Was just thinking about one of the NRA's motos...

"An armed society is a polite society."

Considering that SZ is the closest thing we have to an armed society, I think the NRA may wish to do away with that particular moto.

It occured to me that as a social experiment, the ability to kill people at will does not necesarily mean the advancement of enlightened civilization.

"the ability to kill people at will"

you can kill people in EQ?

There is one <strong>critical</strong> difference between SZ and an armed RL populace :

In SZ if you die, you respawn at your bindpoint.
In RL you don't respawn at all (unless the Buddhists are right).

It is the knowledge that you can potentially be permanently exterminated for excessive anti-social behavior that is supposed to result in politeness.

Nothing guarantees advancement of civilization. The only thing that is ever guaranteed, is that you are born; and, some people don't even believe that.

I wouldn't say that...historically speaking certain advances did guarantee the advance of civilization.

Writing.
etallurgy.
Plastics.
Computers.
Air Conditioning/refridgeration.
Candy Corn

Aidon try not to be redundant please.

Candy corn, plastics -- same thing

/puke

They didn't guarantee it, they just helped it along. You can't guarantee the advancement. You come up with one thing, and then something else comes along and threatens whatever progress that thing made.

Study of medicine should be one of the biggest things people think of. That was around before there writing. Speach should be up there too. Unfortunately the good that comes from both can be overridden with one thing: mustard gas. It's a blister agent, and it doesn't just cause blisters on the outside of your body. Many of the people that die after being exposed to it, die from drowning.

Except for the candy corn, those are all very important things that have helped the race along though. Refrigeration (I don't care, I don't like the d in there) is important because it allows us to travel with food stores. I guess canned goods should be on there too! mmmm refried beans and beanie weanies!

advancement is most certianly not guaranteed. only thing that is, is entropy.

entropy happens. so does candy corn. refried beans have a half-life.

alyn