what it means to be human

[stanky]

Like sickle-cell disease, sure, but I'd argue that it affects populations, not "races". Eh, nitpicking.

I see Wikipedia has an extensive list of diseases affecting different races.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health

In NZ, the leaders of various racial groups are the ones demanding action.

I didn't read all of it, but it looked like a synopsis of ailments from social stature.
Like, during slavery, there was a spike in black men having scarring on their backs.
Other diseases could be attributed to malnutrition and poverty, though they appeared to be a consequence of race.
We eventually learned that Asians weren't genetically predisposed to small statures; Mexicans weren't lazy; Africans were quite genetically variable, etc.

DNA analysis has done wonders to help us out of the myopia of 'race'.

[sparks]

From the linky:

"Over the past 20 years, a consensus has emerged that, while race is partially based on physical similarities within groups, it does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning."

Seems like a great time to shit can the idea of race. Too bad it will never bloody happen. Haters gotta hate, you know.

Once upon a time, I used to look at Humans and think that we're getting better and better. Of late however I just can't see it. I think we're in retrograde. We're headed back to the slime from which we came. Perhaps it's just a socio-cyclic thing the period of which is a bit too long to see in a single human lifetime.

Hope springs eternal. But the facts appear to be against it.

[Admin]

I'll tell you one thing that really drives home what it means to be human: delivering a eulogy for your best friend.

Fuck I'm a mess right now.

Shit. Life sneaks up on us.

[stanky]

Glad it wasn't me.

(still have chores to do.)

[President Bush]

seems on topic...

"The Android and the Human" ... Philip K Dick

https://sporastudios.org/mark/courses/a ... ndroid.pdf

Long worthwhile article...

You Are Not a Parrot And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article ... ender.html

[Admin]

Long worthwhile article...

You Are Not a Parrot And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article ... ender.html

Excellent pick, thanks. It sets out why Hawking nominated AI as the biggest threat to us all.