Indeed, I doubt the Zim government has the resources or skill to do this, given how often their own websites seem to get hacked.

The goal? Survival I suppose. On a more personal level, I suppose it would imply staying true to a particular philosophy or view.... A lot of things seem to be relative to one's starting position...

Where have you been through this whole thread? Are you in the Americas? Wake up earlier or go to bed later!

Is it absurd? Would you demand neither food nor shelter if doing so allowed your progeny both(not unreasonable you may be asked to sacrifice both for your kids)? Tricky isn't it? Never argue with a drunk guy... He won't ever realise you won or lost... :P

Honestly dude, I'm not sober enough for this. But it does sound reasonable.... What if we could survive despite our destruction of nature? Why should we be custodians? It seems arbitrary. Why would intelligence make us better custodians? Surely obedience to the goal is more important? I have, I suppose, my own internal answers, but I think it is important to go on asking. When marginally sober at least...

(Thank goodness for spell checkers...) Ok. I quit for bed now,. It is 11 at night here.

Advertising revenue? In South Africa? BBC Entertainment consists of advertising for (guess what?) BBC Entertainment. As with Discovery and Nat Geo, so no, no advertising lost. Their costs are covered by my US$ 80 subscription. Perhaps I am not the group he is referring to, but that does not imply that I (or my colleagues) abruptly cease to exist.... Admittedly discovery advertises a process control company(Nelson Concentrators, during Gold Rush Alaska) with which I admittedly have association with, but then I'm hardly likely to buy my own product am I? A surprisingly large number of people here subscribe to DSTV... And we still don't get why you would want to advertise a channel you're already watching....

Interesting...

Is it selfishness as a species or as a group of individuals that leads to an ecosystem collapse? As a species, doesn't selfishness mean survival at any cost? Even the extreme cost of preserving the ecosystem? Perhaps the error is that we are selfish on the wrong level - as individuals rather than as a species. I am admittedly drunk, but it sounds like a rather profound question, so, what the heck, I'm asking.

Well done AC, you have made me laugh! Let us then do this thing, not because he is necessarily wrong but for the nobility of our cause!

To be fair to him, I suspect he is implying 'general selfishness' (i.e. selfishness as a species) is 'better' (whatever that means) than individual selfishness. I might be wrong, but I am certainly 7 440ml beers down, so wrong is relative........

I am not American. While I am profoundly grateful for that fact, I have to admit that my understanding of your dream is a nightmare - in all honesty, that may well be because I misunderstand it, or perhaps I am just an over-privileged descendant of the great British Empire. It is understood that in order to succeed there must be some stepping on of others. We have just made it a bit less subtle about it in Africa.

Small teams only? Damn. 7 Billion is such a small team... I of course bow to your no doubt more sober analysis. But, well I still can't help but think there might be some value in co-operation for a species....

Given my current moderation score I suspect you may have hit upon the deeper truth.... I'll go get me another ice cold one and leave the philosophy to the sober ones... :)

I am no communist, but I think it would be difficult to argue that selfishness benefited the species as a whole in all circumstances. Communism !=Altruism.

Ok, Apparently TFA implies it is quantifiable... Who would have thought?

What? Ayn Rand could be wrong? The shock and horror of it!

Seriously though the question is difficult to answer on anything more than a philosophical level. It is a bit vague to quantify and would need to be rephrased to be practically measurable.. Maybe I should put my beer down and go read TFA....

This. Now that's something I'd watch. Though I tend to dislike all these crass americanisms you americans are so fond of, an "Emmett Brown" Doctor would full on rock!