Unpopular opinions.

[NJ2]

Or "a pint of Tennents" as the pub probably marketed it

Mushroom. Suppers.

[NJ2]

It would be great if people could stop quoting that trolling moron and giving him the attention he so desperately craves.

But nobody quoted you m9?! Zingzingzinglololololol
I thoroughly agree with your actual point. I have been guilty of it but it just descends in to cliched shite without any actual meaning and a waste of everyone’s time

[The OP]

55 minutes ago, Cardinal Richelieu said:

i was sitting in the pub with some chums, with a Polish girl, Czech girl and Romanian guy all sitting on one side of the table and all us Britishers sat on the other. I pointed out that this invisible "iron curtain" they'd drawn between us was a sub-conscious attempt by them to bring back Communism. That went down like a cup of cold sick, as you can imagine. 

I mind meeting an Israeli woman in the pub and walking back to her hotel with her as it was on my way (really 5 miles in the opposite direction obvs). She was stunned by the fact that Scottish people quite readily jaywalk when there are no cars in sight. I noted that I had been in Munich the week before and no-one jaywalked despite it being safe to cross, but also noted that the Germans have always got into bother by being far too willing to follow orders. Not the zinger I thought it was. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by The OP

[Herman Hessian]

2 minutes ago, The OP said:

I mind meeting an Israeli woman in the pub and walking back to her hotel with her as it was on my way (really 5 miles in the opposite direction obvs). She was stunned by the fact that Scottish people quite readily jaywalk when there are no cars in sight. I noted that I had been in Munich the week before and no-one jaywalked despite it being safe to cross, but noted that the Germans have always got into bother by being far too willing to follow orders. Not the zinger I thought it was. 

if you'd only have followed up with "....anyway love, never mind all that take a look at this - it's a foreskin !" whilst waving your cock at her, you'd  could have pretty much started filling in the breakfast options checklist on the dangly door-hanger thing 

[banana]

24 minutes ago, The OP said:

I have a child and I have three nieces and a nephew. They are all different. I'd imagine you're the type of shite parent who talks about 'boys stuff' and 'girls stuff' and would batter your wee boy if he wanted to take up ballet, not realising you are denying yourself some royalties to a very successful musical. 

As an aside, it's depressing to discover that you have procreated. 

Anyway, they are indeed all different, glad you agree!

[banana]

27 minutes ago, renton said:

We are "plundering" finite resources at an ever increasing rate. Our societal system, based on market capitalism demands it. This must inevitably remove those resources from future consideration, and the effort required to get at those resources re configures the world around it. Whether that is considered as an ecological problem (we destroy or poison vast swathes of forest and ocean), or a political one (we start an almighty war over the last drum of oil; We destroy the life chances of billions of people trapped in an increasingly unequal world), it creates conflict.  Who we're plundering it from is fairly obvious: Future generations who will inherent the world from us, or what is left of it.  

The consequences of this are entirely negative. The majority of the human race live on coastlines and near rivers which is a bit of an issue in a situation where we've all but given up on stopping the world from heating up and keeping the sea levels where they are. That's if the increasing carbon content in the atmosphere doesn't get sunk into the seas, acidifying those bodies and collapsing the food chain with it. 

The carrying capacity of the planet for human life is probably still able to stretch beyond the current 7.4 billion, and an optimal number would be as much based on behaviour as it is on sheer numbers: 7.4 billion vegans recycling their own crap creates far fewer consequences for the planet than the current system, after all. Still, worth noting that we live in a world where species of Rhino - a fairly harmless, fat armoured horse basically -  have been made extinct due simply to the passing resemblance of it's horn to a stauner, and a bunch of arseholes have been snorting ground up horn in a vain attempt to give themselves one. How fucked up is that?

Pollution I'll give you, there's work to be done there. Preparing and adapting to ever-inevitable changes in weather patterns, yes, places have always done this naturally anyway (seem monsoon, drought, migrating, moving upstream, etc...).

Are resources really finite (e.g. we're 50 years on from the first oil panics, and we're nowhere close to done), or is it more a matter of technology and human ingenuity? Resources are also reusable and refashionable, again by human ingenuity. We moved on from wood and peat to coal to blubber to oil/gas and increasingly now other fuels, solar and wind. There's a fair amount of resource out in the solar system too. Why do you think we're going to run out now rather than Future Generations adapting and innovating as we always have?

You can't think of one positive consequence of humanity's journey, you're entirely Doomsday about the future?

What are you comparing all this situation to when you judge it to be some overwhelmingly negative?

[Melanius Mullarkey]

32 minutes ago, NJ2 said:

Mushroom. Suppers.

Thursday night m9.

Thursday night.

[banana]

43 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

I view the way we do things on this planet as wrong and damaging to the environment (which I think there's fair evidence for), why do I need to compare it to anything?

What are we plundering? You really don't need me to explain that to you. The consequences obviously aren't only negative, but I would say on the whole they have a negative affect. Without us, pollution basically doesn't exist. 

Feel free to make the case for 20 billion humans living on the planet, I really don't have the energy for this back and forth.

How can you make a judgement if you're not comparing it to something else? Why wrong, compared to what? Damaging to the environment compared to what?

Pollution wasn't a thing before humanity? Wat. The atmosphere and makeup of the planet has constantly changed, become 'polluted' for what's living there at the time, with varying consequences. 

I'm not making the case for any number, I'm asking your reasoning why 7.4 billion is too many rather than not enough or just about right.

[NJ2]

Thursday night m9.
Thursday night.

I hope it’s your last

[The Moonster]

16 minutes ago, banana said:

How can you make a judgement if you're not comparing it to something else? Why wrong, compared to what? Damaging to the environment compared to what?

Pollution wasn't a thing before humanity? Wat. The atmosphere and makeup of the planet has constantly changed, become 'polluted' for what's living there at the time, with varying consequences. 

I'm not making the case for any number, I'm asking your reasoning why 7.4 billion is too many rather than not enough or just about right.

[renton]

25 minutes ago, banana said:

Pollution I'll give you, there's work to be done there. Preparing and adapting to ever-inevitable changes in weather patterns, yes, places have always done this naturally anyway (seem monsoon, drought, migrating, moving upstream, etc...).

Are resources really finite (e.g. we're 50 years on from the first oil panics, and we're nowhere close to done), or is it more a matter of technology and human ingenuity? Resources are also reusable and refashionable, again by human ingenuity. We moved on from wood and peat to coal to blubber to oil/gas and increasingly now other fuels, solar and wind. There's a fair amount of resource out in the solar system too. Why do you think we're going to run out now rather than Future Generations adapting and innovating as we always have?

You can't think of one positive consequence of humanity's journey, you're entirely Doomsday about the future?

What are you comparing all this situation to when you judge it to be some overwhelmingly negative?

Ever heard of the Great Cosmic Filter? It's a consequence of the Drake equation used to try and estimate the chances of meeting extra-terrestrial life. It posits that one reason we've never encountered signs from another intelligent species is that whenever a civilisation becomes advanced enough to broadcast signals into space, it shortly thereafter acquires the ability to blow itself sky high, or otherwise destroy itself. Techno-Optimism is all well and good, but it's basically mapping science fiction onto problems that need action now, as a means of denial to avoid changing our lifestyles (I say this as a man who doesn't really enjoy a vegetable unless it's on the side of a slab of red meat).

What we are looking at now is a runaway feedback event. It's not so much that weather might get a bit changeable, it's that sea levels must inevitably rise, ocean acidification may well doom whole biospheres, soil erosion may make large scale farming for billions of people an impossibility: Resources are definitely finite, and arable land is top of that list.  You talk about a comparison? Even 60-70 years ago, when there was half the human race there was now, we could enjoy beautiful vistas of nature and marvel at the sight of it all. Patting ourselves on the back because we managed to engineer a big enough wall to keep out the dead seas, is hardly a compensation for destroying it all in the name of exploiting the planet. No more Barrier Reef, no more Rhinos, no more Blue Whales, no more coast lines, no more fresh air, no more visiting the Great Pyramids because the equator will be so hot everything that moves will die. And what then when the human race is corralled into tighter enclaves of habitable land, vying for scarcer resources? No more liberty, no more free thought, no more great thinkers, no more privacy, no more art, no more science.

No more anything.

Edited July 24, 2018 by renton

[Melanius Mullarkey]

18 minutes ago, NJ2 said:

I hope it’s your last

Probably have one on Saturdays as well.

 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

9 minutes ago, renton said:

Ever heard of the Great Cosmic Filter? It's a consequence of the Drake equation used to try and estimate the chances of meeting extra-terrestrial life. It posits that one reason we've never encountered signs from another intelligent species is that whenever a civilisation becomes advanced enough to broadcast signals into space, it shortly thereafter acquires the ability to blow itself sky high, or otherwise destroy itself. Techno-Optimism is all well and good, but it's basically mapping science fiction onto problems that need action now, as a means of denial to avoid changing our lifestyles (I say this as a man who doesn't really enjoy a vegetable unless it's on the side of a slab of red meat).

What we are looking at now is a runaway feedback event. It's not so much that weather might get a bit changeable, it's that sea levels must inevitably rise, ocean acidification may well doom whole biospheres, soil erosion may make large scale farming for billions of people an impossibility: Resources are definitely finite, and arable land is top of that list.  You talk about a comparison? Even 60-70 years ago, when there was half the human race there was now, we could enjoy beautiful vistas of nature and marvel at the sight of it all. Patting ourselves on the back because we managed to engineer a big enough wall to keep out the dead seas, is hardly a compensation for destroying it all in the name of exploiting the planet. No more Barrier Reef, no more Rhinos, no more Blue Whales, no more coast lines, no more fresh air, no more visiting the Great Pyramids because the equator will be so hot everything that moves will die. And what then when the human race is corralled into tighter enclaves of habitable land, vying for scarcer resources? No more liberty, no more free thought, no more great thinkers, no more privacy, no more art, no more science.

No more anything.

No more banana, though.

Edited July 24, 2018 by Melanius Mullarkey

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

No more banana, though.

Yes! We have no banana.

[Mr. Brightside]

The Drake equation.

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, Mr. Brightside said:

The Drake equation.

 

[NJ2]

Probably have one on Saturdays as well.
 

Why are you the way you are?

[Melanius Mullarkey]

26 minutes ago, NJ2 said:

Why are you the way you are?

 

[D.A.F.C]

7 hours ago, renton said:

We are "plundering" finite resources at an ever increasing rate. Our societal system, based on market capitalism demands it. This must inevitably remove those resources from future consideration, and the effort required to get at those resources re configures the world around it. Whether that is considered as an ecological problem (we destroy or poison vast swathes of forest and ocean), or a political one (we start an almighty war over the last drum of oil; We destroy the life chances of billions of people trapped in an increasingly unequal world), it creates conflict.  Who we're plundering it from is fairly obvious: Future generations who will inherent the world from us, or what is left of it.  

The consequences of this are entirely negative. The majority of the human race live on coastlines and near rivers which is a bit of an issue in a situation where we've all but given up on stopping the world from heating up and keeping the sea levels where they are. That's if the increasing carbon content in the atmosphere doesn't get sunk into the seas, acidifying those bodies and collapsing the food chain with it. 

The carrying capacity of the planet for human life is probably still able to stretch beyond the current 7.4 billion, and an optimal number would be as much based on behaviour as it is on sheer numbers: 7.4 billion vegans recycling their own crap creates far fewer consequences for the planet than the current system, after all. Still, worth noting that we live in a world where species of Rhino - a fairly harmless, fat armoured horse basically -  have been made extinct due simply to the passing resemblance of it's horn to a stauner, and a bunch of arseholes have been snorting ground up horn in a vain attempt to give themselves one. How fucked up is that?

Humans, a great bunch of lads.

[coprolite]

13 hours ago, renton said:

Ever heard of the Great Cosmic Filter? It's a consequence of the Drake equation used to try and estimate the chances of meeting extra-terrestrial life. It posits that one reason we've never encountered signs from another intelligent species is that whenever a civilisation becomes advanced enough to broadcast signals into space, it shortly thereafter acquires the ability to blow itself sky high, or otherwise destroy itself. Techno-Optimism is all well and good, but it's basically mapping science fiction onto problems that need action now, as a means of denial to avoid changing our lifestyles (I say this as a man who doesn't really enjoy a vegetable unless it's on the side of a slab of red meat).

What we are looking at now is a runaway feedback event. It's not so much that weather might get a bit changeable, it's that sea levels must inevitably rise, ocean acidification may well doom whole biospheres, soil erosion may make large scale farming for billions of people an impossibility: Resources are definitely finite, and arable land is top of that list.  You talk about a comparison? Even 60-70 years ago, when there was half the human race there was now, we could enjoy beautiful vistas of nature and marvel at the sight of it all. Patting ourselves on the back because we managed to engineer a big enough wall to keep out the dead seas, is hardly a compensation for destroying it all in the name of exploiting the planet. No more Barrier Reef, no more Rhinos, no more Blue Whales, no more coast lines, no more fresh air, no more visiting the Great Pyramids because the equator will be so hot everything that moves will die. And what then when the human race is corralled into tighter enclaves of habitable land, vying for scarcer resources? No more liberty, no more free thought, no more great thinkers, no more privacy, no more art, no more science.

No more anything.

As this is the unpopular opinions thread, I wonder if any posters have any ideas for dealing with overpopulation?