/sci/ - Science & Math

>>3435066
I'm not really sure how to word it (which, of course, means you have a valid point). It's almost like an in-real-life uncanny valley. It's uncomfortable. The 'uncanny valley' effect really only applies to people's feelings toward hypothetical chimaeras. There are also concerns of cruelty. Biological sciences in which animal testing is involved are actually very well regulated to assure that the animals don't suffer unnecessarily. If the chimaeras were suffering (not the case with my goat example from earlier), they probably wouldn't be allowed unless they offered a HUGE scientific advantage.

It should be noted that I stay away from animal testing stuff because it makes me personally uncomfortable, but I'm not one to stand in the way of science either.

>>2549926
Yeah, I've thought this at points, but I'm going to have to say it's a bad idea.

You should read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild

>>2489545
Your last statement there reminded me of this
(I'd post it but "Image Resolution too large"):

http://www.thecitrusreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/PastedGraphic-1.jpg

Honestly? My opinion?

Agriculture.
Otherwise, we would have been much more resource limited and concentrating populations in cities would have been impossible. Before that, we may have been clever, but we weren't consuming 40% of terrestrial NPP.

http://dieoff.org/page83.htm

Language was also a big deal, perhaps more so than agriculture. Google FoxP2 for a piece of that puzzle. Brain size to body size ratio also plays a role here.

Other than that, we aren't particularly remarkable biologically compared to other animals.

... I love you, OP.
That was the best deep field video I've seen.

Someone needs to fucking figure out vertical agriculture.
That person needs to be you.
You're first job is to figure out how to more efficiently capture incoming PAR/area and distribute it among the various layers of the 'farm'.
This, in the end, will cut transportation costs and reduce agricultural sprawl if implemented within city limits as well as probably have a cooling effect in same way the 'green roofs' do (also a viable topic).

Unilateral disarmament is a tricky issue.
I actually support it and think the world would follow suit (though, terrorist organizations really throw a kink in this kind of thinking; even if nations disarm, that doesn't eliminate the threat entirely). It actually has a precedent in the form of Nixon's unilateral disarmament of biological weapons in 1972. Britain followed suit and the Soviets seemed to (they actually did disarm once the Soviet Union collapsed; in the mean time, their program had continued). So, I don't know. I've given it some thought and haven't really come to a definite conclusion yet.

>>1991039
Yes, good. Now you're starting to see the system. Now think of all of that life diverging and filling new niches. Lineages competing with each other. The entire world a complex and fragile stalemate. This is ecology.

>>1974248
THIS

Secondly, I doubt they mind that they aren't implementing modern technology and are, in fact, quite happy living the life that they do. Those who want to change should be able to, though. We should provide means for people to advance themselves. However, we must also not force our way of thinking on other people. We should allow them to be happy in their own way.

Take education out of the hands of the state governments as they've done a fine job of doing nothing.

Remove most of the laws that ban practices that don't infringe on people's rights (i.e. gay people getting married shouldn't bother you; neither should someone smoking pot [unless they go out in public in which case they start infringing on others rights and it should be treated like public intoxication]).

Fund research, not wars.

>>1835028
Exploring the desert or the forest or pretty much any place that isn't made of concrete and glass. Life on Earth boring? HA! I seriously doubt you've ever really looked around you at all the life there is out there, even in the environments we create. So, instead of longing for the improbable, why not learn to appreciate what you already have? If you hate the systems we've created, why not see what else the world has to offer? You want to explore the universe, but I doubt you've explored what's around you.

In other words, stop complaining. If you want a trip, try LCD. If you want an experience, go hike up a mountain and make a point to notice how the flora and fauna change with altitude. Then think about how those systems are maintained.

Life boring...I mean, seriously, where do you guys come up with this stuff?

For thousands of years, humans thought the universe was created solely for them.

Biggest. Disappointment. In. History.

>>1805822
Well, technically, the cells in your had would still be alive. Your thumb would probably clench over because the muscles there would still be 'alive'. Alive is a tricky word. If I had to draw a definite line, I'd say something is no longer alive when it it no longer self-repairing. To go even deeper, think about when exactly consciousness ends. How few synapses can you have functioning, as you lay dying, before your consciousness dissolves to nothing? What effect would the rush of endorphins have upon your perception of this final lose of consciousness? Many questions, few answers (except, you know, you die in the end. That's an answer).

>>1672757
It's just an expression (i.e. after you get over "the hump" it's "all downhill from there").

As much as it pains me, here's Yahoo Answers as a reference:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080201050909AA11rMf

>>1547352
It's just for fun, really. I'm betting most of us don't take the results seriously. If anything, just thinking about the questions posed will help you understand yourself. I think it's good to think about how you define yourself as a person. So, yeah, the test and types probably aren't scientific, but taking the test makes you think about who you are (and who you want to be).

So, I guess it's not so much the destination as it is the journey. You don't have to be bound by YES/NO when you're just thinking about it. It's all just fun.

I don't really like depressing music, but I do like bittersweet (ex. "Adventures in Solitude" by the New Pornographers). Then again, my taste in music isn't indie enough for hipsters nor LADY GAGA enough for everyone else, so you probably shouldn't listen to me.

(I'd tell you to go to /mu/, but I'm been there and it's awful)

>>1456368
Dude....I want to carry a compass.
That's awesome.

Atheist, but I do lean toward believing that there's more than the apparent (perhaps to protect myself from a very deep fear of death).

I was raised Christian, but I don't think I ever entirely bought it. A God that gives his toys a blind test and then throws the failures away doesn't appeal to me. I have faith in people, though. I think we're all good people. We can make bad decisions, and some people make REALLY bad decisions, but I think that we're good. I think that all life is good (so, I guess I don't need to call it good; it just <span class="math">is[/spoiler]).

Eastern religions have always interested me. Reincarnation made sense as I see no reason that souls , if they were to exist, wouldn't work the same way as carbon or water or anything else except energy. It all cycles with energy turning the water wheel. I find the concept of self and the dissolution of the self troubling. I don't think we'll ever know precisely what <span class="math">we[/spoiler] are. I think the brain will elude the complete understanding of its possessor. Sure, we're the sum of an incomprehensibly complex series of chemical reactions that's evolved through eons of time, but that in and of itself doesn't fully explain what thought is, what being is.

>>1007940
Actually, let's tweak this to:
"Life is but an eddy in the current of entropy, and a single life like a mote of dust momentarily suspended in it."

I've been obsessively looping Bulletproof by The Roux for about a day now. I don't know why, but I fuckin' love that song.

Other than that I usually listen to a playlist that's a random mix of Neko Case, Rilo Kiley and other really random songs.