/sci/ - Science & Math

[Number No.4176377]

You know /sci,

As much as I complain about the human condition and other similar problems, I have to say that the human race is brilliant. We've been through thick and thin, massacres and triumphs; building constructs and working at a scientific level previously inconceivable by our ancestors not even 100 years prior. Our computers, our smartphones, the internet; all cutting edge technology. Everything is available at the touch of our fingertips.

That's why I'm raising a glass to science and humanity this Christmas. Keep being awesome.

[Anonymous No.4176391]

Humanity is garbage and we'd all be better off if we didn't exist. I'm drinking to forget that. Happy holidays.

[Anonymous No.4176396]

>>4176391
One of the few things I agree with /sci/ on.

[Anonymous No.4176437]

>>4176391

Human society is garbage.
The human species is an evolutionary miracle.

I'm not drinking to shit because my intoxication or lack thereof at any point and time honors nothing, all our observations and opinions are at best paltry and even in all its ambiguity and subjectivity I let reality speak for itself.

But you can make of it what you will.

[Anonymous No.4178431]

Yet we cannot make phones that stay charged for more than a day, or stop roodypoos from dying from 18th century diseases.

[Anonymous No.4178439]

>>4178431
My phone battery lasts a week, it's not a smartphone because I don't require that amount of computation power on me at all time, half of which is spent to render shiny GUI's, tell your friends you're at store x or coffeeshop y or keep track of how many steps you've taken to make you feel good that you've burned another calorie.

[Anonymous No.4178443]

>>4176377
I will personally raise a glass to science and reasoning. At least drinking might mitigate how shitty in comparison human society is.

[Anonymous No.4178459]

>>4178439

Point is battery technology is pretty much stuck in the mud whilst silicone marches ever onwards. And the former kind of nullifies the latter.

[Anonymous No.4178470]

Seriously, the only reason I'm not working on high powered weaponised flu viruses is because it would kill me too.

[Anonymous No.4178517]

>>4178470
Start with the vaccine.

[Anonymous No.4178597]

>>4176437
Has it ever occured to you that human evolution has made you think that human society is garbage?

Dissatisfaction with the current situation is what made us progress.

[Anonymous No.4178611]

>>4178459
you're an idiot
it will advance when the required materials are there, and when the cost/benefit ratio is good enough to actually produce them

[Anonymous No.4178624]

>>4178611
Perhaps it's that way of thinking that is causing such dissatisfaction. Perhaps we ought to look at a new way of valuing what pursuits are worthy endeavors, evolving our mindsets along with our technology.

[Anonymous No.4178632]

>>4178624
Nope, capitalism. It's not possible for us to evolve technology without a capitalistic element, and no company is willing to do it.

This is the problem with privatising science. Nobody wants to make tokamaks when an oil rig costs less.

[Anonymous No.4179139]

>>4176377
How do you know were that great? I mean, we could be absolute shit. We have nothing to compare ourselves to except ourselves.

[M No.4179210]

>>4178597
Progress in modern times is about economic competition, national security, and creating jobs primarily. I think as a species and from a technological point of view, we're progressing too quickly in many areas of life. We aren't able to measure the impacts of technology on society and the individual before a new technology replaces it.

As a species, we have some well-defined goals: For example, prolonging the human life and eliminating disease. With the exception of overpopulation and gentrification, there are not many problems one can imagine resulting from progress in these areas of medicine and health science. But how about another example? Our goal to improve the speed of transportation, replacing all forms of transport with faster ones? The benefits are obvious, but the negative aspects not so much. For example, as a traveler, I've been all over Asia. I'll tell you that 40 hour train rides in China, Tuk-Tuk rides in Thailand, overnight bus trips in Malaysia, and riding on top of the train in India with peasants were some of the greatest social experiences I've ever had. Sharing food, sharing stories, learning games, making friends...etc. I feel that one negative impact of technology, in the particular case in transportation, is that it's making our social experiences more trivial.

[M No.4179268]

We also want to minimize the effort and time to reach a goal, which makes our overall experience much less interesting. Years ago in Switzerland, I had to get to a town a long distance away from where I was currently staying. On the way there, I took a bus to the base of a mountain, meeting a group of 70 year old men in unbelievable physical condition who sang songs from when they made this trip when they were younger. They were great company, and in the small community at the base, I met more people from all different countries, and we stopped to fuel up with coffee over stories before starting our hike. I split off to hike by myself, and spent the entire day traversing the mountains. I caught up to these two French girls on the trail later in the day, and we sat down under among the beautiful scenery to enjoy the goat cheese, wine, and crackers that they brought along. When I got to the town, it was dark and my hostel was closed. I was homeless on the street, but I met a German guy in a similar predicament and had another fun adventure until the morning.

I went back to the town I had been in previously, taking the train to get there. It arrived and departed on time, the trip was short, and I got to my hostel on time. It was highly controlled, fast and efficient and the people were either listening to music or reading, leaving no room to meet others. While this might not be the greatest example to demonstrate my case, the idea is important. Inefficiency, mistakes, unplanned situations all make life more enjoyable. At the same time, there is the need for the Swiss businessman to get between towns quickly. While technology won't eliminate hiking (which is why I said this was not the best example), it is eliminating the number of ways in which to have similarly fun social experiences and leaving us with no alternatives.

[M No.4179272]

I'd like for humanity to have more well-defined goals of progress, and a solid understanding of what aspects of their society they want to retain or improve. Do we value the environment? Meaningful social contact? How are these goals intertwined, and what effect will the implementation of technology have on their connection, or individually? Can we control how we implement it? we need to be asking more of these sorts of questions.