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[Bohandas]

I'm partial to the Nibiru theory, as I get all my history lessons from Scooby Doo.

Did that actually figure in an episode as something supposedly legitimate?

If not then that's insulting to Scooby Doo. The Nibiru theory is more like something they'd pull the mask off of at the end of the show.

[Vorthon]

I vote for a successor to the Large Hadron Collider, that uses planets instead of hadrons. Or maybe planets are just really, REALLY large hadrons.

Oh god a planet moving at light speed

Someone make this happen

Read Ringworld. That's all I have to say on the matter.

[kaijyuu]

I'm partial to the Nibiru theory, as I get all my history lessons from Scooby Doo.

Did that actually figure in an episode as something supposedly legitimate?

If not then that's insulting to Scooby Doo. The Nibiru theory is more like something they'd pull the mask off of at the end of the show.

Go watch Mystery Incorporated. It's sorta important, there.

[misko27]

Makes for a really lousy game of bar billiard, though.

You have no imagination. I would LOVE that game. Whos up for a round?

[Darvi]

I dunno but a game where you get only 30 points for murdering ~7.000.000.000 people is not something I would want to play.

[kaijyuu]

What fun is destruction if no one dies?

[Darvi]

Still, a measly 30 points?

[Bohandas]

A couple of my friends basically said that identifying as a pizza is as valid an identity as any other.

(hint: no, it isn't)

What do you have against pizzas?

Identity is a wacky thing and I'd be hesitant to call any identity "invalid." Someone could identify as a pizza, but they'd probably be nuts besides.

Personally, if anything, I'd go in the opposite direction and say that ALL identity is invalid, in the best cases best a flawed interpretation of one's personal part of a world that can only be experienced indirectly through the senses in the worst cases a construct of pure delusion and folly. You are only what you are, what you think you are or want to be has no impact on the reality of a situation. The universe is cold and unfeeling and makes no accommodations for your preferences or beliefs. You cannot be or do whatever you want to simply by believing in yourself, platitudinous people may have told you that you can but it is a lie; you are constrained by immutable laws of physics and biology. As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "but that this blessedness produced by an idee fixe by no means makes the idea itself true, and the fact that faith actually moves no mountains, but instead raises them up where there were none before: all this is made sufficiently clear by a walk through a lunatic asylum"

The real problem is that it's highly intellectually dishonest. Being a person with a logic fetish, it's not actually bad moral premises that piss me off (as much); it's a bad argument. I have a lot more respect for libertarians than for the Religious Right. Why? Because libertarians are honest about what they believe and what the results of that are. The Religious Right invoke a man who said "blessed are the poor", "love your enemies" and "he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone" to cut welfare, engage in reckless warmongering and persecute gay people.

So, what's going on here? Well, part of the problem is that identities are actually beliefs (right or wrong ones), not labels. Most of the time, they are labels, of the form "I am an X"="I believe that [traits of X apply to me]". Nobody will really say that a man who believes in the god of the Koran and not those of the Vedas but, for whatever batshit reason, calls himself a Hindu is a Hindu; he's a Muslim. This may sound like glossing over important differences, but affirming a full and complete separation of belief and identity leads you to some confusing and nonsensical conclusions. And this works the other way, as we shall see.

Why is this important? Well, do my highly tolerant and accepting friends condemn Todd Akin? You bet they do. Now, if what Todd Akin were saying were true and women couldn't get pregnant from rape, he would just be stating a fact and they would be engaging in denialism. But he's not. That what he is saying is false and that he's being a misogynistic asshole is actually completely irrelevant here. Todd Akin says "women can't get pregnant from rape"; this is equivalent to "Hi, I'm Todd Akin and I identify as someone who thinks women can't get pregnant from rape." By saying that Todd Akin is being a misogynistic jerkass- or, sorry, making a moral judgment with regards to his being a misogynistic jerkass, since this is a distinction we do need to make- you are condemning an identity. But you told ME that identities are unjudgeable- and, furthermore, you are judging me for saying that at least some identities are judgeable, a belief I am holding, equivalent to an unspoken identity "I identify as someone who judges certain identities". This is a contradiction.

It's stuff like this that makes me not like postmodernism. I have no problem with analyzing issues from a minority viewpoint- indeed it's often the only way to analyze an issue. But let's not pretend that we can condemn the status quo while letting minorities get a free ride. Or we can- but then we chuck any pretenses at universality and consistency out the window. That's fine with some postmodernists, I'm sure, given that- as per the Sokal Hoax- postmodernism and sociology seem to be content to tell science that they are better at science than science is.

I agree with you

[kaijyuu]

Still, a measly 30 points?

You make a good point. Each person should be worth at least 5 points, from a game design perspective.

[misko27]

Still, a measly 30 points?

You make a good point. Each person should be worth at least 5 points, from a game design perspective.

Ohhh, You guys are reminding me of one of m favorite games! Defcon, where killing off millions of people require a score counter. They used the 2 points for every million method, there is probably a better one for here.

[kaijyuu]

It would act much like a black hole, but since it's moving so fast, most things would probably avoid being sucked into it unless they're directly in its path.

On the planet itself things would be normal, except of course the fusion happening when it collides with things, which would eventually heat the entire thing to a plasma state.

[Graknorke]

I vote for a successor to the Large Hadron Collider, that uses planets instead of hadrons. Or maybe planets are just really, REALLY large hadrons.

Oh god a planet moving at light speed

Someone make this happen

unable to get to light speed. assuming you could, though...

the universe collapses due to an infinitely powerful gravity field. things on the edge of the universe would have a good while due to gravity being restricted by the speed of light, though.

assuming you speed it up to... say... 0.999999999999999999999999999999999999c, it'd probably make a black hole.

Since when did speed affect mass?
Anyway, are we assuming a perfect vacuum, or just space conditions? Because going that fast, the friction from the scattered hydrogen in space could still cause some serious heating.

[kaijyuu]

Since when did speed affect mass?

Since relativity. The more apparent energy something has, the more apparent mass it has. This is why light is affected by gravity, despite having 0 rest mass.

[Loud Whispers]

Hence why, SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE IT HAPPEN!

[kaenneth]

Since when did speed affect mass?

Since relativity. The more apparent energy something has, the more apparent mass it has. This is why light is affected by gravity, despite having 0 rest mass.

and one of the many limitations of this universe preventing FTL travel.

You'd have more than infinite mass, for the instant you are at the speed of light, an eternity will go by (time dilation, to put it simply), anything impacting your object, even a hydrogen atom, could cause a fair bit of damage etc.

All you need is a power source that generates power in proportion to it's mass, so that when you hit infinite mass, you get infinite power. (That's not the premise of the Mass Effect games, is it?)

Fun thought for the day: If a massive black hole (... or any big object I guess) were approaching the earth at the speed of light, we would never know until we were suddenly obliterated.

Also, gamma ray bursts; could suddenly kill EVERYTHING on one side of the planet, and does travel at the speed of light.