Tolerate the Christian right ... WHY ?

[Feck]

absolutely nothing in science that precludes humans from evolving and adapting to zero-gee, high-rad environments.

Well apart from biology and time ...Lots of time ( NO Real time,not like Merkin History ..... TIME ! ) and the fact that the adaptations to allow that would mean NOT Human any more .

Is it me or does the libertarian movement Think Heinlein is a prophet or something .
Suggest an 'adaptation' 'humans' could make to survive hi-rad environments ?

[Schneibster]

Become cyborgs, and install shielding. If you call that "evolution;" and one might.

The original point was that most of space is inhospitable to our kind of life; it's empty of matter, for starters, which is kind of a necessity. How come jebus made so much empty space if we're so important?

But feel free to continue squirting ink and running off to hide, Seth.

[Feck]

So About 20' of lead and a massive EMP field ... yeah we Evolve that do we ? funny because last time I checked we can't even Evolve to synthesize vitamin C or B despite lots of other mammals having sorted that kind of easy stuff out but fuck it it there is no reason why humans can't evolve to thrive in Zero -G high Rad environments honestly ...( if you got your Science education from Robert ...makes sense if you got your Philosophy from Ayn I guess .....)

[Schneibster]

You'd be surprised how effective polystyrene is.

[Svartalf]

and I'll ask the same as Cormac, Do your parties have actual membership, or is it confused with voter registration?

I don't know what "party membership" means, apparently. Tell me more so I can answer.

You know, being a card carrying member, on the mailing list, possibly paying dues/registration fees every year to help the party, getting invited to assemblies so the grassroots supporters can tell the officials what they think the party line should be, voting or at least giving input on candidate designation at you local level... that kind of thing.

[Schneibster]

Nothing like that here, as far as some kind of "card" that says you're a member of a party, or dues you have to pay, at least not anything most people ever get involved in. Most people just register; the only record of what party they're a member of is their registration card, and the state voter rolls.

Now, there are committees; the DCCC, for example, or the DNC. But those are made important because the politicians pay attention to them; they're not "run by the party," they're autonomous, not least because there isn't anything in "the party" to "run" them. They can collect money and distribute it to candidates; this is why the candidates pay attention to them. When you hear someone in the US talk about "the Democrats," or "the Republicans," they're generally talking about a bunch of people who self-identify as that, period. There isn't any organization or hierarchy to it. You say you are and that's it; check that box when you register, is all.

[Seth]

Become cyborgs, and install shielding. If you call that "evolution;" and one might.

The original point was that most of space is inhospitable to our kind of life; it's empty of matter, for starters, which is kind of a necessity. How come jebus made so much empty space if we're so important?

You lie. The original point was that space is inhospitable to LIFE, not specifically human life. To wit:

If God Made the cosmos Why is almost every bit of it instantly Deadly to life ?

Then, in response to Gawdzilla's citation of dubious factoids and a question about whether I've ever been outside at night, I said:

Yes, I have. And everything I've seen in the night sky is an awfully long way away, which makes it difficult to even quantify how much stuff there is out there, not to mention the details of that composition and how it may or may not support life.

To which you replied with the smarmy comment:

Ummm, it's dark. Maybe you forgot.

That's because there's not an awful lot of stuff out there.

That would substantiate Gawdzilla's first claim, obviating your argument.

Which I rebutted with time-exposure photographs showing that the sky is not "dark," but in fact is filled with light and matter, most of it so far away that we have only the barest notion of it's nature and no knowledge at all of whether any of it is hospitable or inhospitable to "life." Not "human life," just "life."

It's the failure in intellect and ability to write clearly on Feck's and your part that you were unable to clearly express yourselves by expressly limiting the claim to "human life." Your failure to do so left open an obvious line of attack on your argument, which is that we don't know what forms of "life" may exist elsewhere in the universe, and we don't know that conditions elsewhere are "instantly fatal" to "life."

This make's Feck's claim patently false, and your defense of it just as false.

But let's examine Feck's question even further. Why wouldn't God create a cosmos "instantly fatal to [human] life?" Perhaps God wishes to limit human occupation of the cosmos to Earth. Or perhaps God wishes to challenge human beings to find ways to leave Earth and take dominion over the entire universe, but doesn't want to make it easy. Perhaps God has provided other human-friendly worlds circling other stars and created men in his own image on them and he doesn't want the various populations interbreeding or communicating.

There are a hundred possibilities that adequately answer the asinine rhetorical question that Feck asked in the first place. The most obvious is that God (if God exists) created the universe the way he did because it pleased him to do so, and it's none of Feck's business why he did so. God is not accountable to Feck, or to you, or me, for His decisions, now is he? God does as God pleases and we deal with the consequences, whatever they may be.

This comports well with the notion that God might be a right bastard and evil incarnate, which is why it's probably a good idea to worship Him as he commands, lest one be subject to his wrath. After all, if God does exist, it would be arrant stupidity to shake one's fist at God if God truly can doom one to eternal torment, now wouldn't it? Pascal was no fool, you see.

[Svartalf]

So, who gets on the committes and how do they get there? How do you get to run for office as one party or the other?

Because there must be SOME way to vet it... or TX might be electing Democrats in GOP clothing.

[Seth]

absolutely nothing in science that precludes humans from evolving and adapting to zero-gee, high-rad environments.

Well apart from biology and time ...Lots of time ( NO Real time,not like Merkin History ..... TIME ! ) and the fact that the adaptations to allow that would mean NOT Human any more .

Once again, and with gusto, define "human." Then define "not human" with respect to evolution. And nobody that I know of put a time limit on such adaptations/evolutions, so you're tossing buckets of red herring on piles of straw men.

[Schneibster]

Become cyborgs, and install shielding. If you call that "evolution;" and one might.

The original point was that most of space is inhospitable to our kind of life; it's empty of matter, for starters, which is kind of a necessity. How come jebus made so much empty space if we're so important?

You lie. The original point was that space is inhospitable to LIFE, not specifically human life. To wit:

If God Made the cosmos Why is almost every bit of it instantly Deadly to life ?

Ummm, last time I checked, 99.9999+% of the universe is vacuum. It contains no matter. Please tell me what you're calling "life" that isn't made of matter and doesn't contain matter.

I'm gonna go with, "inhospitable to life." If you want to make up fairy tales about "energy beings," feel free.

[Seth]

Become cyborgs, and install shielding. If you call that "evolution;" and one might.

The original point was that most of space is inhospitable to our kind of life; it's empty of matter, for starters, which is kind of a necessity. How come jebus made so much empty space if we're so important?

You lie. The original point was that space is inhospitable to LIFE, not specifically human life. To wit:

If God Made the cosmos Why is almost every bit of it instantly Deadly to life ?

Ummm, last time I checked, 99.9999+% of the universe is vacuum. It contains no matter. Please tell me what you're calling "life" that isn't made of matter and doesn't contain matter.

Kindly show your proofs that "the universe" is comprised of "99.9999+% vacuum."

I'm gonna go with, "inhospitable to life." If you want to make up fairy tales about "energy beings," feel free.

How exceedingly small-minded of you. You sound very much like a religious zealot who doesn't believe in evolution and that the Earth is only 6000 years old. How sad.

[Schneibster]

We did this already. Remember Olbers' Paradox?

[Feck]

Bollocks Seth I didn't raise the strawman I merely pointed out that 'humans ' cannot evolve to survive Hiradzerogee because the adaptations required are VASTLY different to what any complex life on this planet can survive . I asked YOU for some putative 'adaptations' that humans could conceivably evolve to cope with the conditions you suggested ... and ANY Definition of Human would not survive those conditions .

If only you loved L-Ron we might not have to put up with you

[Seth]

Bollocks Seth I didn't raise the strawman I merely pointed out that 'humans ' cannot evolve to survive Hiradzerogee because the adaptations required are VASTLY different to what any complex life on this planet can survive .

Please provide your robust scientific evidence that "humans cannot evolve to survive Hiradzerogee (sic)."

I asked YOU for some putative 'adaptations' that humans could conceivably evolve to cope with the conditions you suggested ... and ANY Definition of Human would not survive those conditions .

Well, first of all, not all of zero gee is "Hirad," now is it? Most of interstellar space is anything but, and humans have survived bursts of gamma rays from supernova for millions of years. Indeed, it may be cosmic radiation that caused the genetic mutations that caused humans to evolve in the first place. And an "adaptation" comprised of sufficient intelligence and technical skill to create a fusion power source that can generate an electromagnetic shield against cosmic radiation as a part of a generational intergalactic spaceship is hardly implausible.

Oh, also please provide your robust scientific evidence that no "Definition of Human" (sic) would survive "the conditions suggested," whatever those conditions may be, since I did not suggest any conditions.

[Schneibster]

...Olbers' Paradox...