31–40 of 183 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this an American cultural thing, or are other cultures just as averse to public swearing?
It's largely an American thing.
Who cares if Musk's predictions are realistic? He is doing us all a tremendous service by keeping Mars in the public conversation.
There are a number of reasons why he might give less-accurate predictions, like keeping mars in the public conversation.
Last year, it was the Interplanetary Transport System, but now Musk has regressed to using the original, cheeky "code name" BFR, in which the B stands for big, the R stands for rocket, and the F stands for fun. (Not really). I'm always astounded that apparently we still can't say fuck lest some bogeyman (real or imaginary) jump out and make you regret it. It's a fucking word. For fuck's sake. I mean, at the point whe…
I'm not in the least bit offended by swearing and swear liberally amongst friends, but curse words (taboo words) do exist, and some people are bothered by them. It's not an expensive courtesy to just not swear to strangers, so why not extend that courtesy?
I'm a big believer in the right to offend, but that doesn't mean we should do so needlessly.
Last year, it was the Interplanetary Transport System, but now Musk has regressed to using the original, cheeky "code name" BFR, in which the B stands for big, the R stands for rocket, and the F stands for fun. (Not really). I'm always astounded that apparently we still can't say fuck lest some bogeyman (real or imaginary) jump out and make you regret it. It's a fucking word. For fuck's sake. I mean, at the point whe…
Anything can be trivialized if you detest social norms enough. Fake examples: > It took me forever to find a good font for my webcomic that wasn't comic sans. I'm astounded that apparently we can't use a perfects good font, lest some bogeyman jump out and make you regret it. It's a font! For Microsoft Bob's sake. How bad can it really be and why do we need to penalize the usage so? > John Smith, 56, was arrested for…
1: http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/politics/anthony-scaramucci/in...
2: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/07/27/anthony-scaramucc...
3: http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/anthony-scaramucci-steve-ba...
Sending humans to Mars seems less attractive to me than sending robots to Ceres. Is there an argument for Mars that doesn't include the phrase "multi-planet species"?
1st result) Ceres - Non-profit organization in San Francisco, California
3rd result) Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Last year, it was the Interplanetary Transport System, but now Musk has regressed to using the original, cheeky "code name" BFR, in which the B stands for big, the R stands for rocket, and the F stands for fun. (Not really). I'm always astounded that apparently we still can't say fuck lest some bogeyman (real or imaginary) jump out and make you regret it. It's a fucking word. For fuck's sake. I mean, at the point whe…
Anything can be trivialized if you detest social norms enough. Fake examples: > It took me forever to find a good font for my webcomic that wasn't comic sans. I'm astounded that apparently we can't use a perfects good font, lest some bogeyman jump out and make you regret it. It's a font! For Microsoft Bob's sake. How bad can it really be and why do we need to penalize the usage so? > John Smith, 56, was arrested for…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anything can be trivialized if you detest social norms enough. Fake examples: > It took me forever to find a good font for my webcomic that wasn't comic sans. I'm astounded that apparently we can't use a perfects good font, lest some bogeyman jump out and make you regret it. It's a font! For Microsoft Bob's sake. How bad can it really be and why do we need to penalize the usage so? > John Smith, 56, was arrested for…
To be clear, the difference I'm calling out here is not that the cutural norm is stupid, but that it's only enforced in specific contexts for no apparent gain. I wouldn't say a large proportion of people are walking around in public naked, but a large proportion do swear in the course of normal speaking. Really, it's the news agencies which are the worst offenders in this regard, which is doubly bad because they will…
> A bathing suit is not considered appropriate at a wedding.
> Emoji is not considered appropriate at a funeral.
> White pants are not considered appropriate after Labor Day.
> Swearing is not considered appropriate in certain styles of journalism.
All of these, when viewed at a low enough level of abstraction (we're all just atoms!) make no sense. But that doesn't mean we should do away with them all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anything can be trivialized if you detest social norms enough. Fake examples: > It took me forever to find a good font for my webcomic that wasn't comic sans. I'm astounded that apparently we can't use a perfects good font, lest some bogeyman jump out and make you regret it. It's a font! For Microsoft Bob's sake. How bad can it really be and why do we need to penalize the usage so? > John Smith, 56, was arrested for…
To be clear, the difference I'm calling out here is not that the cutural norm is stupid, but that it's only enforced in specific contexts for no apparent gain. I wouldn't say a large proportion of people are walking around in public naked, but a large proportion do swear in the course of normal speaking. Really, it's the news agencies which are the worst offenders in this regard, which is doubly bad because they will…
Sending humans to Mars seems less attractive to me than sending robots to Ceres. Is there an argument for Mars that doesn't include the phrase "multi-planet species"?
* Publicity * Human capability >> robotic capability * Mars as a very long term "Backup Earth" * If you can go to Mars with humans you can go to the Moon with humans as well. * Human capable systems can also carry robots, the reverse is not always true.
1) If we can live on mars, we can live on whatever state earth would be in, even if it was mars-like.
2) If earth becomes unlivable, the exhaustion of resources would mean we'll never be able to get to mars in the first place.
Either way, I just don't see a mars colony happening as anything except a temporary experiment. It's a really hostile environment.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be clear, the difference I'm calling out here is not that the cutural norm is stupid, but that it's only enforced in specific contexts for no apparent gain. I wouldn't say a large proportion of people are walking around in public naked, but a large proportion do swear in the course of normal speaking. Really, it's the news agencies which are the worst offenders in this regard, which is doubly bad because they will…
I totally get your opinion that language should be used more freely. But at the end of the day - different things are appropriate in different contexts. Some of these we feel strongly about, others, we may not. > A bathing suit is not considered appropriate at a wedding. > Emoji is not considered appropriate at a funeral. > White pants are not considered appropriate after Labor Day. > Swearing is not considered appro…