climate change times are a changin'

[joecct]

Another reason why spreading the eggs to other baskets is the only job humanity has right now that matters.

Protecting our environment here gives us more time to do that.

So basically, if an activity is shortening our time and not contributing to egg spreading, shut it down. If an economic system is not improving the expected value of the ratio of egg spreading divided by time left, shut it down.

Global defense spending is $1.2T. Global space spending is $50B. 24:1. Reverse those numbers or we as a species don't belong Out There.

I suspect cooperative species like frogs, cranes and butterflies dominate the universe's space-faring, because territorial species like primates commit suicide before they reach the stars. Darwin Award on the largest stage of all.

Kep -not every alien civilization we meet out there will be friendly. There is a reason for "Trade follows the flag."

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Kep -not every alien civilization we meet out there will be friendly.

Oh, I assume the first thing a space civilization of butterflies would do is identify all the competitive dominant species with a chance at space faring and blow them away in self-defense. It would be the rational thing to do.

I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly.

The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them.

We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk.

The result is, we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war. Free to pursue more... profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder.

Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer.

The decision rests with you.

 

[The Sicatoka]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Another reason why spreading the eggs to other baskets is the only job humanity has right now that matters.

As you said, "We are bacteria ... " and I'm guessing intergalactic penicillin of one form or another is out there.

Knowing that, (and switching to a birding reference) should we go and soil other nests?

 

[unofan]

Oh, I assume the first thing a space civilization of butterflies would do is identify all the competitive dominant species with a chance at space faring and blow them away in self-defense. It would be the rational thing to do.

Read the Three-Body Problem trilogy when you get a chance. It gets into the galactic-political arena heavily. The middle book especially.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Read the Three-Body Problem trilogy when you get a chance. It gets into the galactic-political arena heavily. The middle book especially.

I did. I LOVED it.

Wait. What middle book? The book I'm talking about is the Chinese SF dude and it's just one novel, although it may have been divided.

Were you the person who recommended Kinsella to me? Because that was probably the most disappointing book I've ever read. Incredible first third, then garbage, as if the author died and her idiot political hack cousin finished it.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

As you said, "We are bacteria ... "

I believe The Agent called us a "virus."

But I'm saying the future will take care of itself. If the human part of us can get clear of the planet before the ape part destroys it, then we deserve to perpetuate. If not, then the universe is better off without us.

This system is self-correcting.

 

[unofan]

I did. I LOVED it.

Wait. What middle book? The book I'm talking about is the Chinese SF dude and it's just one novel, although it may have been divided.

Were you the person who recommended Kinsella to me? Because that was probably the most disappointing book I've ever read. Incredible first third, then garbage, as if the author died and their idiot political hack cousin finished it.

The other two books in the series have since been translated as well. The middle one is The Dark Forest Theory (or something like that). Can't remember the title of the third one. The second is as good as the first, imo. The third one, I think he struggled to come up with an ending.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

The other two books in the series have since been translated as well. The middle one is The Dark Forest Theory (or something like that). Can't remember the title of the third one. The second is as good as the first, imo. The third one, I think he struggled to come up with an ending.

Holy crap, I need to read those immediately. I was blown away by the first book in a way I haven't been since I read Foundation and Ringworld in my mid teens and Dick and some of the experimental Brits in my late teens. It was a completely original idea. Once you've put a few thousand books away those are unicorns.

Edit: just bought books 2 (Dark Forest) and 3 (Death's End) on Kindle. Interestingly, the translator of the second book is a different person.

Hee hee, I can't wait! Thank you very much for this.

In return, I have two suggestions:

1. Spin, Robert Charles Wilson

2. His Master's Voice, Stanislaw Lem

 

[unofan]

Holy crap, I need to read those immediately. I was blown away by the first book in a way I haven't been since I read Foundation and Ringworld in my mid teens and Dick and some of the experimental Brits in my late teens. It was a completely original idea. Once you've put a few thousand books away those are unicorns.

Edit: just bought books 2 (Dark Forest) and 3 (Death's End) on Kindle. Interestingly, the translator of the second book is a different person.

Hee hee, I can't wait! Thank you very much for this.

In return, I have two suggestions:

1. Spin, Robert Charles Wilson

2. His Master's Voice, Stanislaw Lem

Like I said, I really like The Dark Forest. I was less enamored with the third one, mainly because I felt like it hit the Idiot Ball trope pretty hard.

And I was not the recommender of Kinsella, fwiw.

 

[mookie1995]

just bought books 2 (Dark Forest) and 3 (Death's End) on Kindle. Interestingly, the translator of the second book is a different person.

Hee hee, I can't wait! Thank you very much

Mookie can't buy kindle books. He likes dead trees on shelves. Yah, he has issues.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Mookie can't buy kindle books. He likes dead trees on shelves. Yah, he has issues.

I have a beautiful library of dead trees at my house, with hundreds of fine volumes of history, philosophy and literature. I'd say somewhere between $10-20k. I literally cannot give them away: bookstores and even our local library won't touch anything that isn't below the Harry Potter Mendoza line.

I started to go Kindle when my eyes started to go. Resizable font FTW. I'll never go back -- the Kindle in my car holds an entire Medievalist graduate program of original sources. It weighs about 5 ounces.

 

[geezer]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

the Kindle in my car holds an entire Medievalist graduate program of original sources. It weighs about 5 ounces.

This is it for me. I travel quite a lot and I'm still giddy when I pack my "library" in my carry-on. Compared to the old days...

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

I prefer "pop-fiction" on my Kindle. If I'm looking to get lost in a book, hardcover is the only way to go.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

If I'm looking to get lost in a book, hardcover is the only way to go.

Got a spare $20k lying around?

But you have to come pick them up. I'll throw in the shelves for free.

At least I'd know they went to a good home.

You'll need at least one of these.

 

[joecct]

I have a beautiful library of dead trees at my house, with hundreds of fine volumes of history, philosophy and literature. I'd say somewhere between $10-20k. I literally cannot give them away: bookstores and even our local library won't touch anything that isn't below the Harry Potter Mendoza line.

I started to go Kindle when my eyes started to go. Resizable font FTW. I'll never go back -- the Kindle in my car holds an entire Medievalist graduate program of original sources. It weighs about 5 ounces.

I checked. There is no penalty for reading a Kindle while driving. However, if you are using the Kindle app on your cell phone, that is a $250 fine.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Got a spare $20k lying around?

But you have to come pick them up. I'll throw in the shelves for free.

At least I'd know they went to a good home.

You'll need at least one of these.

Not for books.

Wait, do you have any first editions worth owning?

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

I checked. There is no penalty for reading a Kindle while driving. However, if you are using the Kindle app on your cell phone, that is a $250 fine.

Distracted driving is a catch-all. Sorry.

 

[Kepler]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Wait, do you have any first editions worth owning?

Only a daughter.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: climate change times are a changin'

Ha! Nicely done.

 

[joecct]

Only a daughter.

Is the dowry the book collection?