[Kellan]

There are no stupid answers, just stupid people.

[Kellan]

Fortunately, in both the last posts I've been quoting other people.

[Anaz]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
See all that fuss about the zero-g pen the Merkins developed? Cost them millions of dollars, but they did it - a pen that writes in the zero gravity of space.

The Russians used a pencil.

I almost wish they hadn't developed it...do you know how many spam e-mails I've gotten because of that damn pen?!?

[diamondgeezer]

*counts on fingers*

*scratches head*

Err.. twelve?

[an0n]

If it hadn't been for people's insistance that science was evil, there'd have never been the dark-ages and thus we'd already have mastered time and space.


But anyway, as soon as someone figures out how to make artificial gravity, the human race's knowledge and power will expand exponentially and within a few short years we will be Gods, destroying planets and inferior races on a whim.

The second Hawkins completes a Unified Field Theory, then we're gonna ****ing 0wn the universe and God really will be dead. Omnipotent lay-about ****.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by an0n
The second Hawkins completes a Unified Field Theory, then we're gonna ****ing 0wn the universe and God really will be dead. Omnipotent lay-about ****.

it's funny, since after over 6000 years of human existence, we haven't even figured out how to conquer 'small' obstacles, such as sickness... and things keep popping up all over the place (look at AIDS for example... a small virus, which affects only the immune system, and humans are powerless) and of course there's the ever-present 'resource-problem' that we seem to be facing.

no, in my opinion, mankind will eventually have colonies in space, etc.  but i still can't see us '0wning' the universe... since man hasn't even traveled out of the solar system... and when we do we have to go through the galaxy, etc.

i dunno, i just can't see that much human accomplishment, if within 6000 years (which is quite a long time) we have done nothing to the earth but destroy it, and we haven't even made many achievements

[an0n]

...............

Science has only really come into it's own in the past 100 years. With the formation of a coherant rule-set for the way materials act and the formation of fields such as Quantum Mechanics, the human race is for the first time within arms-reach of kicking some galactic ass.

Did it ever occur to anyone that there've been no alien's making contact because as soon as they mastered FTL travel, things like matter-creation soon followed and thus they never had to go exploring beyond their home-world?

[Stealth]

it's true what you say though... and it is true that mankind has come very far over the last 100-200 years... but think of it this way

they have come very far in comparison to what?  to traveling at Mach 5?  in that case perhaps, but we're not even CLOSE to traveling the speed of light/colonizing other planets...

but the only way this argument will be won is for time to tell, and i agree it's very possible what you say will happen in the next few years an0n   only time will tell for sure though

[Galemp]

In the next few years we will be facing a global nuclear apocalypse for no real reason. So that's that.

[Stunaep]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer

How many politicians and world leaders ever spare a thought for the future of the human species? How often does the leader of your country stop to think about the next rung on the evolutionary ladder, and how that will affect his or her citizen's descendants?

Journalist: Mr. President, how do we stop the epidemical  forest fires in the US
George: Cut down the trees

we all see where he is going.

This species NEEDS to get its arse in gear and get over nation-state divisions.

Agreed. And we are already moving that way, see the many global, or at least continental alliances. For example the UN (prolly the weakest of them all, because all they do is send out good-will messengers, who nobody listens to), the NATO, the European Union.

And if we are going to the unified species list, then I really, REALLY hope it's not going to be the by American-Russian-InsertSuperpowerhere principle, where everyone will be speaking and thinking English, or Russian, or Chinese or whatever. I am in for it, unless  the little people (like us, Estonians) don't go the way of the Apaches. We've been through this before, with the USSR, and we DEFINATELY don't want to do this again.

Besides we even don't have a space program. We do make great space food (USSR astronauts used our products in the 1960-es)

[CP5670]

How many politicians and world leaders ever spare a thought for the future of the human species? How often does the leader of your country stop to think about the next rung on the evolutionary ladder, and how that will affect his or her citizen's descendants?

That is not really their business at all; the whole purpose and relative reason for existence of the national government is only to ensure the survival and general well-being of that particular nation. The leader(s) will (and should) only think about the future descendants as they will contribute to that particular national society.

And if we are going to the unified species list, then I really, REALLY hope it's not going to be the by American-Russian-InsertSuperpowerhere principle, where everyone will be speaking and thinking English, or Russian, or Chinese or whatever. I am in for it, unless the little people (like us, Estonians) don't go the way of the Apaches. We've been through this before, with the USSR, and we DEFINATELY don't want to do this again.

Well, that is exactly what we are headed for, if it will be some sort of GTA-like thing at any rate. Even in today's world with all these independent nations, all of the people are subtly influenced by the predominant culture anyway whether or not they realize/like it, which in most cases is linked to the most powerful nation. (this is why some say that the world is slowly becoming "Americanized;" it is inevitable on a large scale)

[phreak]

Originally posted by diamondgeezer
How many politicians and world leaders ever spare a thought for the future of the human species? How often does the leader of your country stop to think about the next rung on the evolutionary ladder, and how that will affect his or her citizen's descendants?

Hitler did and look what happened

[wEvil]

i think he means in an altruistic manner.

[Dark_4ce]

Anyone remember that Voyager episode where the captain and the other guy evolved into catfish?

Man that was fun...

Me, I think we'll discover that the human species won't evolve any longer until it has need to. Right now were pritty optimally adapted and evolution is on a break. But lets say theres a nuclear war and the Earth's climate changes. If some of us survive, in time humans might begin to rapidly evolve again into something else that can survive in the new enviroment. I know its an old theory but IMHO it seems like a safe and plausible theory.

[Alikchi]

If Rome hadn't collapsed, I see a moon landing in 1869..

[Anaz]

things happen, there is no 'where we should be'. There is where we are, and where we hope to go.

In response to previous posts in this thread, human advance in technology seems to be parabolic. We are advancing more rapidly every day.

[CP5670]

Actually I would say it is kind of exponential, since the progress in the last hundred years has far, far outweighed that in all of the rest of history.

i think he means in an altruistic manner.

same thing when you get down to it though...