Mankind is degrading

[Reach]

Re: Mankind is degrading

''Can you become a genius by setting your mind to it? No.''

HAH. False.

If you take a real good look at most genius in the world, these people have pushed themselves to the absolute limit of sanity before acheiving what they believe in.

I agree, some people are born superior to others, obviously. Some people have more talent and abilities than other people; it's an undeniable fact. However, genius is rarely something that just happens. People that do something truely great in this world dedicate their lives to doing it. Mozart didn't just sit down and write 500 masterpieces. He was ****ing beaten as a child and practiced day in and day out until he was absolutely flawless. It would have NEVER happened if he didn't put his mind to it. A self fullfilling prophecy; something I strongly believe in.

It's pretty amazing what the mind can do if you really do truely put your mind to it. It helps to have a mental advantage over other people, and how you were raised is a big KEY factor too...but you ultimately control your destiny. People talk about how famous composers can hear what they write in his head before he wrote it. A gift? I couldn't hear anything until I started music lessons. Now I write my own music and can indeed, hear what I what to play in my head. It doesn't just come to you. You bring it out of yourself.

Gelsamel...lol. You would get up into space just as fast as the space shuttle with the elevator. You wouldn't be standing like a traditional elevator. G-force is created by acceleration. Contrary to popular belief - you only experience about 4 g's on the space shuttle; the equilivant of the launch on the hulk roller coaster in orlando flordia.

It's not really a question of wether it is possible or not...because it is possible. The real question is will there be enough funding and such put into it. It would be beneficial - that way all real launches could be from the moon which...well, if you know anything about the cost of launching something into space, it would cut it down dramatically.


"I personally do not believe that mankind is degrading and it is simply that the majority of people will always think the same way. The majority of people will always say what looks impossible is impossible. It is just how things are."

Just because it's the way things are doesn't mean it's not degrading. Geeze...back in the day it wasn't out of the normal to hang people under accusations for being a witch. It's official - man kind is degrading and probably always will be...atleast on some scale.

PS: it's official that the SAT is a piece of ****. It just is a crock of ass.

[aperson]

Re: Mankind is degrading

I just noticed this thread and read Benny's post. Benny, you're at that formative phase in life with an interesting duality: You're at the point where you feel that you're above society, but that age is the same time where societal-minded thinking and group-need starts to develop. Your new experiences and changed mental outlook are causing you to feel this way, but really, you'll grow out of it:

Mankind isn't any different, your perception is just changing. Congratulations, you're on the path to wisdom like everyone else. In a few years you'll become aware of how sparse, arbitrary, and dalliant your perception is and learn to laugh at things like this.

I figured Reach would be smart enough to not get so riled up over this though

[Porkbutts]

Re: Mankind is degrading

I remember a smart quote: "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens"

I think intelligence isn't as much of an ideal amount or number, but more as a rate at which one gains knowledge. The more intelligence you have just means you'll take in things faster. That doesn't mean someone is smarter than you are. Thats why people achieve great things in life. It's because they work hard and that overcomes intelligence.

Mindset leads to working harder, working harder leads to better results. that's confidence.

Mindset leads to arrogance, arrogance leads to lazyness and failure.
that's overconfidence.

What i like best though is that, all people are created different, and people are always going to be people. No one is ever more right than the other. People just have different opinions, and those opinions are either more widely or less accepted by society.

[Porkbutts]

Re: Mankind is degrading

Oh, and I think people say things are impossible is because they're used to that kind of reality. People have abandoned those cinderella movies and other disney movies, where there are always happy endings.

More accepted genres are those of reality: depicting that the world really is f*cked up, and that you don't get everything you want. Cuz, thats the way most of the world is. People try to hide it, but its there. There are people starving every day. Those pair of jeans your wearing are made for like half a cent in Taiwan or India, and sold for 12 dollars here in america. Because of this kind of stuff, people are used to bad news, people are used to put downs. It's a habit, so its hard to accept news that deviates from what they're used to hearing. Like if you heard you just won a million dollars, wouldn't you be skeptical?

[Gelsamel]

Re: Mankind is degrading

''Can you become a genius by setting your mind to it? No.''

HAH. False.

If you take a real good look at most genius in the world, these people have pushed themselves to the absolute limit of sanity before acheiving what they believe in.

I agree, some people are born superior to others, obviously. Some people have more talent and abilities than other people; it's an undeniable fact. However, genius is rarely something that just happens. People that do something truely great in this world dedicate their lives to doing it. Mozart didn't just sit down and write 500 masterpieces. He was ****ing beaten as a child and practiced day in and day out until he was absolutely flawless. It would have NEVER happened if he didn't put his mind to it. A self fullfilling prophecy; something I strongly believe in.

I think you've totally missed his point there. He means that if you don't have the natural skill in you to become a genius then you can't become one no matter how much you try. He didn't say that if you have to natural skill to become a genius then you don't have to work at all.

Gelsamel...lol. You would get up into space just as fast as the space shuttle with the elevator. You wouldn't be standing like a traditional elevator.

I didn't say it would be either way.

G-force is created by acceleration.

No ****.

Contrary to popular belief - you only experience about 4 g's on the space shuttle; the equilivant of the launch on the hulk roller coaster in orlando flordia.

Actually it's about 6gs. I've never been on a hulk roller coaster - but most roller coasters only go to about 3g. But considering it's "The Hulk" rollercoaster I would expect it to be a bit faster.

It's not really a question of wether it is possible or not...because it is possible. The real question is will there be enough funding and such put into it. It would be beneficial - that way all real launches could be from the moon which...well, if you know anything about the cost of launching something into space, it would cut it down dramatically.

Ah but it is a question about whether it is possible. There are still many unanswered questions. Like collisions? How are they going to get it up there? Think about weather or corrosion? What about terrorism? And for those who've done advanced physics ever though about vibrational harmonics

Btw; Just food for Thought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ says

"An intelligence quotient or IQ is a score derived from a set of standardized tests developed to measure a person's cognitive abilities ("intelligence") in relation to their age group. An IQ test does not measure intelligence the way a ruler measures height (absolutely), but rather the way a race measures speed (relatively)."

Actually after reading the article a bit more it seems like alot of people in this thread have just been requoting it as their own words. Well at least the first half of the thread where I read upto xD.

Oh well this is getting extremely boring now.

Cya later.

~Gelsamel

Edit: Actually on a last note; Yes it is possible, in a perfect world. But in a perfect world you ignore friction. In a perfect world all mechanical collisions are local. Etc. Otherwise no, not untill they come up with ways to circumvent the imperfections.

[Reach]

Re: Mankind is degrading

Ok, where the hell is the quick quote button?????

''I didn't say it would be either way.''

Ok

"As for the space lift I don't think it is possible. Media esp. Internet has been known for it's bull**** content and without delving deep into the situation (since I'm a lazy ass mf, and I couldn't careless) I wouldn't put any weight into it.

If it does happen good for you. You can sit in an elevator for a few days while you slowly climb up through the atmosphere. (Or if they decide that is too long then you could just get training from NASA and go up in the elevator pulling 20gs"

You did say it. Indirectly, since it's obvious it's not like a building elevator. oh...you were exaggerating. Doesn't change the fact you said it. XD

And I'm not getting riled up over anything ap. I just like the discussion. I also put in " 's anything I directly ripped (that big thing).


Oh and I didn't miss the point. It doesn't matter either way. Regardless of your ability you CAN bring genius out of you. It's in everyone. You just don't have it or you don't. Everyone has it to various degrees in various areas. The hard part is really bringing it out, and for many they never get a chance (poor upbringing ect.) I will not deny the fact that genetics will determine the degree of your genius, since that is fact.



And for the last thought...there are some things on wikipedia on those space elevator issues I just looked up. Or I assume you simply looked up those problems there. I'll paste them here so people can read them.

Corrosion
Corrosion is a major risk to any thinly built tether (which most designs call for). In the upper atmosphere, atomic oxygen steadily eats away at most materials. A tether will consequently need to either be made from a corrosion-resistant material or have a corrosion-resistant coating, adding to weight. Gold and platinum have been shown to be practically immune to atomic oxygen; several far more common materials such as aluminum are damaged very slowly and could be repaired as needed.


Weather
In the atmosphere, the risk factors of wind and lightning come into play. The basic mitigation is location. As long as the tether's anchor remains within two degrees of the equator, it will remain in the quiet zone between the Earth's Hadley cells, where there is relatively little violent weather. Remaining storms could be avoided by moving a floating anchor platform. The lightning risk can be minimized by using a nonconductive fiber with a water-resistant coating to help prevent a conductive buildup from forming. The wind risk can be minimized by use of a fiber with a small cross-sectional area that can rotate with the wind to reduce resistance. Ice forming on the cable also presents a potential problem. It could add significantly to the cable's weight and affect the passage of elevator cars. Also, ice falling from the cable could damage elevator cars or possibly the cable itself.

One reasonably recent result is that high wind speeds can flatten the elevator cable horizontally across the surface of the Earth perhaps a hundred kilometers. Surprisingly, the stress on the cable is not significantly increased (since the elevator is tens of thousands of kilometers long the percentage increase is tiny) and no major damage is predicted.

[edit]
Sabotage
Sabotage is a relatively unquantifiable problem. A space elevator might prove an attractive target for a terrorist or other politically motivated attack. Concern over sabotage may have an effect on location, adding the constraint of avoiding unstable territories to the existing requirement of an equatorial site.


Vibrational harmonics
A final risk of structural failure comes from the possibility of vibrational harmonics within the cable. Like the shorter and more familiar strings of stringed musical instruments, the cable of a space elevator has a natural resonant frequency. If the cable is excited at this frequency, for example by the travel of elevators up and down it, the vibrational energy could build up to dangerous levels and exceed the cable's tensile strength. This can be avoided by the use of suitable damping systems within the cable, and by scheduling travel up and down the cable keeping its resonant frequency in mind. It may even be possible to do damping against Earth's magnetosphere.

A perfect world now will not be the same as a perfect world in the future ;o (hopefully XD)

I would assume the easiest way to avoid terrorism would be isolation (area 51 type deal) without clearance. Anything entering without clearance is shot down.