Messages From Rod Speed
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A Reversal Of Gravity
No doubt some would have said that about Wilbur and Orville, if it had
be possible to show them on TV at the time of their tinkering I'm not saying that says anything useful about the potential for
perpetual motion machines, but clearly whether they are wearing white
coats and have an immaculate lab is a very small part of whats important.
CSICOP CONVENTION ARTICLE
It would actually be quite interesting to see a rigorous measurement of
that stuff in other countrys which think they do it a lot better. Might
get a hell of a shock And you would have to ask, is that specific knowledge really that useful
to the general public anyway Ditto for the older stuff like the
sequence of British kings etc.
Clearly you want people to understand the fundamentals of science etc,
but how the hell you
DREAM SOLUTIONS
I dont think its got anything to do with alpha patterns, just that the
mental effectiveness of most people is rather less than uniform thru the
waking hours. Some people are just more effective in the morning, others
are quite fuddled early, do much better late at night. You dont need
exotic explanations like alpha patterns.
EVOLUTION
It isnt actually. There were considerable problems with it in Queensland
when Joh was the premier and the fundys were in a position of power on
stuff like the school curriculum.
And even in other states there is a hell of a problem with science
students believing in creationism at the start of their tertiary
education too. Presumably its a combination of their religious
background and the fundamentals of evolution being quite hard to believe
thats a problem for many.
EVOLUTION
Thats arguable actually. Until you know the full sequence, it isnt
possible to say that absolutely. The coexistence of both forms today
doesnt prove a damned thing. There is a real sense in which the
higher apes and humans are all scattered closely together in the
evolutionary tree.
It is clear that say cats and dogs really do just share a common
ancestor, but thats less clear in the ape/human area.
FRINGE SCIENCE?
Depends on the state.
Ditto.
Depends on the beach.
Arguable.
Pity you got most of them wrong
FRINGE SCIENCE?
Yeah, I had forgotten about that one. Just as well she wasnt billeted
with religious fundys Then there is root beer. Sorry, I have to rush off and register that
name, bye
Skeptical of skeptics
Its coat trailing Stew, deliberately provocative remarks, designed to
provoke a reaction in the reader.
I bet you read just 'a bit', I believe you, I do, really I do Thats a bit like jumping into a science or skeptical echo and asserting
that the earth really is flat and that we are all fooling ourselves when
we believe that its round. The reaction is likely to be quite predictable
on the fundamentals. The only real question is how
Statistics
Yeah, I've actually been watching one religious fundy I know quite well,
an SDA minister or whatever his official title is, do some 'research' on
that question for his Masters degree. Absolutely classic example of
believing something very strongly and setting out to 'prove' it with his
'research'. I'm not convinced you can ever really separate cause and
effect in that situation. You cant distinguish between peoples behaviour
changing because of their TV or movie exposure from society changing and
Skeptical of skeptics
I dont let trivial details like that worry me Its just an assertion Stew, like all of your stuff. Fields like science
and skepticism are about hard evidence and logical arguments, not
'I know far more than you, so there'. Or just insisting I know nothing
about skepticism, without you having any real way of knowing what I know
about it.
Doesnt matter if you admit it or not, the similarity to what you did there
and what you
ritual mutilation
Damn, could have sworn I used my eyes and fingers quite a bit. Just knew
I was doing it wrong.
Some of the humans even mutilate themselves. Even in first world countrys.
Skeptical of skeptics
Who said anything about them not being able to fend for themselves. I am
quite sure most of them can actually. There are other possibilitys.
Thats what reserve ammunition means.
Personally I think the evidence shows thats about the least likely
explanation. As the detail of the people being tossed out of I_UFO shows
so utterly clearly. Not my idea of how people with an open mind operate.
Havent seen a better example of closed minds in quite some time.
Skeptical of skeptics
Totally wrong in fact.
We dont really know that.
Then you might as well just say something happens because of 'things'.
Doesnt get you very far tho.
And the difference is that when you understand how smallpox works you can
eliminate it completely. You cant with demons. Worthwhile improvement IMO.
Sure seems a heap more productive to be able to conclude there aint much
point in human sacrifice for a good crop and what you need is the right
variety
Skeptical of skeptics
Bullshit Stew, you are just playing with yourself again. If you apply a
method which is known to work well for separating dud proposals or claims
from proven ones, whether thats the scientific method, or skepticism, you
actually have an approach which gets at the truth. Pretty simple really.
Its only rigid in the sense that it demands evidence and proof instead of
operating from the basics of 'well I am a smarty pants and thats why when
I say
The ultimate skeptic defi
Nope, that just goes to show the danger of taking a commentary on
scientists and search and replacing that word to skeptics. Doesnt work
too well at all Nope, does nothing of the sort.
Well, since you got the first two wrong, you have a real problem with
the 'is therefore' then dont you Thats crap too. Some of the most dramatic discoverys have come by accident.
Playing with words Stew. How unusual.
Nice theory Stew, now explain
Spelling
Well, thats arguable.
Thats life, try not to worry about it too much Well, you studiously deleted what you did say, I have put it back. Sure,
I was using exaggerated language, but you were actually decrying just
the sort of thing that happens in a living language, a gradual change in
usage over time. In this case in a way which you perceive of as worse,
losing a 'useful distinction' thru 'sheer sloppiness'. That can
accurately be described
Re: SKEPTICAL OF SKEPTICS
Why dont you just ask Stew to put you in touch with some, he spends
quite a bit of time off with the fairys by the looks of it
Statistics
I think they mostly got it from movies, westerns. Corse not all kids had
to have seen the movies, as long as some did.
MONKIES AND EVOLUTION
True, but IMO that only makes things worse with people like that. They
have enough problem with the larger animals like dogs and cats, move
into stuff like the microbiotic level and they are lost completely.
I know one fellow who is by far the most mechanically oriented person I
have come across personally. Can make you a pistol out of blocks of steel
anytime. Utterly hopeless at anything which cant be actually physically
seen tho, like electronics. Quite interesting
Evolution
I was saying that its clear that evolution happens, that the simpler
forms were around first, the more complex forms arrived later, building
on the simpler forms, evolving from them. Single celled animals being
around along before say apes.
I wasnt making any specific comment on intelligent input in the sense of
a designer interfering in the process. Its obvious what happened, its
less obvious what was involved in that process. There is no evidence for
any guiding hand.
It