That’s that funny thing, they’ve tried different scales. They’ve tried radically different ways of measuring it, and always come up with the same discrepancy.

If summing energy works differently on a large scale, why? Since we don’t know what we can do is start measuring the difference between observable energy and the “extra” that appears when we add it up. We could call that “unobservable energy” so we can see if there is a pattern, or if it’s actually something else. You know “unobservable energy” is a mouthful, why not just call it dark energy?

We don’t know what it is. We have tested lots of theories and dark energy doesn’t seem to fit any answer, hence the name. I get thinking that it can’t be that hard to reconcile and scientists must be missing an obvious conclusion, but it’s likely that your theory has already been tested. Maybe you have the solution and can resolve the discrepancy, but right now all data shows that dark energy is a large part of the universe.

Let’s pretend that you have a basket with 100 apples. You know apples are about 100g each, because you weighed 10 of the them and all of the apples seem about the same size. You know that basket weighs 1000g. You put the whole thing on a scale and find it weighs 500,000g. You know something else is in that basket. You aren’t sure what, and frankly it doesn’t make sense, but trying different scales and remeasuring more individual apples gives the same result. So you decide that there must be something you can’t see but must exist. That’s dark matter/energy.

I think you might be misunderstanding me.

I provide no “labor” I am unemployed. I feel my actions are not selfish or lazy. I was hoping to help people separate work from worth by showing an obvious example of worthwhile non-work.

Capitalism teaches us that our worth is directly correlated with our income. It is very possible to not want to work and not be lazy or selfish. The prioritizarion of money and material goods over experiences, family and community are real issues with capatalism. Even people who have professions that provide benefits to humanity can easily equate someone’s moral character to their profession.

I think it’s possible, easier even, to bring good into the world without what capatalism considers work.

It’s not a weird opinion. It is what we have been conditioned to think. Capitalism tells us that our worth is linked to our work.

It’s taken me a long time, but I no longer feel that the purpose of life is to be “productive” but rather to be happy. If you are curious about what other assumptions about the world and how things “have to be” I’d suggest reading “the one dimensional man” by Marcuse.

aspired to be a dogwalker for 10-15 hours a week. She technically worked, but used others as a crutch to avoid doing anything more than the bare minimum.

So some work is inherently worse than other work? I feel this attitude is a slippery slope, it assigns moral virtue to financial achievement.

You criticize what she does for income. You haven’t even guessed as to what she does. I think the fundamental difference in our thoughts is that I don’t believe that a job defines a person. Someone can “do the minimum” and still provide benefits to their community.

Is there anyone who wants to nothing?

I think we are so entrenched in capatalism that not working feels like doing nothing.

I think our disagreement is that I feel work is not the same as labor.

I have been unemployed for about 4 years, as I took time off to raise my child. I am an active member of my community, I cook, I clean, I care for my daughter. I think labeling everyone who doesn’t have a job as selfish and lazy is propaganda. I feel I provide a bigger benefit to the world now than l did when I had a job that was ultimately worthless.

The luxury of having good and fulfilling work shouldn’t be limited to those who have professions and education allowing for that. I reject the assertion that work and self worth should be applied to every situation. I feel that attitude quickly leads to thoughts like “they just work retail, they aren’t really doing anything!”

Why does someone have to be productive/profitable to not be selfish and lazy?

I’m pretty sure that whatever his charges are, defecting to north Korea was a bad idea.

If he’s lucky he’ll have a standard of living almost as high as federal prison.