THE DAYSHIFT :)
11/18/2009
11/16/2009
| Inventor. Businessman. Genius. |
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Posted by barrydublin 4 comments
10/08/2009
// Working Towards Apotheosis
// 10 Reasons
"10 Reasons to Live as Long as Possible
1. Because the universe has plenty of room.
2. Because eighty or ninety years isn't enough to try much out.
3. Because death is so final.
4. Because you'll get to see what happens next week.
5. Because a few thousand friends isn't enough.
6. Because you can then join the project to turn Earth into a Heaven.
7. Because boredom can't prevail against a flow of new, interesting places, ideas, and people.
8. Because aging and death are primitive and inherently unpleasant.
9. Because your loved ones and children don't deserve to see you perish.
10. Because if you don't enjoy it, you can end it at any time.
10 Reasons to Enhance Human Intelligence
1. Because stupidity stops being funny fast.
2. Because sitting in a classroom can be torture.
3. Because if we don't, somebody else will.
4. Because it's part of our species growing up.
5. Because people are suffering due to their own ignorance.
6. Because people are suffering due to ignorance of the wealthy.
7. Because dumb people don't know what they're missing.
8. Because it's the best way to improve our society.
9. Because our brains were meant to evolve.
10. Because it's already within our grasp.
10 Reasons to Develop Molecular Nanotechnology
1. Because killing sentient animals is an cruel way to transform grass into meat.
2. Because fossil fuels are a pain in the ass.
3. Because humans can't fly without strapping ourselves into a rigid hunk of metal.
4. Because our houses and cities are too boring.
5. Because conventional manufacturing destroys the environment.
6. Because people shouldn't have to perform manual labor if it can be automated.
7. Because if biology can do it, so should we.
8. Because everyone deserves food, shelter, and clean water.
9. Because it's about time we cleaned up the mess we humans have made.
10. Because nanotech will be developed anyway, so we might as well be aware.
10 Reasons to Develop Artificial Intelligence
1. Because human cultures aren't exotic enough.
2. Because intelligence should be fluid, not rigid.
3. Because we need someone to help us organize the data we're drowning in.
4. Because aliens aren't showing up, so we should make our own.
5. Because the universe should be infused with intelligence.
6. Because we need new perspectives and thinkers.
7. Because it would be interesting to engineer new emotions.
8. Because sci-fi stereotypes need to be shattered.
9. Because evolution designed made us self-deceiving, and we need help to escape the trap.
10. Because AI is coming whether we like it or not, and it's better to be prepared.
10 Reasons to Learn About Science and Technology
1. Because it has the potential to save billions of lives, and prevent our potential extinction.
2. Because so many popular beliefs are empirically unsound.
3. Because it's the only way to significantly move our entire civilization forward.
4. Because science just means "stuff we know" and technology just means "stuff we can do".
5. Because it's the foundation and context of all other human affairs.
6. Because it makes the main difference between cavemen and modern man.
7. Because ignorance is nothing to be proud of.
8. Because it's challenging and useful.
9. Because progress in science and technology is accelerating.
10. Because our future depends on it.
Posted by barrydublin 4 comments
10/07/2009
o me feckin butt hole, no wonder eh. thought i,d have just a small sandwich but feck half this junk was reachin its sell by date, so waste not want not, now i cant roll over, bugger, got some michael miles grownin out me arsse as weel now, feckin sore it is, its like havin a ballon shoved up ye hole, not too jolly at all.
gonna be on the move yet again, cuppla years of retail security wizzed by, brilliant. not a single feckin arrest either, either i,m bleedin hopeless or hav an agenda thats just not in keepin wit me position hah
Posted by barrydublin 1 comments
10/03/2009
You don't need to take drugs to hallucinate; improper language can fill your world with phantoms and spooks of many kinds.
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When arguing with someone in an attempt to get at an answer or an explanation, you may come across a person who makes logical fallacies. Such discussions may prove futile. You might try asking for evidence and independent confirmation or provide other hypothesis that give a better or simpler explanation. If this fails, try to pinpoint the problem of your arguer's position. You might spot the problem of logic that prevents further exploration and attempt to inform your arguer about his fallacy. The following briefly describes some of the most common fallacies:
ad hominem: Latin for "to the man." An arguer who uses ad hominems attacks the person instead of the argument. Whenever an arguer cannot defend his position with evidence, facts or reason, he or she may resort to attacking an opponent either through: labeling, straw man arguments, name calling, offensive remarks and anger.
appeal to ignorance (argumentum ex silentio) appealing to ignorance as evidence for something. (e.g., We have no evidence that God doesn't exist, therefore, he must exist. Or: Because we have no knowledge of alien visitors, that means they do not exist). Ignorance about something says nothing about its existence or non-existence.
argument from omniscience: (e.g., All people believe in something. Everyone knows that.) An arguer would need omniscience to know about everyone's beliefs or disbeliefs or about their knowledge. Beware of words like "all," "everyone," "everything," "absolute."
appeal to faith: (e.g., if you have no faith, you cannot learn) if the arguer relies on faith as the bases of his argument, then you can gain little from further discussion. Faith, by definition, relies on a belief that does not rest on logic or evidence. Faith depends on irrational thought and produces intransigence.
appeal to tradition (similar to the bandwagon fallacy): (e.g., astrology, religion, slavery) just because people practice a tradition, says nothing about its viability.
argument from authority (argumentum ad verecundiam): using the words of an "expert" or authority as the bases of the argument instead of using the logic or evidence that supports an argument. (e.g., Professor so-and-so believes in creation-science.) Simply because an authority makes a claim does not necessarily mean he got it right. If an arguer presents the testimony from an expert, look to see if it accompanies reason and sources of evidence behind it.
argument from adverse consequences: (e.g., We should judge the accused as guilty, otherwise others will commit similar crimes) Just because a repugnant crime or act occurred, does not necessarily mean that a defendant committed the crime or that we should judge him guilty. (Or: disasters occur because God punishes non-believers; therefore, we should all believe in God) Just because calamities or tragedies occur, says nothing about the existence of gods or that we should believe in a certain way.
argumentum ad baculum: An argument based on an appeal to fear or a threat. (e.g., If you don't believe in God, you'll burn in hell)
argumentum ad ignorantiam: A misleading argument used in reliance on people's ignorance.
argumentum ad populum: An argument aimed to sway popular support by appealing to sentimental weakness rather than facts and reasons.
bandwagon fallacy: concluding that an idea has merit simply because many people believe it or practice it. (e.g., Most people believe in a god; therefore, it must prove true.) Simply because many people may believe something says nothing about the fact of that something. For example many people during the Black plague believed that demons caused disease. The number of believers say nothing at all about the cause of disease.
begging the question (or assuming the answer): (e.g., We must encourage our youth to worship God to instill moral behavior.) But does religion and worship actually produce moral behavior?
circular reasoning: stating in one's proposition that which one aims to prove. (e.g. God exists because the Bible says so; the Bible exists because God influenced it.)
composition fallacy: when the conclusion of an argument depends on an erroneous characteristic from parts of something to the whole or vice versa. (e.g., Humans have consciousness and human bodies and brains consist of atoms; therefore, atoms have consciousness. Or: a word processor program consists of many bytes; therefore a byte forms a fraction of a word processor.)
confirmation bias (similar to observational selection): This refers to a form of selective thinking that focuses on evidence that supports what believers already believe while ignoring evidence that refutes their beliefs. Confirmation bias plays a stronger role when people base their beliefs upon faith, tradition and prejudice. For example, if someone believes in the power of prayer, the believer will notice the few "answered" prayers while ignoring the majority of unanswered prayers (which would indicate that prayer has no more value than random chance at worst or a placebo effect, when applied to health effects, at best).
confusion of correlation and causation: (e.g., More men play chess than women, therefore, men make better chess players than women. Or: Children who watch violence on TV tend to act violently when they grow up.) But does television programming cause violence or do violence oriented children prefer to watch violent programs? Perhaps an entirely different reason creates violence not related to television at all. Stephen Jay Gould called the invalid assumption that correlation implies cause as "probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning" (The Mismeasure of Man).
excluded middle (or false dichotomy): considering only the extremes. Many people use Aristotelian either/or logic tending to describe in terms of up/down, black/white, true/false, love/hate, etc. (e.g., You either like it or you don't. He either stands guilty or not guilty.) Many times, a continuum occurs between the extremes that people fail to see. The universe also contains many "maybes."
half truths (suppressed evidence): An statement usually intended to deceive that omits some of the facts necessary for an accurate description.
loaded questions: embodies an assumption that, if answered, indicates an implied agreement. (e.g., Have you stopped beating your wife yet?)
meaningless question: (e.g., "How high is up?" "Is everything possible?") "Up" describes a direction, not a measurable entity. If everything proved possible, then the possibility exists for the impossible, a contradiction. Although everything may not prove possible, there may occur an infinite number of possibilities as well as an infinite number of impossibilities. Many meaningless questions include empty words such as "is," "are," "were," "was," "am," "be," or "been."
misunderstanding the nature of statistics: (e.g., the majority of people in the United States die in hospitals, therefore, stay out of them.) "Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive." -- Wallace Irwin
non sequitur: Latin for "It does not follow." An inference or conclusion that does not follow from established premises or evidence. (e.g., there occured an increase of births during the full moon. Conclusion: full moons cause birth rates to rise.) But does a full moon actually cause more births, or did it occur for other reasons, perhaps from expected statistical variations?
observational selection (similar to confirmation bias): pointing out favorable circumstances while ignoring the unfavorable. Anyone who goes to Las Vegas gambling casinos will see people winning at the tables and slots. The casino managers make sure to install bells and whistles to announce the victors, while the losers never get mentioned. This may lead one to conclude that the chances of winning appear good while in actually just the reverse holds true.
post hoc, ergo propter hoc: Latin for "It happened after, so it was caused by." Similar to a non sequitur, but time dependent. (e.g. She got sick after she visited China, so something in China caused her sickness.) Perhaps her sickness derived from something entirely independent from China.
proving non-existence: when an arguer cannot provide the evidence for his claims, he may challenge his opponent to prove it doesn't exist (e.g., prove God doesn't exist; prove UFO's haven't visited earth, etc.). Although one may prove non-existence in special limitations, such as showing that a box does not contain certain items, one cannot prove universal or absolute non-existence, or non-existence out of ignorance. One cannot prove something that does not exist. The proof of existence must come from those who make the claims.
red herring: when the arguer diverts the attention by changing the subject.
reification fallacy: when people treat an abstract belief or hypothetical construct as if it represented a concrete event or physical entity. Examples: IQ tests as an actual measure of intelligence; the concept of race (even though genetic attributes exist), from the chosen combination of attributes or the labeling of a group of people, come from abstract social constructs; Astrology; god(s); Jesus; Santa Claus, black race, white race, etc.
slippery slope: a change in procedure, law, or action, will result in adverse consequences. (e.g., If we allow doctor assisted suicide, then eventually the government will control how we die.) It does not necessarily follow that just because we make changes that a slippery slope will occur.
special pleading: the assertion of new or special matter to offset the opposing party's allegations. A presentation of an argument that emphasizes only a favorable or single aspect of the question at issue. (e.g. How can God create so much suffering in the world? Answer: You have to understand that God moves in mysterious ways and we have no privilege to this knowledge. Or: Horoscopes work, but you have to understand the theory behind it.)
statistics of small numbers: similar to observational selection (e.g., My parents smoked all their lives and they never got cancer. Or: I don't care what others say about Yugos, my Yugo has never had a problem.) Simply because someone can point to a few favorable numbers says nothing about the overall chances.
straw man: creating a false scenario and then attacking it. (e.g., Evolutionists think that everything came about by random chance.) Most evolutionists think in terms of natural selection which may involve incidental elements, but does not depend entirely on random chance. Painting your opponent with false colors only deflects the purpose of the argument.
two wrongs make a right: trying to justify what we did by accusing someone else of doing the same. (e.g. how can you judge my actions when you do exactly the same thing?) The guilt of the accuser has no relevance to the discussion.
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Science attempts to apply some of the following criteria:
1) Skepticism of unsupported claims
2) Combination of an open mind with critical thinking
3) Attempts to repeat experimental results.
4) Requires testability
5) Seeks out falsifying data that would disprove a hypothesis
6) Uses descriptive language
7) Performs controlled experiments
8) Self-correcting
9) Relies on evidence and reason
10) Makes no claim for absolute or certain knowledge
11) Produces useful knowledge
Pseudoscience and religion relies on some of the following criteria:
1) Has a negative attitude to skepticism
2) Does not require critical thinking
3) Does not require experimental repeatability
4) Does not require tests
5) Does not accept falsifying data that would disprove a hypothesis
6) Uses vague language
7) Relies on anecdotal evidence
8) No self-correction
9) Relies on belief and faith
10) Makes absolute claims
11) Produces no useful knowledge
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Posted by barrydublin 1 comments
9/18/2009
aloha and welcome to this special celebrity edition of CRIBS :)
and whose the celebrity, well me ya feckers, this is where i get me COOK-ON and stufff and as promised a picture of the mighty DYSON, WAH WAH, the power tool for cleanin shit up, evry messy bollox needs one of these, anyhoo the pics are in no type of order owing to that messy bollox blogger bugger, feck nows the reason it chose to stick em in that oreder but there ye go, loads o knobbly bits and veg and the like in the kitchen, they get ye loads o poonanny so they does, ye don,t hav ta cook or owt, just have dem in da kitchen, the fluffies tink yer a wee bit sophisti, even if all deh get is some tea an toast, remeber ta throw out afore they comes too whiffy :)
Posted by barrydublin 0 comments