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Observe - a Mad Scientist that’s cracked a little more than usual, and has completely stuffed up their cost-benefits analysis:
“This weapon accelerates the round - any variety of tree nut - up to point-eight-cee in the direction of the target. Observe! An average walnut. Walnuts average between five and ten grams, while this particular specimen is right around the middle at seven and a quarter. If I place this nut here - you’ll see the machine analyses the round to determine that it is an accepted ammunition variant - and press this button here, then when the nut impacts the target - the so-called Face on Mars - in a bit under fourteen and a half minutes, we shall see an effect on the area roughly equivalent to a hundred-and-three kiloton bomb! And best of all, the ammunition is so cheap it literally grows on trees!” – RecklessPrudence

"You’re forgetting a few key factors, Weatherby.”

“Such as?”

“To reach Mars, this walnut will have to accelerate at speeds that will cause it to spontaneously combust. And you’ve forgotten about the aerodynamic capabilities of a walnuts surface.”

“Really?” Jane placed her hands on her hips. “And what would you suggest, Professor Hetherington?”

“Well, for comparable mass and density, you’d really need a macadamia nut. They’re denser, smoother and harder than your average walnut.”

She glared at her academic rival. “It’s always Australian things with you, isn’t it, Sheila?”

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The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw

If he doesn’t blow himself up in the process.

-Anonymous — c/- RecklessPrudence

Ax’and’l often struggled to find something nice to say about the human race. His usual compromise, that they were profitable mammals, did not always make it seem like enough of a boon.

Especially when Hwell had managed

In your universe, how do the - as far as I can tell - legal AIs feel about Uplifts being illegal? Considering you could make an argument that they are equally people, and might even have some of the same theory applied to them, in creating/augmenting a consciousness, just applied to silicon or grey jelly.

Especially considering that at least some of the arguments I can imagine being levied against Uplifts could equally be levied against AIs. – RecklessPrudence

Creating life

Uplifting, as opposed to Augmenting, is illegal in your universe, right? Presumably for how easily both the process and the products of said process can be abused, along with the sad examples of such.

But I refuse to believe that such a transformative technology with so many pitfalls along the way was developed solely for money. Sure, there had to be at least the potential for profit, otherwise the people capable of doing it would never have had the resources to do

That wonderful feeling when you’re on just insufficient meds, or high on fatigue toxins, or had two hour’s sleep per night, max for the last week. After you’ve gone through the feeling-horrible portion, when you’re in the feeling great, can do anything, everything is so clear and sharp and makes so much sense…

And then, when you’ve had sufficient sleep, rest, or meds…

How the world actually is, and how you’ve been behaving. – RecklessPrudence

Charlie

Also about domesticated animals.

Almost every domesticated species, whether predator or prey, has been a social animal, with an internal hierarchy. Humans domesticated them by inserting ourselves at the top of the various hierarchies, and doing so consistently for generations, until the species is considered domesticated.
This can lead to absurd scenarios such as a human chastising a predator-species that was behaving inappropriately, one that masses more than they do, with a jaw that could shatter their bones easily, can outrun them

On “Humans are crazy” in general and pets in particular.

Humanity’s domesticated species are, for the most part, herbivores, right? So what possessed us to decide that the animals we let into our homes would largely be carnivores? Now, imagine a species where that is not true.

“AH! Look out! That predator is near your young!”

“Oh, that’s just Missy, she’s harmless.”

„,And then just when they’ve adjusted to that, they see why even

A guy who is nice, as opposed to a “nice guy” – RecklessPrudence

(#00507 - A132)

Sid’s first question, whenever he encountered someone who was having trouble was, “Would you like some help?”

It was a good question, simply because some people were only experiencing temporary difficulties and tended to get angry when other folks just barged in.

And there were other questions that came first. Like, “Is this guy bothering you?” whenever he saw a

Wow. This isn’t fractal denseness, it’s origami denseness. It’s like a beautiful work of art that you can unfold to make it seem even more dense. – RecklessPrudence

[AN: Prompt edited to be less offensive - I hope]

(#00506 - A131)

“Let me get this straight,” said Security Officer Trel. “Someone actually told you that they’d go out with you if you managed to clean… The Glunk.”

“Damn straight. Fine ass

You are not just wrong. You are wrong at every conceivable level of resolution. Zooming in on any part of your worldview finds beliefs exactly as wrong as your entire worldview. – RecklessPrudence

(#00505 - A130)

“So?” said the wilfully ignorant specimen from Greater Deregulation (Upper West). “That don’t mean we can’t have a good time. All you gotta do, honey, is shut up, put out, and pretend to enjoy it.”

Shayde turned a

‘Why? We’re the Good Guys, aren’t we?’
'Yes, but that rather hinges on doing certain things and not doing others, sir’, – RecklessPrudence

Tony made a face at JARVIS’ snide comment. “Urh. Fine. I get it. The heroic thing to do, yadda yadda yadda. Steve’s been a bad influence on you, admit it.”

“On the contrary. I rather think Steve has been a good influence. On the both of

“Wow, how’d you get it to work?”
“I ran a Physical Impulse Mechanical Stress Routine”
“Huh?”
“I kicked it.”
“Ahh.” – RecklessPrudence

“And you’re charging me three Minutes for kicking it?”

Atole the JOAT tidied imaginary dust off her JOAT coat. “Fees and charges, friend. Two Seconds for the kick, and two Minutes, fifty-eight for the knowledge of where to kick it.”

Telos grumbled, but

The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there’s no good reason to go into space—each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision. – RecklessPrudence

(#00502 - A127)

The Ch'debrithett did not know how lucky they were when the aliens came. They were a relatively quiet civilisation that worked to maintain a balance after years of nigh-catastrophic extinction-for-profit. Or, as it has become known in