richardjordan

11 ms·

61.
by richardjordan 13y ago
It's already taken hold in countries spanning a very large number of people. It matters in Pakistan for example. Pakistan has nukes. There's a threat there to everyone.
62.
by richardjordan 13y ago
To the contrary I am indeed afraid of the increase in Islamic fundamentalism across the world because of the destabilizing influence. Also because of the detrimental effects it has on global development, scientific progress and human right
63.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Don't talk to me about that - I'm buying a ranch with farmable defensible land in a remote underpopulated location with good water access, large enough to support friends and family indefinitely. Ya, know. Just for vacations and
64.
by richardjordan 13y ago
We live in an era of delicate balance between global overpopulation and resource depletion. We have exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet, we are at peak supply rates for oil and other essential resources. We're rendering thin
65.
by richardjordan 13y ago
As someone broadly in political agreement with much on the left I never understand the obsession with rolling in Islamophobia with these things. At the end of the day religious movements are broadly intolerant, aboslutist and objectionable
66.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Of course this isn't helpful to the layman who thinks of holograms as things they get on a card in a cereal box.
67.
by richardjordan 13y ago
if that's what you suspect then you're grossly ignorant of world affairs for the second half of the 20th century
68.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Two people who have been heads of state of their respective countries are Obama and Mandela. Seems mentionable to me.
69.
by richardjordan 13y ago
An unfortunate turn of phrase, but it's not about pacifist white washing... his release from prison was into a society where apartheid had yet to be removed and he advocated that in many circumstances people need to use force to defend
70.
by richardjordan 13y ago
because typically they were coming here to raise money spent on placing bombs in parades of WWII veterans and in hospitals
71.
by richardjordan 13y ago
He's one of the most important world figures of the second half of the 20th century. Pretty legitimate news topic given the other non-tech topics that get plugged into this feed nowadays.
72.
by richardjordan 13y ago
but it also hasn't been the bloodbath many who lived there expected it to become on the fall of apartheid - and Mandela bears a huge portion of the credit for this
73.
by richardjordan 13y ago
His peaceful assumption of power and non-violent transition of government are his lasting legacies. His violent struggle which resulted in his imprisonment became his advocacy for peaceful transformation. As the movement became focused on
74.
by richardjordan 13y ago
I still remember sitting in front of the tv for hours, the day he was released. The long, extended coverage of his exit from prison, delayed as he spent his time saying goodbye to inmates and captors alike.
75.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Really? Not in my experience. I lived in Texas a few years and every job seemed to require drug testing and often credit checks. I always wondered why folks just didn't say fuck you but once I'd lived there a while I learned that
76.
by richardjordan 13y ago
I've never heard this in my life. I don't know a single Brit who finds the term offensive. Unless you're talking the. Brit Awarss. Now there's some bollocks.
77.
by richardjordan 13y ago
I think to the contrary that Brits, an Europeans in general are vastly more sensitive to the threat of nazi-style or communist-like government - and corporate - oppression than Americans who are, by and large, complacent on this topic despi
78.
by richardjordan 13y ago
In much of the US atheists are forbidden from holding many electe offices. This is not true in the UK. Fretting over the Lords Spiritual and their lately ceremonial role is to misunderstand the nature of political power and the lack thereof
79.
by richardjordan 13y ago
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a movie. OHMS (On Her Majesty's Service) meaning government business is a thing. And indeed a formality of language based on tradition. The former was a joke on the latter. It is most certainly n
80.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Thanks for sharing. I know my comment adds little but I wanted to throw out there a nod of appreciation for a story like this.
81.
by richardjordan 13y ago
gotta love agreement :-)
82.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Agreed. Taking "ancient wisdom" too seriously and seeing it through a modern scientific lens is pretty much always too big-a-stretch to make. Plus there's a difference between talking about psychological perception of time,
83.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Right. But most people don't read math and reporters don't write it.
84.
by richardjordan 13y ago
No they have proof in math. He is clearly saying it's not a proof to explain to the layman interviewing him that he shouldn't go and write some stupid headline like "physicists prove that time is just an illusion".
85.
by richardjordan 13y ago
The problem is consistency with your approach. I am referring to theories that are consistent enough with each other to have useful predictive power. As you get bigger disconnects between theories their predictive power falls away.
86.
by richardjordan 13y ago
You're not comparing apples to apples when you compare ancient "theories" and modern scientific theory. Predicting that the sun will come up tomorrow, and why the sun will come up tomorrow are two very different levels of de
87.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Those ancient theories are not philosophically and logically consistent. It's why we had the scientific revolution and the enlightenment in the first place. Because there were holes in those accounts. The degree to which Physicists
88.
by richardjordan 13y ago
This is one of those cases where the poetic language used to try to explain complex phenomena to lay persons is unhelpful. It doesn't really mean illusion in any sense consistent with what people might imagine that to mean. Indeed it&
89.
by richardjordan 13y ago
You either believe in natural or supernatural explanations for the universe. If you accept the latter then the discussion is moot. If you're a scientist your approach is the first. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to come up with
90.
by richardjordan 13y ago
Exactly. With a well laid out webpage of text I can scan fairly quickly and get the gist - and also figure out how much time to spend on it or wherever to defer it etc. video only I tend to skip.

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