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ITT, We shit all over the future for SOCIAL JUSTICE!

Started by Chelagoras The Boulder, June 22, 2017, 04:57:17 AM

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hooplala

Quote from: Chelagoras The Boulder on June 23, 2017, 05:10:11 PM
Quote from: LMNO on June 23, 2017, 01:04:53 PM
I'll be over here in the corner, quietly valuing our species.
Semi-nihilistic whinging aside, am I the only one who gets tired of the whole trope of "humans are the real monsters" thing in sci-fi? Like, I get that were shitty, but it seems premature to assume we're the shittiest thing to come out of the universe.  I mean we evolved this way, why wouldn't we assume some other species would evolve  down a similar path due to similar evolutionary pressures and be just as rapey and murdery and dicks as we are? Hell, what if we're not even that bad, all things considered? Who's to say the Orks from Warhammer 40 aren't on the other side of the Galaxy, being more war-like than could possibly be, on our worst day?

My view is we are doing what we are supposed to do, there are just too many of us. Nobody shits on elephants when they destroy all the trees around them... nobody shits on termites for building big mounds (unless they are in your backyard). We just took over the planet.
"Soon all of us will have special names" — Professor Brian O'Blivion

"Now's not the time to get silly, so wear your big boots and jump on the garbage clowns." — Bob Dylan?

"Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
— Walt Whitman

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Chelagoras The Boulder on June 23, 2017, 05:10:11 PM
Quote from: LMNO on June 23, 2017, 01:04:53 PM
I'll be over here in the corner, quietly valuing our species.
Semi-nihilistic whinging aside, am I the only one who gets tired of the whole trope of "humans are the real monsters" thing in sci-fi? Like, I get that were shitty, but it seems premature to assume we're the shittiest thing to come out of the universe.  I mean we evolved this way, why wouldn't we assume some other species would evolve  down a similar path due to similar evolutionary pressures and be just as rapey and murdery and dicks as we are? Hell, what if we're not even that bad, all things considered? Who's to say the Orks from Warhammer 40 aren't on the other side of the Galaxy, being more war-like than could possibly be, on our worst day?

I'm with you.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

The Good Reverend Roger

But it's easier to say humans need to die than it is to address problems, because solving problems doesn't let you strap on your moral superiority and do your little turn on the catwalk.  On the catwalk yeah, I have the juiciest farts under the blanket on the catwalk.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Bruno

Quote from: Chelagoras The Boulder on June 23, 2017, 05:10:11 PM
Quote from: LMNO on June 23, 2017, 01:04:53 PM
I'll be over here in the corner, quietly valuing our species.
Semi-nihilistic whinging aside, am I the only one who gets tired of the whole trope of "humans are the real monsters" thing in sci-fi? Like, I get that were shitty, but it seems premature to assume we're the shittiest thing to come out of the universe.  I mean we evolved this way, why wouldn't we assume some other species would evolve  down a similar path due to similar evolutionary pressures and be just as rapey and murdery and dicks as we are? Hell, what if we're not even that bad, all things considered? Who's to say the Orks from Warhammer 40 aren't on the other side of the Galaxy, being more war-like than could possibly be, on our worst day?


Like you say, it seems likely to that any organism that evolves naturally is going to be at least kind of an asshole. All our best and worst attributes exist because they, in some way, increased the odds of our survival and proliferation. So if there were to be a species that only exhibits altruistic traits, it would have to be engineered by a species that is, by nature, a bunch of dicks who would like to stop being dicks, but can't... because nature... and are capable of engineering a species that is the species it wants to be.

And then that species would need to off itself before it had a chance to destroy, corrupt, or enslave it's creation, which would be pretty easy to do.

It's also likely that the first species would find the second incredibly boring, and annoying, and have an almost irresistible urge to start bonking them with mallets pretty much from day one, so they would probably need to off themselves in a hurry.
Formerly something else...

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Quote from: Chelagoras The Boulder on June 23, 2017, 05:10:11 PM
Quote from: LMNO on June 23, 2017, 01:04:53 PM
I'll be over here in the corner, quietly valuing our species.
Semi-nihilistic whinging aside, am I the only one who gets tired of the whole trope of "humans are the real monsters" thing in sci-fi? Like, I get that were shitty, but it seems premature to assume we're the shittiest thing to come out of the universe.  I mean we evolved this way, why wouldn't we assume some other species would evolve  down a similar path due to similar evolutionary pressures and be just as rapey and murdery and dicks as we are? Hell, what if we're not even that bad, all things considered? Who's to say the Orks from Warhammer 40 aren't on the other side of the Galaxy, being more war-like than could possibly be, on our worst day?

Odds seem pretty high that the universe is full of assholes pretty much just like us. However, we aren't done evolving because evolution is an ongoing process, and presumably there are also people out there of various species who have evolved through the kinds of pressures that come from being a very successful species, such as the population and conflict crunch we have managed to put ourselves into, and come out better for it in the end, as I hope that we will also.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Currently, however, our planet is overrun by self-obsessed colonialists, and that mentality really isn't ready for interplanetary communication IMO.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Although, what do I know, I'm just the asshole over here who clearly doesn't value our species, because all I'm doing to save it is devoting my life and career to biomedicine in an effort to figure out how to solve some of our self-created problems so we can keep going for long enough to not fucking accidentally murder ourselves off.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Salty

Right, humans are the best, which is why this conversation began with wanting to escape from them into a cold, unknown universe.

:roll:
The world is a car and you're the crash test dummy.

Chelagoras The Boulder

Well, technically it started with us debating whether or not some subgroup of liberals was spelling the end of the entire Democratic party, but it seems like we got bored of that and started talking about interplanetary colonization, which is more interesting imo.

Maybe this calls for a thread split?
"It isn't who you know, it's who you know, if you know what I mean.  And I think you do."

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

A thread split is a great idea. Maybe call the new thread "The Lowest Common Denominator Goes To Space".
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


MMIX

"The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make and could just as easily make differently" David Graeber

Junkenstein

Quote from: Mesozoic Mister Nigel on June 24, 2017, 03:38:36 PM
A thread split is a great idea. Maybe call the new thread "The Lowest Common Denominator Goes To Space".

Speaking of which, anyone seen this "asgardia" nonsense?  All the rhetoric of seasteading but IN SPESS. The guys involved have absolutely no concept of the logistical impossibilities they face.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

The Good Reverend Roger

Thread split.  I think I found a better title.  Chew on my entire ass.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

The Good Reverend Roger

So, let's get to it:  What horrible things should we do to people who have any hope for the future, and how can we properly shame them for their hope?

I feel that "lowest common denominator" doesn't quite do it.  Neither does "part of the problem" or even "shitlord".

How about "THE CANCER THAT'S KILLING THE GALAXY"?
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

I think I'm going to assume that the thread title chosen reflects the new tenor of the forum.

Have fun with that!
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."