Came to the party late, so any individual responses will be buried/futile...but have greatly appreciated your voice in the debate. Forgive me for unleashing my torrent of thoughts on you in one fell swoop, but it would probably fall on deaf ears in responding to others.

Why? Have you looked at the molecular machines inside a protist lately?

Space colonization is the ultimate form of escapism. “We’ve fucked up Earth’s ecology and our society beyond hope. Oh well, just skip planet and make a new Earth out there. All we need is sweat and will.”

Invent new ones! That’s the point!

Why does it seem to be ignorant nonsense to you? Do you have any evidence that FTL travel happens? Do you understand the physics behind it?

Also... there is no God, love is a fleeting byproduct of biochemistry, all your loved ones will pass away some day, the sun will be extinguished when its fuel is exhausted, and the universe will die a slow whimpering death.

Space is big. Really really big, and despite science fiction stories that rely on interstellar travel, in all likelihood, we’re probably never going to colonize the stars. Over on Boing Boing, Kim Stanley Robinson outlines why Earth will be our only home.

So you’re saying there’s no problem at all when people are killing themselves with guns as much as people are getting killed by others with cars. Nothing to worry about.

Oh, well, as long as people are shooting themselves with guns as often as people are getting killed by cars, there’s no problem at all. Everyone move on with your day.

I’ve read that in Singapore they have “no durian” signs on public transport, so I don’t think it would matter that much where the train was.

Put this stuff in a crowded train, and let’s see how subjective everyone is.

Where in the article does it mention race?

We are either one race or about ten dozen races.

Wow. Those faces are ugly.

Books 1-3 are great. 4-5 are shit. The show has been “TV Great” throughout, but only genuinely, unequivocally better than the books this season.

I used to scoff at the idea of a GoT feature film, but after “Hardhome,” I need a feature film, especially if the big climax of the series is going to be a human/wight/White Walker/dragon battle royale.

What's harmful are those dreads you're sporting, dude.

Good stuff. Comparison between AI and the Pyramids is fantastic. There is a contradiction inherent in 'Artificial Intelligence' that no intelligence CAN be artificial. That is pretty bald and I won't go into it more than that but Mr. Lanier's notion that the whole deal is a con or a fraud is spot on.