago|0 comments
45.
Gilded Ages End (2015)(prospect.org)
2 points by courtf 5y ago|0 comments
46.
Chinese Millennials Are ‘Chilling,’ and Beijing Isn’t Happy(nytimes.com)
8 points by courtf 5y ago|0 comments
47.
by courtf 5y ago
Definitely a good list, but I'd add a few more that just aren't around as much anymore. Things like spear-hunting mega fauna, traveling with the great herds and just enjoying the endless bounty of nature. The world was once much w
48.
by courtf 5y ago
Not to mention, many jobs actively encourage this busywork grind, giving out more money for more grinding. So you get trained to chase the rabbit, but then you lose your job or something happens that makes it harder for you to get employed
49.
by courtf 5y ago
They won't be entering the labor force at 40+. Without some kind of disability benefit that keeps them housed and fed, they'll end up living out of a car or a tent, playing games on a phone they charge by running the engine on the
50.
by courtf 5y ago
We ran out of frontier, and are rapidly running out of the sort of high-risk, high-reward opportunities that get young men excited. We need a new gold rush. No one wants to sit in a cubicle for 35 years, grinding out pennies while having al
51.
by courtf 5y ago
The article seems to be mostly grasping at straws and doesn't support the notion that the ACLU is against free speech. Articles that primarily reference tweets shouldn't be taken seriously. It's not like the ACLU has never ex
52.
by courtf 5y ago
Who are you going to believe, The Economist or your lying eyes?
53.
by courtf 5y ago
Companies are the most rational and levelheaded of God's creations, and so could never engage in any activity so at odds with their raison d'etre, like wasting budget on useless endeavors. Why, with all the well-trained MBAs filli
54.
by courtf 5y ago
It may just be the common perceptions of these jobs are so pervasive, it influences the worker's own assessment. It's certainly in character for the bureaucrats to consider their jobs to be important. Desensitized to petty politic
55.
by courtf 5y ago
Yes in Oregon it was ultimately very similar. I was just perhaps a little too close and saw the sausage being made behind the scenes.
56.
by courtf 5y ago
I waited until I was eligible, which was about a month ago. Anyone could have lied about their eligibility and gotten shots early, and although I wasn't comfortable doing so, I also don't begrudge people who did. Frankly, the vacc
57.
by courtf 5y ago
I think the system was revealed a little too early, and someone like me will try to decide what the system is right away, rather than patiently waiting for the author to fully explore the idea. So it does feel a little long, but I'm no
58.
by courtf 5y ago
Clearly targeted at a certain class of Westerner (both men & women), I enjoyed the story and thought it was quite clever. Is the world depicted in the story any more absurd and implausible than the world we already experience? Is the sy
59.
by courtf 5y ago
Be sure to clock out before you attempt suicide.
60.
by courtf 5y ago
No shitting in the sanity cube!

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