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Cake day: July 13th, 2023

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  • Goblin_Mode@ttrpg.networktoScience Memes@mander.xyzuhhh uhhhhh
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    1 year ago

    Why is not being alone in the universe a bad thing though?

    I actually get a great deal of comfort from the thought that us and our silly little squabbles are so inconsequential to the universe at large. That some alien species we can’t even begin to imagine is just doing the same shit we are 800 billion light years away. Makes me feel like maybe getting up for work in the morning ain’t so bad when you consider the scale


  • A tumor is a collection of cells that have one or more missing flags that would normally restrict cell growth, allowing it to grow and multiply far beyond what your body is built to allow for. The difference is that as it grows, a fetus will eventually reach a floor of cognitive ability to allow for sentience whereas a tumor will just spread.

    I’m not here to discuss the philosophical quandary of valuing one life over another. I don’t want to debate the ethical ramification of arguing on the behalf of a hypothetical man who has never known true autonomy, or a diefic figure who simply decides that from a utilitarian perspective your life is worth less than that of your neighbor. I’m simply saying that sentience is the defining characteristic of intelligent life. I don’t think that should have to be a controversial statement.

    An embryo may have the potential to become a human one day but at the moment it is not. Just like an acorn is not an oak tree. I wouldn’t sit under an acorn for shade, nor would I hang a tire swing from it, because it isn’t a tree. It’s an acorn. And an embryo is not a thinking and feeling human being. It’s an embryo.

    Now where am I getting this information from? Well I suppose I am applying my own personal understanding of it since I don’t have an exact quote or reference for you. I do not have a degree in biology, but I know someone who does, a lot of someone’s actually. Off the top of my head I can think of 5 people in my close, immediate circle who have studied biology at length, 1 of which has multiple degrees in the discipline and another 2 are doctors. And yes, I HAVE heard “human beings” described as having started to exist in that state from the point of sentience. Matter of fact, while I’m sure some do see it like you do I personally have never heard someone refer to a zygote or embryo as a human being… They call them zygotes and embros… Because that’s what they are, despite what they may potentially become.

    But that’s all beside the point. I can see you are just trying to be reasonable and explain that I will not convince anyone this way. And you’re probably right; but I will make a counterpoint. This is not a strawman. Despite what one feels or believes on the subject a fetus under a certain threshold of development is not capable of the very barest minimum required cognitive functions to be considered a human baby. And suggesting that it has more rights Than it’s fully formed human mother is fucking insane.





  • regardless of your views on the individuality of fetuses

    While I can appreciate what you’re going for here and will even relent that your argument is topical to the discussion at hand. I do feel the need to point out that a fetus is, by deffinition, objectively, not a human being.

    I get where you’re coming from and I respect that you believe these 2 things are equitable. But, feelings aside, capital punishment for a human being is very very very different from removing a small collection of half formed cells. Its like comparing the death of an animal to that of a tumor that was removed in a surgical procedure. The tumor died, but it’s not the same thing as killing an actually sentient aninal




  • I mean yeah but the point is that technological advancement was still a common occurance. Like, yeah a sensationalized article about self driving cars would blow some minds but to most i think it wouldn’t really make any bigger waves then basic cars already were at the time. How can they be blown away by the concept of self driving when the vehicle itself is so new and interesting you know? AI is so abstract that even today most people don’t understand it, 100 years ago it’d just be “another new thing” just like it is today… We are actually less accustomed to ground shaking new inventions so I’d argue that 100 years ago a lot of our modern tech would be less exciting given the regularity in which things were changing then.

    Social upheaval however is ALWAYS a huge deal, especially for the time. Bear in mind that Progressivism is a fairly new ideology in the States. For literally hundreds of years social change came at a snails pace and took serious, concerted effort. Nowadays we are on average much more open to change and accepting of diversity in all it’s forms, but there’s a reason everyone remembers the name Martin Luther King Jr., versus… Ruth Bader Ginsburg I guess?





  • Someone who relates to employers as though they were benevolent would be incorrect in the case against unions though? Unions have shown to be nearly universally beneficial to the workers that participate in them. That is not my opinion. That is verifiable fact.

    If a company was strictly benevolent as you’ve claimed then why contest the union? Why negotiate terms at all? Just hear what the employees en mass want and sign your name on the dotted line. The fact that this does not happen, and we constantly see company’s hire law firms to bust the unions or otherwise drag their feet to apply changes to company structure upon reaching a compromise is objectively evidence that the company is not benevolent.

    If unions didn’t work then there would not be unions.



  • It’s a food item and a day of the week.

    Yeah, “super bowl” also shouldn’t be trade marked, It’s far too generalized to be reasonable. Zoidberg should be as that is a character in a show and should be claimed by the creators with exception given to people whom have that name in real life referring to their own products.

    I’m lovin’ it also shouldn’t be trademarked. It’s literally just an expression of joy.

    I don’t get why this has to be a difficult concept. McDonald’s didn’t create anything new. The NFL didn’t fabricate the concept of extraordinary dishware. It is absolutely nonsense that anyone with enough money and influence can just choose a couple pre-existing words out of the English language and claim ownership.


  • Ehhhh there’s pros and cons to that. r/all on any given day is just bots karma farming off eachother with maybe 1 or 2 good posts mixed in alongside the occasionally genuinely interesting news article, which obviously sucks.

    But on the other side there is a TON of threads from the past decade that I know I still read once in a while and I’m sure others do too. Hell just yesterday I was looking for some info on mettalurgy and found a reddit thread where some guy asked my exact question and got good answers like 5 years ago. Having those be more accessible would be great… Plus a lot of niche communities are unfortunately just too small on Lemmy to produce the level of content they do on Reddit


  • That guy is obviously exaggerating for effect and you are technically correct, but he’s not wrong.

    Companies like Inuit and H&R Block have been lobbying for ages to keep the free file forms ridiculously overcomplicated, difficult to navigate/complete, and dangerously generalized to the point where if you mis-interpret a line on one of your several non-intuitively named financial forms you will be committing tax fraud

    It is objectively easier, safer, and more convenient to file taxes through one of these private companies and the is by design.




  • I mean I’m no expert but I do have some knowledge on the subject.

    The difference is how you injest it. Our stomachs are much more resilient than our lungs. Your stomach is, for all intents and purposes, a sac of acid that dissolves mostly anything you put in it, your lungs on the other hand literally only do 1 thing all day and it’s breathe air. There are different qualities of air of course, and microparticles in it that could cause harm, but on the whole it’s more or less all the same.

    Its like dumping garbage into a sink vs. a paper bag. The sink will get disgusting, and you may end up with a clogged drain, messed up pipes, or worse. But at the end of the day if you just clean the mess and don’t do it too often it will probably be fine. The paper bag on the other hand is gonna get Soggy, gross, and start falling apart in your hands. You can dry it out but it will never quite be the same…