AWKWARD ZOMBIE

No, Biology works bodaciously like in a cartoon.
Also I like the disclaimer of "going off of the assumption that we'll have genetic engineering in the next 20,000 years." Well, I think humanity will evolve into a race of humanoid bees because we'll all be both capable of and willing to partake in genetic engineering of the necessary levels. Now look at this mock up I made in photoshop.

Isn't that just a normal song that has nothing to do with Supernatural?

That's the reason for my post title.

If it's any consolation, sonce watching supernatural, I can't listen to that song withut thinking about it.

I love the dedication put into that.

Yeah, I've never bought into that depiction of alien beings - it's very dull/uninspired, visually-speaking.


What if we end up flying around in flying saucers? Irony? Poetic justice?



I don't think evolution spontaneously happens like that - augmentation with external technology/biomachinery might be a viable option though.


Comparing brain size alone between species isn't the best way to gauge intelligence - once upon a time it was thought the best way to gauge intelligence was to compare an organism's brain-to-body mass ratio - but that has since been debunked.

Recent discoveries suggest the presence of 'spindle cells' to be a prime indicator of highly developed intelligences - the only animals which have spindle cells are humans, great apes, elephants and cetaceans (whales (oops) and dolphins).

What I'm saying is being right doesn't always make you look like an asshole. It makes you look like an asshole if you're an asshole about it.

The problem is that the people judging whether or not the individual is an asshole about it are usually the ones emotionally involved in the discussion. How many times were you yelled at as a kid for "giving attitude" when all you were doing was trying to explain yourself. It's the same basic principle.

EDIT: Better example. You remember how in high school (and in turn, the working force) it always seems the asshole is the one who succeeds? That's because we end up having a hard time discerning between confidence, and regular jackassery. You notice the more confident someone is in their opinion, the more of an booty you think they are by the end of it if you inherently disagree with said opinion. You feverishly try to prove your point while he feverishly does the same, and it irks you the same it probably does him.

Again, I'm not saying he's correct in his assessment that he's better than 99% of the world at being right about things like morals, I'm saying he is correct in his observation that we tend to dislike people who have conflicting opinions.

Not many times.

The main point being "it happened."

The only reason you got yelled at was because the party in question expected to have the final word as the moral superior in the specific event that happened, and it rustled them off that you had your own side of the story that hadn't been told yet.

Debating is kind of an art you need to work at. A lot.

I think the trick is presenting your opinions without putting anybody's nose out of joint. You can present arguments in a way that does minimum damage to someone else's pride and you can even give them avenues of escape out of an argument if you're a considerate debater - that kind of thing depends upon whether you're in an accommodating mood and how much of a dick the other person is, though.

It never helps to destroy someone else's opinions completely - it's better to provide them with the information that is contrary to their opinion and let them come around in their own time. Sometimes people need time to change their minds about things - you have to allow for that and not get angry when they don't do a 180 degree turn as quickly as you'd like.

Being a passive debater instead of an emotionally-involved one doesn't mean you're losing the argument - and it certainly doesn't mean you don't care about what you're arguing for or against. Becoming overly emotional often harms your argument more than it does it good - better to learn to keep that stuff in check if you can.

Of course you look like less of a dick if you didn't start the debate in the first place - if you come in to an argument mid-way and argue somebody's opinions down in a calm and educated fashion you're generally going to look like less of a dick.


It's something I'm ashamed to admit - but there's some topics I steer clear of here and elsewhere because I don't think people are experienced or mature enough to talk about them without blowing a fuse or making dicks out of themselves.

I'm ashamed mostly for myself because I don't think anyone should sit back and allow themselves to be shouted down when they feel there's an injustice being committed - but I just don't have the energy to argue with unaccommodating people sometimes.