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Don't worry, be happy (Score:4, Insightful)
Lets just say it does end, and soon. So what? If it is going to happen it will happen, and there is very little to do about it. Its like worrying about being hit by a bus. Better to live your life and not worry about it. Although I do suggest folks do check both ways before crossing the street.
So much drama and gnashing of teeth about something that does not matter since it is beyond your control.
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Live like there's no tomorrow - and then push the Big Red Button.
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Everybody we have ever known will be gone?
Mneh, I really didn't like these guys anyway.
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I think the problem with apocalyptic logic is that it causes fringe elements of society to act recklessly. For example, if a nuclear armed country (say, Israel), has some fundamental nutjobs in the vicinity of their arsenal, they may think that the end-times are near based on their weird philosophy (say, the rebuilding of the temple of david and the birth of the red heiffer) indicates it is time to push the button and purge the Earth.
That has SIGNIFICANT impact on the rest of us.
That's what makes ME gnash
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Now you can take it a step further and imagine, what if the entire United States disappeared overnight? The world's largest econom
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You missed the point. If the land mass that is North America were no longer in the way, the Panama Canal would be obsolete.
Re:Don't worry, be happy (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't blame 9/11, blame America. We're the fools who did everything the terrorists dreamed we would.
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This. 9/11 did more damage to America than any natural disaster, maybe more than all of them combined. 3T+ dollars down the drain, who knows how many American soldiers (and innocent foreigners) killed in unnecessary wars, civil rights trashed, people living in fear...9/11 just wrecked the shit out of the country. The destruction of the twin towers and damage to the Pentagon was just the trigger to set off the real damage.
Actually, BUSH did all the damage. As a reaction to 9/11. 9/11 just ... well, didn't really do much. On that date, a few planes hit a few buildings. Over the next 7 years, the american president systematically dismantled all the rights and values for which the USA stands. Well, stood.
Re:Don't worry, be happy (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't worry, they don't really believe it.
No, seriously.
Go up to basically anyone who believes that the world will end on a certain, specific date, and offer them this deal:
"I'll give you $50 right now, and on ${world_ends+1} we'll meet here again and you give me $100".
They almost never take it. Why? Because when it comes down to something that actually matters*, these people don't really believe the world is going to end; when faced with a real loss attached to their prediction, they are not confident enough in it to accept. Of course, they'll frequently try to dodge the issue by saying things like it would be unethical to take your money or coming up with some reason why God doesn't want you to do that, but these are all after-the-fact rationalizations.
And this is something that applies to most people, in most contexts. Atheists aren't really in the minority: when it comes to real consequences, almost everyone acts as if they were an atheist with an occasional Sunday obligation.
There are rare exceptions, like this dude [huffingtonpost.com] who blew his life savings on this crap; but I bet you anything that even in their own groups, those sorts of people are looked at askance.
*and $100 is a value that people actually care about (yes, psychologically they're not losing $50, they're losing $100)
Re:Don't worry, be happy (Score:5, Funny)
Go up to basically anyone who believes that the world will end on a certain, specific date, and offer them this deal:
"I'll give you $50 right now, and on ${world_ends+1} we'll meet here again and you give me $100".
I think the world will end on December 18th 2984, and I will take you up on your offer.
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Don't worry, they don't really believe it.
No, seriously.
Go up to basically anyone who believes that the world will end on a certain, specific date, and offer them this deal:
"I'll give you $50 right now, and on ${world_ends+1} we'll meet here again and you give me $100".
They almost never take it. Why? Because when it comes down to something that actually matters*, these people don't really believe the world is going to end; when faced with a real loss attached to their prediction, they are not confident enough in it to accept. Of course, they'll frequently try to dodge the issue by saying things like it would be unethical to take your money or coming up with some reason why God doesn't want you to do that, but these are all after-the-fact rationalizations.
The danger isn't those who believe (or profess to believe) the world is ending soon. As you point out, those folks are mostly just a danger to themselves.
The danger is from those folks who believe it is their place to bring about the end of the world. For some reason the end-times seem to usually depend on some human conflict. So those in a rush to end the world and get us all to heaven tend to want to start wars.
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I think the problem with apocalyptic logic is that it causes fringe elements of society to act recklessly.
If apocalyptic logic didn't exist, it would be necessary for our fringe elements would invent it.
Long time (Score:4, Insightful)
This world will end a long time after humankind has rendered it unsuitable for life as we know it.
It was here before us and likely will be here long after us.
As for when WE (humankind) end- we seem determined to go away at some point in the next few centuries....
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The human race is a complete and utter irrelevance in both geological time and cosmological time. Just a tiny tiny, short lived blip on the radar.
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I bet they said that about dragonflies 200 million years ago. It's still early days.
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Lucky there are lots of planets out there. The aliens from Independence Day seems to be doing well for themselves until they encountered that badly written plot twist.
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This sort of thing always makes me laugh. Exploiting all of the available natural resources is an entirely natural thing to do. In the absence of predators, any species of animal will eat its prey / food plants to extinction and then starve itself to extinction. The only reason that any species doesn't do this is that it is culled periodically by predators.
Human beings are the exception. Conservation is an entirely unnatural concept, because it requires forward thinking (i.e. being able to reason about
Conservation unnatural? (Score:3)
But ants do it. And bees do it. Even uneducated squirrels do it.
Also, fat in our buts is pretty much proof that the idea of conservation is a built-in concept in nature.
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For those wondering why 21st of October (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/outreach/tracts/may21/
They claim that Judgement Day is happening on May 21 (hey seem to use their own definition for Judgement Day - not the standard, end of the world, all people are judged etc) and then their idea is that 5 months later BOOM.
Either way, i still plan on being here on October 22 - regardless of your beliefs, this is a pretty crack pot mix up of lets read some of the bible, ignore the parts that contradict us, and see if we can create a global panic.
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Do they know at what time? I'd like to have a nice lunch before the rapture.
Re:For those wondering why 21st of October (Score:4, Funny)
Re:For those wondering why 21st of October (Score:5, Funny)
Wouldn't it be the best prank ever if all the people with a sense of humor went and bought inflatable dolls, filled 'em up with helium, tossed some old clothes onto the sidewalk, and simultaneously let loose with the human-shaped balloons at around 6 pm in every major city?
Two days to go! Crowdsourcing, people! Let's get on it!
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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Yes, the beef is excellent, and very obliging.
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Yeah, sorry about that - it's the Pearly Gates you see. Saint Peter has been asking for the budget to expand it, but each time it keeps getting pushed back saying they're big enough for the daily crowds. Nobody really wants to take it all the way to the big boss, so an alternative plan with rolling raptures was devised.
Some just think it's plain inefficiency, nobody really wants to talk about it but downstairs they have this far more efficient drop-in, sorry drop-down system that handle vast amounts of sinn
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The same person made a similar claim in 1998, stating that the Rapture would occur followed by Armageddon. Of course nothing happened. He selectively chooses which verses that supports such claims and ignores ones that point out that no-one bar God knows when it will happen:
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That's what you get for not using the metric system.
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Yeah, I was trying to get HR to include "Rapture" as a possible reason for days off work, but we discussed the issue and found out that, even if all the just people would get "raptured", we would see no difference at all at the office (or anywhere else).
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If you read the writings of those from Jesus' day, they thought he'd be back very shortly.
He had a few errands to run.
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wow, i've seen the may 21st poster around the train station (in fricking holland, i had somewhat hoped the bible loonies were all in the states), but i didnt bother with checking the explanation. That seems very fricking flimsy.
You might as well state that since "we were made in god's image" he also has 20 digits (fingers/toes), so can only count to 2^20, so there will only be 1048576 days/years whatever
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You might as well state that since "we were made in god's image" he also has 20 digits (fingers/toes), so can only count to 2^20, so there will only be 1048576 days/years whatever
But don't those loonies also think god is male? So the count should be able to reach 2^21-1 or 2097151, if the extra, uh, digit can be kept up long enough...
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I have seen numerous references to the shuffling around of a few tens of days here and there, making any prophesy mentioning a specific day (let alone time) inherently bogus.
Here [hermetic.ch] is a good overview of how the various calendars have wobbled about over the years.
Missing option - surprise! (Score:5, Informative)
When no-one is expecting it.
"For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night."
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2147483647 or Jan 19 03:14:07 2038 (Score:5, Interesting)
When else?
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Yeah... Y2K38(*) has the potential for being far worse than Y2K. And not being a round year at all, it will be a lot more difficult to explain all the beancounters what can happen.
That said, I always program in Java :-P
*: Yes, I know if it is not shorter than Y2038, but I like it that way. Ok?
Re:2147483647 or Jan 19 03:14:07 2038 (Score:4, Informative)
This is exactly going to be the problem: Explaining that there is a HUGE ticking timebomb in our server basements.
Y2K was readily understandable by non-technical people. 99 becomes 00 and that's smaller than 99 and there's a whole lot of shit hitting the fan. Easy to see, easy to understand, no technical knowledge necessary. But why the world should come to an end a bit past 3am on Jan 19th 2038 makes no sense to someone who doesn't understand the way Unix keeps track of time.
I think, though, that this will be very profitable for me, just before retirement. Coincidentally, I happen to be eligible for retirement pretty much around that specific day.
when the last human being has lost hope (Score:3, Insightful)
and let's all hope that will never happen
The year 2038 (Score:5, Funny)
According to my 32-bit computer, time ends on January 19th, 2038 at 3:14 AM UTC.
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Doesn't it just wrap around? It will be January 1, 1970 again! I may yet live to see an Apollo launch up close.
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Missing option: In 2 days (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Missing option: In 2 days (Score:4, Funny)
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The end of an epoch (Score:5, Funny)
the world will end (Score:5, Insightful)
the day i die
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Poetry on Slashdot that is not haiku. Really. (Score:2)
No one knows the day or the hour (Score:3)
1975 (Score:2)
The Jehovah's Witnesses were right. The world ended in 1975.
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William Miller was right: The world ended as scheduled on March 21, 1844. Everything after that was the product of a deranged imagination.
Or maybe the original Anabaptists were right, and the world ended back in 1533.
We didn't make the cut. (Score:2)
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Some other specific time that we cannot predict (Score:2)
"Some other specific time" that we immanently cannot predict as we cannot predict almost anything in the future, because the things we are interested in as humanity as a whole are phenomena of very complex systems that we cannot decompose into smaller system or reduce to simple systems. Our models of the future lose precision exponentially with time forward not unlikely to the predictions of the behavior of the balls on the billiard table.
Only God knows this time.
2060 or thereabouts (Score:3)
The World Goes On, WE Might End (Score:2)
As George Carlin said, don't worry about "saving the world." The world will shake us off like so many bad bugs. We're working to save our own sorry asses.
To me a better poll asks, "How long before a nuclear or biochemical device detonates causing loss of life?" THAT'S the beginning of the end for us.
Two years ago! (Score:2)
The world will end ... not worth worrying about (Score:2)
kierkegaard... (Score:2)
- Kierkegaard
Today? (Score:2)
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Last post? (Score:2)
That was my impression too
Life as we know it on Earth will end... (Score:2)
As soon as Sol becomes a white dwarf...
http://www.universetoday.com/25669/the-sun-as-a-white-dwarf-star/ [universetoday.com]
It already has (Score:2)
We're running off a backup as we browse!
To quote George Carlin... (Score:2)
The planet is fine!
The people are f___ed!
Whenever. (Score:2)
God never gave the end date so it will be whenever He wants it. :)
Yesterday! (Score:2)
...
I pray for the rapture... (Score:3)
Just *think* of the parking spaces we'd have if all those nutjobs disappeared! Not to mention the general improvement in the electorate. You go, rapturists, to heaven, to hell, to *anywhere*, please!
It ended last week (Score:2)
I have it on very good authority that the world ended last week but we've all been too hung over to notice.
...laura
The World Ends The Day I Die. (Score:2)
... at least, from my perspective.
Depends on Funding (Score:3)
The world will end when the Vogons get funding for that inter-galactic by-pass. Not sure when that will be but keep your towel handy.
Cheers,
Dave
Definitive statement (Score:3, Interesting)
Missing option (Score:3)
When I deploy my Doomsday Device! Muahahahaha!
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That's my favourite (and most likely, I think) doomsday scenario, too. Just imagine what the sky must look like before it happens, spectacular sunrises and -sets... wow.
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Unfortunately, current research seems to point that as the Sun gets bigger, it will "push" the Earth to a wider orbit (solar winds, loss of mass, etc.) so it won't consume it.
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It's because Science has proven so. Based on WMAP spacecraft measurements, we now know that the universe is flat. It will expand forever, thus ending with a whimper.
Exactly. And the Earth will probably survive the death of the Sun, even if it gets baked when the Sun goes Red Giant at the end of its life. The Earth might still be around for billions and billions of years, as a cold lonely rock floating in space. Unless we happen to run into a black hole, or get sucked into the big one at the center of the Galaxy at some point.
Current cosmology seems to predict that the universe will slowly fade out and our Earth with it, long after the Sun has died and we will not be ar
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Cosmologically a whimper, but I expect that it would be really noisy for anybody with sensing equipment on the surface of the planet.
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Well, if the Earth is destroyed the only ones that will be able to hear it would be in space...
... And in space, nobody can hear you scream.
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No, no, no. There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering KABOOM, not just a bang or a hissing sound.
Now where _did_ I put that Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator?
Re:July 5th, 1998 (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, July 5th, 1998. J.R. Bob Dobbs told me. Your calendars are mostly wrong.....
Sorry, Bob made a small mistake.
NOTE
After `X-Day' passed without incident, the Church of the SubGenius
declared that it had got the year upside down - X-Day is actually in
8661 AD rather than 1998 AD. Thus, the True X-Day is Cfn 40, 9827.
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Being that you used the word "mate"... ah nevermind.
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According to them the destruction of the earth comes 5 months after May 21 so Oct 21 as the end of the World.
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Wow! 5 months without the bible-eaters?
PARTYYYYYY!
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Couldn't you just have told me before I got to work? Way to waste the Eternity, geez...
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