I wrote a long piece over on @lucky760 's wall and it includes a section (the part that is written in small type) that applies to you. So when you have a chance please read it so you can understand fully what I mean when I say this: Thank You! Thank you for your contribution to the sift and especially the "darkroom" mode! Have a Happy New Year and a Merry 6th Anniversary for VideoSift!

I thought I'd chime in too. Great work on the sift lucky, I hardly recognize it from nigh six years ago when I found it, then months later I made an actual account to get slightly involved. But, mostly I joined so that I could support VideoSift as it was a unique site and something I visited daily; I basically stopped going to youtube and various other video sites because the sift, voted on, and decided what were the videos to be seen. This process is still working great and helps us sort out the mediocre on the Internet and allow people that visit to find the best of the best in videos.

You of course lucky have made great strides in the interface and inner workings of the sift since those early days. Now, whether I use the sift on my PC, my cell, or my iPad--it works seamlessly and well. If it happens to be your birthday, then happy birthday as well!!!

To VideoSift and its future success and to @lucky760 !

P.S.- I don't know if you're responsible for setting it up or helping, but the "Dark" mode (which of course changes the background to black and makes it in general easier to see in different conditions) is an option that was created that I use all the time and if you created it, I want you to know how much I appreciate it--and I appreciate it in a way that you may not even suspect! I suffer from debilitating migraines that at one time were only present a few time in a week (easy enough to handle). Along with this I also have Cluster headaches (at that time I had them maybe once a month), which are...essentially extremely bad headaches (if anyone reading is interested, when they start they fire of in the brain and give the same indications that a seizure would give--neuroscientists literally have no idea what causes them), the Clusters can play games with your nervous system causing odd symptoms, like uncontrolled tearing of the eyes usually accompanied by a runny nose or up to the extreme of losing all the feeling on the left side of your body (I've seen both and many other things in between)--the Cluster headache is strong enough that it's even difficult to think while it's fully active, sometimes time is the only cure--narcotics tend to be like a drop of water in a well, they do nothing (the best relief comes from high-flow oxygen at around 12-14 LPM O₂). I ended up getting the Swine Flu (or Influenza Type A) back in 2006. It unfortunately got to my nervous system and beyond the other damage that it did that i now have problems with, it changed the nature of the headaches. The migraines became daily, sometimes they are unrelenting--they never leave, for days. Worse of all the Clusters became much more prevalent hitting twice a week on average.

Then VideoSift changed their setup, allowing for a "darkroom" environment. The headaches and their intensity are related by light in a room; for example if I want to help myself out going to a dark room with some cool air helps the most. To tell you the truth a small change, like the one VideoSift made, and it may not have been completely all your doing, but either way I wanted you to know this IN DETAIL so that when I thank you it means just that much more! So now you know just how much a small change to the environment and viewing area has had a profound change on me and my web-surfing experience. I can view VideoSift much easier now, as the previous pure white scheme literally hurt to look at. If you've ever wondered if the smaller features are worth it, this is a testimonial that explains why it is. So, once again @lucky760 thanks for everything you have done here at VideoSift and continue to do!

//I know that was a bit long and involved, but I hope it makes you realize how appreciated you are here!

I agree with what your saying, trust me. But, as I was trying to point out we've, as a species, gone to great lengths to hurt ourselves and negate progress. That is what I was alluding to when I said: "I've seen the worst and the best of things we have in this world come from humans. Many of our terrible aspects can be linked to mental illness, abuse, no education, etc... ".

In many cases the "evil" or "good" are a neutral aspect anyway (if you look at it from a evolution point of view). But, evolution also shows why many of the things we consider good are merely evolutionary necessities to survive, i.e. grouping, society, negative impacts on the group by mentally ill group-mates--leading to punishment/exile/or death. This is present in the animal kingdom as well. There have been some recent books covering this very point and they're quite good; if you wish to read one, my advice would be for "The Moral Landscape" by Sam Harris.

Lastly, I know science will not have all the answers. But, if we can deal with the problems I listed above it will bring us closer to a day with understanding; but, many problems will still be left (as technology gets more advanced, it requires less and less people to cause near fatal problems for cities-->countries-->and then the world. If we can't find a way to fold the people back into society willingly we may ultimately fail. By the mid-point of this century, maybe even sooner, it may only take one scientist with a vendetta or a psychotic break (caused by the mind or drugs) to create a virus that targets human specific genetics--if that scientist can throw in some nano-tech... That might be it.

Or we could end up with nano-bots able to self-replicate in our bodies and provide us with protection from viruses, bacteria, other nanites, and able to give you your daily medication as well.

The future is clearly open-ended right now, but I don't think it's quite as dim as justanotherday postulates. Yet, science and religion in the long-term are most likely completely incompatible. Religion can stay in the background without causing conflicts, but if it's at the core or upfront competing with science they'll always rub each other the wrong way--as they are nearly polar opposite in function and approach.

/Yes, I do think the "Atheist" in the video is a Anti-theist. It doesn't mean he's wrong, but he is approaching a solution in the opposite direction that I would suggest (unless the religious leader is like the scientist above in my example: psychotic, mentally ill, etc...).

In reply to this comment by GeeSussFreeK:
I didn't want to derail your conversation there, but as an aside, science has also been a great cause of pain and death. It is has a neutral bias, as I would also see religion. The state of it is largely in the hands of the humans at the helm. We have medicine, but we also have machine guns. We have the United Christian Children's fund, but we also have sexual abusing Fathers.

In reply to this comment by kceaton1:
>> ^justanotherday:

Interesting. I guess everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Besides, given his past, I can see why he is bitter. Life can be cruel. It is hard to embrace any authority when it fails you so miserably. I still don't see why some believers and non-believers can not get along. Of course, the media only focuses on the few that can't get along. The majority of believers and non-believers can get along. Neither can definitively prove the other side is completely right or completely wrong. So they do a sort of agree to disagree. I do believe that anyone, with any kind of sense, realizes that there is much more to humans that transcends all beliefs. We are more than we appears. More than the sum of our parts. At least science proves that concept. But that does not conclude anything else except just that we are more.
--In the final analysis, I think we will find the true answer is beyond all human perceptions. One can't possibly think we are the highest intelligence in the multi-verse space-time. That would be arrogant at best. If we are, then it is a sad multi-verse space-time. If we are not, then the possibilities are endless.--


The only problem with how you put this is that you are giving a value to something we can't reliably judge for ourselves. It's the same gripe he has with religion. Religion likes to contribute to it's own definition and no other relative position is welcome.

We would also be arrogant if we don't consider the fact that we may be the smartest thing there is. We know already that there were most likely ancestors and perhaps non-ancestors in human past that had a high IQ; due to the size of their neo-cortex. The difference is that our lineage brokered the gap between minds with an extremely descriptive language and body language piece of construction in our brain.

Also, you describe humanity as "sad". I've seen the worst and the best of things we have in this world come from humans. Many of our terrible aspects can be linked to mental illness, abuse, no education, etc... Don't give aliens the benefit that they will not have to deal with the same issues.

Finally, science has made HUGE strides in not only understanding ourselves, but also the environment and creatures around us. In 100 years, out of the 250,000 years we've been around, we've made strides that would seem impossible just a decade earlier. In 1995 when I left graduated from high school the Internet was good for gaming and small-scale communications. In one decade it had become HUGE, allowing you to do things never imagined before (even gaming saw the same leap--just from the advancement of the Internet; WoW is a good example). The Internet is now on the verge of becoming threaded into our everyday life; this is true for a nearly endless list of technological changes and scientific knowledge.

Science also has made great leaps in understanding our psyche (soul for others) and our overall brain and psychology. If you want some quick rundowns on what we know don't look at psychology (as it tends to be secondary to neuroscience), look at neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

Love a good supercell video.