I'm studying it right now. Have an exam about it tomorrow. One of the major milestones in the history of sustainable development was "Our Common Future" (aka "The Brundtland Report"). Basically for the first time sustainable development became a massive issue, appearing on the international agenda, along with this key statement: In other words, development is important, but we cannot let it happen at the cost of our future generations. The environment where our children and their children will live in will have a great influence on their welfare, and thus must be preserved. That's the gist of it. ==== I think it's bull. Seriously. Humanity's awareness for the environment, and for sustainable development, has never been this high and a lot of people start taking measures. But to what avail? Sustainable development means creating strong, durable bonds between planet, people and profit. This, as I'm learning today but already knew before, is incredibly difficult. This is shown by the miserably failed gathering at Copenhagen. Aside from the many dilemmas we're bound to encounter along the road, some countries just plainly have an attitude problem. This is a blatant case of pondering over a Gordian knot if I've ever seen one. Why do we stretch humanity's life span, and how far do we plan to go? We won't have it any better at the time of the apocalypse, the eradication of the planet by whatever astrophysical means is chronologically the first (black hole, sun turning into a red giant, whatever) than that we have it now, if (and that's a very big if) we even make it that far. I predict that bending over backwards for generations to come (can't picture them being grateful to us by the way) and crawling through various narrow holes in order to save up for later will only end up prolonging a battle that we'll eventually lose. This is the rational and pragmatic aspect of my argument; this is not just an easy way out, this is ceasing to fight something we can't beat. There's no shame in aborting a mission that serves no purpose. Our alternative? We squander. We put the long-term thinking in the background or even get rid of it completely, in favor of a short-term thinking pattern. This will lead to an early (but either way inevitable) death of mankind's welfare, but quite possibly with an intenser and more satisfactory final spasm. "It's better to burn out than do fade away.", Neil Young sang, and Kurt pulled the trigger on himself. I don't think we can burn out per se, but we can try to do the closest thing to it. I, as a future biologist, will admit to start caring less about the environment. Unless of course the members of KHV can find a flaw in my rationale. Care to give your views?
Epica --- The Last Crusade
1989? Seriously? And yeah, vBulletin is basically the "skeleton" of this forum. They went from there, I guess.
No. You already posted when making this thread.
Ever cut through a shark's ovaries? Yeah, a thousand times worse.
Eminem --- No Apologies
Stereo Total --- Beautycase
Airbourne --- Runnin' Wild
It's been Wiktionary's Word of the Day for a while. It is a real word.
Disco Ensemble --- Bad Luck Charm
You may not like the analogy with inanimate objects, but the principle is largely the same. You release a new groundbreaking element with both benefits and risks. Synthetic life form or not, this is not new. But that risking, that "gambling" if you will, is the very foundation of science, of engineering and invention. Of creativity. It shouldn't hold us back, like it hasn't held us back many times in the past. I'd go as far as to say that mankind could use even more ambition. But ambition in its full package: the will to control as well as the will to create. Making a low-risk discovery depends on the balance of these two. We have erred in the past, and we have encountered nasty surprises (the radiation impact of cell phones to name one, or the health effects of smoking). Try to get ahead of ourselves is a human flaw. But rather than letting this flaw lead to inactivity, it should now urge us to think before we act, keeping the past and the future in mind. To learn to control what we're dealing with. I'm all for creating synthetic life forms, if they mind their steps when they tread on where the ice is thinnest.
yo dawg i herd u like to be right so i put some philosophy in yo philosophy so u can lern while u lern I hate using memes but I couldn't resist this time.
What about Necro Gardna, Kuriboh, Trap Eater and the Herald cards?
The effects aren't as visible as alcohol or dope, but smoking certainly has an effect on people. Smokers find it relaxing. Some of my friends only smoke in stressful situations, such as when they are approaching a deadline.
Since there would be less school hours a day, I don't think the differences would be that big. The learning pace can be adjusted in such a way that there will be no need to reprint textbooks, and teachers can get paid per hour. I don't support year round schools though. Kids and teenagers need something to look forward to. Look at all the adults who suffer from stress because their daily lives have become a drag. We don't want to increase this number or intensify the stress level by letting things become a drag at an earlier age. I say keep the current system. It's good enough as it is, even though many pubescent boys and girls may disagree.
I've never been a porn man but I have nothing against people watching it. I have no need for it but I can imagine that this isn't the case for all...
Listen to Alternative Plans. Then we'll talk. Never have I heard such a horrible pronunciation of the English language by a band that takes itself seriously than in that song. Salamander is a good song too. I've always liked it. Gives one energy. Soundgarden --- Pretty Noose
-moved- To Anime & Manga since most FMA threads are located there. I appreciate them quitting while they're ahead. Many mangas eschew that attitude and continue on and on, inevitably recycling the same old ideas.
Except that Dakota Fanning was a better actor than Pattinson and Stewart when she was half the age they are now. I'm not even a fan of hers, but give credit where credit is due. Not looking forward to it. The Twilight books were brainless, uninteresting chow for anyone looking to waste several hours of their life. Logically the movies were a complete waste of time too. The acting was poor and the effects were nothing special. Count me out.
