Did humanity just cross that line?

[JackRussell]

VR headset technology can be used in medical schools to train surgeons who can go on to heal those poor sick people

The poor sick will not benefit from this technology, to many doctors want their payday, they have style to uphold don't you know.

GC

Not when they work in the public sector. But I know from experience many USAsians just don't get that.

[Godscreated]

A popular lament is; why are we spending so much money on space exploration when so many are starving? This a false dilemma, as is the main premise of the OP. If all funding for NASA, ESA were stopped tomorrow that doesn’t mean those funds will be diverted to rescuing starving babies. Many billion$ have been thrown at the problem but the problem is still here.
A more pertinent question would be; where is all the money going?

Here's the thing if we had started with those first brilliant minds at NASA and applied the money which reaches into the trillions now the US could have solved the worlds hunger and drinkable water problems by now. If we couldn't then we are a sad bunch. Yes like many small boys I was enthused about space, but as a small boy I did not realize the great problem of starvation and drinkable water, but those adults that wanted a space advantage to be one up on the other country for war purposes realized the problem. Over population is the major factor in the problems we face to day, if we had started developing a teaching program in the 50's and spread education, food and drinkable water over the entire planet we wouldn't be in this shape. Until we can bring down the population of the world and convince people that living high on the hog is not a right when it cost so many so much then we deserve everything we get. Space stations, space travel, satellites and other things in space have never been necessary, but the problem of starvation and drinkable water for the world has always been and is even more so today a necessity. Look guys our water supply in the US is becoming critical and there's one thing we can count on those with the money will get what water is available, the rest of us will have to drink what ever we can stomach. The rich and powerful have always controlled the important things and they always will if the people of this world do not come to their senses. Think we have changed as a people, think again, we've managed to trash up this country through all kinds of pollution and now we are doing the same to the space above us. Guess what, now NASA is working on garbage trucks for space, if this doesn't tell us how hopeless we've become then I'm afraid nothing will. Just like the Europeans came to the New World and started taking land they did not own nor purchased and later the Americans followed suite, believing that we have the right to everything we can lay our hands on and treat it as we wish all, in the name of money and knowledge, we've expanded it to other planets. What gives us the right to trash up this solar system. Rant over.

GC

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The poor sick will not benefit from this technology, to many doctors want their payday, they have style to uphold don't you know.

GC

Not when they work in the public sector. But I know from experience many USAsians just don't get that.

Just remember this when some poor guy dies because he couldn't afford such technology to save his life, it goes on everyday everywhere and until we stop it nothings going to change, this is reality.

GC

[JackRussell]

A popular lament is; why are we spending so much money on space exploration when so many are starving? This a false dilemma, as is the main premise of the OP. If all funding for NASA, ESA were stopped tomorrow that doesn’t mean those funds will be diverted to rescuing starving babies. Many billion$ have been thrown at the problem but the problem is still here.
A more pertinent question would be; where is all the money going?

Here's the thing if we had started with those first brilliant minds at NASA and applied the money which reaches into the trillions now the US could have solved the worlds hunger and drinkable water problems by now. If we couldn't then we are a sad bunch. Yes like many small boys I was enthused about space, but as a small boy I did not realize the great problem of starvation and drinkable water, but those adults that wanted a space advantage to be one up on the other country for war purposes realized the problem. Over population is the major factor in the problems we face to day, if we had started developing a teaching program in the 50's and spread education, food and drinkable water over the entire planet we wouldn't be in this shape. Until we can bring down the population of the world and convince people that living high on the hog is not a right when it cost so many so much then we deserve everything we get. Space stations, space travel, satellites and other things in space have never been necessary, but the problem of starvation and drinkable water for the world has always been and is even more so today a necessity. Look guys our water supply in the US is becoming critical and there's one thing we can count on those with the money will get what water is available, the rest of us will have to drink what ever we can stomach. The rich and powerful have always controlled the important things and they always will if the people of this world do not come to their senses. Think we have changed as a people, think again, we've managed to trash up this country through all kinds of pollution and now we are doing the same to the space above us. Guess what, now NASA is working on garbage trucks for space, if this doesn't tell us how hopeless we've become then I'm afraid nothing will. Just like the Europeans came to the New World and started taking land they did not own nor purchased and later the Americans followed suite, believing that we have the right to everything we can lay our hands on and treat it as we wish all, in the name of money and knowledge, we've expanded it to other planets. What gives us the right to trash up this solar system. Rant over.

GC

---

Not when they work in the public sector. But I know from experience many USAsians just don't get that.

Just remember this when some poor guy dies because he couldn't afford such technology to save his life, it goes on everyday everywhere and until we stop it nothings going to change, this is reality.

GC

Yep, USAsians don't get it. When you have public healthcare systems, the technology is available to all, even if they are homeless and destitute. In the UK they are talking about genetic mapping for all cancer patients to give targeted treatment. This costs around 680GBP per person. The patient doesn't pay that. It's part of the social contract we have and having the NHS. The NHS sure ain't perfect, but the vision is healthcare for all.

[vorlon13]

VR headset technology can be used in medical schools to train surgeons who can go on to heal those poor sick people

The poor sick will not benefit from this technology, to many doctors want their payday, they have style to uphold don't you know.

GC

You can post that while doctors affiliated with Doctors Without Borders are being murdered in Syria, South Sudan, and elsewhere ??

[Chad32]

There are many important issues that Humanity has yet to address, but that doesn't mean we need to stop everything else just to focus on things that may be unattainable. Like completely ending poverty, and world hunger, and all that. We are limited beings, after all. As a theist or atheist, I'd be a bit sad at how easily corruptible power can be, and how people that have the power to do something will choose not to for whatever reason. Which is, of course, why I think the idea of the Abrahamic god is a bit silly. A lot of people do a lot of good in this world. A lot of people do a lot of bad. It all depends on context. I don't think VR is a sign of how horrible we are as a species, because we're advancing technology that may not directly effect world hunger and disease and such.

[The Grand Nudger]

Humanity did cross the line. We could've end hunger. We could've end poverty. We could've end lots and lots of sicknesses.
But instead; we chose a fare similar to the M.A.T.R.I.X

Why I posted this here is pretty simple: what do you think as a religious person, an atheist?
I do believe in God even more, because when I see the coldness humans reached, I just remember why hell is justified, why earth is literally being butchered by many humans.

It's alot easier to get an htc vive than it is to end hunger.  The VR headset is a money issue, for most...but hunger isn't.  We commonly imagine that starving people have no money to buy food...but that's not actually true. They have the money to buy the necessities, but the opportunity cost of letting your product sit on their shelves is higher than the expected return. Hell, man, people in impoverished areas here in the US could handily afford anything I sell..but the cost of seeking them out as a market combined with the fact that I can sell more, for more...to others is why I actively pursue the gated community subset precisely so I can give shit away under cost.

We didn't do this, mind you. Natural resources (like food or arable land) are not evenly distributed. Whose fault is that, again? Who is it, that belongs in hell?

[drfuzzy]

I didn't find a more suitable section to post my thoughts at.

But few days ago; I got my hands on a VR headset. The technology was quite off my radar, I just didn't think the Software & Engineering community was capable to develop virtual reality, under such a low price.

A headset from Google can cost you 10$ only. It's cheap.

I downloaded a free app, and I put on the headset. I was blown away. Literally.
All the sci-fi movies I ever remembered just crossed my head.

Oh my God. Humanity did climb utter heights if you ask me. While people die from hunger, others just bury their eyes in a plastic box and claim the didn't hear nobody screaming.

The whole concept of the technology is illusion. The image is a 2D flat image. People dying from hunger is 4D and real.

Humanity did cross the line. We could've end hunger. We could've end poverty. We could've end lots and lots of sicknesses.
But instead; we chose a fare similar to the M.A.T.R.I.X

Why I posted this here is pretty simple: what do you think as a religious person, an atheist?
I do believe in God even more, because when I see the coldness humans reached, I just remember why hell is justified, why earth is literally being butchered by many humans.

I see preachers who are multi-millionaires, with their own private jets and huge mansions . . . and starving children.  I see churches with auditoriums the size of football stadiums, high-tech sound and video systems, their own band and orchestra . . . and starving children.  The vast majority of churches do not come even close to using 10% of their earnings to help the needy, yet they pay no taxes.  The taxes collected from USA churches alone could save the starving children worldwide.  No wonder people want to put blinkers on and just watch Netflix or submerse themselves in VR.

[Astonished]

In a perfect world, people would control their reproduction better, prepare better for emergencies like drought and famine, nations would make agreements to help each other in a somewhat equal capacity depending on their capability based on their geography and resource production, economics would prohibit obscene wealth, education would be paramount and overachieving would be encouraged from the cradle. We would then still enjoy this level of technology, have enough of it to go around because there wouldn't be so many people scrambling for what little they can, and be producing vastly more of it because we'd have far more people at the level of understanding that can innovate and develop these specialized things. Guess how many of those factors are being hindered, or started out hindered in history, because of religion?

[The Valkyrie]

The poor sick will not benefit from this technology, to many doctors want their payday, they have style to uphold don't you know.

GC

You can post that while doctors affiliated with Doctors Without Borders are being murdered in Syria, South Sudan, and elsewhere ??

This.

There were a number of us evacuated from South Sudan due to security concerns.

[Godscreated]

The poor sick will not benefit from this technology, to many doctors want their payday, they have style to uphold don't you know.

GC

You can post that while doctors affiliated with Doctors Without Borders are being murdered in Syria, South Sudan, and elsewhere ??

Not only can I but I did. Unlike some I do not lump all of any profession into one bundle. Those doctors are few and the world is full of sick and dying people. 

GC

---

I didn't find a more suitable section to post my thoughts at.

But few days ago; I got my hands on a VR headset. The technology was quite off my radar, I just didn't think the Software & Engineering community was capable to develop virtual reality, under such a low price.

A headset from Google can cost you 10$ only. It's cheap.

I downloaded a free app, and I put on the headset. I was blown away. Literally.
All the sci-fi movies I ever remembered just crossed my head.

Oh my God. Humanity did climb utter heights if you ask me. While people die from hunger, others just bury their eyes in a plastic box and claim the didn't hear nobody screaming.

The whole concept of the technology is illusion. The image is a 2D flat image. People dying from hunger is 4D and real.

Humanity did cross the line. We could've end hunger. We could've end poverty. We could've end lots and lots of sicknesses.
But instead; we chose a fare similar to the M.A.T.R.I.X

Why I posted this here is pretty simple: what do you think as a religious person, an atheist?
I do believe in God even more, because when I see the coldness humans reached, I just remember why hell is justified, why earth is literally being butchered by many humans.

I see preachers who are multi-millionaires, with their own private jets and huge mansions . . . and starving children.  I see churches with auditoriums the size of football stadiums, high-tech sound and video systems, their own band and orchestra . . . and starving children.  The vast majority of churches do not come even close to using 10% of their earnings to help the needy, yet they pay no taxes.  The taxes collected from USA churches alone could save the starving children worldwide.  No wonder people want to put blinkers on and just watch Netflix or submerse themselves in VR.

 You need to prove these statements. Yes there are millionaire preachers that live in mansions. There are no churches that have football stadium sized auditoriums they do have high-tech sound systems and they have bands unpaid bands. how do you know what churches pay out for the needy. The Southern Baptist World Relief Organization is the third largest in the world only behind the Red Cross and Salvation Army, all three are Christian based and do more than any one country in disaster relief. The Southern Baptist World Relief Organization is funded through the Southern Baptist Churches. Compared to these three the atheist relief system does less than .001 of 1% to help in disaster relief. Go ahead and tax the churches and watch as the world wide and home help goes down, you know as well as I do that money from taxing churches will not be used to fund help for those in need. Also there is a thing called separation of church and state, if the government taxes the church then we will have all the rights to money other organizations do. a few years ago when the Philippines were hit with the massive cyclone the Southern Baptist had located it's relief teams and supplies on outlying islands when to storm passed the went in and started relief efforts before most got there stuff out of storage. By the way no one remembers any atheist organizations there. You should stop complaining about the Christian church and be grateful we are there for those in need, you never know when you could us our help.

GC