1

Just Chat! / Is Socialism the Philosophy of Choice of Psychopaths...?

« on: 18/04/2010 08:26:11 »

Black cat is gay.

All gays are black cats.

I think this mistake is being made here..

Also, I don't buy that socialists are "against a conscience". I think the very reason they believe in socialism is because they see it as much fairer than capitalism.

2

Physiology & Medicine / Narcissism, Recovery, Law?

« on: 18/04/2010 08:15:42 »

They learn to lie and manipulate people extremely well.

3

Just Chat! / What happened to DiscoverDave?

« on: 19/03/2010 19:17:33 »

I tried to PM him yesterday, as he said goodbye in a response to a question I asked about him deleting a post.

4

Just Chat! / What happened to DiscoverDave?

« on: 18/03/2010 22:16:19 »

I'd like to know what happened to him over the last few days. Has he been banned? Has he left of his own accord? If yes to either, why?

Transparency would be appreciated.

5

General Science / Why don't scientists generally believe on God?

« on: 11/03/2010 13:20:06 »

There's also no evidence for the anthropic principle - except the fact that we are here - and that can be used as evidence of a Creator, too. However, some scientists will subscribe to the anthropic principle while vehemently denying the existence of a Creator.. makes you wonder about the nature of faith, really.

6

Physiology & Medicine / Has anyone looked into getting more from a placebo?

« on: 17/02/2010 11:17:03 »

That's a great article Dave, thanks!

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Just Chat! / Is that true?

« on: 14/02/2010 13:01:00 »

It's usually taught to give psychology students a greater historical perspective, I think to show the paradigm shifts that have occurred in the subject. There is evidence that some Freudian inspired psychotherapies are useful; but it's a highly controversial area, & only those daft Americans really give any attention to it nowadays.

The original research done by Freud is not scientifically accurate, & the culture he grew up in was much different to ours. The time he grew up in - sexual behaviour & practices were very repressed, so it's natural he would've found that to be the root of many psychological problems in his day. Psychologists should find it hard to universalise conclusions - though they often do, unfortunately. I'm not sure it can be much of a science for that reason, though even if it isn't a science or isn't a good science, it's very useful.

8

Physiology & Medicine / Has anyone looked into getting more from a placebo?

« on: 02/02/2010 18:02:32 »

Yes. Some placebos have been shown to produce better results than others; for example, injecting a saline solution into someone's arm is more effective a placebo than giving a sugar pill. Placebos are a complex phenomenon. It depends on patient & doctor prior knowledge, culturally influenced knowledge (i.e is your mom going to know better medical information than your doctor?), as well as how the doctor presents the treatment.

9

General Science / From a Scientific point of view, should we end the endless wars we are engaged ?

« on: 02/02/2010 14:20:48 »

You seem very intent on using science to explain or understand things it simply cannot. It is better not to because it:
It protects civilisation (science has been & is used to justify atrocities)
It protects scientific integrity

This is as daft as thinking about using any single thing to guide public policy. By their nature, civilisations are vast & complex, not reducible to one variable. Wars, which concern many such civilisations, both present & past, are even more complicated.

Science has neither the power nor the right context to end wars. Look at this, for example:

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General Science / Are all Scientists atheists?

« on: 30/01/2010 12:07:08 »

Besides, describing yourself as a PEARList, Bright, or rational is really quite biased - it automatically implies that people who have faith are dumb, blind, or in some way intellectually diminished. It's unhelpful when trying to have a meaningful discussion, because it automatically makes people more likely to be defensive or offensive, & that makes it about the person rather than the argument itself.

Science can say nothing about a creator. It is an untestable hypothesis. It is outside the realm of science to answer, just like it is outside the realm of religion to answer the question, "What is the mechanism for photosynthesis?".

It is conceivable that we are just in a programmed virtual world. In that case, there would be a creator.

I bet he's having a right laugh.

I don't see why atheist/theist isn't perfectly acceptable. Keep them as neutral words, & they will remain so to whoever you talk to, provided you give a good explanation of why they should be neutral if challenged.

So, to the original poster, you can use science as evidence of God. Some people do. It was popular a couple of centuries back to do so. It still is, in the form of Intelligent Design. I dislike how they muddy science, but a religion must stay adaptable if it is to survive. The principles of evolution tell us that much []

Trying to find God using the scientific method does not show God doesn't exist - it shows the limitations of the scientific method (& they are there for a good reason! Don't shoot me!) in trying to find the truth. This is because God is unfalsifiable - if he exists in this Universe, but we cannot find him, absence of proof is not proof of absence. If he is in another Universe or somewhere crazy like a 16th dimension, we will also not be able to find him. Faith can mean many things, but it is not the opposite of science. Science is to religion as a camel is to a wombat. They have different functions, different reasons for existing.

I'm an agnostic atheist myself. There is no evidence that I can see for God, but I appreciate other people may have access to evidence I don't.

11

General Science / As a human being, what do you need, in order of precedence, what do you need?

« on: 30/01/2010 11:48:43 »

As you said Joe,

   Oxygen ~ 4 minutes

Then there's

   Sleep ~ 9 days (people start to hallucinate and can die!)

Is there anything in between?

Water.

What's next? Food, maybe? Seems like a long gap between 9 days & roughly a month though. I guess shelter, but that depends on climate.

12

Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 25/01/2010 20:32:13 »

Yes, this is a science website. However, that does not mean science can be used to guide our actions when it comes to social situations. Science is reductionist & looks at one variable - trying to make out that religious belief in the way you define it as one variable is a massive oversimplification. Racism, was (& I guess still is) based on observations (i.e black slaves were not intelligent, for example), and was also justified by science. Don't make the mistake of thinking that scientific conclusions are free of the influence of their culture - or that observations themselves are free of those influences, & the conclusions that scientists make. I mean, there is no objective, scientific testability of the truth to value claims, & that's what racism is - a claim that one race is worth less or more than another.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as science is in testing claims, it is not a magical solution to world problems.

13

Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 24/01/2010 11:43:47 »

A delusion it may or may not be. I don't really care either way. That is a word that is unhelpful in describing what belief actually is.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081023120228.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2568974/

I am disinterested in arguing about this further because I do not think I will change anyone's mind. Less & less am I seeing debate as an effective way of changing people's minds.. if you don't feel like religious belief will is helpful, then you just don't feel it is, I can't argue with a feeling. How you think about that belief will change how you feel about it, but if you're stuck thinking about it purely from a "this isn't true, & I feel like that's all that matters!" perspective, then no amount of debate will change your minds.

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Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 24/01/2010 10:25:57 »

^ BC, if it provides comfort, it provides comfort. There are things more important than the truth sometimes. You are in a terrible position as an apathetic non-believer to understand the importance of that, I suppose. There is evidence that faith protects against mental illness; surely that's a signal that religion is good for the soul, excuse the pun?

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Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 23/01/2010 10:23:12 »

I agree that fresh clean water food shelter is a much more immediate issue than faith. However, a Christian group won't be able to send the equivalent of USS Carl Vinson, will they?

It's a disanalogy Geezer - the aid to Haiti doesn't come one drip at a time. Also, there isn't just one aircraft dropping in that aid.

Look, I'm not saying it's what I would have done. It is better that they have sent these bibles than not - therefore they deserve praise, not ridicule.

16

Geek Speak / Why Do More People Prefer Windows/Mac Rather Than linux?

« on: 23/01/2010 01:07:15 »

Familiarity is a powerful thing.

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Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 22/01/2010 19:27:10 »

Nah, I didn't really mean you Make it Lady.

As for recruiting more people, how exactly can any religion ever be successful if you don't talk to people about it? Religion is a bit like capitalism in this respect; yes, the top companies may do some pretty unethical things if it benefits them, but they will benefit from it greatly, as will the consumer (or so called victim of religion) because often, unethical things are cheaper: look at fairtrade food. I also disagree that sending these bibles is even doing that in the first place; according to wiki around 95% of them are some form of Christian, so..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Haiti

The title is such a ridiculously loaded question. Let's turn the tables here.

Say a scientific organisation is sending science books to Haiti. A Christian forum sees the news; posts a thread with the topic title: "You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a science book help?"

Kinda missing the point of sending the aid, isn't it? Both science books & bibles would be useful to the Haitians & would no doubt be appreciated - people do what they can. If this group are doing what they can, good for them!

18

Just Chat! / You're in Haiti, starving, thirsty. Will a bible help?

« on: 22/01/2010 19:16:14 »

I can't believe that people are reacting so harshly towards this.. Aid is aid. I think it's a case of "this would be useless to me in this situation, so it's useless in this situation!" here.

19

Geek Speak / What is behind these Data Execution Prevention popups?

« on: 19/01/2010 23:11:14 »

Humm, I doubt it will, it sounds like one of those features that are in built in the program (Chrome probably tries to detect which direction it is best to open the bookmarks)

Firefox is perfectly adequate, however. I use multiple tabbed homepages for the various forums I frequent (ooh popular me! ) Facebook BBC news etc, I find it more useful than bookmarks.

20

General Science / What is Benefits of Liquid Vitamins

« on: 18/01/2010 10:15:37 »

There may be more vitamins, but they may not necessarily be more easily absorbed (though they will as a liquid as opposed to a tablet, I suppose) than from food because vitamin & mineral absorption is a more complicated thing than people think. I don't know the ins & outs, but sometimes a vitamins absorption depends on other factors - for example good calcium absorption also requires magnesium. I imagine (but I'm not sure) that the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K are more readily absorbed if you eat something with fat in it, too. Liquid vitamin & minerals should never replace a good, varied diet.