I for one will be very happy to see 2060's movies in which intelligence and science and technology are presented as good things, and not evil harbingers of the apocalypse.
Like Star Trek?
I was going to respond to this with a snarky comment about how there are like five anti-science movies for every pro-science one, but amidst my research I stumbled across the fact that Contact was written by Carl Sagan.
I feel too ill for sarcasm now.
I can't think of many anti-science movies, personally.
There are a lot where science is the cause of, and solution to, unrealistic armageddon based problems.
I for one will be very happy to see 2060's movies in which intelligence and science and technology are presented as good things, and not evil harbingers of the apocalypse.
Like Star Trek?
I was going to respond to this with a snarky comment about how there are like five anti-science movies for every pro-science one, but amidst my research I stumbled across the fact that Contact was written by Carl Sagan.
I feel too ill for sarcasm now.
I can't think of many anti-science movies, personally.
There are a lot where science is the cause of, and solution to, unrealistic armageddon based problems.
But those could just as easily be seen as stories about the responsible use of power, and science is the greatest power of the modern narrative.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
I suspect that future generations will look upon movies like Terminator and The Matrix with the same horror as we experience when we consider Song of the South.
Or they'll be looked on as both pieces of unrecognized prophetic vision and as life primers.
Or they would be if humans ever get enough free time between slaving in robot factories and sleeping in our shut-down boxes to actually watch them.
Genital mutilation is wrong. If I decided to get my penis cut up on my own, that's one thing. No way I'm going to force that decision on my child. Just like I won't get their ears pierced when they are babies, and I wouldn't put a tattoo of Spider-Man on my 2 year old, and I wouldn't put "cool tribal scarring!" on them either.
All for a minuscule potential decrease in the chance of contracting HIV when you could just have protected sex. *gasp*
!!
Yeah, it'd be one thing if it cut your chances of getting the flu or cancer or something, but chopping off a tiny chance of getting HIV, which isn't really a significant concern in first world countries, isn't worth it in most circumstances.
Lemming on
0
The Black HunterThe key is a minimum of compromise, and a simple,unimpeachable reason to existRegistered Userregular
edited May 2010
That gathering storm of gay marriage ad seems like a parody
how does it affect the people in the ad at all? do they honestly believe they will be forced to marry homosexuals?
Genital mutilation is wrong. If I decided to get my penis cut up on my own, that's one thing. No way I'm going to force that decision on my child. Just like I won't get their ears pierced when they are babies, and I wouldn't put a tattoo of Spider-Man on my 2 year old, and I wouldn't put "cool tribal scarring!" on them either.
All for a minuscule potential decrease in the chance of contracting HIV when you could just have protected sex. *gasp*
!!
Yeah, it'd be one thing if it cut your chances of getting the flu or cancer or something, but chopping off a tiny chance of getting HIV, which isn't really a significant concern in first world countries, isn't worth it in most circumstances.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin, despite a total lack of evidence of harm. Are you really that tiny?
This is probably evidence that we'll see a lot of opposition to any sort of gene therapy or surgical enhancement, as people will immediately conclude that it's unnatural and therefor bad.
The language comparison works because there's a lack of consent and the child gets no utility initially. Even if it had immediate benefits, it doesn't negate the consent issue. You're basically saying that not getting the baby's consent is only bad when it grosses you out.
I don't see why you're so attached to the idea of removing a flap of skin. The benefits of circimcision, especially for privileged western men, are nowhere near urgent enough to justify doing it at babyhood. The kid will be fine if you wait till he's old enough to decide for himself, so why not wait till he's old enough to decide for himself? It's his flap of skin, after all.
I like your "lol ur penis is small" argument, though. My penis is so small it doesn't even exist.
Lieberkuhn on
While you eat, let's have a conversation about the nature of consent.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin
Yes, we are. And if you're trying to convince me, for one, to cut it off of my son, you should bring something stronger than the claim of a slight (if statistical) decrease in the risk of the transmitting diseases which are already easily avoided in the first world by testing and protected sex.
I mean seriously, it's like you're arguing for a surgical procedure to protect babies from polio. Don't get me wrong, polio is pretty bad, but where I come from that's an unnecessary surgery.
Didn't someone bring up statistics in the circumcision thread on the "Hanukkah" forum that pretty conclusively showed that the number of deaths and lost penises from messed up procedures trumped the statistic advantage circumcision gives?
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
Kamar on
0
The Black HunterThe key is a minimum of compromise, and a simple,unimpeachable reason to existRegistered Userregular
Well, in the matrix wasn't it our bigotry towards robots that made them turn out that way and kill us all anyways?
I thought the moral of the matrix is that postmodern philosophy is terrible and a good way to run down the clock in a film with lots of words that have no meaning.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin
Yes, we are. And if you're trying to convince me, for one, to cut it off of my son, you should bring something stronger than the claim of a slight (if statistical) decrease in the risk of the transmitting diseases which are already easily avoided in the first world by testing and protected sex.
I mean seriously, it's like you're arguing for a surgical procedure to protect babies from polio. Don't get me wrong, polio is pretty bad, but where I come from that's an unnecessary surgery.
sometimes, if you get an abdominal problem requiring surgery, the doctor will also remove your appendix while you're opened up even if it's not at all inflamed.
Paladin on
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
If everyone's fine and dandy with a topic in this thread, then it probably doesn't belong in this thread
Paladin on
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin
Yes, we are. And if you're trying to convince me, for one, to cut it off of my son, you should bring something stronger than the claim of a slight (if statistical) decrease in the risk of the transmitting diseases which are already easily avoided in the first world by testing and protected sex.
I mean seriously, it's like you're arguing for a surgical procedure to protect babies from polio. Don't get me wrong, polio is pretty bad, but where I come from that's an unnecessary surgery.
sometimes, if you get an abdominal problem requiring surgery, the doctor will also remove your appendix while you're opened up even if it's not at all inflamed.
this happened to me. They were in there doing some shit to my intestines, and they were like "fuck it, appendix is coming out".
Honestly, regarding the whole circumcision thing: the only people I ever meet who actually have strong opinions on the matter are people who are cut. Get over yourself. Uncut dicks are normal and fine.
I also want to point out how stupid that comment was "omg your just worried about your small cocks lol"
Honestly, regarding the whole circumcision thing: the only people I ever meet who actually have strong opinions on the matter are people who are cut. Get over yourself. Uncut dicks are normal and fine.
I'm not really sure why it is wrong to get mad about it. I mean, it's an extremely invasive, cosmetic procedure done without the consent of a child. I feel the same way about tattoos, piercings, and other similar things. It's you can sue your parents in my country if they do it to you and I'm glad of it.
I don't think people who are cut are freaks or anything, but I'd be happier if it was illegal worldwide. You shouldn't be able to take a knife or a needle to your kid unless it's life-threatening (which vaccines help to prevent and actual surgeries help).
Genital mutilation is wrong. If I decided to get my penis cut up on my own, that's one thing. No way I'm going to force that decision on my child. Just like I won't get their ears pierced when they are babies, and I wouldn't put a tattoo of Spider-Man on my 2 year old, and I wouldn't put "cool tribal scarring!" on them either.
All for a minuscule potential decrease in the chance of contracting HIV when you could just have protected sex. *gasp*
!!
Yeah, it'd be one thing if it cut your chances of getting the flu or cancer or something, but chopping off a tiny chance of getting HIV, which isn't really a significant concern in first world countries, isn't worth it in most circumstances.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin, despite a total lack of evidence of harm. Are you really that tiny?
This is probably evidence that we'll see a lot of opposition to any sort of gene therapy or surgical enhancement, as people will immediately conclude that it's unnatural and therefor bad.
The language comparison works because there's a lack of consent and the child gets no utility initially. Even if it had immediate benefits, it doesn't negate the consent issue. You're basically saying that not getting the baby's consent is only bad when it grosses you out.
It was a procedure being performed before any particular benefit was known. Now they are trying to justify it. There are other benefits to it remaining.
Also, my wife likes my dick just fine thank you very much. Good straw man.
Circumcision is brutal, barbaric mutilation of infant's genitalia. If you're not religious or a doctor who gets paid to slice and dice weenies, you have no reason to support it.
Who ever said foreskin was a 'useless' obviously doesn't have one. It makes sex and masturbation more pleasurable, and that's exactly why religious nuts started chopping it off in the first place -- so little boys would be less tempted to play with themselves.
A baby's brain is not built to experience that kind of pain. Have you ever seen an infant get circumcised? That shit will haunt your dreams.
Didn't someone bring up statistics in the circumcision thread on the "Hanukkah" forum that pretty conclusively showed that the number of deaths and lost penises from messed up procedures trumped the statistic advantage circumcision gives?
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
Yeah trying to justify circumcision with that completely misses the fact it's a surgery. There are risks involved like with any surgery and small statistic advantages are not good reasons to do them.
We don't cut out appendixes without reason either.
Didn't someone bring up statistics in the circumcision thread on the "Hanukkah" forum that pretty conclusively showed that the number of deaths and lost penises from messed up procedures trumped the statistic advantage circumcision gives?
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
Yeah trying to justify circumcision with that completely misses the fact it's a surgery. There are risks involved like with any surgery and small statistic advantages are not good reasons to do them.
We don't cut out appendixes without reason either.
Except an appendix will burst and kill you if it's inflamed and doesn't come out.
Your foreskin doesn't wrap its little fleshy self around your rod and proceed to kill you.
Also - a doctor that goes in just to take shit out for shits sake...dear god.
SkyGheNe on
0
JuliusCaptain of Serenityon my shipRegistered Userregular
Didn't someone bring up statistics in the circumcision thread on the "Hanukkah" forum that pretty conclusively showed that the number of deaths and lost penises from messed up procedures trumped the statistic advantage circumcision gives?
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
Yeah trying to justify circumcision with that completely misses the fact it's a surgery. There are risks involved like with any surgery and small statistic advantages are not good reasons to do them.
We don't cut out appendixes without reason either.
Except an appendix will burst and kill you if it's inflamed and doesn't come out.
Your foreskin doesn't wrap its little fleshy self around your rod and proceed to kill you.
Yes exactly. Even the fact that an appendix could kill you doesn't mean we cut it out of everyone.
Killing people in the third world with externalities related to our consumption and production.
this is a big one, there's no reason that working conditions at foxconn factories have to be so exploitative as to drive employees to suicide just so westerners can pay a relative pittance for an ipad, or to fuel conflict in the congo just so you can play ps2
also governments treating people vastly differently based on where they happened to have been born
and the parceling out of "military aid" to repressive and brutal regimes
i can go on and on but this thread is now about penises, don't let me interrupt you
Arthur Q. Juvenal on
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin
Yes, we are. And if you're trying to convince me, for one, to cut it off of my son, you should bring something stronger than the claim of a slight (if statistical) decrease in the risk of the transmitting diseases which are already easily avoided in the first world by testing and protected sex.
I mean seriously, it's like you're arguing for a surgical procedure to protect babies from polio. Don't get me wrong, polio is pretty bad, but where I come from that's an unnecessary surgery.
Keep reading. It's also been linked to a decrease in the chance of penile cancer. You yourself said you'd support it if it prevented cancer, so you've proven that no facts will ever sway you.
Circumcision is brutal, barbaric mutilation of infant's genitalia. If you're not religious or a doctor who gets paid to slice and dice weenies, you have no reason to support it.
Who ever said foreskin was a 'useless' obviously doesn't have one. It makes sex and masturbation more pleasurable, and that's exactly why religious nuts started chopping it off in the first place -- so little boys would be less tempted to play with themselves.
A baby's brain is not built to experience that kind of pain. Have you ever seen an infant get circumcised? That shit will haunt your dreams.
That's the thing. Despite your claims of "small statistical advantages," nobody has been able to show even that for the "loss of pleasure."
Also, you've got to love an appeal to squeamishness, as if any medical procedure is fun to watch. That, combined with the ahistorical extension of a brief British fad to the entire history of the procedure, definitely shows your intellectual honesty.
Actually, your involvement in a movement that dismisses any peer-reviewed evidence for the procedure as a statistical aberration while pointing to anecdotes of lost feeling and a .2 chance of there being some bleeding as being huge shows your intellectual honesty.
If it turns out that we are too slow to stop the multitude of possible disasters coming our way (economic, political, and environmental), we will be collectively chastised by our children and children's children for our inability to manifest the changes necessary to prevent them.
Thankfully, whenever these disasters conclude, we as a species *should* realize our mistakes and change for the better.
Didn't someone bring up statistics in the circumcision thread on the "Hanukkah" forum that pretty conclusively showed that the number of deaths and lost penises from messed up procedures trumped the statistic advantage circumcision gives?
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
Yeah trying to justify circumcision with that completely misses the fact it's a surgery. There are risks involved like with any surgery and small statistic advantages are not good reasons to do them.
We don't cut out appendixes without reason either.
Except an appendix will burst and kill you if it's inflamed and doesn't come out.
Your foreskin doesn't wrap its little fleshy self around your rod and proceed to kill you.
Yes exactly. Even the fact that an appendix could kill you doesn't mean we cut it out of everyone.
Because that would require invasive surgery. If it was a noninvasive procedure, it would be recommended as a standard practice, and you'd be claiming that the appendix was required for sexual satisfaction.
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
But the piece of land I was born on is superior to the piece of land on which you were born! To suggest that it isn't is an insult to not only myself, but to all others born on this piece of land!
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
So true, I am a patriot and all, but I am that self-aware that I know that the country I love is the result of random chance of birth. The idea that there is one true nation with one true history and one true destiny is silly.
Living in Europe all I have to do is drive a couple of hours and I will find myself in a different one true nation with a different one true history and different one true destiny. It makes wanting to kill them the ultimate expression in stupidity. Supporting your nation beyond cheering them on in sports is overkill.
Same goes for religion. Oh, you are a evangelical christian? Would you still be one if you had been born in Israel to Jewish parents? Or Saudi Arabia to muslim ones? Really?
Kipling217 on
The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
But the piece of land I was born on is superior to the piece of land on which you were born! To suggest that it isn't is an insult to not only myself, but to all others born on this piece of land!
Even though rationality can shatter the illusion of nationalism, I think something very powerful will have to happen to have people accept that the borders that separate us into nations do not truly exist.
Like.. aliens, or, colonization, or something. We cannot be a "United Earth" until there is some other that prompts us to join together into a larger organization. One choice, after all, is the same thing as no choice.
People are afraid of that concept, and justly so.
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
If we're talking about 50 years, I've got no doubt that patriotism and nationalism will still manage to manifest themselves in vigorous and, on occasion, dangerous ways. Seriously, the idea of nationalism has been around.....well, since the development of the nation-state, and before that, the actual sentiment existed in society in a different form.
But yeah, it would be nice to people putting things into perspective more often.
I don't see why you're so attached to the idea of removing a flap of skin. The benefits of circimcision, especially for privileged western men, are nowhere near urgent enough to justify doing it at babyhood. The kid will be fine if you wait till he's old enough to decide for himself, so why not wait till he's old enough to decide for himself? It's his flap of skin, after all.
I like your "lol ur penis is small" argument, though. My penis is so small it doesn't even exist.
Scalfin makes some good points, but yeah, the whole "why so small penis lol" argument doesn't really help him. Plus, it's easily responded to by the whole, "Why are you so terrified of something you were born with?" (or, if you prefer the religious version, "Why are you so terrified of something God gave you, and half of the population?").
I mean, personally, I was taught about safe sex and personal hygiene at a very young age. But I'm also one of those people who washes his hands every time I use a toilet, even just to clean one.
Circumcision is brutal, barbaric mutilation of infant's genitalia. If you're not religious or a doctor who gets paid to slice and dice weenies, you have no reason to support it.
Who ever said foreskin was a 'useless' obviously doesn't have one. It makes sex and masturbation more pleasurable, and that's exactly why religious nuts started chopping it off in the first place -- so little boys would be less tempted to play with themselves.
A baby's brain is not built to experience that kind of pain. Have you ever seen an infant get circumcised? That shit will haunt your dreams.
That's the thing. Despite your claims of "small statistical advantages," nobody has been able to show even that for the "loss of pleasure."
Also, you've got to love an appeal to squeamishness, as if any medical procedure is fun to watch. That, combined with the ahistorical extension of a brief British fad to the entire history of the procedure, definitely shows your intellectual honesty.
Actually, your involvement in a movement that dismisses any peer-reviewed evidence for the procedure as a statistical aberration while pointing to anecdotes of lost feeling and a .2 chance of there being some bleeding as being huge shows your intellectual honesty.
The big problem, of course, ignoring the populations who are extremely undernourished (and probably still will be in, say, 50 years), right now, there are populations all over the world who consume meat not because it's fashionable or tasty, but because their environment limits their options for production of alternatives.
For example, growing up, I ate lots and lots of fish. Fish are living creatures. I occasionally ate beef, but that was a fairly rare event, and I could have done without eating beef at all. I also ate lots of chicken. If me and the other 20 million or so people who lived in my homeland decided, "Okay, we're not going to eat fish or chicken anymore", it would present a serious dilemma.
Granted, there are alternatives. In fact, strict vegetarians are actually somewhat common in that population, because of the religious tendencies (Buddhism). All farm land that exists has effectively been farmed to hell, and the country's already importing vegetables and grains at it is. Eating fish and chicken are basically effective ways to make use of what little space is still available to provide people with protein and offer them some variety in their diets otherwise.
Importing more food offers a solution, but it carries its own implications. Being a self-sufficient as possible in the food department is an attractive premise for a country (if it is a reachable goal). They're still trying to find more efficient ways to squeeze a few more tons of rice out of rice fields, not just for local consumption but for export elsewhere.
That being said, at least in my specific case, reducing pig raising and the like probably would benefit argiculture at least somewhat, if not to the point that it would cost the overall food supply.
I'd say ego and sense of entitlement that college = good job.
I can see how that's an annoying tendency on our parts, but I'm having trouble seeing why this will suddenly vanish by the time we're old folk. I mean, if anything, consumerism is at an all time high and it's a very good marketing plan to get as many people as possible to show up and pay you $30,000 a year.
A thought experiment an extremely liberal friend and I engage in from time to time is "what position will 'the kids' have 50 years from now that strikes you as not only incorrect but completely unreasonable/unbelieveable in the current climate?"
I think the best answer we have come up with so far is giving human rights to plants (end vegetative slavery! etc.) It's kind of a fun conversation.
I think by far our "great" mistake will be failure to deal effectively with climate change. I'm no baby boomer fan, but I don't think my generation is so much more farsighted that we'll be willing to make the longterm compromises necessary, at least not all of them. That isn't a flaw unique to us, of course.
As far as a great "sin," I don't think there's any question that it is vanity. Moreso that previous generations, I think we're susceptible to falling into relatively tyrannical government, as long as it keeps us relatively comfortable (and the cost of doing so will be cheaper than ever.)
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Posts
There are a lot where science is the cause of, and solution to, unrealistic armageddon based problems.
But those could just as easily be seen as stories about the responsible use of power, and science is the greatest power of the modern narrative.
Or they'll be looked on as both pieces of unrecognized prophetic vision and as life primers.
Or they would be if humans ever get enough free time between slaving in robot factories and sleeping in our shut-down boxes to actually watch them.
Yeah, it'd be one thing if it cut your chances of getting the flu or cancer or something, but chopping off a tiny chance of getting HIV, which isn't really a significant concern in first world countries, isn't worth it in most circumstances.
how does it affect the people in the ad at all? do they honestly believe they will be forced to marry homosexuals?
No, they're actors.
They honestly believe it will take away their freedom to be homophobic bigots.
Which is sort of true.
Actually...
Also, you guys are really attached to a useless flap of skin, despite a total lack of evidence of harm. Are you really that tiny?
This is probably evidence that we'll see a lot of opposition to any sort of gene therapy or surgical enhancement, as people will immediately conclude that it's unnatural and therefor bad.
The language comparison works because there's a lack of consent and the child gets no utility initially. Even if it had immediate benefits, it doesn't negate the consent issue. You're basically saying that not getting the baby's consent is only bad when it grosses you out.
I like your "lol ur penis is small" argument, though. My penis is so small it doesn't even exist.
Yes, we are. And if you're trying to convince me, for one, to cut it off of my son, you should bring something stronger than the claim of a slight (if statistical) decrease in the risk of the transmitting diseases which are already easily avoided in the first world by testing and protected sex.
I mean seriously, it's like you're arguing for a surgical procedure to protect babies from polio. Don't get me wrong, polio is pretty bad, but where I come from that's an unnecessary surgery.
I say this as a circumcised dude, btw.
But they are written to cater to a certain audience, to represent them
so when I say "they" I mean the people they represent
I thought the moral of the matrix is that postmodern philosophy is terrible and a good way to run down the clock in a film with lots of words that have no meaning.
sometimes, if you get an abdominal problem requiring surgery, the doctor will also remove your appendix while you're opened up even if it's not at all inflamed.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
If everyone's fine and dandy with a topic in this thread, then it probably doesn't belong in this thread
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
this happened to me. They were in there doing some shit to my intestines, and they were like "fuck it, appendix is coming out".
Honestly, regarding the whole circumcision thing: the only people I ever meet who actually have strong opinions on the matter are people who are cut. Get over yourself. Uncut dicks are normal and fine.
I also want to point out how stupid that comment was "omg your just worried about your small cocks lol"
fuck off.
I'm not really sure why it is wrong to get mad about it. I mean, it's an extremely invasive, cosmetic procedure done without the consent of a child. I feel the same way about tattoos, piercings, and other similar things. It's you can sue your parents in my country if they do it to you and I'm glad of it.
I don't think people who are cut are freaks or anything, but I'd be happier if it was illegal worldwide. You shouldn't be able to take a knife or a needle to your kid unless it's life-threatening (which vaccines help to prevent and actual surgeries help).
It was a procedure being performed before any particular benefit was known. Now they are trying to justify it. There are other benefits to it remaining.
Also, my wife likes my dick just fine thank you very much. Good straw man.
Who ever said foreskin was a 'useless' obviously doesn't have one. It makes sex and masturbation more pleasurable, and that's exactly why religious nuts started chopping it off in the first place -- so little boys would be less tempted to play with themselves.
A baby's brain is not built to experience that kind of pain. Have you ever seen an infant get circumcised? That shit will haunt your dreams.
Yeah trying to justify circumcision with that completely misses the fact it's a surgery. There are risks involved like with any surgery and small statistic advantages are not good reasons to do them.
We don't cut out appendixes without reason either.
Except an appendix will burst and kill you if it's inflamed and doesn't come out.
Your foreskin doesn't wrap its little fleshy self around your rod and proceed to kill you.
Also - a doctor that goes in just to take shit out for shits sake...dear god.
Yes exactly. Even the fact that an appendix could kill you doesn't mean we cut it out of everyone.
also governments treating people vastly differently based on where they happened to have been born
and the parceling out of "military aid" to repressive and brutal regimes
i can go on and on but this thread is now about penises, don't let me interrupt you
That is a damn good answer. Like supporting and being proud of your country is one thing but holy crap some people take it too far. Unfortunately I don't see it going away.
Keep reading. It's also been linked to a decrease in the chance of penile cancer. You yourself said you'd support it if it prevented cancer, so you've proven that no facts will ever sway you.
That's the thing. Despite your claims of "small statistical advantages," nobody has been able to show even that for the "loss of pleasure."
Also, you've got to love an appeal to squeamishness, as if any medical procedure is fun to watch. That, combined with the ahistorical extension of a brief British fad to the entire history of the procedure, definitely shows your intellectual honesty.
Actually, your involvement in a movement that dismisses any peer-reviewed evidence for the procedure as a statistical aberration while pointing to anecdotes of lost feeling and a .2 chance of there being some bleeding as being huge shows your intellectual honesty.
If it turns out that we are too slow to stop the multitude of possible disasters coming our way (economic, political, and environmental), we will be collectively chastised by our children and children's children for our inability to manifest the changes necessary to prevent them.
Thankfully, whenever these disasters conclude, we as a species *should* realize our mistakes and change for the better.
Because that would require invasive surgery. If it was a noninvasive procedure, it would be recommended as a standard practice, and you'd be claiming that the appendix was required for sexual satisfaction.
But the piece of land I was born on is superior to the piece of land on which you were born! To suggest that it isn't is an insult to not only myself, but to all others born on this piece of land!
So true, I am a patriot and all, but I am that self-aware that I know that the country I love is the result of random chance of birth. The idea that there is one true nation with one true history and one true destiny is silly.
Living in Europe all I have to do is drive a couple of hours and I will find myself in a different one true nation with a different one true history and different one true destiny. It makes wanting to kill them the ultimate expression in stupidity. Supporting your nation beyond cheering them on in sports is overkill.
Same goes for religion. Oh, you are a evangelical christian? Would you still be one if you had been born in Israel to Jewish parents? Or Saudi Arabia to muslim ones? Really?
Even though rationality can shatter the illusion of nationalism, I think something very powerful will have to happen to have people accept that the borders that separate us into nations do not truly exist.
Like.. aliens, or, colonization, or something. We cannot be a "United Earth" until there is some other that prompts us to join together into a larger organization. One choice, after all, is the same thing as no choice.
People are afraid of that concept, and justly so.
If we're talking about 50 years, I've got no doubt that patriotism and nationalism will still manage to manifest themselves in vigorous and, on occasion, dangerous ways. Seriously, the idea of nationalism has been around.....well, since the development of the nation-state, and before that, the actual sentiment existed in society in a different form.
But yeah, it would be nice to people putting things into perspective more often.
Scalfin makes some good points, but yeah, the whole "why so small penis lol" argument doesn't really help him. Plus, it's easily responded to by the whole, "Why are you so terrified of something you were born with?" (or, if you prefer the religious version, "Why are you so terrified of something God gave you, and half of the population?").
I mean, personally, I was taught about safe sex and personal hygiene at a very young age. But I'm also one of those people who washes his hands every time I use a toilet, even just to clean one.
I'll just leave this here...
NSFW:
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2577091532653693892&hl=en#
Anyone have any other things our generation will be hated for?
My bet is still on meat-eating, our fear of AI, and our dislike of genetic engineering/body modification.
The big problem, of course, ignoring the populations who are extremely undernourished (and probably still will be in, say, 50 years), right now, there are populations all over the world who consume meat not because it's fashionable or tasty, but because their environment limits their options for production of alternatives.
For example, growing up, I ate lots and lots of fish. Fish are living creatures. I occasionally ate beef, but that was a fairly rare event, and I could have done without eating beef at all. I also ate lots of chicken. If me and the other 20 million or so people who lived in my homeland decided, "Okay, we're not going to eat fish or chicken anymore", it would present a serious dilemma.
Granted, there are alternatives. In fact, strict vegetarians are actually somewhat common in that population, because of the religious tendencies (Buddhism). All farm land that exists has effectively been farmed to hell, and the country's already importing vegetables and grains at it is. Eating fish and chicken are basically effective ways to make use of what little space is still available to provide people with protein and offer them some variety in their diets otherwise.
Importing more food offers a solution, but it carries its own implications. Being a self-sufficient as possible in the food department is an attractive premise for a country (if it is a reachable goal). They're still trying to find more efficient ways to squeeze a few more tons of rice out of rice fields, not just for local consumption but for export elsewhere.
That being said, at least in my specific case, reducing pig raising and the like probably would benefit argiculture at least somewhat, if not to the point that it would cost the overall food supply.
I can see how that's an annoying tendency on our parts, but I'm having trouble seeing why this will suddenly vanish by the time we're old folk. I mean, if anything, consumerism is at an all time high and it's a very good marketing plan to get as many people as possible to show up and pay you $30,000 a year.
I think the best answer we have come up with so far is giving human rights to plants (end vegetative slavery! etc.) It's kind of a fun conversation.
I think by far our "great" mistake will be failure to deal effectively with climate change. I'm no baby boomer fan, but I don't think my generation is so much more farsighted that we'll be willing to make the longterm compromises necessary, at least not all of them. That isn't a flaw unique to us, of course.
As far as a great "sin," I don't think there's any question that it is vanity. Moreso that previous generations, I think we're susceptible to falling into relatively tyrannical government, as long as it keeps us relatively comfortable (and the cost of doing so will be cheaper than ever.)
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget