Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Infinite growth. (Score 1) 305

Economists still believe in infinite growth in a finite world.

I don't think they do. It's just that many of them (the ones we hear about most, too) don't concern themselves enough with the long term that finite natural resources become a serious issue.

This is unfortunate, and it's all the more unfortunate that such "long term" issues are now not so long-term anymore, to say nothing of those that are hitting us right now.

"Sustainability" has been a key word in several areas of macroeconomics for decades. Unfortunately not in all areas of economics. Also, it was long taken in a narrow, technical meaning.

Comment Re:Editors Won't Won't Edit (Score 4, Funny) 114

And who or what is IHS?

Oh, that one's easy: it's Jesus. It's been a shorthand for his name since the 14th century.

See for example this:

The letters IHS were the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus IHSOYS, which stood for Yahweh. They could also be the abbreviation of ‘Iesus Hominum Salvator’, Jesus the Saviour of Mankind. The use of these letters as symbols of Christ may have originated with Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444) who made a plaque in Volterra with these letters inscribed, surrounded by rays of light.

So for clarity, they should have written:

Of the 20 million consumer devices estimated to have shipped in 2013 with wireless charging capabilities, nearly all were built with the Qi specification, according to Jesus, the Saviour of Mankind.

FTFY.

Comment Re:Protecting the Weak from the Strong (Score 2) 224

Indeed, in the grand scheme, you are suggesting that we take guns out of the hands of the individual, and put them solely in the hands of the State; that sounds like a transfer of power from the Weak to the Strong...

Try to use your firearm against the power of the US government or its agents, and then come tell us how that went.

That power was transfered in its entirety long ago. Here I'm merely paraphrasing Bruce's argument above, btw.

Comment Re:I like how they conflate "minimum" and "living" (Score 1) 1040

GP says:
"eventually, they'll set the minimum and maximum wages to the same levels"
Obama said:
"I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."

and you say (of GP):
"His argument would only be fallacious if it weren't exactly what is being proposed by the left today"

Do you stand by that comment? Can you see the nuance between the two statements quoted above?

Do you think saying "some people have earnings that are unreasonably low / high" (respectively 7$ an hour, a bazillion an hour), is exactly the same as saying "everybody should earn the same?". Because that's what you just wrote.

Comment Re:you've got male (Score 1) 315

You know, with this little jab you probably hit the nail on the head (that must hurt, btw). One thing is the intrinsic properties of a given trade, and how they play with sex-dependent preferences, and another is the group culture that builds up within a trade. That very much depends on history, and... the gender ratio of that field, to begin with.

Comment Re:Time to move into the Century of the fruit bat. (Score 5, Insightful) 1198

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

The very same quote popped up in my mind immediately. However strange it may feel to refer to Tolkien on this issue, this particular quote has something unusually profound and humane to it. I ascribe it to Tolkien's experience in world war I, when death must have become very real and familiar to him.

Slashdot Top Deals

The Tao is like a glob pattern: used but never used up. It is like the extern void: filled with infinite possibilities.

Working...