David J.

I am a Man who loves life. Student of Objectivism. Philosophy | Art | Poetry | History | Science | Technology | Space | Food | Music | COFFEE |

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@bscholl @SimoneSyed I think it depends on context. In some cases where beauty is unearned, it’s merely a value. But in other instances, where beauty is the product of someone’s actions, it is simultaneously a value and a virtue—or at the very least it’s a signifier of the producer’s virtue.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

It is not surprising that their anti-humanism would lead them to advocate for bio-terrorism, such as this. While they are free to advocate for such evil ideas, I wish our society would do better at ostracizing these bastards, and stop rewarding them with cushy academic positions.

[TFTC @TFTC21]

A peer-reviewed paper published last year in the journal Bioethics by two professors at Western Michigan University School of Medicine argues that it is "morally obligatory" to genetically engineer ticks to spread alpha-gal syndrome, a permanent condition that makes you violently allergic to red meat.

The paper is called "Beneficial Bloodsucking."

Their argument: if eating meat is morally wrong, then preventing the spread of a disease that forces people to stop eating meat is also morally wrong. Scientists should gene-edit lone star ticks to enhance their ability to carry alpha-gal syndrome and expand their range into urban environments to infect more people.

They call this a "moral bioenhancer." They frame releasing genetically modified disease-carrying ticks as a "vaccination" that only "infringes" on your bodily autonomy rather than "violating" it. The distinction, apparently, is that a tick bit you instead of a government official holding you down.

Alpha-gal syndrome is not mild. The CDC estimates up to 450,000 Americans are already affected. Cases have surged 100-fold in the last decade. Symptoms include anaphylaxis. There is no cure.

Alpha-gal cases are exploding across the United States. The lone star tick's range is expanding far beyond its historical territory. And two academics at a medical school published a paper arguing this is a good thing that should be accelerated.

At what point do we stop treating papers like this as fringe academic exercises and start asking whether anyone is already acting on them?

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@TFTC21 It is not surprising that their anti-humanism would lead them to advocate for bio-terrorism, such as this. While they are free to advocate for such evil ideas, I wish our society would do better at ostracizing these bastards, and stop rewarding them with cushy academic positions.

[Blake Scholl 🛫 @bscholl]

Billionaires should be openly proud of what they’ve built. Bravo @JTLonsdale

It requires hard work and talent. Stop calling it luck. It’s not, not fundamentally.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@monkieboy99 @rawsalerts The government shouldn’t bail out anyone. But, Spirit is also a victim here. The government prevented them from pursuing a deal that might have otherwise saved them. It’s still government perversion in the market. Spirit just didn’t have enough pull in Washington, apparently.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@DanielDiMartino Is it? Didn’t the government also prevent Spirit from merging with other airlines, in a deal that might have prevented this? The entire situation still seems to me to be the government choosing winners and losers. Spirit just didn’t have enough pull in Washington to save itself.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@CNLiberalism Not if one’s goal is to eliminate the rich for being rich. Egalitarianism, is not a question of redistribution of wealth, but the eradication of difference (regardless of the means). If the affluent stop living in the state, that’s a win, because at least then, everyone is equal.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@Robotbeat @astroteuthis I have a low tolerance for mysticism in sci-fi. Largely because I think the cynnism and nihilism stem from it. Mysticism tells us that there are significant parts of reality we cannot know or hope to understand. As such, our proper place is at an alter, on our knees.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@astroteuthis @Robotbeat Great take. Earned a follow. I agree with you, we need writers who love human beings, and who want us to flourish. Enough of the mysticism, cynicism, and nihilism. We need more rational optimism and romanticism in sci-fi.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@MDSebach Other than the one WE give it, no. Life, in general, and humanity, in particular, are the only agents of purpose in the Universe.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@m_adams Beyond declining basic literacy, which is dismal, I’m more concerned by the erosion of civic literacy. A republic cannot endure if its citizens no longer understand, or value, the nature of the polity they are apart of.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@aziz0nomics The true source of value is the mind. Not even gold or oil were valuable until someone figured out how to mine them, refine them, and turn them into a product. Someone had to figure out how to do this efficiently and profitably by finding a productive use for such materials.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@MouseThatHODLs @aziz0nomics Poverty is a real problem. The rich/poor gap isn’t. There will always be differences in wealth and income, but calling it a ‘gap’ implies people are stuck there for life. They aren’t. Wealth and income are dynamic, and many people born poor don’t stay poor their entire lives.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@aziz0nomics We are just getting started.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@MDSebach It is amazing how revolutionary Rand's insight actually is. It seems so obvious, if it wasn’t for the fact that many other great philosophers explicitly said the opposite, one would think that it is just self-evident.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@RockChartrand Also, what a terrible thing to do to oneself. It’s a fast lane to the destruction of one’s soul, to abandon their own values and convictions to appease others. What a miserable life that would be.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@MDSebach I think empathy, like all emotions, can have both a good and evil application. For example, empathy without the guiding principle of justice, will see one empathizing with a violent criminal who suffers. Yet, with said principle, we may properly empathize with a struggling hero.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@Graham_117 That’s why I keep calling them nihilists. They are self-loathing monsters that want to see humanity suffer, and ultimately, be destroyed.

[David J. @David_JP_Ed]

@Andercot @PulsarFusion I’m grateful for it every single day. Today is the best time yet, to be a live. We live in an age of marvels, wrought by human hands. There is so much value that surrounds us, that once one starts to notice it, it can’t help but make one an optimist.