Deme

Definitely

Yeah an alpha would be socialized into thinking that dying should be avoided, whereas a sigma sees past such archaic norms.

You asked for it

The lander most probably made it down in one piece. It was designed to survive an atmospheric entry on Venus and from interplanetary speeds. It almost certainly survived a reentry into Earth from a low orbit. That being said, it probably shattered in the splashdown due to the parachute not deploying.

Every other human around you has almost the same genes as you. Just being kind to others is already a tiny contribution to the survival of the species and the genes we share. Pretty sure one would have to be actively suicidial or a Bond villain in order to not to help the genes that survive on with every breath anybody ever takes.

It’s not limited to direct reproduction of one’s own genes. Keep in mind that we live in a society. Contributing to that society means helping others of our species (with almost the same genes) pass their genes on. Just being kind to others is already great. You’re valid.

Fair point, but despite how we as a society treat artists, I still think that the underlying impulse to do art is an attempt to capture the interest and appreciation of others, building social bonds. Rarely is art made without a tought of presenting it to others. This is how art seems to happen with every other species on earth that does it.

Perhaps not with conscious intent. I suppose even staying alive and contributing to a society still means that you help your relatives pass their genes on. Even gay penguins do this when they adopt an orphaned egg.

The war is bound to happen at the latest when the Himalayan mountain glaciers melt away and a sufficiently bad drought hits the region. We’ll see if they have the patience to wait that long though…

If you really boil it down, all that any species ever does is in some way an attempt to propagate its genes. We aren’t any different either. The artistic spark that got Davinci to paint the Mona Lisa was there due to such behaviour being an evolutionarily beneficial trait (being good at art increases the social standing of a person and thus increases their chances of reproduction). I don’t want to sound cynical about this because I’m not. That’s just life. It really doesn’t matter. The painting is still beautiful.

I think someone is just utterly clueless about how any of this works, and decided to wipe the slate clean and try again.

The range of the bicycle is constrained only by the rider. Assuming that the rider eats, drinks and sleeps (as most of us tend to do anyways for the sake of staying alive), the range is unlimited. You can’t drive a car either if you starve to death.

I’m not disagreeing with you on the rest, I was just talking about dependencies, which the bicycle has the least (apart from walking or skiing for example).

Consider a bicycle. Very low maintenance, simple to fix, no need for fuel, unlimited range. Complete independence, with the sole exception of winter maintenance of paths, but that’s also a problem for cars and public transport.