In the very near future...

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Thursday January 07, 2010 · 4:38 PM PST

2010/01/07 · 16:38

Crossposted from the New Center for Amateur Future Studies.

What is the everyday value of science and technology?

I am sometimes asked this question by other progressives when I advocate investing resources in cutting edge research. The implication is usually that the resources could be better used to feed, shelter, or provide basic services for people today. My position is that we can do both. Investing in science and technology lets us find new solutions to the challenges we face, and helps us to build tools and capacities for more significant change in the future. That future may be closer than we realize. As communiaction and information technologies advance, cutting edge research can be brought to market faster than ever. The following is a scenario from the near future.

Chicagoa

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Thursday December 31, 2009 · 12:27 PM PST

2009/12/31 · 12:27

Crossposted from the New Center for Amateur Future Studies

Nuclear powered nano-robots that could replace food forever.

Via Brian Wang and Michael Anissimov

Animals eat things. It’s just a part of what makes us animals, and we’re usually too hungry to ponder why we do it. Humans, cows, butterflies, rodents, lizards and all other critters consume organisms to retrieve energy. The process is called metabolism, and it’s what our bodies do to keep us alive.

Chicagoa

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Tuesday August 04, 2009 · 8:50 AM PDT

2009/08/04 · 08:50

Welcome to round two of Atheist Digest.

In this series we're going to explore philosophy, science, theology, psychology, epistemology, and a whole slew of other silly elitist things. We're going to challenge each other to think, we're going to inadvertently insult some people, and hopefully we'll end the day battered, bruised, confused, but just a little more thoughtful and tolerant than before.

Throughout the series you will probably see a lot of vocal atheists (me). Please try to recognize that we are not evangelists. We don't want you to follow our lead, or subscribe to any particular philosophy. However, we do think that we're correct, and it is not unreasonable for us to put forth and defend our position - for it is in our very nature to question and analyze all ideas, especially our own.

Now, what ideas do we have? And how do we express them?

That is the subject of this diary.

Chicagoa

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Sunday August 02, 2009 · 1:38 PM PDT

2009/08/02 · 13:38

(Due to technical difficulties XNeeOhCon was unable to post his diary, therefore I am posting it. This is his work, any tips should go to him.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Progressives and Trolls, take off your politics hats and don your polemics and epistemology togas. It’s time to kick off the Atheist summer blockbuster diary series. I, your humble host, have gathered some of the finest thinkers on Daily Kos (that would return my emails) to bring you a three week long odyssey into the mind of the Atheist. We will explore the many facets of controversy that tend to erupt within Atheist diaries posted here. I have seen many, and I felt an attempt at a comprehensive approach would be interesting and hopefully rewarding. If any of you want to participate by contributing a diary on atheism, or a counter-argument to one of our diaries, please email me and I’ll see if I can accommodate your involvement.

Chicagoa

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Tuesday June 09, 2009 · 1:12 PM PDT

2009/06/09 · 13:12

The problem is with our brains.

What problem you ask?

Over the last month I have encountered several posters who seem to reject modern theories of cosmology without understanding them at all. I have made several replies, here, and here, but I think a broader approach may be valuable.

If you are already intimately familiar with Big Bang cosmology you may find this diary very simple. This is not a detailed analysis, but rather a primer on how to conceptualize these counter-intuitive ideas. The problem, as I have stated, is with our brains.

Chicagoa

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Tuesday May 05, 2009 · 2:41 AM PDT

2009/05/05 · 02:41

Earlier today in this diary, several Kossacks and I had a good discussion on reason, science, and logic, versus spiritual faith.

In the comments I repeatedly referenced a written argument for empiricism, which I present here to any who are interested. I apologize if it is difficult to follow in its current format, I am having some difficulty getting the outline to tab properly. I would appreciate if a Kossack with experience in that matter could help me clean it up. :)

Chicagoa

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Friday April 24, 2009 · 3:52 PM PDT

2009/04/24 · 15:52

Good afternoon DailyKos.

As a sober and studious lover of the English language, I am writing this diary to stop the brutal exploitation of some innocent words. I have noticed that certain phrases are being figuratively worked to death on this site. I now must implore you, their Kossack taskmasters, to give them a reprieve from the tedious labors to which you submit them.

Continue below the fold for my humanitarian proposal.

Chicagoa

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Saturday November 15, 2008 · 8:50 PM PST

2008/11/15 · 20:50

I think I'm somewhere I shouldn't be.

A little over four years ago, as I embraced my current extreme left political beliefs I sought a community where I could share, learn, and connect with other serious progressives. Finding DailyKos was a joyous discovery for me. Here was a site filled to the brim with interesting progressives who cared about a lot of issues. There were scientists, and writers, and doctors, and factory workers, and cooks, and bakers, and accountants... I could go on and on about the diverse bunch of leftward thinkers that gathered here.

Recently, two big groups of them have been told that they aren't welcome.

Chicagoa

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday February 20, 2008 · 11:57 PM PST

2008/02/20 · 23:57

(This is the seventh diary in a 24-hour fundraiser for Gilda Reed, Democratic Candidate for Katrina-Burdened LA-01.)

It's a tough primary season out there isn't it.

Much has changed since December, when my fellow Edwards supporters and I held strong hope for a progressive president with an ear for the poor and disenfranchised. Like me, many of them probably don't know what to say in vicious Obama v. Clinton diaries, and are tired of such arguments filling DailyKos to the brim. Until recently I wasn't sure what to contribute to this conversation. Every few minutes another battleground diary is posted, and the partisans go to wage their flame wars. That's when I saw a link to the website of Gilda Reed in the comments section of one of my diaries.

After a few minutes on her web site I knew I had found a true John Edwards Democrat and that there was something valuable for Edwards supporters to do here after all:

Fight for a progressive Congress

RSS

In the very near future...

Restauranteers Beware

Atheist Digest: Semantics

Atheist Digest: Diary Series Introduction

The Big Bang

An Argument for Empiricism [Warning: Long]

Relief for the overworked...

Oh man, I took a wrong turn...

Gilda Reed LA-01 -- Labor Champion