The Skeptics Guide #956 - Nov 4 2023 (Ad Free)
Added 2023-11-04 12:00:03 +0000 UTCSpecial Guest: Christian Hubicki; DragonCon Panels: Skepticism and Gaming, Government Coverup of UAPs, Generation Ships; News Items: Augmented Reality Social Reaction, How Stars Become Magnetars, Recent Mission to the Moon, Different Types of Mass; Special Report: Global Warming Policy; Science or Fiction
Comments
Non-Stop is a 1958 science fiction novel by British writer Brian Aldiss. It’s about the inhabitants of a generation ship. It was interesting, though it felt somewhat aimless to start and rushed at the end. I agree that the concept of a generation ship seems unethical, since the majority of those who are born and die in it are essentially enslaved. It also seems unlikely that we, as a product of evolution, can maintain sustainable systems for that long. Our psychology gives us strong biases toward immediacy and expediency, and while a generation or two might come to understand a long view toward sustainability, we’d probably need to fundamentally change our species to stick to it indefinitely. We’d have to intelligently design ourselves.
The Illuminaughty
2023-11-07 07:41:37 +0000 UTCThe function of a lawyer is not to defend the law, but to defend their client within the limits of the law.
The Illuminaughty
2023-11-07 06:56:26 +0000 UTCThe answer is to teach skeptical thinking in schools. Otherwise things will only get worse.
Ted Apelt
2023-11-04 20:55:04 +0000 UTCWhat Steve said at the very end about how the stakes are getting higher and it is about everything, not just ghosts and quack medicine, but the very foundation of what we are doing, is totally spot on and is the message I have been shouting for a long time.
Ted Apelt
2023-11-04 20:53:56 +0000 UTCConcerning AR as surveillance tech: even if you live in a functional democracy today, how about tomorrow? If Trump (or someone like him) wins an election, and has access to a very efficient surveillance system... congrats? "They make a lawyers case for their position"; yes, the position of a lawyer is to defend the law, which doesn't necessarily have to make sense.
Christer Jansson
2023-11-04 16:33:59 +0000 UTC
