Official Off Topic Thread

[turke]

I didn't see anything on it that said it was "The Pacifist Channel." These things are part of history for better or for worse, and furthermore, it is a well-known fact that technological innovation tends to be at its peak during wartime and that the same technologies often find peacetime applications as well.

I won't agree with you about this. I think all discoveries and inventions are made in the sake of good will, by good people, who don't think to use them as a destructive force. But later, some crackpot takes these stuff, and turns it into a destruction machine. I think that's what happens. Cause i don't think a man, with only destruction in his/her mind, could come up with a new, nonexistent thing. You need a "building" mind to make it, not the other way around. The reason for the innovation peak during wartime is because governments tend to spare lots of money to make war machines to support their army, thus "science", only during war time.

By the way, if you call this way of thinking "passivism", then yes i am passivist. But i call it "peace and understanding", if you wanna know. Accepting the diversity of life and being a part of it. I come from a nation which had lots of wars in the history, and i know that war isn't a game. You die in a war. Your children die, your wife, your friends die. Legs and arms fly in the air. War is not a game. You regret it for a life time.

 

[Anonymous]

??? I don't think anyone else picked up on this one somehow...

I had actually said that when he was still alive

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

I won't agree with you about this. I think all discoveries and inventions are made in the sake of good will, by good people, who don't think to use them as a destructive force. But later, some crackpot takes these stuff, and turns it into a destruction machine. I think that's what happens.

I disagree. If it weren't for wars, our technology would be years behind in flight, propulsion, nuclear physics, etc. Usually governments won't put much funding into certain areas of research, but in war time, suddenly there's a way to profit by knowing more than someone else about nuclear power, or having better airplanes. So they gather all the best scientists and pay them a hefty sum to develop a lot of good ideas as quickly as possible. That whole "win or be conquered" aspect of war has been quite an incentive to push technology forward.

Anyway, I didn't want to write a book. What I'm saying is that there are a lot of ideas that we use in everyday life that were developed during war time.

And after (briefly) looking back to where this discussion started - the Discovery channel SUCKS now! It's the same damn five shows over and over again, and they're LAME.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

Both times of war and peace have shown marvelous advances in technology. Teh 3|\|d

 

[turke]

Don't forget "Antic Greek Civilisation". They were the most developed civilisation of their time, may be even all times. We are still studying their philosophers, using their scientific discoveries. And they weren't fighting while doing that.

What is the reason to discover, if the discovery will wipe out the life on earth.

 

[Horus]

I figured out the perfect analogy to describe in the world of Metal.
Imagine that the world of metal is a classroom.

The fans are the teacher.

The bands are the students.

Bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X are the band geeks.

Bands like Leaves' Eyes, Epica and Nightwish are the cool, popular girls.

Bands like Kamelot, Edguy and Stratovarius are the sports jocks who flirt with all the hot sexy girls like Epica, Leaves' Eyes and Nightwish.

Rhapsody is teh kid who tries too hard to be cool. lol

Bands like ABORTED and Ddying Fetus are the stupid stoner kids who sit in the back of the room and make bad jokes all day.

The Shitty Rap Metal bands are the token Black Kids who got bussed in from the inner city because of Affirmative Action.

Dragonforce is the loud and unnecessarily hyper kid who always brings his gameboy into school and always feels the need to do anything for attention.

Bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and all the other bands that are many years old are the parents.

I know, I'm a genius

 

[Tubbs]

^ It would have been more accurate if you didn't miss about 30 genres of metal.

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

Um... how are Kamelot, Edguy, and Strato the jocks?
Aside from prog bands being band geeks, and Dragonforce being loud and hyper, how does any of that work?

 

[1by4by9]

Iron Maiden is the student that use to be normal like everyone else but has now three arms. And he's too old for school anyway but it doesn't matter because he's got the money.

Evergrey is the one with bad case of Mondays.

Ayreon is the one with kleptomacy. He has borrowed something from everyone else.

Blind Guardian changed socks and shaved his feet.

At The Gates was a swedish exchange student. Switched to another school.

 

[PoisonSeed]

Metallica was one of the most magnificent students at the school many years ago but unfortunately experienced a serious accident which caused a slow but steady evolving cell detoriation in the left brain hemisphere. He's now mostly seen in the company of other students, like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, attending special classes for the mentally retarded.

 

[Rose Immortal]

I disagree. If it weren't for wars, our technology would be years behind in flight, propulsion, nuclear physics, etc. Usually governments won't put much funding into certain areas of research, but in war time, suddenly there's a way to profit by knowing more than someone else about nuclear power, or having better airplanes. So they gather all the best scientists and pay them a hefty sum to develop a lot of good ideas as quickly as possible. That whole "win or be conquered" aspect of war has been quite an incentive to push technology forward.

Anyway, I didn't want to write a book. What I'm saying is that there are a lot of ideas that we use in everyday life that were developed during war time.

Thank you...these are exactly the cases I was going to cite. Even some antibiotics and painkillers got extra attention and funding because of the need to treat injured and ill soldiers.

If turke thinks I don't give a shit about the seriousness of war, then he's completely wrong. However, it is a reality of our civilization--and a rather prominent one--and there is no purpose in hiding our heads in the sand when it comes to understanding its place in how our society has come to where it is now.

 

[Yngvai X]

And Kreator, Testament, and Death are the kids that are the total fucking badasses that don't give a fuck.

 

[Kenneth R.]

forget war.

DARK TRANQUILLITY, SCAR SYMMETRY, INTO ETERNITY, THE HAUNTED.

NYC March 26.

 

[Matt]

^I would love to see that. I love DT and Scar Symmetry.

 

[turke]

Yeah, i got it. You had good education in schools. War is good, if there were no wars, there wouldn't be any medicine... You're in good company I've nothing more to say.

 

[Beelzebub]

forget war.

DARK TRANQUILLITY, SCAR SYMMETRY, INTO ETERNITY, THE HAUNTED.

NYC March 26.

Hmm, maybe I'll go to this show.

 

[Time-Machinist]

If turke thinks I don't give a shit about the seriousness of war, then he's completely wrong. However, it is a reality of our civilization--and a rather prominent one--and there is no purpose in hiding our heads in the sand when it comes to understanding its place in how our society has come to where it is now.

"Our society" ? Are we talking about a "global society" or what? Do you think that everyone (or society) are happy about their condition or lives in todays world? Yet, the things such as wars, racism, colonization, religious and national extremes etc. are inevitably supposed to be experienced by humanity. ANd even they may have immense positive contributions to "development?" of our societies. But i believe, the lives of every living creature (here the case is human beings) are (or should be) equally important, regardless of the time they live in! So, i totally oppose the justification of wars, or in other words the "wasting of people" , after witnessing their benefits to the following generations. I am not talking about "hiding heads under the sand" BTW. Taking lessons and makeing something useful out of a bad experience is not a false thing. But this approach is like a kind of celebratory like: "Hey, A Farewell To Arms is a great novel. We should be thankful to that great war , otherwise there would never emerge such fantastic novels." There were, are and will always be immense stimulus sources for humanity (other than "wars") to do something in a positive progressive way in science, arts etc. Inability to use this potential is the problem of mankind, i think.

And finally, the seriousness and tragicness and inhuman nature of wars can not be fully grasped, unless you physically involve in one of them, i believe...

 

[Eternal Dragon]

ZOMG DRUNKEN POST!!!!! I have no political agenda when i'm drunk .

 

[SilentRealm]

i have no political agenda sober.. i love war.. just kidding.. war blows, its just a pointless destruction of life, and almost always over the money and power of some asshole's 'god complex'

 

[Rose Immortal]

When it comes to the study of history, how are we to shape the future in whatever way it is that we want it, without a full understanding of the past? There are two things I do not care for in the revisionist approach to history. The first is the suggestion that we should ignore past events such as wars because they are ugly. Of course they're ugly--and I should think that allowing people to see them up close through the historical education process would be a good way to make that point. We also do need to understand the good things that have come out of wartime: how else, then, can we understand why civilizations are willing to take the risk of going to war? And how else do we learn how prior wars have shaped our culture? (I am not going to talk of how we learn of other cultures because the honest truth nobody wants to acknowledge is that no matter how we study we never really will GET any other culture like we do our own, and to pretend we really are that understanding is a farce.) The full complexity of the past must be understood--not shied away from in any way--in order to deal with the present or future. Furthermore, the peoples of the past must be understood as they are, not as defective or broken versions of us. That leads to my second point.

The other thing that I cannot stand, when it comes to the revisionist approach to discussing war, is the assumption that everyone who may disagree (i.e. who is not a pacifist) or who has been involved in a war for whatever reason must be "retarded" in some way. The fact that honest and good people may disagree has been completely thrown out the window these days. It is not as though there are only two options: saint and butcher. Many people have thought very carefully through when they would be willing to fight and when they would not, and are not indiscriminate. (And FYI, it is a mistake to assume you know who has in fact thought and who has not. You are not a mind-reader.)