Inspired by the greatest thing on the web, the "Phrase Generator" that automatically comes up with academic quotes like: "The mobility of independence is in reality quite prosaic in its sanctimoniousness.", movie titles like: "Vendetta of Retribution", and financial advice like: "Always prorate sequential-pay contracts: in subordinate-rated sectors."
Instead of racking one's brain to come up with weird ideas, you can zone out and click away at the "Halfbakery Idea Generator" until something tickles our fancy.
"Blow-drying footrest", eh. "Flack diaper", na. "Stage rocker", hmm.
Ok, an interactive audience controlled stage. Pitch, yaw, twists turns. The performers would try to perform Hamlet while the audience tried to knock them off their feet.
The interesting part is everybody would have a control but it would average out everybody's input so for it to move, the audience will have to get together to some extent. If everybody pushes their joystick to the right, the stage tilts to the right. If half push left, the stage doesn't move.
Let the Halfbakery Idea Generator do the hard part for you.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017 Sort of like this but with more object and technical words... http://watchout4sna...Random/RandomPhrase...that would result in an "invention". [doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017] And one more time, the inspiration for this, the greatest website in the world. https://phrasegenerator.com/ [doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017] Preheated in analog form Three_20legs_20of_20the_20tripod [normzone, Oct 18 2017] Burn first aid https://www.mayocli...basics/art-20056649 [doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017] Inventionizer (a website) My version, presented as prior art. [notexactly, Mar 18 2018] The equipment is there https://en.wikipedi...ideShow_(TV_series)A TV show , for comedic purposes, a stage with an adjustable angle. [wjt, Mar 25 2018] And not to go on and on and on about the amazing phrase generator, but since yesterday they've added "Catchy Headline Generator" and it's my new favorite.
Steve Carell's 15 Fascinating Ski Jumping Secrets
6 Dirty Things Plumbers Keep To Themselves
20 Terrifying Secrets About Tesla CEO Elon Musk
6 Terrible Things Proctologists Don't Like To Think About
Can Hillary Clinton Save Skateboarding?
12 Sexy Hairstyling Tips From Joe Biden
I'm sorry, I could click through these things all day.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017 //The performers would try to perform Hamlet while the audience tried to knock them off their feet.// And they say there's no culture across the Atlantic!-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 18 2017 //And they say there's no culture across the Atlantic!//
Oh I don't know, you guys have done a couple of culturally relevant things.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017 Probably ... the concept of habeas corpus, and constitutional government ...
Oh, and the English language. It's quite good, maybe you should try speaking it.-- 8th of 7, Oct 18 2017 You guys invented constitutional government?
Well you might want to get back to the drawing board. It's broken.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 18 2017 // It's broken //
It's broken because you broke it.
That's why you can't have nice things.-- 8th of 7, Oct 18 2017 They have nice clean coal.(falls over with laughter)-- xenzag, Oct 19 2017 //It's broken because you broke it.//
How many sharia law courts rule your country now? The dying embers of a once great empire.You've already lost WW4 and don't even know it.
Sorry we couldn't bail you out for this one but we've got our own problems.
//They have nice clean coal. (falls over with laughter)//
That's good. I'm guessing there's not a lot of laughter in your life.
Just curious, in light of the fact that there's never been a xenophobic anti American comment here that hasn't resulted in an equally insulting response, what exactly is the point of these? Do people in England who can't get laid sit around hating America or something? What's the genesis of this behavior? Share, I'll listen. Maybe I can help.
I'll point out that diviciveness is an actual industry that makes money. Turning people against each other with the business of politics, and it is a business is the antithesis of trade and commerce, which brings people together.
No coincidence then that the socialists, who make their stock and trade hatred of one's fellow man, point their fingers at trade and commerce as the big villians that need to be controlled and owned by the state.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'll get back to the tenor of this conversation. Uh, OK, um, England stinky in the butt. Bad England. Stupid England.
There, is that the caliber of discourse we're going for? I'll pass. It's mind numbingly boring.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 //How many sharia law courts rule your country now?//
You mean in total? Counting the whole of the UK including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Zero.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 No sharia law "councils" then? No "no go zones" in England or the rest of Europe where your rule of law holds no sway?
And if some of my facts about England are a bit off, forgive me. We Americans don't sit around thinking about England the way much of England evidently spends ALL their free time obsessing about us.
And Max, if you're denying that you're culturally under siege, there's not much hope for standing up to those who have no desire to live by your laws and cultural traditions. All you have to do is show some balls and say "This is our country. You come here, you play by our rules." but no, let's concentrate on the real enemy. America.
That's too bad. America and England used to be good friends, but I guess the socialist agitprop has really done its job. Devide and conquer, that's how it works.
LOL, sooo, that's no buns for the idea I'm guessing?-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 Let me try a different approach.
If I were say, the ambassidor to the U.S. here to listen to greviances with an eye to rectifying what you see as shortcomings of the American people and American society, what would you give me to try to fix?
Simple stuff, in order of most important to least important. My job would just be to listen and go back and fix them. What would you propose?-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 1. Crush any nation or group who doesn't agree with, or at least tolerate, the Western world view. Destroy their society and culture utterly. If they have useful resources, grab them.
2. Make friends with the other big players and drop the rhetoric.
3. Deal with your defecit.
That's about it, really.-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 LOL.
Hmm. I was hoping for something I could disagree with.
Well, I'll counter with what I've said before. I love England, much of my lineage hails from there. I love the English culture and the English people. Whenever I've been their I've had the opportunity to meet a lively and fun bunch of folks who I shared some great moments with.
To me it's like going back to my parents house to visit. They may talk about how my brothers Canada and Australia were so much less disappointing than me but it's ok. I still love 'em.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 //No sharia law "councils" then? No "no go zones" in England or the rest of Europe where your rule of law holds no sway? // I can't speak for all of Europe. In England, the rule of law (English law) applies to everyone.
If Islamists want to set up their own "councils", there is not much you can do to stop them. However, they have no legal power. If they find someone guilty of something which is legal under UK law, then UK law will try to prevent them from punishing that individual.
Do sharia "councils" ever mete out punishment outside of UK law? Possibly. Do gang members in the US (or elsewhere) ever mete out punishment outside the law? Certainly.
The point is that sharia "councils" or whatever they are have no legitimacy in the UK (nor, as far as I know, in france, Germany, Spain, Italy...). There is widespread and successful opposition (political and popular) to giving any legitimacy to sharia law in the UK, obviously.
And, despite the current burgeoning problems with islamist extremists (which, I think, has impacted the US too), England has an excellent and longstanding history of integrating other cultures successfully and beneficially. I would say, for instance, that the black population in the UK is less badly-integrated than it is in the US. And we haven't eradicated any native peoples here for quite a long time. (We tried with the Welsh, but they live in burrows and are tenacious.)
There are of course many exceptions, and there have always been (and will always be) problems. But on the whole I would say that England has handled integration pretty well, over the last 4-500 years at least.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 In two or three hundred years, what group do you see controlling England? Will it be the people who have the highest birthrate or the most culturally inclusive and intellectually awesome?
And who will that group be? I don't know, you tell me.
And the biggest question, do you even care? If you don't then, there you are. Not much more to discuss.
Max, I'm going to grant you a reprieve from answering these questions. You're in the academic world and if you deviate, even accidentally from the party line you could get in trouble so let's just drop it and hope for the best. That works for me. I hope things work out over there that's all.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 // I was hoping for something I could disagree with. //
<Cleese>
"Ah, you want an argument. That's next door ... this is Abuse"
</Cleese>-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 I didn't come here for an argument... oh wait...
Yea I did. Never mind.
That being said, if I didn't get the occasional different perspective that may be worthy of consideration, I wouldn't bother. I look at debate as two people bartering ideas like goods in the bazaar. "You want ten shekels for this idea? It's worth nothing compared to mine." as opposed to two people hitting each other over the head with clubs to see who has the better clubbing skills.
Although I good argument can be a combination of both I guess. It's probably a good idea to remember that clubbing skills don't have much relationship to quality of the idea being bartered over. A good argument for a bad idea will win the day over a bad argument for a good idea nine times out of ten.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 // You're in the academic world and if you deviate, even accidentally from the party line you could get in trouble so let's just drop it and hope for the best. That works for me.//
Straw-manning a fake position works for you because you're debating a losing argument.
//Will it be the people who have the highest birthrate or the most culturally inclusive and intellectually awesome?//
The answer is that the "winners", undoubtedly will be the most culturally inclusive and intellectually awesome, as proven by our current world.
Across the globe, for at least the last 200 years, the liberal ideas of "cultural awesomeism" have spread like complete wildfire, replacing in large swathes all kinds of alternate world views and backwards thinking.
Look at the progress, the buoyant prosperity of the world, how in areas where libereal cultural awesomeism has taken hold, people have prospered financially, in terms of their health (see WHO figures and cross reference) happiness and liberty (world indices for these values are quite googlable).
Meanwhile, the retreat of western liberalism, ironically, only in the west, has come hand in hand with increasing levels of stress, xenophobia and self-harming political spasms of regressive and frankly outmoded points of view.
Race is less powerful a force than ideas, and freedom of thought, expressed in liberal values are the most powerful and ultimately persuasive ideas known to man.
In the long-game, these have already been shown to overtake all others, with some small, temporary blips - interestingly fanatical right-wing ethno-nationalist blips - some of which we now call the alt-right, or White Christian Pride, others are labelled Islamism, but they have at their root the same short-termist rejectionist view of freedom and liberalism.
It's a shame for people caught up in the brouhaha, but one strength of freedom and liberalism is that these alternate views get to play themselves out and in doing so, provide more evidence in the history books as the inept dead-ends that they are (at least until the next financial collapse causes people to forget their history and the cycle begins once more - we're working on that part though).-- Zeuxis, Oct 19 2017 Got any kids Z?-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 Why do you ask? If you've got a counter argument, it shouldn't be any more true or false based on my parental status.-- Zeuxis, Oct 19 2017 //You're in the academic world and if you deviate, even accidentally from the party line you could get in trouble//
Oh, wait - I missed that one!
OK, let me shed a little light. I have known personally, either as friends or as colleagues, several Nobel laureates who worked in the same lab as me (before I left to start a company): Max Perutz (first protein structure), Fred Sanger (DNA sequencing), Jim Watson (double helix; briefly), Venki Ramakrishnan (ribosome structure), Cesar Milstein (monoclonal antibodies), Richard Henderson (won this year; cryo-EM), Aaron Klug (won a while ago for the same subject) and a few others. (Stephen Hawking doesn't count - I know him but only cordially since he was a member of my college; anyway, he's not a Nobel laureate.) I am also fortunate enough to count as a friend Greg Winter, who developed the UK's most successful biotech company and whose work led to 5 out of the top 10 (in terms of global revenue) drugs on the market today (humanized antibody therapies), and who will win his Nobel within the next five years.
So, I know whereof I speak. I actually do.
Not a single one of those people had any notion of a "party line" and, if they had, they would have bucked it on principle. Nobody gets anywhere in science by following the orthodoxy. It's one of the enduring myths that non-scientists have about scientists, and it is very puzzling because it so blindingly bleeding obvious that the greatest scientists were, to a greater or lesser degree, revolutionary.
As for me, my company is based on the ideas that (a) within a decade, we'll all be demanding the right to edit our genomes, notwithstanding the present embargo on most (including germline) modifications and (b) the current best technology for doing this, CRISPR, will be found wanting and the billions invested in it will have to go elsewhere. So no, I don't toe the line either and I am hurt by the implication that I do.
So, the whole "party line" thing is simply silly. It's like saying Mozart, Shakespeare or Dali were great only because they copied what everyone else did. Silly silly silly.
People like to cite, for instance, Wegener whose ideas on continental drift were laughed out of court at the time because they didn't fit the orthodoxy. But they know Wegener; they don't know the names of anyone who was on the side of the orthodoxy.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 Z, I'll guess no.
Having kids is a big driver behind my interest in leaving this world a better place than the one I was born into. Just wondering if you were on the same page.
I don't want my kids living in a culture that tells them what they can say, what they can think, what the women need to wear on their heads or if they can drive.
Civilization does not always endure and I'm guessing you're a socialist by your buzz words. The countries where your ideology have taken over have become slaughter houses for tens of millions of innocent people. Freedom of expression and diversity of opinion are not held in high regard in such cultures.
I'm a free market libertarian so your name calling buzzwords have no power over me. I'm critical of people by their cultural rules, not the color of their skin and I contend that not all cultures are created equally.
I also see how you bolster your "argument" by referring to "we". My usual response to that is "What do you mean by "we"? You got a turd in your pocket?" but we'll keep in awesomely intellectual territory. I represent only my views, I'm not part of a vanguard of the righteous or the wave of the future. It's just me and you, and I find people who invoke their membership in some club to typically suffer from some manner of weakness as an individual.
My argument is, the culture that breeds the most succeeds the most and these inheritors of the Earth have no obligation to carry on the traditions of the people they've replaced. No matter how "awesome" those people thought they were.
Now if these native cultures can win over those of the people who have replaced the original occupants of a country, that's great, but I don't see it happening.
The fast food restaurants might endure, but no guarantees about the other things such as the freedoms we all cherish still being there in 100 or 200 years. I think the culture that takes over takes over. They make the rules. They won, fair and square.
No?
//So, I know whereof I speak. I actually do.
Not a single one of those people had any notion of a "party line" and, if they had, they would have bucked it on principle. Nobody gets anywhere in science by following the orthodoxy//
That's cool. I never had much formal education but I've had friends who went to universities and they were always pretty heavily indoctrinated in socialist values. Maybe the really smart ones stay out of it, like you've said, but down where the kids meet the mortarbards, you toe the party line and it IS HEAVILY socialist. I have a friend I grew up with who's a professor and that's where I got my info about the culture. He says you mind your Ps and Qs and keep it leftists or there will be repercussions.
But if, like you say, there's diverse opinions and freedom of thought at least where you work, that's great.
See? I do come here to learn things.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 And damn Max, if a resume could ever be used as a nuclear bomb... dang!
But as you know, my evaluation of your intellect was already in place. I don't care if you worked as a dishwasher for a restaurant, I was already impressed.
Now, with all respect, let me go after new prey with this nice Z person. (And Z, quick lowdown, I'm sure you are a good person and the debates, name calling and insults in this forum are all for fun.)-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 // you worked as a dishwasher for a restaurant //
He applied, but he failed the physical.-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Oh yea, and if anybody wants to comment on the original idea, that would be great too.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 Sorry, but it looks like the thread has already exceeded Nine Degrees of Halfbakation ... no way back now.
Now, we're just waiting to call Godwin's Law.-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 That's just the kind of thing Hitler would have said.
G'night everybody! Be sure to grab a brochure on your way out! No refunds!
(Standing by the exit handing out pamphlets.)
"Mmmbuh-bye. No refunds. Buh-by. Thank you, no refunds. Buh-bye, good night, no sorry, no refunds..."-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 //My argument is, the culture that breeds the most succeeds the most and these inheritors of the Earth have no obligation to carry on the traditions of the people they've replaced. //
//They won, fair and square.//
I think what you mean is "we" won, fair and square.
Or, referring to your //Now if these native cultures can win over those of the people who have replaced the original occupants of a country, that's great, but I don't see it happening.//
I definitely DO see this happening, all the time. This is EXACTLY what's been happening for 200+ years. Our native, western classical liberalism is winning over the globe, converting millions, winning, because it's right.
It does sounds as though we're pretty much on the same page then, essentially. There's just a bit of friction over our relative beliefs in the power of the idea of freedom. I think it's a winner, you're less convinced. As a self-confessed " free market libertarian", your lack of faith is disturbing. I'd have thought you'd have a stronger belief in your own convictions.
We are, historically speaking, living in the most liberal time ever. Classical, western liberalism that we enjoy today means we don't have to worry about whether or not there's a voodoo witch living next door, or concern ourselves whether the neighbours are Catholics, Protestants, Jews, or (gasp) Saracens!
It sounds as though you are in agreement with this bit, except for the part where you contradict yourself by getting hung-up on Shariah law and this invented panic that "they" are taking over though some kind of breeding program, or that the thought-police are going to force your children to wear turbans, or to refer to one another using only gender-neutral pronouns.
That point of view, you are welcome to, but frankly, it's an utter fabrication. It's just got no basis in fact. Yes, there are some silly, youthful college debates - as there have always been - about language and politeness, but to mistake any of that natural discourse (which has been going on for thousands of years btw going back to the Greeks) as an attack on your freedom is just silly. Sure, be annoyed by it, it can be very very annoying, but don't let it cloud your world-view.
Our culture does not tell your children what to think, what to wear, or whether they can drive. Our culture does not oblige you or anyone else to carry on any kind of "native traditions", or am I missing something?
We moved on from that many years ago because (in your terms) our culture of western classical liberalism "won". Because we won, people are free to go about their business, pretty much unhindered, relatively to historical norms anyway. Yes, we're encouraged to be kind and thoughtful, but that's just being nice, right?
So we've already won, but yet you seem to feel as though there's some threat from these strange, imaginary socialist forces telling your children what to do.
Where does that come from? Who's feeding you those ideas? Exactly how is your freedom curtailed such that you are worried about and believe that, for example Sharia Law and No go areas in Britain are concerns?
Utter, utter nonsense. Completely silly. Absolute twaddle. Fake. News.
You're being played my friend. You've never had it so good, and you're being played.
P.S. Thankyou Dr, I can assure you, it's all taken with grace and goodwill, as I trust any imagined insults slung in your direction. Good honest debate never hurt anyone.-- Zeuxis, Oct 19 2017 Z, I hope you're right.
In one hundred years I want to sit up in heaven with really good seats looking down at my great, great grand kids, maybe even sitting next to you, saying "Wow Z, looks like I was wrong about the collapse of civilization AND the existence of God and Heaven."
And if you don't have kids, you should consider it. Having children expands the realm of your heart.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 // No go areas in Britain are concerns? //
Not really. There are no-go areas in Britain, but in realty that's because no-one wants to go there. Milton Keynes, Swindon and Basingstoke are prime examples, along with East Anglia and all of scotchland.-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 //I have a friend I grew up with who's a professor and that's where I got my info about the culture. He says you mind your Ps and Qs and keep it leftists or there will be repercussions.//
Well, OK, two questions. First - is your professor in the sciences or the humanities? Second - is he successful, i.e. has anyone heard of him?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 Computer science, moving from teaching into the lucrative world of security research.
Hmm, never thought of that. Of course professors have rankings. They write thesisisis and papers and get reviewed and evaluated by their peers. Just not my world, except for you, him, my cousin the PHD and my other cousin the guy who has a lab that makes vaccines, a Jonas Salk for farm animals, I don't know a lot of academic types.
I'm a bit reticent to put his name out there. Hmm. Guess there's no harm in it. You've got me curious about his ranking on the intelligentsia scale.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 LOL, Googled his name and "Rate My Professors" came up a bunch of student reviews. My favorite is: "Easy A as long as you watch the whole video lecture"
LOL. I'm still laughing.
He teaches at De Anza which I believe is a community college. I'm guessing that carries a bit less prestige than Oxford?-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 ... but rather more than Cambridge ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Hey, you want to talk to somebody interesting I can introduce you to my Jonas Salk cousin. You can say "Hey, I understand you're in the bio engineering biz like me. I got your email address from your stupid cousin the former rock star."
If you guys invent a cure for cancer or something you could invite me to the gala celebratory party.
I could park cars or something.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 Hey [doc], I'd be happy to chat with your cousin.
And, to be fair, having name-dropped I should point out that *knowing* a bunch of Nobel guys is not, in and of itself, a qualification. They also all knew Joyce, who ran the lab canteen (very badly). But I also missed out John Sulston and Sydney Brenner. Oh and John Walker.
And again to be fair, I'd probably be more impressed by some of the people you know.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 Phew, my daughter says I'm to never name drop again.
She's VERY un-impressed when I say "Had a beer with this person" or "This person liked me so much they gave me a nickname" or "Had a long conversation with this person about...".
The downside of kids is that, according to them, we're supposed to have, what's that thing? Humility? Ugh!-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 I hate humility. I don't mind it warm, but only if it's a dry heat.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 So in closing, Halfbakery Idea Generator.... votes are in aaaaaand.
(buzzer sounds)
Ohh, sorry Doc, not one of your best. Might have wanted to put the actual title of the idea in the idea title heading, that might have helped, but OK. Carol, tell Doc what he's taking home as a consolation prize... hu? Nothing? Well there you go Doc, better luck next time, no no, leave this way... there you go!
And that's how we play: (audience yells) "HAAALF! BAAAAKERYYY!" (cheers and applause)-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 // I don't mind it warm, but only if it's a dry heat. //
You want to get yourself a dehumilifier then. Nice compact unit, just plug it into an electrical outlet.
I wonder if Tony Blair left his in Downing Street when he left, or did he take it with him ? He'll have to give it up in the end ... there probably aren't any suitable power supplies in Hell.-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Trading slightly caustic barbs at England and America are part of what we do here for fun. Don't let them get under your skin--you'll get a rash. If you find your facts about either nation to be suspicious, my advice is to find a different source.
To be fair, Tony Blair looks a bit smart compared to either of our nation's current leaders.
Max, how many of your local colleagues buy into climate change? Not that their opinion matters that much, (presumably more than my own), but are they free thinkers in that regard or somehow trapped by what you proclaim is a religion?-- RayfordSteele, Oct 19 2017 Now THIS should be interesting.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 //how many of your local colleagues buy into climate change?// To be honest, I don't know - it's not something that tends to come up in conversation.
I only know the opinion of one other friend-scientist on climate change. He's a physicist (and not a famous one, but fairly competent), and he thinks it's bollocks because the IR absorbance spectrum of CO2 doesn't really suggest enough heat trapping.
As for the majority of scientists, I would guess that the proportion who believe in anthropogenic climate change is a bit lower than amongst the general public. However, there's a problem. Qualitatively, the arguments for ACC are right (CO2 does absorb IR, so enough of it will have an effect), and this appeals to the logical mind of scientists - so belief rates are probably higher than you might expect from critical minds. Quantitatively, the honest truth is that we haven't got the first flying fuck of an idea; but any scientist tends to over-rate the ability and expertise of scientists in other disciplines, so we (as a whole) tend to assume that the climatologists know what they're talking about.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 What, if any, is the general consensus on just bypassing the whole argument and working towards a nuclear economy, if for no other reason than to preserve finite carbon fuels?
Though I get the impression that smart scientific types might just not be particularly drawn to a scientific debate that's become so politicized.
The vast majority of scientists are human and nobody likes getting called names, something that's going to happen if you weigh in one way or another on this issue.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 19 2017 I would tend to think that CO2 should absorb more than N2, being a generally larger molecule with more bits that can jiggle, but that's the engineer in me trying my hand at chemistry.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 19 2017 // What, if any, is the general consensus on just bypassing the whole argument and working towards a nuclear economy, if for no other reason than to preserve finite carbon fuels? //
Pretty much pro-nuke, as hydrocarbons are so useful as feedstocks rather than fuels (apart from reaction engines, i.e. aviation and rocketry)
// Though I get the impression that smart scientific types might just not be particularly drawn to a scientific debate that's become so politicized. //
Bullseye. What rational being wants to be involved with politicians, journalists, or worst of all, the general public ?
The public understanding of how science actually works is so fragmentary and inaccurate as to be worthless.
// The vast majority of scientists are human //
Cite your sources.
// and nobody likes getting called names, something that's going to happen if you weigh in one way or another on this issue. //
Or having your car, home or lab trashed, if you work on research involving mammals, or some aspects of reproductive biology.
Really, it would be so much more cost-effective to cull anyone who disagrees. Thank the gods for Aspergers ... release the Geeks !-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Beware of geeks bearing gifts.
//What, if any, is the general consensus// I doubt there is one, except amongst nuclear physicists. However, as with climate change, I would like to think there's a bit more rationality amongst scientists than amongst the public as a whole. So, I would expect scientists of all disciplines to be more pro-nuclear overall than Joe Public. Tell JP that his banana is slightly radioactive (or, for that matter, that it has DNA in it) and there's a fair chance he'll freak out.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 19 2017 Better keep quiet about the brazil nuts, and those nice polished granite kitchen worktops, then ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Yeah, right. Brian bloody Cox, no doubt ...
Come back Raymond Baxter , you're greatly missed. Even James Burke would be no worse than the current lot ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 19 2017 Oh yes ... true, but only for a given value of "true" ...-- 8th of 7, Oct 20 2017 Still a step up from our typical news outlets, who still think they are People magazine.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 20 2017 // (or, for that matter, that it has DNA in it) //
Some cheap amusement could no doubt be had by informing a group of badly-educated and suitably credulous journalists* that bananas contain historically mutated DNA, and high levels of RNA and gene transcriptase enzymes.
*If there is another sort, we don't know of it.-- 8th of 7, Oct 20 2017 random, halfbakery