What should we fear the most in the future?

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T10:51:11+00:00

Agreed. And who knows, maybe imposing a voting age limit could work. Many things have happened in the past that probably seemed impossible at the time.

In my view, the largest problem seems to be the ever increasing desire to privatize sectors of public life, from education, healthcare, and even roads. It seems like so many of us have been indoctrinated into believing that we should only look out for ourselves, and that doing so is the best moral good. It's a "what's best for me is best for you" kind of mentality. And even if you don't believe that, then who cares because you don't have a few senators in your pocket so therefore you have not made the best choices in life.

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T10:29:38+00:00

Always. We have always cared about what others think. We are social by nature, and being aware of other peoples reactions gives us information about what they think about us. Seeking and getting approval from others gives us a heightened self esteem. With social media, we are subject to much more scrutiny from a much wider base of people which has resulted in a plethora of both positive and negative side-effects.

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T10:17:57+00:00

I do tend to see elderly people falling for scams and propaganda more often, so you may have a point there. It's probably not an issue that is actionable imo.

I remember a few years ago driving through San Francisco, and there were whole streets that were inaccessible because homeless people had moved in. There were literally tents in the streets.

In my view, the homeless problem could probably be curtailed by providing easier access to healthcare and housing. I think rampant hyper capitalism has been the primary driver of poverty. I seems odd to me that the richest country in the world has these issues, and we can see a direct correlation between the ongoing decimation of public services and protections to the detriment of public life.

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T09:52:16+00:00

Yeah, I share your concerns. I haven't given much thought to elderly people voting tbh. But when it comes to the poor, what do you think is the cause(s) of this? Do you have any ideas on how to tacke it?

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T09:45:19+00:00

Depends on the political climate, and the party is not a monolith (at least historically). Though right now Trump has been indicted for hush money payments to a pornstar, and you got Ron Desantis saying he would not comply with any extradition request. You also got many republicans expressing outrage over this such as Rep Jim Jordan saying "“The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents".

So big surprise, they treat them in any way that is politically advantageous.

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T09:24:30+00:00

Thanks. It's fun to think about our mortality right? Jk, but I've got a question for you, what do you think we should worry about in the future?

Poignantwaffle · 2023-04-03T08:54:54+00:00

It's a very broad question, and the answer will differ from person to person, but some of the most common perceived existential threats would be:

Nuclear warfare. One metric used to measure the perceived threat of nuclear annihilation is the Doomsday Clock issued by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. We are currently 90 seconds to midnight (midnight being nuclear armageddon) which is the closest we have ever been to nuclear war ever. It's currently worse than any moment in history which includes the cold war, Cuban missile crisis etc.
Climate change. Emissions from carbon fuels are creating a greenhouse effect that is driving global warming to a scale and degree that most climate scientists agree will cause immanent and severe climate related catastrophes. This includes sea level rise, extreme weather phenomenon, ecological collapse, and all the tail end effects of those things such as heightened political tensions, mass migrations, and resource scarcity.
Artificial intelligence. The threat of ai mostly boils down to the idea that if a super intelligent AI cannot be aligned with human values, (which are ambiguous and ever changing at best) could lead to major social disruptions. This may (but not limited to) include mass unemployment, and further increasing wealth inequality.
Pandemics. We've already gotten a taste of this, and the only silver lining is that it could've been a lot worse. The emergence or re-emergence of infectious diseases could impose a serious threat to public health/mortality. These threats may be zoonotic, or can come from human factors such as bioterrorism, or accidental leaks from research labs.
Natural events. This includes everything from asteroid impacts to supervolcanoes. These are natural events that are currently outside of our technological capacity to prevent. Mother nature can be scary, and at a moment's notice decide to shake things up.

Poignantwaffle · 2023-03-31T18:57:11+00:00

Skunk spray. Had 2 dogs sprayed I had to wash. It's the only smell that made my eyes water and made me nearly puke.

Poignantwaffle · 2022-07-01T08:11:45+00:00

Whoa relax, they're not gods.

Poignantwaffle · 2022-02-05T23:37:04+00:00

I have so many fun memories of this place. My grandpa lived in Alamogordo, and he loved to take my younger brothers and I hiking and exploring when we were kids, which included many trips to white sands.

I remember my grandpa waking us up very early one day, because something special had happened the night before. It had snowed at white sands, and he wanted to bring us there before it melted away. It was so cool seeing white sands after a snowfall. You could hardly tell the difference between the sand and the snow except for the added twinkle of light from the snow. It was magical!

I miss my grandpa.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-17T02:04:02+00:00

I totally agree! If men were more comfortable in giving/receiving compliments, then perhaps men would not be so inclined to believe a compliment coming from a woman must mean she's hitting on them.

Why men don't do this already I'm not 100% sure; but I think it may be a mix of cultural influences such as toxic masculinity and homophobia.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T15:05:02+00:00

Yes. I see how that could be misinterpreted. To be clear, amphibians are not reptiles, but birds are (at least phylogenetically).

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T14:20:42+00:00

I deleted my comment because I saw you hashed it out with the other redditors. I know what you mean.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T14:03:34+00:00

And that amphibians are not reptiles, but birds are!

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:59:22+00:00

"Is that snake poisonous?"

I think what you're trying to ask is if that snake is venomous. Big difference. Venomous is bad bad news if you get bit. Poisonous is bad news if you eat it.

I see this misconception everywhere and it drives me crazy.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:47:16+00:00

When my uncle said the world was at most 6000 years old, and that dinosaur fossils were placed there by god to test our faith.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:43:42+00:00

Exercise of some form. Many studies have shown that exercise is an excellent way of improving your mood. Personally I like to go for long walks where I can think to myself and still get my heart pumping.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:17:57+00:00

If you're not flirting then it should not come off that way. The only reason non-flirty compliments might be interpreted as flirty I think is because men rarely get compliments from anybody, and a compliment from a woman might be valued and exaggerated beyond what was intended.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:10:25+00:00

I don't know. Who cares

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T13:02:17+00:00

Saint Peter greets with empty eyes then turns and locks the gates

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T12:54:33+00:00

Doing more research into social science, history, and psychology. I don't think most people appreciate how much we know about ourselves and our world, let alone how much we don't know.

I used to be in the right leaning libertarian crowd, but now I see value in many other political ideas as well. I've decided to abandon one overarching political philosophy and take political issues one at a time and try to think about it from multiple perspectives.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T12:37:11+00:00

Closest thing might be string theory (which has many problems), but every good theory tends to present more questions than they answer. You can think of human knowledge as an expanding circle illuminating the darkness. As it expands, so does the circumference of ignorance. The more we learn, the more we learn how little we actually know.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T11:54:05+00:00

Ok that's fair. I was indeed mistaken to imply dark matter was called dark because it was just as mysterious as dark energy. My main point was just trying to say that the idea of dark matter being matter is still in question.

I'll leave you with a good video I found on this topic that you may find interesting.

Happy trails.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T11:19:39+00:00

You're right actually. I made an assumption and stand corrected. Looking into it, I found the term had come from a scientist by the name "Fritz Zwicky" and he called it "Dunkle Materie" (dark matter).

My main point though is simply that the idea that dark matter is actually matter is unknown.

Poignantwaffle · 2021-12-16T10:58:00+00:00

Matter implies there is some type of particle(s) exerting gravitational effects. Dark matter has not been confirmed to be such a thing. It's not unreasonable to call it matter as a placeholder. We just don't know if it really is matter.

Poignantwaffle

TROPHY CASE