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Comment There is no crisis. (Score 1) 950

Or, there is a simple solution: embrace it.

The "crisis" comes from these pornosexual men feeling guilt for not conforming to outdated masculinity ideals. Now that they're altered, they don't _need_ sex, or _need_ women; porn is more satisfying and can fill all their sexual needs if they educate themselves on masturbation. This is liberating in the sense that sex becomes a choice, that you're in a relationship not because you need sex, but because it benefits both of you to be together.

The same goes for trading the mythical, idealized "having a life" with videogames + Internet. If they "had a life" they would find that it's not what it's cracked up to be; that it's not partying and friendships, but is instead dull and dreary at its best for most people. When compared to what a guy can get from videogames + Internet this "life" is a crappy deal. That they want "a life" is a sign that they don't know what that means, or how it realistically compares to the experience of videogames + Internet.

Life, without quotes, encompasses videogames + Internet; the difference that I'm evangelizing is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in giving a much stronger focus to the digital life. It's better.

Comment What does Scott Adams mean by the word "science"? (Score 2) 958

There's a basic misunderstanding of what science is in that Scott Adams post.

>"I think science has earned its lack of credibility with the public. If you kick me in the balls for 20-years, how do you expect me to close my eyes and trust you?"

The term 'science' is used very loosely. It's not clear what he's referring to -- 'popular science', I deduce. Popular science is not reliable, so, with that definition, I can't disagree that Scott Adams has been "kicked in the balls for 20-years" by it and that he should have learned a long time ago not to close his eyes and trust it.

Comment We already know how to extend the human lifespan. (Score 1) 130

Good news everyone! It turns out that technologies which extend, augment or otherwise improve human life are already here!

You may have heard of some of them: clean water; urban sanitation; smokeless cooking facilities; free access to healthcare; a guaranteed minimum income; a good, free education. There are more – and you’d be surprised how many of them have been around in one form or another for decades, even centuries! But they’re unevenly distributed at the moment, so the first agenda item for all transhumanists should be looking for ways to get these technologies to everyone on the planet as soon as possible because if they don’t, by their own logic, they are wilfully and consciously permitting millions if not billions of people to suffer totally avoidable misery, poverty, illness and death. Better still, they can start close to home; after all, what better test-case could there be for the even distribution of longevity improvement than the ~17 year lifespan differential between the wealthy and the poor in the United States itself?

Power

Submission + - Beamed space solar powerplant to open in 2016?

Eric_S writes: Anybody who managed to get a decent city going in Cim city 2000 remembers the microwave powerplant, now it seems like a real world equivalent might be comming up on the horizon. The Pacific Gas And Electricity Company, per this "interview" with the CEO of Solaren on their affiliated site anounced PG&E's plans to buy 200MW of baseload power from a Solaren beamed space solar powerplant by 2016. So what says Slashdot? The basic engineering seems like it's well understood, or is it unfeasable in the light of some overlooked technical or economic factor?

Comment Casino-like games from Blizzard (Score 2, Interesting) 308

Actually, a Blizzard developer said in an old interview that they closely copied the 'constant rewards' system of casinos' slot machines when developing Diablo. They're not doing this at random.

I know it's on the Internet, but I've tried looking and couldn't find it. If someone could find that one or two paragraph quote, it would be great for discussion.

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It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster. - Voltaire

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