Cav's Place

An NGO from here released a survey through which they supposedly attempted to figure out Romanians’ views on “democracy, citizenship and civic participation” 20 years after the fall of Communism. In fact it’s 20 years since the NGO in question was founded, close to 21 since the fall of Communism, but doesn’t matter. I’ll just try to post the results and my own answers to the questions here because I still have no further information regarding the matter that has pretty much paralyzed me in fear for the past several days and certainly can’t think enough to actually write something on another issue…
If the percentages add to less than 100%, it’s usually because I don’t include the “don’t know or refuse to answer” part. If there is any other reason, I’ll specify it. The answers are listed in the order provided. If you want to take this as a random survey to fill, just replace Romania with your own country I guess…

1. Do you approve of democracy?
– Yes, fully: 62%
– Somewhat: 21%
– Not really: 5%
– Not at all: 10%
My answer: Somewhat. It is a bad system, but most likely better in practice than all the others humans have tried so far. We can’t go back to others, but we urgently need to move forward to something new.

2. Do you believe that people are free to do what they want in a democracy?
– Certainly: 26%
– Probably: 35%
– Probably not: 16%
– Certainly not: 23%
My answer: I was tempted to say probably, but I think I’ll go with probably not. Not just because most people wish to harm others and of course nobody should be allowed to do that without just cause, but because either the majority or those elected tend to force their views upon the rest.

3. Which of the following do you most agree with?
– People are free from birth, naturally: 47%
– People must earn their freedom during their lives: 49%
My answer: Free from birth, of course. I thought slavery was abolished some time ago…

4. How much do you agree with the statement “freedom is the most important thing in a person’s life”?
– Fully: 72%
– Somewhat: 21%
– A little: 4%
– Not at all: 1%
My answer: Somewhat. I could in fact say I don’t agree, because there are a few things I’d certainly give up some or perhaps even many freedoms for, but let’s leave it like that.

5. Which of the following do you most agree with?
– People are born unequal: 14%
– People are born equal but then, during their lives, become different due to different circumstances: 60%
– People are born equal and remain equal throughout their lives: 21%
My answer: People are born unequal. Seriously, gather a random sample of children and see for yourself. Many will probably be comparable overall, though noticeably different from each other, but there will always be some clearly above and some others clearly below the rest, no matter the criteria used. It’s just a fact of life.

6. How much do you agree with the statement “the state must ensure greater equality between people”?
– Fully: 70%
– Somewhat: 19%
– A little: 5%
– Not at all: 3%
My answer: Fully, but only when it comes to circumstances. No affirmative action or other methods that artificially promote some and/or pull down others regardless of their respective abilities.

7. Which of the following do you most agree with?
– Freedom is more important, even if it leads to inequality: 58%
– Equality is more important, even if it leads to less freedom: 33%
My answer: This is a really difficult one, but I’m going to answer freedom, though only up to a point.

8. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
a) In a democracy, the political system favors the rich.
– Agree: 83%
– Disagree: 15%
My answer: Agree. Extremely obvious, unfortunately.
b) In a democracy, the political system malfunctions.
– Agree: 75%
– Disagree: 21%
My answer: Same as above, agree.
c) Minorities must bow to the will of the majority, regardless of the majority’s position.
– Agree: 72%
– Disagree: 23%
My answer: Very firmly disagree. That’s tyranny of the majority people, and there’s really no difference between it and a dictatorship when someone else rules your life.
d) Human rights are respected in Romania.
– Agree: 36%
– Disagree: 62%
My answer: I was thinking to say I won’t answer this, but let’s say agree, somewhat… Certainly far less than in some countries, but also far more than in many others, so…

9. How do you think most wealthy people managed to earn their fortune in Romania?
– By breaking the law: 69%
– By having connections: 17%
– Through work and personal merit: 5%
– By chance: 4%
– All of the above: 1%
– Some other means: 0%
My answer: By breaking the law. Once again, all too obvious…

10. Would you agree or disagree with:
a) One of the people close to you converting to another religion?
– Agree: 33%
– Disagree: 63%
My answer: Agree, of course. Well, obviously depends on the religion and what would be asked of them in order to follow it, but nothing wrong with the conversion itself.
b) Converting to another religion yourself?
– Agree: 6%
– Disagree: 92%
My answer: Well, I’ll say agree because I’m of course always searching and if something that seems noticeably more accurate would present itself I won’t reject it. But I spent quite a lot of years coming up with the system I now have and it can accept a lot of changes as it is, so that seems quite unlikely. There’s also the fact that converting to a certain religion usually implies that someone else came up with it and you’ll just be following it, and I’d much rather come up with my own beliefs, more or less.

11. Lately, crime in Romania has constantly been on the rise and the authorities can do nothing to stop it. The death penalty could stop this trend. If a referendum about reinstating the death penalty would be called, how would you vote?
– In favor of reinstating the death penalty: 50%
– Against reinstating the death penalty: 42%
– I wouldn’t vote: 1%
My answer: Against. Way too lenient for the few crimes that’d truly be so bad as to require such a punishment, way too harsh for anything else.

12. Lately, Romanian Gypsies have been involved in illegal activities in Western countries: theft, prostitution, drug trafficking and others, badly staining Romania’s image. If a referendum about withdrawing such people’s citizenship would be called, how would you vote?
– In favor of withdrawing their citizenship: 55%
– Against withdrawing their citizenship: 32%
– I wouldn’t vote: 4%
My answer: In favor, but with one very important note: This applies to all Romanian citizens who go to other countries and commit either major crimes or crimes which become major due to receiving a lot of media attention; ethnicity has nothing to do with it.

13. Lately, some ethnic Hungarians have been requesting autonomy for the Székely Land. If a referendum about withdrawing such people’s citizenship would be called, how would you vote?
– In favor of withdrawing their citizenship: 36%
– Against withdrawing their citizenship: 46%
– I wouldn’t vote: 6%
My answer: Against. It’s their right to bring up the issue and there should be serious discussions about it, not the kind of reactions we currently see. Independence is clearly off the table, but I wouldn’t see the problem with administrative autonomy, for example. Romania could even become a federal state, made up of a number of mostly autonomous regions answering only in certain matters to a central government, and this could be one of those regions, so they could get most of what they want without even requiring to be given a special status.

14. Lately, some people have been disagreeing with Orthodox Christian teachings and displaying a critical attitude towards the Orthodox Christian religion and the Romanian Orthodox Church, so they could potentially be accused of offense against a public institution and blasphemy. Charging them with a criminal offense and punishing them through fines or even incarceration could stop this trend. If a referendum about punishing these people in such a way would be called, how would you vote?
– In favor of such punishments for these people: 42%
– Against such punishments for these people: 41%
– I wouldn’t vote: 6%
My answer: Against, of course! Or do I need to quote the Constitution to you, where it says Romania has no state religion?

15. Do you believe that:
a) Most people would try to take advantage of you if they could?
– Yes: 64%
– No: 32%
My answer: Yes. Once again, it’s unfortunately all too obvious.
b) Most people try to be of use to society?
– Yes: 42%
– No: 56%
My answer: No, most people just try to be of use to themselves. Not that this particular society we live in is worth fighting for in any way, but that’s another matter.
c) We can generally trust most people?
– Yes: 31%
– No: 68%
My answer: Absolutely not. See what I said above about most just looking out for themselves.

16. If you were to rate from 1 to 10, where 1 means you have no confidence at all and 10 means you trust most, which confidence rating would you award the following categories?
a) Your family members: 9.3 on average.
My answer: 4.
b) People who share your views: 7.6 on average.
My answer: 8.
c) Your coworkers: 6.9 on average.
My answer: Not applicable.
d) Your neighbors: 6.6 on average.
My answer: 3.
e) People whose religious beliefs differ from yours: 6.3 on average.
My answer: I refuse to answer this. That in itself has no relevance on the matter at hand and I couldn’t possibly know a statistically significant number of them to be able to estimate otherwise.
f) Foreigners: 5.6 on average.
My answer: Same as above, I can’t answer this.

17. If you were to lose your wallet or purse, how likely do you think you’d be to get them back if found by:
a) A neighbor or someone who works nearby?
– Likely: 56%
– Unlikely: 43%
My answer: Let’s say likely. Not likely to have the money returned as well, but they didn’t ask that. Not that I have a wallet, but let’s just go with it.
b) A cop?
– Likely: 54%
– Unlikely: 43%
My answer: Likely. Hopefully…
c) A stranger?
– Likely: 17%
– Unlikely: 82%
My answer: Unlikely.

But this is getting too long already and I think I’d better stop here. Part two, if I’ll still be in any condition to post it, will start with one of the things that the media tends to focus on a lot when it comes to such surveys, namely people’s confidence in public institutions.

Just noticed something, maybe 30 minutes ago… At first I meant to try to ignore it until I could gather some more information, once I realized what it could mean, but it’s obviously impossible to ignore something like this. So now do I just sit here and panic until I can somehow find out more, try to ask and obviously go back to sitting here and panicking while I’ll obviously get no reply or just… Yeah, if I could do that I wouldn’t still be here in the first place…
Shaking like I just witnessed the world ending and holding a knife I haven’t used in three years… But if this means what I think it does, my world did just end for good… Or it ended a while back, actually, but I just now got some information to back up that feeling of doom I’ve been having for quite some time… Should trust such feelings more…
Can’t be! Just can’t! Curse and damn you all, from the highest divine being to the lowest bacterium, and particularly any and all humans in between, who can or could do something to prevent this from happening and choose or chose not to, to endless lifetimes of unbearable suffering!

The ideas are certainly interesting, though I’m not exactly fond of the whole religious note. The writing can occasionally leave a little to be desired, but there are also really nice moments, especially during dialogues. In all, not exactly something I ended up being enthusiastic about, but a good book nevertheless, and one that I’m sure was a whole lot more work than it appears, as alternative history always is, even when you don’t try to turn all known science on its head, create your own and actually have it make sense while still roughly sticking to the world we live in!

Rating: 4/5

Little Gliese 581 is an entirely unremarkable star. Like the vast majority of known stars in our galaxy, it’s an M dwarf. More exactly, its spectral class is M3V, which is about a third of a class away from the dimmest possible main sequence stars, the lower limit for them being estimated around M6.5. Compared to the Sun, its luminosity is a mere 1.3%, its mass 31% and its diameter 29%. Though it’s in our galactic neighborhood, it’s only the 117th closest star to us and, due to its very low luminosity, there’s no way you could ever see it while looking up at the sky. In addition, its low metallicity, with estimated values ranging between -0.02 and -0.33, could have made it uninteresting for exoplanet hunters, since it is generally assumed that planets are more likely to form around stars with higher metallicity.
However, since 2007 it has been one of the most interesting stars because of the planets discovered around it. First it was Gliese 581 c, at the time thought to potentially be in the habitable zone. However, that assumption was quickly dropped as further research showed that the planet is a little too close to the star and likely suffers from a runaway greenhouse effect similar to that seen on Venus. But the enthusiasm never really subsided, because Gliese 581 d, discovered at the same time, was just outside the star’s habitable zone and massive enough to hold on to a very thick atmosphere, which could create a strong enough greenhouse effect to bring its surface temperature above freezing.

Until yesterday, Gliese 581 d was considered the known exoplanet most likely to have conditions that could potentially support life. It was a little too far from its star to avoid being completely frozen under normal circumstances and right at the upper mass limit for potentially rocky planets, therefore somewhat likely to in fact be something of a small gas giant, but it was the best we had. Until yesterday…
But now, two more planets have been discovered around good old Gliese 581, and one of them, Gliese 581 g, certainly seems to be the first discovered exoplanet that truly matches our definition of habitable. At 0.146 AU from such a dim star, it’s very clearly inside the habitable zone, and a mass estimated at 3.1 to 4.3 times that of Earth means it’s certainly not a gas giant. Its radius should be larger than Earth’s, but no more than double, and in fact most likely no more than 50% larger. Its surface gravity should therefore be between 10% and 70% stronger than Earth’s, which means that a human would be able to walk on it, though with some difficulty. As for the temperature, which is the other crucial factor, alongside mass, in determining whether a planet fits our definition of habitable, the global average is estimated to be between 236 and 261°K (-37 to -12°C, -35 to 10°F). However, that estimate is based on an Earth-like greenhouse effect, but Gliese 581 g’s stronger gravity makes it likely to have a thicker atmosphere, or at least one that is thicker at low altitudes, which could enhance the greenhouse effect and therefore increase the temperature.
A potential problem is that, being so close to its parent star, Gliese 581 g is very likely tidally locked, which means one of its sides constantly faces the star and the other constantly faces away from it. That can create some really interesting weather patterns, but certainly doesn’t have to prevent the existence of life. In fact, seeing as the temperature varies dramatically between the light side and the dark side, with the estimated averages likely only found in the “land of constant twilight” that separates the two, this could even help life, as it means that any organisms that exist on Gliese 581 g can move slightly towards one side or the other to find just the right temperature for their survival. Since conditions on the light and dark sides of the planet are likely to be exteme, it’s unlikely that any reasonably advanced life exists outside this “land of constant twilight”, yet simple organisms could certainly be found all over the planet, seeing as certain organisms thrive in extreme habitats even here on Earth.

Interestingly, the two new discoveries also mean that the Gliese 581 system is now the system with the highest number of confirmed planets, namely six, because HD 10180 only has five confirmed planets, the other two still being considered only planet candidates among scientists, though the team that discovered the system is pretty confident that the signals have been correctly identified. This also means that the 55 Cancri system finally drops down the order, after being the one with the most confirmed planets ever since 2004, though matched by HD 10180 recently.
So good old Gliese 581 really is the little star that could and perhaps will remain so no matter what we’ll keep discovering from now on, because it was the first around which potentially habitable planets have been discovered. Also, seeing how utterly unremarkable its characteristics make it out to be, and especially seeing as its low metallicity wouldn’t appear to make it a suitable candidate for even having planets in the first place, these discoveries should make us see our galaxy in a new light because, if they could be found around such a star, then such planets must be really common indeed. Which is, of course, no surprise, but many people need to be reminded of it…

Now let’s see what’s next, because exciting times are certainly ahead for exoplanet hunters. I for one am still waiting for the flood of Kepler candidate signals to be verified and the confirmed planets published, though it doesn’t appear likely that any significant number of discoveries will be published soon and, if they stick to hoarding the data and not letting anyone help for fear of stealing their glory, I’m even starting to doubt I’ll see the full results of the mission within my lifetime. But only time shall tell…
Until then, I’m curious to see who’ll discover the 500th exoplanet and what its characteristics will be, seeing as The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia currently lists 492.

Five years since she left, just about now… And nothing changed inside me in that respect, only the hope, which was so strong back then, being lost along the way, leaving behind only the fake trace of it that I’m forced to sustain because I was too much of a coward to do what had to be done while there was still a point in doing it…
And I’m just told to “hang in there” by people who don’t understand any of it anyway. Admittedly, one of the very few people who isn’t ignoring me completely yet, but it’s not far from that either… Well, don’t you worry, I’m not going anywhere, at least not intentionally, because there is no point in that anymore and I’d still be too much of a coward for it even if there was still a point. But there’s absolutely no reason to “hang in there” either and I don’t see how or why could there ever again be one.