Social competition

Two people talking, finding out they have common experiences, then begins the testing: have you done this?  When I did this (wondering if the other could top that story?), name-dropping, place dropping (When I was in . . .)   The reality of it is that life is short:  pick one choice, eliminate the others.  Choose wisely, for as Kierkegaard pointed out, not choosing is choosing.  I love that according to this:  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaard/
Kirkegaard rarely traveled, physically.

Elements of Society

Human societies:  start with food, water.  Add some people - at least 50, all ages, but enough adults of sufficient age to reproduce.  Say- 3 kids, 2 adults, 2 siblings for each parent [their spouses and 3 children each], their parents - 29 in that group, plus 11 misc. individuals from other families.  How many different faces could they be expected to see in a year?  only another 500??  (as they travel.)

A commercial this a.m, viewed on Hulu, stated that before a child in the USA begins school, they've seen over 100,000 acts of violence.  Even if this includes depictions of accidents, and violence towards animals, and cartoon violence, that's more than most humans have ever seen.

Not until standing armies were possible, and chiefs could control armies in the thousands, would it be possible to see thousands of dead bodies.  But our 6 year olds see it before they start school.

Part 1 Surf an Origami Hang Glider on a Wave of Air.mov

Science - provides counter-intuitive glimpses into the nature of reality.  and it's a lot of fun.

Browncoats: Redemption Trailer

Can't stop the signal . . . If you like science fiction, and admire the creativity of fans who want their worlds to continue and work to create, this trailer should point you to more of the Firefly universe, created by Joss Whedon.