Should All Advertising Be Banned?

[koopatroopa90]

Unlimited internet access with speeds up to 100mb!*^

*By unlimited we mean subject to our fair use policy which has a 2gb limit.
^Yes we said up to. You get 10mb? Tough.

Oh and buy one get one frees - Mountain Dew at Sainsburys was ?1.09 buy one get one free, great price. Went in Saturday and it is now buy one get one free for ?1.70

[Charlie]

Except that we develop alternatives, we find synthetic ways to manufacture them, we cannibalise what we can from previous usage. What do you think all those natural sciences PHD students and research assistants are doing in every university around the world? Let alone private corporation R&D?

Sounds a bit like alchemy. It's an interesting idea but I have my suspicions. My basic (and I do mean basic) understanding of the elements and their construction at the molecular level is it takes events as powerful as supernovas (which are generally 4 billion times more powerful than our sun) to arrange the protons, neutrons and electrons into the heavier elements.

I was fascinated by the idea of synthetic elements and whether they're a viable option, and have since discovered that while it's true all elements heavier than oxygen are created in supernovas and all the elements lighter than oxygen are created in stars, except helium which was created at the moment of the big bang, mankind has in fact created 28 synthetic elements but sadly all of them are unstable (radioactive) and the common educated concensus is it will take a "massive breakthrough" to create stable synthetic elements. That's not to say it will never happen, of course, but it's looking unlikely.

[averybluemonkey]

I didn't say synthetic materials though, I said synthetic ways to manufacture them. Case in point the harvesting of petrol from algae that I mentioned earlier, and that's just one of many such initiatives going on. Regarding this kind of thing sounding like alchemy - it isn't, most 'common sense' science is wrong. I mean everything we're taught about physics at school and sixth form is technically wrong, it's a good approximation but that's all Newtonian physics is. The press rarely pays any attention to the miracles taking place in academia and the time it takes for progress made in these areas to reach the world can be decades, but just because the public haven't heard about what they're doing doesn't mean it isn't going on behind the scenes.

[Charlie]

I agree about the physics we're taught in school being misleading often to the point of being false, maybe it's down to our most accurate understanding being too complex and too incomplete to convey to children? I don't know. I imagine it's very difficult to teach something to children when they (the teachers and physicists) don't really understand it in it's entirety themselves. Much easier to present a simplified version I imagine.

The trouble with manufacturing materials, whether traditionally or synthetically, is you still need elements, that's unavoidable, and it seems they're a long way away, if ever, from being synthesised safely. It's all very well developing new fuels, but if you don't have the raw materials to build cars and planes and boats and spaceships and boilers and radiators and so on, then the fuel won't be much use.

The point I'm trying to make, and it's related to advertising and it's effect on our species' future, is this: isn't it wiser to better manage the resources we already have than to keep using them at an ever-increasing rate on new stuff we don't even need and consequently hastening our arrival at the point where our lack of resources makes life on planet Earth unpleasant? I know people reap great satisfaction from their personal goods, from their shiny new TVs and smart phones and cars and hifi systems (I'm guilty of that too) but if they weren't advertised we wouldn't be so greedy for them. If they weren't advertised we would seek, and find, happiness elsewhere.

But, again, I'm under no illusion they'll ever be banned. But who doesn't wonder at some point in their life whether mankind is destined to die out on a dying Earth killed by their own hand, or destined to evolve into a more intelligent species, maybe to even activate those large areas of our brains which today lie dormant, and to one day sail the stars furthering it's knowledge and understanding.

Any road that makes the latter picture the more plausible is worth pursuing in my opinion.

[Stoppy2000]

I'd just settle for a real life hoverboard.

[nakamura]

I'd just settle for a real life hoverboard.

But they don't work on water.

[Neon Ignition]

The Pitbull does

[Charlie]

maybe to even activate those large areas of our brains which today lie dormant,

That's a myth, you dick, and you knew that when you posted it. Dickhead.

[monel]

?????

[Charlie]

You've heard the "humans only use a fraction of their brains" myth? Some believe we only use 10% of our brains, others believe it's 60%, and so on, but really we use practically all of our brains. I knew it was a myth but still unconsciously posted the myth as if it was fact. I was merely correcting myself. And poking fun at myself in the process.

[Prototype]

You've heard the "humans only use a fraction of their brains" myth? Some believe we only use 10% of our brains, others believe it's 60%, and so on, but really we use practically all of our brains. I knew it was a myth but still unconsciously posted the myth as if it was fact. I was merely correcting myself. And poking fun at myself in the process.

I made this point to you before. But without advertising, how will charities be recognised? You see those sad adverts from charities on TV, which tends to make people donate. Without that, charities won't make as much money.

[monel]

You've heard the "humans only use a fraction of their brains" myth? Some believe we only use 10% of our brains, others believe it's 60%, and so on, but really we use practically all of our brains. I knew it was a myth but still unconsciously posted the myth as if it was fact. I was merely correcting myself. And poking fun at myself in the process.

I did think that, but also wondered whether someone had hacked your account.

[Charlie]

I made this point to you before. But without advertising, how will charities be recognised? You see those sad adverts from charities on TV, which tends to make people donate. Without that, charities won't make as much money.

An unfortunate consequence I fear. But it's a good point.