I know that it's written in a vaguely academic manner and pretty much all articles include sources, but it's meant as entertainment even though he often handles more or less intellectually demanding subjects such as thermonuclear explosions. It's much in the same vein as the xkcd comic.

Well I only read the first couple of paragraphs and both the length of the piece and the graphs at the start put me off but if it's satire it might be entertaining. I'm sick and tired of people in positions of power "making sacrifices" by killing other people : if they were really serious about making sacrifices they would try to preserve others, even if that meant they would have to sacrifice (i.e. kill) themselves. I'm not a Christian personally but the whole Christ phenomenon / concept is an instant and emphatic victory over all self-serving egoistical politician types and I respect Christianity far more than I respect the kind of nihilist who seems to be winning arguments in the present day.. If the population is too high then lead by example and kill yourself if you love people so much : simple, altruistic and logically justified (though not sanctioned by Christianity itself, which regards suicide as a great sin).

Oh dear, thread derailment imminent again ! I find this subject of near death experiences extremely interesting. I think that at least some, if not all, so-called "near death experiences" are the result of personal convictions, though I don't make that assertion at all confidently. Many people have had a brush with death but not everyone has had a "near death experience". It is certainly true, though, that a very real near encounter with death can change a person radically, though usually the effect seems to wear off eventually unless this experience befalls a particular type of individual.

Automobiles though : death traps in my opinion, especially considering how powerful they are nowadays and how full of rage and impatience so many people seem to be. Cigarettes and alcohol (and other stuff) are "happy vices" in my opinion and things like these will always be needed because life isn't easy and even if it's easy for you now that doesn't mean it will always remain so in the future, because life can be a bitch (or a swine if you prefer).

According to that piece, it's good to not be a member of the Beattles. On second read, I read that wrong.

Actually it was a very short piece but I didn't bother scrolling to the bottom. In fact it is true that 100% of people don't die - not all at once anyway, unless the earth is hit by a large enough comet/asteroid or a nearby star goes supernova or something - but it IS 100% true that if you've been born you will die, and there is nothing which science can do about this, nor can it ever become certain of this fact since its method is wholly inadequate for the purpose of discovering absolute truths, being tied to the merely physical world as it is.

It both makes me laugh and infuriates me at the same time, though, that so many people who have never taken even the first steps into philosophy - and science is in no way either an extension of nor a foundation for philosophy - are so eager to publish their opinions on what should be done about unsustainable population growth and related problems. If you are really so bothered about population growth then lead by example and kill yourself : don't make sacrifices for other people.

Glad you weren't turned into Lilt, P1na! That could easily have been the end of you, but I think that the problem (such as it is) is that you were confined within the relative safety of the car. There was a lack of immediacy there. What was happening was happening to the car with you in it, rather than directly to you. So that might explain your lack of connection with events.

Wow, P1na, you're not safe in any country you're in, be it France or Germany :D

Glad you made it out safely!

As for myself, I've glady never come that close to death. Sure, some accidents here and there (nothing serious though), but nothing that close to death.