Last Universal Common Ancestor

[Cancel 1 2023]

I just came here to discuss microbiology and the origin of life. Who could have predicted it would attract rage-a-holics?

Well, you know some of us like me were attempting to discuss early life microbiology with the whole chirality discussion which you avoided so you could complain about other people.

 

[Melchizedek = Michael]

This thread has gone waaaay down.

Who doesn't go waaay down sometimes

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Devolution is merely my "outside of the box" suggestion as to what could be happening.

More certain is this.

Public education is funded by local property taxes and managed by locally elected school committees.

I would rather it be funded by federal income tax and controlled by the federal department of education.

I'm not looking to debate this right here; we both already know I'm a central government advocate.

Now here's the thing. Conservative Middle Americans don't like paying taxes, including local ones,
and they don't like the teachers [only they call it not liking the teachers' unions, which of course, are the teachers],
and they certainly don't like throwing a lot of money at public education.

They even want to take money AWAY from public education to get vouchers for their unaccredited Jesus schools, Jesus help us all.

Here, we do throw money at education with our property taxes, but we're still stuck with un-professional elected school committees,
NOT properly accredited PhDs in education which is what I would prefer.

In any case, coastal education [except for Florida] is at least close to the better global standards, while Middle American education is pretty much third world.

Now we have Joe Sixpack from West Bumfuck, Kansas, feeling the intellectual inequity between himself and Nifty from Boston,
and instead of seeking to improve himself, he chooses to hate Nifty from Boston, largely for Nifty using polysyllabic words that Joe doesn't understand.

That's how Joe Sixpack convinces himself that he wants vile things, anything different from what the "elitist' Nifty wants.

All of this, of course, is pretty much self evident and probably doesn't require further discussion between us. Agreed?

You make a long-winded rant and then ask, can we stop discussing this now?

A less winded reply: I support education as the main path to America maintaining its place in the world.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I just came here to discuss microbiology and the origin of life. Who could have predicted it would attract rage-a-holics?

I would have predicted it. It's the nature of anonymous Internet forums.

Remember this oldie but goodie?:

Q: How many internet mail list subscribers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: 1,331:

• 1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail list that the light bulb has been changed.
• 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.
• 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.
• 27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.
• 53 to flame the spell checkers
• 156 to write to the list administrator complaining about the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.
• 41 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.
• 109 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this email exchange to alt.light.bulb
• 203 to demand that cross posting to alt.grammar, alt.spelling and alt.punctuation about changing light bulbs be stopped.
• 111 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts **are** relevant to this mail list.
• 306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.
• 27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs
• 14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly, and to post corrected URLs.
• 3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.
• 33 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them including all headers and footers, and then add "Me Too."
• 12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they cannot handle the light bulb controversey.
• 19 to quote the "Me Too's" to say, "Me Three."
• 4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.
• 1 to propose new alt.change.light.bulb newsgroup.
• 47 to say this is just what alt.physic.cold_fusion was meant for, leave it here.
• 143 votes for alt.lite.bulb.

 

[Cypress]

It's sadly understandable for people to believe what they want to be true.

The real issue is actually this:
many Americans want fundamentally anti-intellectual and reactionary things to be true.

This is a sign of devolution, the beginning of a mutation from minimally qualifying human to sub-human,
and we don't really have a good explanation for it.

We either figure it out or we perish within the next ten or twenty generations or sooner, probably.

It's an academic discussion,
but there's no reason for me to give too much of a fat flying fuck about it
at this late stage of my life.

Nietzsche had a concept of where we may be headed as a species, The Last Man, basically a couch potato with no drive or ambition, taking no risks, basically the end of the line for human regeneration.

 

[NiftyNiblick]

Nietzsche had a concept of where we may be headed as a species, The Last Man, basically a couch potato with no drive or ambition, taking no risks, basically the end of the line for human regeneration.

Humanity, like everything else, wasn't destined to last forever.
If we're clearly headed to Waterworld, we're not having much of a breakup party.
It's a shame.

 

[Cypress]

I would have predicted it. It's the nature of anonymous Internet forums.

Remember this oldie but goodie?:

Q: How many internet mail list subscribers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: 1,331:

• 1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail list that the light bulb has been changed.
• 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.
• 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.
• 27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.
• 53 to flame the spell checkers
• 156 to write to the list administrator complaining about the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.
• 41 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.
• 109 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this email exchange to alt.light.bulb
• 203 to demand that cross posting to alt.grammar, alt.spelling and alt.punctuation about changing light bulbs be stopped.
• 111 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts **are** relevant to this mail list.
• 306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, and what brands are faulty.
• 27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs
• 14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly, and to post corrected URLs.
• 3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.
• 33 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them including all headers and footers, and then add "Me Too."
• 12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing because they cannot handle the light bulb controversey.
• 19 to quote the "Me Too's" to say, "Me Three."
• 4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.
• 1 to propose new alt.change.light.bulb newsgroup.
• 47 to say this is just what alt.physic.cold_fusion was meant for, leave it here.
• 143 votes for alt.lite.bulb.

I've been falsely accused of being many things on jpp, but ravenous wolf is a new one!

With regard to your post: Once you get more than five people together, it is difficult to maintain focus. I always thought that during a Zombie apocalypse, there really isn't safety in numbers. I would want to be in a small group of three or four heavily armed people; a group small enough to be nimble and make rapid decisions on effective courses of action!

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Humanity, like everything else, wasn't destined to last forever.
If we're clearly headed to Waterworld, we're not having much of a breakup party.
It's a shame.

Not enough water. Coastlines have changed throughout history. Usually the other way with the ocean receding several hundred feet during Ice Ages.

As for humanity; we're the first species on the planet capable of destroying ourselves and most other species. That may or may not happen, but it'd be nice if there were off-planet colonies to preserve the species before self-destruction on Earth.

 

[NiftyNiblick]

Not enough water. Coastlines have changed throughout history. Usually the other way with the ocean receding several hundred feet during Ice Ages.

As for humanity; we're the first species on the planet capable of destroying ourselves and most other species. That may or may not happen, but it'd be nice if there were off-planet colonies to preserve the species before self-destruction on Earth.

It probably isn't necessary. In an infinite universe, there are probably an infinite number of planets, well beyond our reach, that are home to human-like creatures like ourselves.

Let's be honest, Unc. Our strain hasn't exactly distinguished itself. If our time is up, should we really give a fuck?

 

[Cancel 1 2023]

Not enough water. Coastlines have changed throughout history. Usually the other way with the ocean receding several hundred feet during Ice Ages.

After the ice sheets receded the countinental plates showed "rebound" or an uplift relative to the sea level. There's a goodly amount of water on earth and the sea level is not just a function of water volume but also landmass height.

At one point in the very distant past the entirety of the middle part of the US was a giant sea. The erosion of the Appalachian Mountains served to fill much of that in as well as some uplift as well.

 

[Cancel 1 2023]

With regard to your post: Once you get more than five people together, it is difficult to maintain focus.

Especially if one ignores all the science discussion so that they can go sock-hunting. I tried in good faith to discuss early life on here. Apparently the chemistry was too much.

 

[Cancel 1 2023]

I would have predicted it. It's the nature of anonymous Internet forums.
[/I]

I have seen you post exactly one science item on here and it was just a citation. You didn't seem to really understand it sufficiently to discuss it. But gosh ahmighty you have infinite bandwidth to conduct battles with pretty much everyone but Cypress.

Are you and Cypress socks of each other? (Since it seems that sock-hunting is exactly what we are supposed to be doing here).

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I have seen you post exactly one science item on here and it was just a citation. You didn't seem to really understand it sufficiently to discuss it. But gosh ahmighty you have infinite bandwidth to conduct battles with pretty much everyone but Cypress.

Are you and Cypress socks of each other? (Since it seems that sock-hunting is exactly what we are supposed to be doing here).

^^^
QED of Jank hypocrisy. Demands others stay on topic while he trolls others with off-topic comments.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

It probably isn't necessary. In an infinite universe, there are probably an infinite number of planets, well beyond our reach, that are home to human-like creatures like ourselves.

Let's be honest, Unc. Our strain hasn't exactly distinguished itself. If our time is up, should we really give a fuck?

When you produce evidence that is true, I'll become a believer.

You are free to view a half-full glass as completely empty and in need of being trashed, but I disagree. The fact a relatively puny bipedal hairless ape has become the most dangerous creature on the planet is quite distinguishing.

 

[Cancel 1 2023]

^^^
QED of Jank hypocrisy. Demands others stay on topic while he trolls others with off-topic comments.

^^^^QED of Doc Dutch hypocrisy. He posted one piece of science and the rest of his posts are mostly just attacks on people.

 

[Cypress]

Humanity, like everything else, wasn't destined to last forever.
If we're clearly headed to Waterworld, we're not having much of a breakup party.
It's a shame.

I think the average span of existence for any species in Earth history is estimated around a million years. There might be hominid species that evolve after Homo sapiens, but I don't see any guarantees they will be superior cognitively to us.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I've been falsely accused of being many things on jpp, but ravenous wolf is a new one!

With regard to your post: Once you get more than five people together, it is difficult to maintain focus. I always thought that during a Zombie apocalypse, there really isn't safety in numbers. I would want to be in a small group of three or four heavily armed people; a group small enough to be nimble and make rapid decisions on effective courses of action!

In a hostile environment, there is safety in numbers, albeit the Goldilocks Rule applies depending upon the circumstances.

Bronze Age villages averaged 500, although there were exceptions.

Hunter-gatherer tribes numbered up to a hundred.

https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/2360/how-large-were-bronze-age-settlements

. A village could have 5 to 80 houses for up to 500 people and cover anywhere from 0.1 to 2 hectares. An average village in the Bronze Age consisted of about 30 buildings.

As can be seen from this small sampling of Bronze Age civilizations, villages were common, with the largest settlements being on the scale of a medieval castle rather than a true town or city, with Crete being the major exception.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hunter-gatherer-culture/

Because hunter-gatherers did not rely on agriculture, they used mobility as a survival strategy. Indeed, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle required access to large areas of land, between seven and 500 square miles, to find the food they needed to survive. This made establishing long-term settlements impractical, and most hunter-gatherers were nomadic. Hunter-gatherer groups tended to range in size from an extended family to a larger band of no more than about 100 people.

 

[NiftyNiblick]

When you produce evidence that is true, I'll become a believer.

You are free to view a half-full glass as completely empty and in need of being trashed, but I disagree. The fact a relatively puny bipedal hairless ape has become the most dangerous creature on the planet is quite distinguishing.

I suppose from that perspective, you make a good point.
Still, imagine what that ape could have done if it had only met it's potential.
In some places, it has come closer than in others.
Our place is somewhere in the middle--not Afghanistan or Somalia but not Scandinavia either.

 

[Cypress]

Not enough water. Coastlines have changed throughout history. Usually the other way with the ocean receding several hundred feet during Ice Ages.

As for humanity; we're the first species on the planet capable of destroying ourselves and most other species. That may or may not happen, but it'd be nice if there were off-planet colonies to preserve the species before self-destruction on Earth.

I'm all for dreaming big, but if we cannot stop ourselves from destroying this planet, I don't think we should destroy another one if it is habitable and has an indigenous ecology. A dead planet like Mars is a different story

 

[NiftyNiblick]

I think the average span of existence for any species in Earth history is estimated around a million years. There might be hominid species that evolve after Homo sapiens, but I don't see any guarantees they will be superior cognitively to us.

Maybe more of them will be good at golf.
That was a limitation that has always tortured me.
I got down to eight once, but I couldn't sustain it.