Comments on: Highlights from James Gleick’s Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

By: Lu An Li

Lu An Li — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:59:10 +0000

1. That abundance of easily obtained natural resources from the time of the Stone Age forward would indicate there was not intelligent species prior to mankind?

2. Even China will have a future demographic problem with replacement. One family one child rule and all that. NOT enough persons in the work force to pay for future pensions? And a lot of randy young men running around without a suitable number of young female mates makes for a volatile situation. Hate and anger vented in a bad way a possible.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 08:10:56 +0000

Kirk, you are right about population crashes being a concern for the future. The total fertility rate of the southern half of India is currently below replacement level and the northern half is getting there. Even Muslim Bangladesh is still experiencing a decrease in their TFR.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 19:45:24 +0000

I think you vastly overrate humanity and it’s effects–So long as we aren’t shooting millions of tons of materials into space, everything we’ve used is still here, just state-changed somewhat. The Earth abides; give it an Ice Age interlude or two, and you’ll never know we were here. Like as not, some of the mineral deposits we’re “using up” represent the remains of some earlier civilization’s junkyards. We’d never know, and because we aren’t really looking at things like that, weeeellll… A time traveler going back into deep time might have some surprises in store for them. Unlikely, but at least possible.

Additionally, there isn’t anything to say that you have to have a civilization cast in our terms, either–What would a mostly biology-based civilization built by cephalopods look like, and how the hell would we tell it had been here? Why would anything we did affect their ability to arise, with them using totally different resource sets and technologies?

The eedjits going on and on and on about “resource depletion” have been wrong since day one, when they started worrying about the loss of forest cover in England for making charcoal and ship parts. Malthus predicted we’d all be starving, a long, long time ago–As did the various geniuses who espoused “Zero Population Growth”. Likely real problem of the late 21st and early 22nd Centuries? Population crashes. It remains to be seen if Japan and Germany can dig out of their demographic holes, while the ones China and Russia are in are going to be… Interesting.

By: Lu An Li

Lu An Li — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 15:39:03 +0000

“The adult Feynman asked: If all scientific knowledge were lost in a cataclysm, what single statement would preserve the most information for the next generations of creatures?”

Creatures I assume self aware and intelligent? “Humans have used up all the easily obtained resources you will need for your own development and you are out of luck. Sorry!”