Unsolicited Opinions

I ran across this interesting tidbit today. According to this article, nerds make the best romantic partners. Also see this page that describes why geeks and nerds are worth dating. Cool! I didn't know I was such a hot commodity. But, sorry ladies, I'm already taken ;) So fellas (and ladies), if you obsess over star trek, play video and computer games, and can write computer programs in more languages than you can speak, you should have an excellent shot at finding that special someone. But seriously, doesn't everyone have one thing they "geek out" over? For me the Transformers (Robots in Disguise) from the 80's hold a special place in my heart. Of course I also love video games and star trek. Real science is also something that piques my interest. These are all stereotypical geek pursuits, but I'm sure everyone obsesses over some hobby or pasttime that for the uninitiated looks extremely "geeky."

Labels: geeks

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Simpsons fan. Although the quality of the show's writing and comedy has somewhat declined in recent years, there's always something wickedly ironic and funny in each episode. The Simpsons is a great reflection of American culture, and I highly recommend that people from other countries and cultures watch it if you want to gain a little insight to us crazy Americans. Of course everything on the Simpsons is satire and extremely exaggerated, but many of the situations the Simpsons get into have a kernel of truth in the hyperbole. It's been a favorite game of mine to try to link any real-life event with an analogous stiuation portrayed on the Simpsons. With the help of the great Episode Guide at the Simpsons Archive, I can also get the reference info on the particular show. If anyone out there thinks they can stump me with a real-life event that can't be paralleled in the Simpsons, bring it on! I love a challenge!

Labels: simpsons

Wonder what will be in the news in 2056? Check out last week's (or is it the week of June 22nd 51 years in the future?) edition of The Onion. For anyone unfamiliar with The Onion, it's pure hilarity. This satirical fake newspaper is inspired.

Labels: humor

Ever hear of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement? Me neither. Until I saw this website. They don't advocate anything so radical as mass suicide or genocide. They merely want to convince all human beings everywhere to stop having children. Then, when everyone currently alive dies, the human race will quietly go extinct, and the planet and all other living species can recover from our horrible abuse of the environment.

Wow. Of course, the solution to all our ecological problems is to get rid of the source! Humanity is the source of all problems, thus humanity should be destroyed! Genius, pure genius! (to echo Homer Simpson in this episode, "In case you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic.")

I think you've got an unreasonably pessimistic view of humanity if you think we are inexorably headed to ruin for both ourselves and the Earth. Rather than giving up and saying we're no longer worthy to exist, shouldn't we focus on fixing our problems and cleaning up our messes? Polution and population growth are problems, but they are not unsolvable and insurmountable. I'm not an expert and I'll have to look up the statistics, but isn't population growth slowing or even negative in developed countries? As more and more people rise above poverty in India and China, won't these countries as well get to the point where their populations stabilize?

Admittedly, we're not doing enough to protect the environment. But aren't we doing more now than we did in the 80's and 90's? Haven't aerosol spray cans stopped using CFC's so that they don't continue to harm the ozone layer? Don't we recycle more than we used to?

I'm not saying there is no problem, or that all problems are easily solved. But I think it's a bit premature to throw in the towel on humanity. Human beings are just as much a part of nature as any other species. Don't we deserve to give ourselves a chance?

Of course, I think the result of VHEMT's efforts won't be the extinction of humanity. I doubt they'll convince more that 0.00001% of people in the world to actually stop reproducing. And the people they do convince won't have any kids they can pass their beliefs and ideals on to. Natural selection wins again, and humanity goes on.

Labels: craziness, oddities

Welcome! Here's my first official blog post. I don't know if I'll really keep this up, but let's see if I can come up with anything interesting to say. To start the ball rolling here's an interesting blog I read regularly:

www.davidbrin.blogspot.com

David Brin is a science fiction author that has plenty of interesting ideas about modernism, science, and civilization. The discussions on his blog are very interesting and usually very civil, so I highly recommend it. You can also check out his website at www.davidbrin.com

On a lighter note, check out:

www.shortpacked.com

This is a webcomic that centers around a group of employees in a toy store and their encounters with obsessive toy and comic book fans. Being an obsessive fan of Transformers myself, I find the humor very pointed.

If anyone out there is actually reading this, feel free to comment. If there's something you'd like to talk about, let me know. I'd love to post solicited as well as unsolicited opinions ;)

Labels: blogging, introduction