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Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

popularmechanics.com

51–56 of 56 posts

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#51
post #30

Frustratingly problematic headline, I'd expect better from Popular Mechanics. The title "Oops, Scientists May Have Severely Miscalculated How Many Humans Are on Earth" is entirely misleading- it's not "scientists" who have miscalculated this, it's government bureaucrats in various countries who are responsible for collecting and reporting census information in their region. This matters, because we live in a world wh…

The government bureaucrats in this case are usually scientists employees by the government. And as far as I'm concerned anybody using the scientific method is a scientists, and if they aren't then they aren't, job title is meaningless here. Stop pretending that scientist should be trusted. The recurring narrative you complain about is true and it's what separates science from dogma. Scientists are experts in incredib…

No they are not. These are administrators, plain and simple. Nothing wrong with that, but those positions don't require scientific education nor perform science. Not work for scientific institution nor are part of that process.

Stop lying, frankly.

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#52
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't need to be top-down corruption on the part of Dam Corp, LLC. Think about it this way - you and your family live somewhere and are being displaced to make way for a dam, some guy in a suit comes around and says "we'll pay $1000 per resident to move you somewhere else". Maybe your uncle lived at your house with his wife for 5 years, until they moved to the city last year. Your grandmother lived there until s…

Chekhov, "Dead souls". The scam can go both ways, you need to be local to know how it works and not benefit from it enough to snitch.

Gogol, not Chekhov

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Souls

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#53
post #52
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chekhov, "Dead souls". The scam can go both ways, you need to be local to know how it works and not benefit from it enough to snitch.

Gogol, not Chekhov https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Souls

I always mix those two. If it's on the funny side it's usually Chekhov

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#54
post #41
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you had an interest in writing a comprehensive treatise on German philosophy, not being able to complete it in one lifetime would strike many people as frightening. It’s one of those numbers that forces you to consider your own mortality, like those charts showing how many weeks there are left assuming you live to be 80 years old.

Frightening how? I'll probably die in about 2000 weeks plus or minus. So what.

I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty frightened at the thought of having to spend 2000 more weeks being stalked by an infinite horde of Chinese people trying to say hello. It's just not how I'd want to live my life.

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US spent 13.7B on census which is 1.37B/year since a census is done per 10 year. The ROI is definitely huge. It's not expensive at all.

It seems expensive at around $4-5 per person per year! I think a satellite could gather useful population information based on a year of observing people entering and leaving their homes. I also wonder why the government needs to account for everyone in America? Can’t it just account for taxpayers who voluntarily work with the government system at the state and federal level?

[deleted]

Re: Population much more than 8.2B, rural areas underestimated

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My high school was Ft. Knox, armed guards, metal detectors, ID must be worn and visible at all times. No backpacks, waist band exposed. Class doors automatically lock when the bell rang, anyone in the hall would be escorted out. No hall passes, no bathroom breaks, cameras everywhere. Except for 1 week. We had basketball tournaments and activities, movies, pizza parties, free ice cream. Wear whatever you want. No ID e…

This is so foreign to me, as a forty-something. Why do we let schools take security theatre to such tragicomedy. It likely breeds more killing than it prevents.

This wasn't so much theater. Even with all that we still had shootings, just mainly in the parking lot. This was well before Columbine and after every one joked how it wouldn't have happened here because too many students would have returned fire.

All of this security was in response to gangs and general violence of the late 80s / 90s.

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