About DirtyFiveThirty

DirtyFiveThirty

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Joined on:

10/04/07

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  Science

  response to  danielriley's post The Cost of Intelligence

  Fit!

  The fact that "smart" flies had shorter lives than "dumb" ones isn't necessarily an indication that smartness is an evolutionary disadvantage. Maybe "smart" flies reproduce more. Maybe "smart" flies, while leading shorter lives *on average*, have more total individuals who live long enough to reproduce. Getting your genes into subsequent generations is a better yardstick of evolutionary fitness than living a long life.

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  Commented on May 8, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Media

  response to  andrewprice's post Digital Billboard Assault

  True, Double-True

  "But I'm not sure I buy that one is less violent or more ok just because it has been paid for."

  Totally agree. A good point. Now I'm getting all confused about the whole idea of public property in general.

  Anyway, when it comes to spacial resistance, this project (http://www.goodmagazine.com/blog/orions_reverse_graffiti) flipped what most people find objectionable about graffiti on its head.

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  Commented on April 5, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Media

  response to  andrewprice's post Digital Billboard Assault

  Opportunity as Imposition

  Hey, nice comment. And yeah, this isn't too much different from every other assault on/commodification of public space (point taken re: Golden Arches).

  But just because popular spatial resistance won't acquiesce to new technology or persistent scrubbing, that doesn't mean we should all acquiesce to the commodification of public space.

  The Cultural Revolution in China was an "opportunity for resistance" also. But was clearly a bummer.

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  Commented on April 1, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Health

  response to  amwin's post Guess Who's Coming As Dinner?

  Not Kidding

  In this comment: "Non-human animals are living beings-- they are not plants to be grown."

  Ok, so what are plants? NON-living beings? Living non-beings?

  This is nuts. If animal life is so sacred should we put every cow on life support when it's on the brink of a natural death? Should we muster all the resources of modern medicine to cure every chicken of naturally occurring disease?

  Quality of life matters more than quantity of life.

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  Commented on March 29, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Politics

  response to  AAG's post We're No Angels

  False Dichotomy

  I read (most of) Mamet's piece. He seemed to be wrestling with two conflicting feelings.

  On the one hand he feels like being concerned about the world's problems (and there ARE problems...genocide's happening, species are going extinct, the U.S. prison system is broken, etc.) requires you to be perpetually angry and guilty.

  On the other hand he feels like his own life is going pretty swimmingly and has an overriding sense that people "get by" from day to day.

  Which is it? A life of penitence or enjoyment? Doom-and-gloom or optimism?

  My take: you don't have to carry the weight of the world's problems OR retreat into blithe solipsism. You recognize the problems, and do your part to help and leave the world a better place than you found it, and IN SO DOING come to enjoy life more and feel comfortable about your place in the world.

  L8

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  Commented on March 13, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Culture

  response to  Patrick James's post Come Down Moses

  As I Lay Laughing

  Is that a Faulkner pun? Nice.

  Also, from what I've read (<u>read</u>), DMT, like salvia, is one of those intense dissociatives that tears your soul apart rather than just providing you with funny hallucinations. Robo-tripping college kids report encountering all sorts of higher beings. In short: I could totally believe Moses was under the influence.

  I could also believe that the burning bush, etc. are just fabulous embellishments.

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  Commented on March 4, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Art & Design

  response to  Patrick James's post Alfred's Nose

  Happy Happy Joy Joy

  This is my new favorite book. Three-way tie between Middlesex, Consciousness Explained, and Alfred's Nose.

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  Commented on February 27, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Politics

  response to  Patrick James's post Votes, Vets, VoteVets, And Swiftboating

  Close Enough

  I don't know if this is better or worse than your average political ad. It isn't as brazenly dishonest as the swiftboat campaign. But it reminds me of swiftboating in some important ways.

  1. VoteVets describes itself as "The Voice of America's 21st Century Patriots." So who are those who disagree? America's 21st century traitors? I'd be pissed if a group with the opposite political agenda represented itself this way.

  2. Was McCain serious about the 1000 years figure? Is he really adamant about a 3008 A.D. withdrawal date? Nope. He was using hyperbole to make the (fair) point that we might need to stay in Iraq, on the sidelines, for a long while in a supporting role. VoteVets picked a cartoon version of his position.

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  Commented on February 25, 2008 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Politics

  response to  andrewprice's post Pedophilia: A "Touchy" Subject

  touchy indeed

  The study "challenges the commonly held belief that pedophilia is brought on by childhood trauma or abuse. ...[It's] the strongest evidence yet that pedophilia is instead the result of a problem in brain development."

  Wait, couldn't childhood trauma or abuse CAUSE a problem in brain development. I don't think a "problem in brain development" and childhood trauma" have to be mutually exclusive causes.

  Anyway, cure 'em. As long as we've eliminated them as a danger, why not?

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  Commented on November 28, 2007 by - DirtyFiveThirty

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  Technology

  response to  Morgan Clendaniel's post Sputnik Turns 50

  Nanotech

  Two ideas for ambitious ten-year goals.

  1) Provide a kick-ass education for all children regardless of where they live or what their parents make.

  2) Harness nanotechnology to clean up the environment without destroying the world in the process with "gray goo." (Note: goal number 2 may take care of itself if we nail goal number 1).

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  Commented on October 4, 2007 by - DirtyFiveThirty