[quote]Rational Gaze wrote:
[quote]Humbert wrote:
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
[quote]Humbert wrote:
just to introduce a non-religious opposing view:
If you look at science as we now practice it, scientific method, theory and hypothesis and evidence(which is greatly misused to “prove” certain theories, much like statistics can be manipulated to prove a study, get a grant, pass a law, etc, we aren’t having a lot of success.
Medicinal science: for all our bravado, we still get old, die, catch colds, etc. Science has provided us with vaccines that we are only beginning to understand actually cause many diseases to mutate and become more potent. After all this science, why, in 2010 do I have a cold right now?
Economic science: Would I send my kid to Harvard to get a high-end Wall Street job right now? In this global economy? WTF are they teaching up there? We, as a species, don’t understand CRAP.
Green science: I like where this is headed, but what about all the “progress” that got us in this jam in the first place? Ozone holes, ice caps melting, oil spills.
And Technology? Hey, I can watch porn on my cell phone. Yay. So can my 6-year old nephew. Oops.
Science–we aren’t doing it right.[/quote]
I don’t think you realize how amazing it is that you can easily survive almost any disease that would have decimated thousands a century or two ago.
You don’t have to worry about the measles, mumps, smallpox rubella, common cold, cholera, polio, among others.
If you were to catch some of those, of which the others are pretty much extinct, you would be pretty much guaranteed to be healed with minimal to no side effects.
If ever you were to lose an arm, given the right time frame, we would be able to save it, ensuring you’d have almost 100 percent restoration in a matter of months or years. As opposed to only having one arm, forever.
You can instantly communicate with someone across the world, while eating instant food, in a shelter that will protect you from almost anything mother nature will whip at you.
You have almost all the knowledge of humanity at your finger tips.
Need to get in contact with the best coaches in the world? No problem. Need to inform yourself on a specific subject? No problem.
Want to see what the pyramids look like? Done. Want to know how they were made? Done.
Want to travel to the other side of the world, in a matter of hours, in complete comfort and safety, and not having to worry about being attacked by bandits, taking months to years, losing your possessions or becoming violently ill? Done.
Want to have some of the best treatement we can give you? Done.
Want to be unconscious for your operation while robots with the utmost speed, accuracy and precision take care of you? Want it to be done while your body is fed a series of chemicals that will keep it strong with minimal side effects? Done.
Want instant food that doesn’t take months to grow, will not wither or die, requires no expenses or time, while giving you an abundance of protein, carbs and/or fat? Done.
Want to be able to travel at your leisure, in a mechanical beast, protected from the elements while you power through the air, listening to music stored on little disks and being air conditioned or heated, at speeds impossible to attain any living creature? Done.
Do you want to be able to purchase any clothing, to your desired specifications and while keeping out cold, wind, heat or whatever the fuck, without costing an arm and a leg? Done.
Want to be able to purchase items from across the globe and have them shipped to your door without any effort on your part? Done.
Want to know the latest in everything and anything? Done.
Want to be able to inject yourself with substances that allow you to be put on muscle mass and strength beyond what is naturally possible? Done.
Want to view things in 3d as if you were really there, from the comfort of your home? Done.
Want to play and reenact other realities with no consequences? Done.
Want to know the weather, anywhere in the world, instantly? Done. Want to know the weather in the fucking future? Done.
Have poor eye sight but want perfect vision in a matter of 10 minutes? Done.
Want the ability to see in perfect darkness? Done.
Want the ability to summon power, light and electricity? Done.
Want the ability to destroy matter in a matter (see what I did there) of milli seconds? Done.
Want to eradicate any potential threat to you and your loved ones, from miles away or up close? Done.
Want to fight almost any disease or illness? Done.
Want to jump out of a flying machine, 10 000 feet in the sky, and land safely on earth with no injuries, just for the fun? Done.
Want to be able to go under water for hours? Done.
Want to be able to survive in almost any climate on earth? Done.
Want the ability to mass produce anything, including organisms and food? Done.
Want some guy in Canada to tell you that you are a fucking idiot because you take amazing technology for granted, you spoiled idiot? Done.[/quote]
Almost all those things you “want” to do are pointless luxuries, inconsequential to your existence. Look at your list–and you call me spoiled? Buy, view, play, travel, destroy. Consumer science. A waste of science IMO. How is the ability to jump out a plane good science?
Everything in your list–EVERY THING–you will enjoy for a lifespan that will be between 45-70 years, maybe less, depending on where on this planet you live. You will fight illnesses instead of curing them, at least until another country with better “science” weaponizes one of them and ices you and your entire nation. Will you beat your chest in the name of science when you and your loved ones are eradicated by someone else’s science from far away or up close? You will breathe unclean air because of the inability of modern science to develop and utilize clean energy sources. I could go on.
Science has done some good, I agree. Most of it has been cosmetic and frivolous. I was kinda hoping for more at this point. As posted already, man and greed play a strong role in this. To me, that’s a fact but not an excuse.[/quote]
I want you to pick up your computer and throw it out the nearest window. Then call up the utility companies and cancel your contracts with them. Cancel your phone and internet services too. Have your car scrapped. Throw away any clothes made from synthetic fibers and any tinned or packaged goods in your house. In fact, leave your house and possessions behind and find a cave somewhere. Sit in that cave, in the dark, naked and alone. Then think about what a fucking idiot you are, but don’t bother telling anyone about it, because you have no way of communicating with anyone that might care.[/quote]
The only people who argue science isn’t doing it right are those who haven’t studied it. Same with anyone who argues that science doesn’t prove anything – no one who UNDERSTANDS it ever argues it’s inconclusive.
If a bunch of people who’ve watched football but never played it said that it’s not dangerous because of all those pads, would you listen to them over those who have actually played and been concussed/injured? Of course not. It’s just like any field – when the only people who are arguing one side of the argument are those who have NO EXPERIENCE in the field… and everyone who has experience argues the other side… it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (see what I did there?) to figure out who’s right.
Do you listen to a 6’0" 140lb guy on how to get big and muscular? Do you listen to a football player tell you how to train for soccer? Do you listen to someone who doesn’t have a degree in a science-related field tell you about the validity of science?
