Response to http://metacrock.blogspot.com/2011/08/science-is-not-only-form-of-knowledge.html
Did it ever occur to you that perhaps people are just being "pedantic" when they object to your strawmen? You also never defined what you mean by "Knowledge". But in general terms, knowledge is an extremely fuzzy concept that has really never been nailed down by philosophy. It's a placeholder concept, we don't know what it is but we know it when we see it.
Even justified knowledge can (and has been) proven false. For example: CLEARLY the sun goes around the earth, I can see it moving, I don't feel like I'm moving. I can form this into a series of hypotheses that I test and all are born out by the facts. Therefore, I can form a justified belief that the sun goes around the Earth. What's wrong here is that I don't have ALL the facts. I didn't do a very good job and I missed some obvious difficulties. If you want to see an example of this at work in reality check out my post on it: http://iconoclasm2000.blogspot.com/2011/06/response-galileo-rout-galileo-rout.html Where I give a long list of observables that must ALL be satisfied by our theory and the geocentric theory absolutely fails a number of tests. Tests I may not have been aware of initially.
This is the hurdle you must overcome with any epistemic theory and this is the REASON the scientific methodology exists as it does today.
To put it more succinctly, Science is our best methodology for removing sources of error and bias from our conclusions.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Mental Health Purge
RE: http://www.zenbuffy.com/2011/08/time-to-institutionalise-pz-myers/
The important take-away from this is that not all Mental Health issues are the same and the vast majority of people with Mental Health issues pose absolutely no threat to society. That everyone agrees on.
Blah blah blah, we all know already right? No we don't, so it DOES bear repeating because mentally ill people are unfairly discriminated against. I get that, in fact I said it on twitter "it's fine & reasonable to remind everyone that mental illness <> violent". This is all good stuff. Unfortunately, none of it applies to what PZ Myers actually said or the remainder of content of the article.
Where @zenbuffy's post goes awry is when it resorts to distorting the truth. Specifically:
The important take-away from this is that not all Mental Health issues are the same and the vast majority of people with Mental Health issues pose absolutely no threat to society. That everyone agrees on.
Blah blah blah, we all know already right? No we don't, so it DOES bear repeating because mentally ill people are unfairly discriminated against. I get that, in fact I said it on twitter "it's fine & reasonable to remind everyone that mental illness <> violent". This is all good stuff. Unfortunately, none of it applies to what PZ Myers actually said or the remainder of content of the article.
Where @zenbuffy's post goes awry is when it resorts to distorting the truth. Specifically:
@zenbuffy's blog: PZ’s blog is not about Markuze’s spam, though, but about his mental health
Friday, August 5, 2011
Crime and Punishment and Ayahuasca
No matter how horrible something someone has done they deserve a fair trial and if found guilty, fair, equal and safe incarceration.
This really is not justice. This is revenge. And while it is an understandable and common emotion, it is for that reason that we must use cooler heads to reason about crime and punishment. If you wish anything to happen to someone in prision other than lawful incarceration (and if we had a lick of sense, intensive and mandatory education & psychotherapy) then you are part of the proverbial problem. Please do not encourge further violence, not to mention the continuation of the rape culture that we often see in such discussions. Wishing someone to be beaten or raped is absolutely never acceptable. If any form of corporal punishment is to be included in our prisons it needs to be based on strong science and carried out with strict safeguards for prisoner safety.
This is like the parent who slaps their child to the ground screaming "Don't HIT Other Kids". I know you probably don't mean to and maybe you don't really even mean that you hope they are abused in prison - but you said it. And I think it's important to take note our own reactions to situations.
"I hope they get what they gave when they get to prison. THAT would be justice."
This really is not justice. This is revenge. And while it is an understandable and common emotion, it is for that reason that we must use cooler heads to reason about crime and punishment. If you wish anything to happen to someone in prision other than lawful incarceration (and if we had a lick of sense, intensive and mandatory education & psychotherapy) then you are part of the proverbial problem. Please do not encourge further violence, not to mention the continuation of the rape culture that we often see in such discussions. Wishing someone to be beaten or raped is absolutely never acceptable. If any form of corporal punishment is to be included in our prisons it needs to be based on strong science and carried out with strict safeguards for prisoner safety.
This is like the parent who slaps their child to the ground screaming "Don't HIT Other Kids". I know you probably don't mean to and maybe you don't really even mean that you hope they are abused in prison - but you said it. And I think it's important to take note our own reactions to situations.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Ignorance of American Drug Policy (RANT)
RE: CNN's Lemaitre: Those who still see drug problem in U.S. as a 'war on drugs' are living in the past
I think it is Lemaitre who is living in the past to OUR detriment.
If you still honestly believe Drug Prohibitionist polices are good for the US or the World I am BEGGING you to please take a deeper look. I promise you that you are holding onto inculcated biases and factual errors. Inquire again with an open mind and really listen to what people like LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition are saying. Read up on the History of Drug Prohibition and how the entire program began as a Racist movement and became a Political Tool. It had nothing to do with Health or Safety or Science, in fact the Science was flat-out ignored. And don't be swayed by overly simplistic raw statistics - demand a full and complete picture of the data.
We all have anecdotal stories about how we have been affected. I have lost three family members to drug related deaths. How can I possibly be FOR Drug legalization then? Because I cared enough to look beyond the surface appearances and I hope you will also. Two of those deaths were alcohol related and another due to dirty needles and an inability to get clean and relatively safe drugs. Every one of these three deaths was preventable, not by making drugs MORE illegal - but by legalizing them, Regulating the market appropriately, and getting treatment to those in need (not heartless incarceration). I can walk down the street RIGHT NOW and buy a wide array of illegal drugs if I was so inclined, their current illegal status hasn't made us more safe - it has, in fact, made the world a much more dangerous and violent place.
I think it is Lemaitre who is living in the past to OUR detriment.
If you still honestly believe Drug Prohibitionist polices are good for the US or the World I am BEGGING you to please take a deeper look. I promise you that you are holding onto inculcated biases and factual errors. Inquire again with an open mind and really listen to what people like LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition are saying. Read up on the History of Drug Prohibition and how the entire program began as a Racist movement and became a Political Tool. It had nothing to do with Health or Safety or Science, in fact the Science was flat-out ignored. And don't be swayed by overly simplistic raw statistics - demand a full and complete picture of the data.
We all have anecdotal stories about how we have been affected. I have lost three family members to drug related deaths. How can I possibly be FOR Drug legalization then? Because I cared enough to look beyond the surface appearances and I hope you will also. Two of those deaths were alcohol related and another due to dirty needles and an inability to get clean and relatively safe drugs. Every one of these three deaths was preventable, not by making drugs MORE illegal - but by legalizing them, Regulating the market appropriately, and getting treatment to those in need (not heartless incarceration). I can walk down the street RIGHT NOW and buy a wide array of illegal drugs if I was so inclined, their current illegal status hasn't made us more safe - it has, in fact, made the world a much more dangerous and violent place.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A response to a Catholic
Posted At: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/5-catholic-teachings-that-make-sense-to-atheists/
I note with sadness that you didn't address the link about the immobility of the Earth. Something that disproved the bible 400 years ago. How do you rectify that in your mind? Most Protestants merely excuse it as Catholic nonsense, but as a Catholic you are kind of stuck with it since you believe in apostolic succession it is irrational to believe that something that was so fiercely held could be so wrong. This since fact alone does in the entire biblical structure for me.
@LAJ Thank you for your reply, this is more interesting discussion than most :)"intent on misreading the Bible" a very nice general dismissal, but lacking substance. Where did I misrepresent what's in the Bible? Pick one and we will discuss it because I assure you I have read the whole thing at least once and done extensive research on many passages. I'm not some random atheist - I'm a former Christian and I was prepared to thoroughly dedicate my life to God at one point in my life.
I note with sadness that you didn't address the link about the immobility of the Earth. Something that disproved the bible 400 years ago. How do you rectify that in your mind? Most Protestants merely excuse it as Catholic nonsense, but as a Catholic you are kind of stuck with it since you believe in apostolic succession it is irrational to believe that something that was so fiercely held could be so wrong. This since fact alone does in the entire biblical structure for me.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Strong religeous convictions
Found on: http://deepakchopra.com/2011/07/the-american-melting-pot-atheists-keep-out/
"those who had the courage to travel to new lands,mostly didso on the back of strong religeous convictions"
Let's not forget that "strong religious convictions" includes Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Panfilo de Narvaez, Hernan Cortés, Francisco Pizarro... all Christians, all well-known murders and enslavers of uncountable numbers of indigenous people.
Dr. Michael McDonnel wrote in The 'Conquest' of the Americas:
conquistadors regarded plunder, slaves, and tribute as the just desserts for their efforts in forcing pagans to accept Christianity and Spanish rule. After all, the conquistadors did scrupulously adhere to the Spanish law of conquest by reading the requerimiento, which ordered defiant Indians to immediately accept Spanish rule and Christian conversion, or face punishment in a “just war”. The requerimiento announced that “The resultant deaths and damages shall be your fault, and not the monarch’s or mine or the soldiers”. Attending witnesses and a notary usually certified in writing that the requerimiento had been read and ignored by the usually uncomprehending Indians, thus justifying the death and destruction that so often followed.
"those who had the courage to travel to new lands,mostly didso on the back of strong religeous convictions"
Let's not forget that "strong religious convictions" includes Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Panfilo de Narvaez, Hernan Cortés, Francisco Pizarro... all Christians, all well-known murders and enslavers of uncountable numbers of indigenous people.
Dr. Michael McDonnel wrote in The 'Conquest' of the Americas:
conquistadors regarded plunder, slaves, and tribute as the just desserts for their efforts in forcing pagans to accept Christianity and Spanish rule. After all, the conquistadors did scrupulously adhere to the Spanish law of conquest by reading the requerimiento, which ordered defiant Indians to immediately accept Spanish rule and Christian conversion, or face punishment in a “just war”. The requerimiento announced that “The resultant deaths and damages shall be your fault, and not the monarch’s or mine or the soldiers”. Attending witnesses and a notary usually certified in writing that the requerimiento had been read and ignored by the usually uncomprehending Indians, thus justifying the death and destruction that so often followed.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Google+ suspended
Well, it happened as I feared, Google+ has suspended my profile (for not using my real name I believe).
Sunday, July 10, 2011
But I Had A Personal Experience!
Why we cannot rely solely on individual memory to document events.
Remarkable false memories By Daniel Simons
I myself have personally had some pretty amazing experiences and witnessed amazing phenomena as products of meditation (and on occasion, medication). I have SEEN a golden, radiant book with letters of fire burning onto the pages (meditation), I have seen images of the future that have subsequently come to pass (lucid dreaming, meditation), and I have been 'miraculously' saved from physical harm (reality). Be they coincidences, hallucinations, lucky guesses, or who knows, maybe even some quantum process that we don't understand yet. But not a SINGLE one of those experiences is evidence for something supernatural or a soul. The dreaming brain is perfectly capable of generating PROFOUNDLY meaningful and deep, rich experiences that are indistinguishable from reality to the observer. I know this because I practiced at it for many years.
Remarkable false memories By Daniel Simons
I myself have personally had some pretty amazing experiences and witnessed amazing phenomena as products of meditation (and on occasion, medication). I have SEEN a golden, radiant book with letters of fire burning onto the pages (meditation), I have seen images of the future that have subsequently come to pass (lucid dreaming, meditation), and I have been 'miraculously' saved from physical harm (reality). Be they coincidences, hallucinations, lucky guesses, or who knows, maybe even some quantum process that we don't understand yet. But not a SINGLE one of those experiences is evidence for something supernatural or a soul. The dreaming brain is perfectly capable of generating PROFOUNDLY meaningful and deep, rich experiences that are indistinguishable from reality to the observer. I know this because I practiced at it for many years.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
RESPONSE: Galileo rout: Galileo rout
RESPONSE: Galileo rout: Galileo rout
The referenced page is just absurdly incorrect and a very simple thought experiment will demonstrate this very clearly.
The orbital circumference of the moon1 is 2,413,000,000 meters, and the average orbital velocity is 1022m/s, dividing circumference/velocity gives us ~27.327 days2. This is how long it actually takes the moon to go ALL THE WAY around the Earth in its orbit.
But when we observe the moon it appears to go all the way around the Earth every single day, it doesn't take 27.327 days! If the Earth were NOT rotating then we would see the moon only move 1/27.327th of the way across the sky in a 24 hour period.
So the hypothesis proposed is clearly and demonstrably false.
The referenced page is just absurdly incorrect and a very simple thought experiment will demonstrate this very clearly.
The orbital circumference of the moon1 is 2,413,000,000 meters, and the average orbital velocity is 1022m/s, dividing circumference/velocity gives us ~27.327 days2. This is how long it actually takes the moon to go ALL THE WAY around the Earth in its orbit.
But when we observe the moon it appears to go all the way around the Earth every single day, it doesn't take 27.327 days! If the Earth were NOT rotating then we would see the moon only move 1/27.327th of the way across the sky in a 24 hour period.
So the hypothesis proposed is clearly and demonstrably false.
Friday, June 24, 2011
RESPONSE: Atheism?: Is It Real?
RESPONSE to Atheism?: Is It Real?
The bible also says 'ye shall know them by their fruits'.
So which of the 30,000 some odd sects do you believe is the RIGHT one so that we can discuss your specific beliefs?
Since they all have different beliefs that conflict with the others they cannot ALL be right - so that is a LOT of bad fruit.
How do you KNOW that you have the exact right version of beliefs?
You seem to think you are saved by faith alone but others disagree with you. Are you SURE you aren't saved by works?
When I look at the FRUIT of religion I see begging liars on TV asking for money, I see wealthy immoral church leaders, I see child raping priests, I see FLOCKS of people who shut their mind and harden their hearts against their fellow humans and try to deny them civil rights. They are racists and bigots.
1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
Has YOUR church done all these things?
I see fraud, slavery, theft, murder, hatred, sectarian violence around the world, all directly because of religious COMMANDS. Not just because there are bad apples in the bunch, DIRECTLY because of the commands and edicts of their religion.
Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Panfilo de Narvaez, Hernan Cortés, Francisco Pizarro... all Christians, all well-known murders and enslavers of uncountable numbers of indigenous people.
Bernal Diaz wrote of the sack of the Aztecs, that “When the Christians were exhausted from war, God saw fit to send the Indians smallpox, and there was great pestilence in the city.”
Dr. Michael McDonnel wrote in
The 'Conquest' of the Americas:
conquistadors regarded plunder, slaves, and tribute as the just desserts for their efforts in forcing pagans to accept Christianity and Spanish rule. After all, the conquistadors did scrupulously adhere to the Spanish law of conquest by reading the requerimiento, which ordered defiant Indians to immediately accept Spanish rule and Christian conversion, or face punishment in a “just war”. The requerimiento announced that “The resultant deaths and damages shall be your fault, and not the monarch’s or mine or the soldiers”. Attending witnesses and a notary usually certified in writing that the requerimiento had been read and ignored by the usually uncomprehending Indians, thus justifying the death and destruction that so often followed.
Well, Thank GOD they followed protocol before they murdered, raped, and enslaved entire populations. That makes it ok, right?
The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requerimiento was "used to justify the assertion that God, through historical Saint Peter and appointed Papal successors, held authority as ruler over the entire Earth; and that the Inter Caetera Papal Bull, of 4 May 1493 by Pope Alexander VI, conferred title over all the Americas to the Spanish monarchs"
But that's not YOUR religion, that was the "Catholics" so that doesn't count, right? They have it all wrong. Of course, they claim YOU have it all wrong, you have broken away from the one true Church, you know, the one founded by Jesus and Peter...
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it.
The Church put in the hands of Peter (who's name means the rock), handed down through apostolic succession.
And still, so many rotten fruits...
Minds so rotted by this stinking fruit that they can look at tens upon tens of THOUSANDS of scientific papers that all evidence and affirm that evolution is true, but they still deny it.
Minds so rotted by this stench of ignorance that they ignore that the heliocentric nature of the solar system PROVES the bible is false.
Both Paul V and Urban VIII KNEW the damage this information could do and suppressed this information to the point of burning Giordano Bruno to death over it. They greatly underestimated the credulity of their flock.
The bible also says 'ye shall know them by their fruits'.
So which of the 30,000 some odd sects do you believe is the RIGHT one so that we can discuss your specific beliefs?
Since they all have different beliefs that conflict with the others they cannot ALL be right - so that is a LOT of bad fruit.
How do you KNOW that you have the exact right version of beliefs?
You seem to think you are saved by faith alone but others disagree with you. Are you SURE you aren't saved by works?
When I look at the FRUIT of religion I see begging liars on TV asking for money, I see wealthy immoral church leaders, I see child raping priests, I see FLOCKS of people who shut their mind and harden their hearts against their fellow humans and try to deny them civil rights. They are racists and bigots.
1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
Has YOUR church done all these things?
I see fraud, slavery, theft, murder, hatred, sectarian violence around the world, all directly because of religious COMMANDS. Not just because there are bad apples in the bunch, DIRECTLY because of the commands and edicts of their religion.
Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Panfilo de Narvaez, Hernan Cortés, Francisco Pizarro... all Christians, all well-known murders and enslavers of uncountable numbers of indigenous people.
Bernal Diaz wrote of the sack of the Aztecs, that “When the Christians were exhausted from war, God saw fit to send the Indians smallpox, and there was great pestilence in the city.”
Dr. Michael McDonnel wrote in
The 'Conquest' of the Americas:
conquistadors regarded plunder, slaves, and tribute as the just desserts for their efforts in forcing pagans to accept Christianity and Spanish rule. After all, the conquistadors did scrupulously adhere to the Spanish law of conquest by reading the requerimiento, which ordered defiant Indians to immediately accept Spanish rule and Christian conversion, or face punishment in a “just war”. The requerimiento announced that “The resultant deaths and damages shall be your fault, and not the monarch’s or mine or the soldiers”. Attending witnesses and a notary usually certified in writing that the requerimiento had been read and ignored by the usually uncomprehending Indians, thus justifying the death and destruction that so often followed.
Well, Thank GOD they followed protocol before they murdered, raped, and enslaved entire populations. That makes it ok, right?
The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requerimiento was "used to justify the assertion that God, through historical Saint Peter and appointed Papal successors, held authority as ruler over the entire Earth; and that the Inter Caetera Papal Bull, of 4 May 1493 by Pope Alexander VI, conferred title over all the Americas to the Spanish monarchs"
But that's not YOUR religion, that was the "Catholics" so that doesn't count, right? They have it all wrong. Of course, they claim YOU have it all wrong, you have broken away from the one true Church, you know, the one founded by Jesus and Peter...
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it.
The Church put in the hands of Peter (who's name means the rock), handed down through apostolic succession.
And still, so many rotten fruits...
Minds so rotted by this stinking fruit that they can look at tens upon tens of THOUSANDS of scientific papers that all evidence and affirm that evolution is true, but they still deny it.
Minds so rotted by this stench of ignorance that they ignore that the heliocentric nature of the solar system PROVES the bible is false.
Both Paul V and Urban VIII KNEW the damage this information could do and suppressed this information to the point of burning Giordano Bruno to death over it. They greatly underestimated the credulity of their flock.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)