The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[OccultHawk]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.923704eb672e

Knowingly exposing others to HIV is no longer a felony in California

[Lisnaholic]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Al Gore's political stance on global warming has been turned into almost a national joke because he's been portrayed as a crank to the extent that the populace as a whole has bought into the idea to an extent. The American political narrative is almost completely indifferent to global warming due to the republicans' success at molding the narrative on any range of issues. Liberalism in general is kind of a dirty word in American politics, even if half the population is actually liberal.

Well, If Al Gore is viewed as a crank by most people, that's a bit sad. But circumstances and people's opinions can change. If the effects of global warming continue to accumilate as predicted, if those effects impact on people's lives, then today's crank may be vindicated tomorrow. It's happened before, though off-hand the only historically uplifting example that comes to mind is Copernicus with all his heliocentric nonsense.

In the same way that they say that every US bombing raid in the Middle East spawns another hundred terrorists, it may not be long before every hurricane victim is demanding action on rising sea levels, etc.

For the Nth time, people are ****ing stupid. They simply are not capable of understanding events on a scale beyond the few square miles they will likely be born, live, and die in. We are poo-flinging apes who were never designed by evolution to deal with any of this **** and yet we are recklessly trying to do so with no sense of self-awareness. Human+ is the only reasonable solution to any of this as far as I can tell. We just simply need to be made more intelligent.

I'm sure there are plenty of stupid people in the world, but also there are many intelligent people. Your claim that "they are simply not capable of understanding events beyond the few square miles..." is something I would contest, especially in the age of the internet.

You also mention that we "were never designed to deal with any of this ****." The fact is that we are an evolutionary freak. We have a much bigger brain than any other animal, of a sophistication completely unjustified by the circumstances of our origin. I agree that we started out as apes, and we could've got by with a brain the size of a chimp. But we got a much bigger brain than necessary, and we've proved ourselves capable of doing a lot more than just flinging poo. As a species, our position throughout (pre-)history has always been at the cutting edge; no other species has confronted the kind of stuff we have. And no-one can be sure how we will react to the problem of GW, but to say in advance that we will fail reminds me a little of the attitude of some unintrepid people when first confronted with the possibility of the railway; "Human beings aren't designed to travel at that speed." Turned out that those nay-sayers got it wrong, and, nothing personal of course, but I rather hope you've got it wrong too.

[OccultHawk]

"The adult sperm whale brain is 8,000 cubic centimeters. Our brain is about 1300 cubic centimeters."

[Cuthbert]

I have never flung a poo.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Well, If Al Gore is viewed as a crank by most people, that's a bit sad. But circumstances and people's opinions can change. If the effects of global warming continue to accumilate as predicted, if those effects impact on people's lives, then today's crank may be vindicated tomorrow. It's happened before, though off-hand the only historically uplifting example that comes to mind is Copernicus with all his heliocentric nonsense.

Yeah it is sad. Also true.

In the same way that they say that every US bombing raid in the Middle East spawns another hundred terrorists, it may not be long before every hurricane victim is demanding action on rising sea levels, etc.

And yet the populace's reaction to drones and bombing has been so tepid that it has been allowed to continue for... well I can't even contemplate how long US bombings have been going on. Cause we're too stupid and apathetic to really, truly care.

I'm sure there are plenty of stupid people in the world, but also there are many intelligent people. Your claim that "they are simply not capable of understanding events beyond the few square miles..." is something I would contest, especially in the age of the internet.

The internet age has not really increased our mental capacity or understanding of the world at this point (though I like to think that it will given enough time). Humankind is still a provincial race but now we're trying to apply our provincial understanding on a worldwide scale with no real training or expertise to speak of. Do you honestly think that your average human has any business solving the issues in the Middle East, North Korea, or the worldwide economic crisis? And yet we continue to try without any humility.

If our race would at least just admit that we don't know what we're talking about then I could at least develop some respect for our attempts to deal with all this ****. At least then we might try learning from our mistakes and not bulldoze past those insecurities for the sake of saving face.

You also mention that we "were never designed to deal with any of this ****." The fact is that we are an evolutionary freak. We have a much bigger brain than any other animal, of a sophistication completely unjustified by the circumstances of our origin. I agree that we started out as apes, and we could've got by with a brain the size of a chimp. But we got a much bigger brain than necessary, and we've proved ourselves capable of doing a lot more than just flinging poo. As a species, our position throughout (pre-)history has always been at the cutting edge; no other species has confronted the kind of stuff we have. And no-one can be sure how we will react to the problem of GW, but to say in advance that we will fail reminds me a little of the attitude of some unintrepid people when first confronted with the possibility of the railway; "Human beings aren't designed to travel at that speed." Turned out that those nay-sayers got it wrong, and, nothing personal of course, but I rather hope you've got it wrong too.

Yes, compared to the rest of the world's species we are incredibly impressive with our mental prowess. Evolutionarily speaking we are an impossible marvel. But we're talking about issues like nuclear war, international capitalism, and race relations between an endless series of immigrants. Those are not issues that will be solved simply because we're smarter than bears. Do you understand world economics? Do you think anyone truly does? I imagine if we did then we would have predicted and prevented the Great Recession, or at least not have been completely blindsided by it. We are dealing with an endless morass of issues that have become so complex and intertwined that there is no conceivable way that the human brain can deal with them without technological assistance.

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by Man like Monkey

I have never flung a poo.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Man like Monkey

I have never flung a poo.

Rediscover your roots, ape.

[Chula Vista]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

I think Chula is a Prepper isn't he? Perhaps he'll let me stay with him when the **** gets real. (Frownland, of course, may find himself turned away at the gate.

My WELCOME mat is 100% open to you Lisn. Bat and Frown can rot in hell.

Just be careful what you wish for......

Originally Posted by The Batlord

A side too cowardly to truly stand by their convictions because they know it is not politically tenable to make it the overriding, #1 issue that it should be. And if people who legitimately believe in man made global warming are not willing to throw expediency to the wind in order to beat it into the heads of the populace that, yes, this is the thing we should all care about the most and everything else is background noise in comparison, then how ****ing stupid are they?

More ranting babble Bat, (although extremely well written and with solid prose). That's basically what you've been doing for the last 20 pages or so. Put forth something of of substance, or STFU and go take a shower. God knows you need one. MB agrees.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Chula Vista

My WELCOME mat is 100% open to you Lisn. Bat and Frown can rot in hell.

Just be careful what you wish for......





More ranting babble Bat, (although extremely well written and with solid prose). That's basically what you've been doing for the last 20 pages or so. Put forth something of of substance, or STFU and go take a shower. God knows you need one. MB agrees.

You can't disqualify an argument by calling it ranting. Yeah, I'm ranting, but I'm also putting forth ideas that I'd like to think warrant legitimate refutations rather than lazy nonsense from a fake-liberal with no convictions who could just as easily have been a lazy conservative (if for no other reason than that political apathy is so prevalent in our stupid race). I might not agree with Lisnaholic, and consider his ideas to be optimism for the sake of optimism, but at least he's saying things that I feel are worth replying to. You're just putting forth the most boring kind of non-arguments possible and hoping that you can win by ad hominem.

To everyone else: do you see why I think people are stupid?

[OccultHawk]

To everyone else: do you see why I think people are stupid?

In humanity's defense, Chula is clearly below average.