The Human Limit

Debate serious and interesting topics, rant about politics or pop culture, or otherwise converse in essay form about your opinions. The rules of conduct here are a little stricter.
Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.26 (22:04)

I was debating this with my brother, and I would like to know other people's opinions. Will the human race adventually come to a point where no further progress is possible? My brother argued no, "500 years ago people could not even imagine the progress we have made today." Obviously this is true, but I think at some point in the future we will not physically be able to advanced anymore. For example, humans traveling at the speed of light might actually be immposible. My opinion, is we really just can't know what the limits our, and saying things like,
"The human race can do anything," is stupid.

Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir
Posts: 1561
Joined: 2008.09.26 (12:33)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/incluye
MBTI Type: ENTP
Location: USofA
Contact:

Postby otters » 2009.08.26 (22:10)

There's no limit. Eventually I think we'll be able to travel instantaneously, which is technically faster than the speed of light, and at one point I assume we'll be able to travel back in time as well.
Image

"Asked ortsz for a name change"
Posts: 3380
Joined: 2008.11.13 (16:47)

Postby otters~1 » 2009.08.26 (22:39)

Maybe someday we'll be able to go without wankin' it for more than a week, huh, incluye?
the dusk the dawn the earth the sea

User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2009.08.26 (23:15)

I did think this was about masturbation at first.

Me and Studebacher were discussing the other day about how likely it might be for someone to ever be able to play "The Perfect Drug" on drums.
Loathes

User avatar
Cross-Galactic Train Conducter
Posts: 2354
Joined: 2008.09.27 (00:31)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/T3chno
MBTI Type: ENTJ
Location: foam hands
Contact:

Postby T3chno » 2009.08.27 (00:51)

We were able to get to the moon in under 65 years from the Wright Brother's first successful takeoff.

:o
Image

Boeing Boeing Bone!
Posts: 769
Joined: 2008.09.27 (05:31)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/yungerkid
MBTI Type: INTJ
Location: Seattle, Washington
Contact:

Postby yungerkid » 2009.08.27 (01:49)

Progress?

User avatar
Lifer
Posts: 1099
Joined: 2008.09.26 (21:35)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/smartalco
MBTI Type: INTJ

Postby smartalco » 2009.08.27 (01:55)

yungerkid wrote:Progress?
First we need to rid ourselves of congress.
*bum bum tssh*
Image
Tycho: "I don't know why people ever, ever try to stop nerds from doing things. It's really the most incredible waste of time."
Adam Savage: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

Yet Another Harshad
Posts: 485
Joined: 2008.09.26 (19:27)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/skyline356
MBTI Type: INTP
Location: Connecticut

Postby Skyling » 2009.08.27 (03:46)

I'd imagine that there probably isn't a limit, and even if there were, it would be impossible to determine or quantify it.
Image

User avatar
Loquacious
Posts: 1764
Joined: 2008.09.26 (15:37)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/Guitar_Hero_Matt
Location: lacks whiskers of mass destruction.

Postby MattKestrel » 2009.08.27 (07:52)

smartalco wrote:
yungerkid wrote:Progress?
First we need to rid ourselves of congress.
*bum bum tssh*
Haha, that was perfect.
Image

Wizard Dentist
Posts: 604
Joined: 2008.09.26 (15:04)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/SkyPanda

Postby SkyPanda » 2009.08.27 (10:07)

I look forward to the day when we can take a fish, turn it into a dinosaur, teleport it to the other side of the world and then send it back in time.

User avatar
Cowboy Magician
Posts: 510
Joined: 2008.09.23 (13:07)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/wedgie123
MBTI Type: ENTJ
Location: Essex, England

Postby wedgie » 2009.08.27 (10:19)

In my opinion, if you just look back over how many years the human race has continued to progress and improve then I can't see how we could be nearing our limit.
Technological advances have pretty much made every generation surpass it's previous generations with new inventions and such. The same is going to happen to us.

Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.28 (17:29)

I never said anytime soon, and also keep this disscusion a little more serious for at least a little while. I am fucking amazed with how much the humans have done, but what I am saying is that it will be physically immposible in the future to progress further. If you believe that we will have awesome technology like in Star Wars, then you should also believe in the force. Populating the galaxy is just as likely as me shooting lightning out my hands. Books that have time travel and galactic voyages, are in the same category as Harry Potter. So why do we believe we can time travel, but not do a whole lot of cool shit with a piece of wood and your words? Maybe we should get some scientists studying magic? We can't just blatantly say we will be able to do it, when we know so little about it.

User avatar
La historia me absolverá
La historia me absolverá
Posts: 2228
Joined: 2008.09.19 (14:27)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/maestro
MBTI Type: INTP
Location: Beijing
Contact:

Postby 乳头的早餐谷物 » 2009.08.28 (19:01)

The biggest question mark I can see is of regression, by either humanity's own hand or natural causes, and whether positive progress would still overcome these obstacles and exceed what was achieved in the past. If the question is simply one of us exhausting all possibilities for progress, I don't see that as a possibility—though it all depends on what you call progress. If you think it's inevitable that eventually no more progress will be possible, your definition must be far narrower than mine. Scientific discoveries are progress; artistic and cultural creations are progress; any social changes that improve ways of life are progress.

In any case, progress can't be measured in any precise or objective manner, nor need it be. Even if it were to stop in most cases, progress could be still be made in some areas—I'd go as far as to say there are some areas (social and cultural) where progress could always be made.
M E A T N E T 1 9 9 2

Image

User avatar
Retrofuturist
Posts: 3131
Joined: 2008.09.19 (06:55)
MBTI Type: ENTP
Location: California, USA
Contact:

Postby t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư » 2009.08.28 (19:30)

Sondrigal wrote:keep this disscusion a little more serious
Sondrigal wrote:Maybe we should get some scientists studying magic?
You have one of the most fascinating misunderstandings of reality that I've ever come across.
[spoiler="you know i always joked that it would be scary as hell to run into DMX in a dark ally, but secretly when i say 'DMX' i really mean 'Tsukatu'." -kai]"... and when i say 'scary as hell' i really mean 'tight pink shirt'." -kai[/spoiler][/i]
spoiler

Image


Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir
Posts: 1561
Joined: 2008.09.26 (12:33)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/incluye
MBTI Type: ENTP
Location: USofA
Contact:

Postby otters » 2009.08.28 (19:34)

Sondrigal wrote:Books that have time travel and galactic voyages, are in the same category as Harry Potter. So why do we believe we can time travel, but not do a whole lot of cool shit with a piece of wood and your words? Maybe we should get some scientists studying magic? We can't just blatantly say we will be able to do it, when we know so little about it.
...magic is based on an assumed set of premises that basically says "Okay, you do this and this will happen, for no apparent reason."

Galactic voyages? Err, certainly that's just like a moon landing, except farther away and taking longer time?
Image

dreams slip through our fingers like hott slut sexxx
Posts: 3896
Joined: 2009.01.14 (15:41)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/Tunco123
MBTI Type: INTJ
Location: Istanbul

Postby Tunco » 2009.08.28 (21:06)

spoiler

Image


Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.28 (22:06)

Tsukatu wrote:
Sondrigal wrote:keep this disscusion a little more serious
Sondrigal wrote:Maybe we should get some scientists studying magic?
You have one of the most fascinating misunderstandings of reality that I've ever come across.


I was obviously being sarcastic.

User avatar
Radio Douchebag
Posts: 1026
Joined: 2009.04.29 (01:03)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/Rhekatou
Location: PAL

Postby Rhekatou » 2009.08.28 (23:48)

Wight wrote:There's no limit. Eventually I think we'll be able to travel instantaneously, which is technically faster than the speed of light, and at one point I assume we'll be able to travel back in time as well.
Well, there are evolution limits. If a piece of hardware can do it for us, is that really us?
All we are evolving is our brains. Our bodies are evolving (b_t already said no such thing as de-evolution) for the worst.
To truely travel instantaneously, we would have to break ourselves down into base particles, as our mass could not go that fast. Then, somehow withstanding the Gs, you'd have to put yourself "back together.
As for time, paradoxes and traveling into the past are "pure fiction". There is no way to go "back", time is not an object that can be manipulated. Hell, I don't even believe in time; I believe in the progression of things in the universe. There is nothing that can make you go "back"; be it a substance or "magic". It would be like drinking skim milk and getting superman powers combined with spiderman; it just can't happen.
So, there have to be limits, for the human body is not something that can evolve beyond its original nature; there is no such thing as perfect humanity.
Well, there's my spheal.
Image

User avatar
Jedi Pimp
Posts: 667
Joined: 2008.09.28 (02:54)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/bobaganuesh_2
Location: Manitoba, Canada

Postby bobaganuesh_2 » 2009.08.28 (23:55)

dude, they just found the cure for Multiple Sclerosis in mice. everyone should read the Dune series then come back to this thread. I'm sure we'll be able to fold space some day. Scientist said that it is physically impossible for any human to run a mile under 6 minutes; but one day someone broke the record, and thereafter others kept setting new records for others.

Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir
Posts: 1561
Joined: 2008.09.26 (12:33)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/incluye
MBTI Type: ENTP
Location: USofA
Contact:

Postby otters » 2009.08.29 (00:39)

Rhekatou wrote:Well, there are evolution limits. If a piece of hardware can do it for us, is that really us?
...
...
...
Yeah, I should think so, unless the piece of hardware floated in from outer space and we magically figured out how to use it.
Rhekatou wrote:To truely travel instantaneously, we would have to break ourselves down into base particles, as our mass could not go that fast. Then, somehow withstanding the Gs, you'd have to put yourself "back together.
Yeah. That's the /only way/, since we've done so much testing on this subject. Wormholes? BULLSHEEIT.
Rhekatou wrote:Hell, I don't even believe in time; I believe in the progression of things in the universe.
What I would have preferred to do was just sit here and not reply, but I can't really figure out how that would hilariously caricature this half-arsed theory, so I'll just assert that this is an incredibly half-arsed theory. What you just said, in any case, was "I don't believe in time, I just believe in the results of that thing which scientific theory calls 'time.'"

"No, dude. I don't believe in gravity, I just believe in objects being attracted to each other and that stuff will fall to the ground if dropped."
"I don't believe in milk, I believe that cows secrete a white fluid that's tasty to drink and goes well with cereal."
Rhekatou wrote:There is nothing that can make you go "back"; be it a substance or "magic".
Prove it, por favor.
Rhekatou wrote:It would be like drinking skim milk and getting superman powers combined with spiderman
Drinking milk and receiving Peter Parker in my living room isn't entirely related to this topic, but I'll assume you were trying to make some even more incredibly half-arsed cause-and-effect point about nature and let it pass.
Rhekatou wrote:So, there have to be limits, for the human body is not something that can evolve beyond its original nature; there is no such thing as perfect humanity.
Yeah, apes can't evolve beyond their "original nature" of being smelly un-sapient primates either...oh wait a second...

wat
Image

Wizard Dentist
Posts: 604
Joined: 2008.09.26 (15:04)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/SkyPanda

Postby SkyPanda » 2009.08.29 (11:25)

Wight wrote:What I would have preferred to do was just sit here and not reply, but I can't really figure out how that would hilariously caricature this half-arsed theory, so I'll just assert that this is an incredibly half-arsed theory. What you just said, in any case, was "I don't believe in time, I just believe in the results of that thing which scientific theory calls 'time.'"

"No, dude. I don't believe in gravity, I just believe in objects being attracted to each other and that stuff will fall to the ground if dropped."
"I don't believe in milk, I believe that cows secrete a white fluid that's tasty to drink and goes well with cereal."
Well, Rhekatou could have been referring to the more complex theories about time that involve more than the mere progression of events.

Pick up any physics mag or journal and you're bound to find insightful information such as how time is like a pancake, that if you accelerate to 3000km/h you will age backwards and/or see your own backside, that time runs faster under water, that a clock on a plane hurtling in orbit around the earth will record microscopic differences in time to a clock that is stationary and so on. Not generally information that's accessible or understandable to the layman.

Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir
Posts: 1561
Joined: 2008.09.26 (12:33)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/incluye
MBTI Type: ENTP
Location: USofA
Contact:

Postby otters » 2009.08.29 (13:47)

SkyPanda wrote:
Wight wrote:What I would have preferred to do was just sit here and not reply, but I can't really figure out how that would hilariously caricature this half-arsed theory, so I'll just assert that this is an incredibly half-arsed theory. What you just said, in any case, was "I don't believe in time, I just believe in the results of that thing which scientific theory calls 'time.'"

"No, dude. I don't believe in gravity, I just believe in objects being attracted to each other and that stuff will fall to the ground if dropped."
"I don't believe in milk, I believe that cows secrete a white fluid that's tasty to drink and goes well with cereal."
Well, Rhekatou could have been referring to the more complex theories about time that involve more than the mere progression of events.

Pick up any physics mag or journal and you're bound to find insightful information such as how time is like a pancake, that if you accelerate to 3000km/h you will age backwards and/or see your own backside, that time runs faster under water, that a clock on a plane hurtling in orbit around the earth will record microscopic differences in time to a clock that is stationary and so on. Not generally information that's accessible or understandable to the layman.
Then say that. "I don't believe in time" doesn't specifically imply "I don't believe in a number of complicated theories about the progression of things in the universe that involve this progression occurring faster or slower based on your speed or location." It implies "I don't believe in the progression of things in the universe."
Image

Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.29 (17:31)

Pick up any physics mag or journal and you're bound to find insightful information such as how time is like a pancake, that if you accelerate to 3000km/h you will age backwards and/or see your own backside, that time runs faster under water, that a clock on a plane hurtling in orbit around the earth will record microscopic differences in time to a clock that is stationary and so on. Not generally information that's accessible or understandable to the layman.[/quote]
Sure time slows down, but you don't go backwards in time. Traveling backwards in time and summoning demons are just as likely right now. For some reason though, if your researching time travel your not as nearly crazy as someone researching summoning demons.


Oh and if you think humans don't have a limit, Why the fuck is magic not possible!? Having magic would be fuckin badass.

Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.29 (20:14)

DemonzLunchBreak wrote:"Magic" is meaningless.
False
DemonzLunchBreak wrote:Also, time travel is less crazy than summoning demons since people studying time travel are generally using science and stuff.
Hmmm thats a well thought out arguement and stuff. Please explain more in depth how they are studying time travel.

Doublemember
Posts: 73
Joined: 2009.06.06 (03:36)

Postby Sondrigal » 2009.08.29 (20:31)

DemonzLunchBreak wrote: there is more reason to believe that time travel is possible than to believe that it is possible to make bad guys appear out of nowhere by saying a few words.
I agree. It is more possible that time travel could happen, but I think it is possible for it to not be possible. Considering how little we know, we can't just state that were going to be able to do it. Thats what this topic is about.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests