Philosophy Now Forum

Hexhammer,
i wouldn't bother with this conversation as bob has an incredible ability to selectively read so he will not see arguments that conflict with his beliefs. E.g. he has already ignored your point that it is easily possible that with an increase in longevity a change in attitude to the having of children is likely. That with such a change governments may take steps as China have done, etc, etc. He also appears to have a damaged short-term memory so will keep on asking where the answers were even if you tell him and sooner or later he will mention his pet subject, himself and his project.

Arising_uk wrote:sooner or later he will mention his pet subject, himself and his projects.

I just corrected your little typo.

Arising_uk wrote:Hexhammer,
i wouldn't bother with this conversation as bob has an incredible ability to selectively read so he will not see arguments that conflict with his beliefs. E.g. he has already ignored your point that it is easily possible that with an increase in longevity a change in attitude to the having of children is likely. That with such a change governments may take steps as China have done, etc, etc. He also appears to have a damaged short-term memory so will keep on asking where the answers were even if you tell him and sooner or later he will mention his pet subject, himself and his project.

I've worked for a CEO displaying excatly same maddness, fireing very skilled and competent people if they opposed him, and keep an iron fist above yes men, even tho everybody complained about their incompetence, madness, pure madness!

The CEO ofc ended up throwing away his fortune of 3.2 billion danish crowns and end up with a debt of 200 mill danish crowns and crashing his buisness.
Almost a decade before I foretold that his internet (buisness) would fail, his expansion in Europe would fail and he himself would fail..

Paradigm wrote:Only about 15 years ago, we would amuse ourselves with simple games like Monopoly and Risk when money was tight. However, we both agree that we had plenty of fun back then. I couldn't tell him this, but I am sure we had more fun playing cards and board games than being on his boat.

You're older now. Everything was more fun when you were younger. There is a reason why you don't still play the same simple games you did when you were younger and it doesn't have anything to do with money.

But, I get where you're going with this.

So what if I asked my friend and every other person like him to go back to school and study biotechnology, which encompasses practically all of the sciences? He will say "no". But how can I make him and people alike to understand that their priorities don't make sense? If we all help advance medicine to the point where we can live as long as we want, we can have boats later.

I've thought about this myself.

One, it takes a lot of industry to make a modern science lab possible. Growing food, educating people, developing resources, developing tools, the list is nearly endless. It might not be immediately obvious, but it takes the cooperative effort of millions of people to make the modern lab possible.

Another reason is, that's not where my competence lies. It would not be a productive use of resources, investment dollars, or of my skill and time. It's much more productive for me to do the things I am competent at so that the people in those labs can get on with their jobs.

That said, maybe there should be a concerted effort to stress to people the importance of this work. There's a number of obstacles, though. Religion, for example. Not to pick on it, but there are a number of religious people who would likely actively oppose such an effort.

Just a thought.