mass extictions

[ygmir]

well, there have been several such events in earths history.
each time, life was almost wiped out.
it was a cataclysmic event, unfair, random, arbitrary, and no one thought about how it would effect earth and it's inhabitants.
I can imagine all the creatures sitting there, saying "who the fuck came up with this ice-age (or insert your favorite calamity) idea?

and yet, each time, a whole new paradigm evolved.
The dust settled, life went on, things grew, and well, it was different.

Each age, was "the best" for "someone".

Each "event" wiped ,most of them out.......and let others step up.

heck, the asteroid impact 65-ish million years ago, was a real bummer for the dinosaurs, and most everything else, well, except those funny little warm blooded furry creatures...............
they seem to have kept coming and well............


just a thought.

[MyDearFriend]

You might be ready to lie down and fossilize, but, I am not...

[ygmir]

You might be ready to lie down and fossilize, but, I am not...

*scratching head*

dang, did I miss my point?
I was trying to say, we can keep going, work with what we have, and see what happens?
This might kill some parts, but, that might encourage other things to develop.

[MyDearFriend]

Oh, well, you are the god in this picture.

[lucky420]

mmm don't believe in god here but I do like your evolution theory ygmir

[bigdane]

oh I get it...and I like it!!

[FIGJAM]

I've experienced mass exshrinktion, does that count?

[5280MeV]

Interesting metaphor, but I hope it is more of a migration and adaptation than extinction.

This urge to build things in a remote location - the wonderful camps that people create, I hope that it doesn't just die off at the edge of the Black Rock desert after Labor Day.

...pass me some more of that CORE burn kool aid, I'm drinking it!

[ygmir]

I think I see the extinction part, as that of the large theme and sound camps.
I'm not saying that's what I want or anything, just seein' that if they don't get their crews, it may not happen.
but, in their places, may evolve other camps, maybe other themes, run by other folks.
Still "life", just a different paradigm............

[MyDearFriend]

Well it's interesting to see it as an evolutionary move rather than a catastrophic mass extinction. Two very different things, to my mind, so I am glad you are not contemplating the destruction of BRC from space.

I was reading in Scientific American today (actually last August's issue, wonder why I hadn't got around to that one yet...?), a very interesting article about the explosion of relatively sophisticated and stable human culture about 30,000 years ago, when the Neandertals died out and modern humans took over. It seems that a big change came when people started living longer, and began reaping the benefits of having grandparents around as a resource. Experienced people seem to be a real evolutionary advantage.

And yes Lucky I have been drinking quite a lot of whiskey tonight!

[ygmir]

Well it's interesting to see it as an evolutionary move rather than a catastrophic mass extinction. Two very different things, to my mind, so I am glad you are not contemplating the destruction of BRC from space.

I was reading in Scientific American today (actually last August's issue, wonder why I hadn't got around to that one yet...?), a very interesting article about the explosion of relatively sophisticated and stable human culture about 30,000 years ago, when the Neandertals died out and modern humans took over. It seems that a big change came when people started living longer, and began reaping the benefits of having grandparents around as a resource. Experienced people seem to be a real evolutionary advantage.

And yes Lucky I have been drinking quite a lot of whiskey tonight!

well, yay, experience may make us more valuable.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Ah, punctuated equilibrium.

As an evolutionary biologist studying diversification rates, I approve of this message. Mass extinctions are followed by rapid radiations into diverse new forms. MyDearFriend gave a good example, but it does happen on much larger scales. Looking at the phylogenetic trees ("maps" of species through time), you can see those points in time where are particular lineage suddenly becomes more fecund, despite - or even because of - others dying off. Hey, this almost ties in with the theme...

[MyDearFriend]

well, yay, experience may make us more valuable.

People my age tend to think so. But I certainly feel as if my equilibrium has been punctuated! It will be interesting to see what comes of all this turmoil and change.

I don't expect I'll see anything from the ground, though, except dust... and dust is what I really want to see. I miss it.

Ensimismada, I am imagining your Punctuated Equilibrium Camp, a teeter-totter obstacle course leading out in several directions...

[theCryptofishist]

And I think scales and large foam question marks.

[MyDearFriend]

...fancy cocktails or an empty water bottle, depending on which path you follow?

[BoyScoutGirl]

Punctuated inebriation for all!

[International Incident]

I love this thread...

No, I couldn’t stay away from reading Eplaya.

And yes, Yggy, MDF, fishy et al - you are bloody awesome.

Keep the forward momentum going.

[Isotopia]

If prayer works to cure cancer and other such maladies, why is its track record so poor for curing people who've lost arms, legs, fingers and... boobs or testicles?

[Isotopia]

Hey, I'm just asking.

[gyre]

The survival of life seems almost inevitable.


There seems to be no similar need for sentience.

[MyDearFriend]

"Punctuated inebriation," I really like that, ensimismsada!

[burner von braun]

...

yep, Fertility 2.0 may indeed be the result of the ticket snafu.

[Elderberry]

I think I see the extinction part, as that of the large theme and sound camps.
I'm not saying that's what I want or anything, just seein' that if they don't get their crews, it may not happen.
but, in their places, may evolve other camps, maybe other themes, run by other folks.
Still "life", just a different paradigm............

We have that already. It's called Juplaya.

[some seeing eye]

I have seen this in social systems. In any good size city there are various in-person meetups for music, art and cultural events by otherwise unrelated people. If they grow organically by word of mouth within a subculture and friendships, even very close bonds, result. It is how microculture is built. But if the meetups are announced in the mass media or broadly on the interwebs, there is a huge influx of new people who don't know one another and everyone just stands around being shy, and they don't display the social norms that allow them to connect with the other strangers. The close bonds of trust that allow deep collaboration to happen don't occur.

Same with global warming, ecosystems that took 15,000 years to develop, will shift in less than 150 and it won't be pretty, because opportunistic plants, bugs and weeds will adapt quickly, but forests, for instance will not.

Speculation, the dance party genome is pretty opportunistic and adaptable over a wide range of social bond strengths.

[5280MeV]

I think I see the extinction part, as that of the large theme and sound camps.
I'm not saying that's what I want or anything, just seein' that if they don't get their crews, it may not happen.
but, in their places, may evolve other camps, maybe other themes, run by other folks.
Still "life", just a different paradigm............

I think that what I mean to say is that I hope that the people behind the large camps ultimately take something away from the experience, that they keep building and creating - either things that are suited to the new environment, or creating in new environments, or making their own events from the ground up.

I never saw myself as becoming a big theme camp person - I like the potential personal creativity and survivalism.

I have been daydreaming about swarm or herd camps - camps that are unified around a general aesthetic or theme, but basically self-organize around a protocol rather than a core team.

Could you even do a sound camp with a potluck of marine batteries, strings of LED lights and homemade effects, solar cells, a primitive power grid, and individual active speakers? Maybe - but you cannot do it all night every night, and you cannot reasonably do a 100 kW sound system. Do we really need so many 100 kW sound systems, though? To me the intensity and originality of an experience is much more important than the raw size of the experience.

[ygmir]

I think I see the extinction part, as that of the large theme and sound camps.
I'm not saying that's what I want or anything, just seein' that if they don't get their crews, it may not happen.
but, in their places, may evolve other camps, maybe other themes, run by other folks.
Still "life", just a different paradigm............

I think that what I mean to say is that I hope that the people behind the large camps ultimately take something away from the experience, that they keep building and creating - either things that are suited to the new environment, or creating in new environments, or making their own events from the ground up.

I never saw myself as becoming a big theme camp person - I like the potential personal creativity and survivalism.

I have been daydreaming about swarm or herd camps - camps that are unified around a general aesthetic or theme, but basically self-organize around a protocol rather than a core team.

Could you even do a sound camp with a potluck of marine batteries, strings of LED lights and homemade effects, solar cells, a primitive power grid, and individual active speakers? Maybe - but you cannot do it all night every night, and you cannot reasonably do a 100 kW sound system. Do we really need so many 100 kW sound systems, though? To me the intensity and originality of an experience is much more important than the raw size of the experience.

and therein lies the beauty, IMHO.
"to each their own"

some like ear popping, eye bleeding bass thumps. And if they can do it, then, well.....do it.

I'm happy, with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Doors, on a 100W car stereo, with two speakers, and sitting with some friends, chatting, drinking, dancing and cavorting.

Do I go to big sound camps? no.
Do I begrudge them their existence? no.
Do I like the fact, that, anyone, can do anything (not stepping on others) they want, by virtue of their "might and mane"? YES!

for each of us, it is EXACTLY, what we make of it, by our attitudes, thoughts, and actions.
We're only limited by our own minds. And, should accept judgement, from no one. (though they may well offer)

*turns rant knob back to Min.*

[unjonharley]

A fine string of peal cast before swine..

[Bob]

If prayer works to cure cancer and other such maladies, why is its track record so poor for curing people who've lost arms, legs, fingers and... boobs or testicles?

Didn't restore Bristol Palin's chastity, but it did give Chastity Bono a set of neuticles.

[lemur]

didnt make terri schiavo a nobel prize winner