Occasionally I will hear that some issue is “settled science.” Often it’s in the context of some controversial topic such as climate change. The consensus among climate scientists is that climate change is real and man-made. They tend to dismiss skeptics as mistaken or ignorant. Sometimes, someone will say that this is “settled science.”
Continue readingGenerational Hostility
There are a lot of snide comments about people who, because of their age, don’t know things, or can’t do things. Older people natter on about “kids these days,” while younger people often dismiss elders as being technologically clueless. It’s all bullshit, and it’s just mean-spirited.
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Disagreement Is Not Bigotry
Some years ago, a woman asked me whether I was in favor of gay marriage. I said that I was not. This led to her becoming angry with me over my obvious homophobia and bigotry. Clearly I gave the wrong answer.
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Posted in Rants, Social Commentary, Wokism
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Grey Goo
There is a new and highly speculative concept of nanotechnology, the creation of functioning machines that are extremely small, possibly even microscopic. At the moment we are not able to make such machines, but some scientists consider it to be a possibility.
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Tools and Rules
These are some basic principles I use to help sort through the various topics and suggested explanations. Using them can simplify discussions.
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The Revenge of Schrödinger’s Cat
Quantum theory has produced an assortment of results that fly in the face of common sense. Particles that can be waves, particles that can be in two places at once – or nowhere at all – our being unable to know where something is and also where it’s going… even quantum theorists don’t understand these ideas except mathematically – if even then.
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Roach Eating Contest
Man dies after winning roach-eating contest in Broward :
The contest was to win a python from a pet store.
You know, it’s one thing to drop dead after running a marathon. Even if you didn’t finish, if you got close to the end people will generally give you credit for trying. They figure, “well, he dropped dead, but he was doing something really hard.” At least, that’s how I figure it when I read about the annual “people dropping dead during or after marathon” stories. They always say that the guy was young, in good health, they can’t figure out why he dropped dead. I’ll tell you why: running is bad for you. But I digress…
When you drop dead after eating too many roaches, you don’t get any respect at all. This guy will be remembered long after his death, much longer than if he had survived the roach-eating contest. He’ll always be, “Isn’t he the guy who dropped dead after eating a gazillion roaches?” What a claim to fame.
And he didn’t even get the python.
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He Never Said It
This is probably one of the least urgent matters that still manages to trouble me…
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Relativistic Bullshit
There is a quotation that is going around, attributed to physicist Albert Einstein. It goes:
Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.
Einstein never said it. It is a quote by Darryl Anka. About the only statement in this quotation that is accurate is that it’s not philosophy. It certainly isn’t that; nor is it physics. It’s bullshit. As physicist Wolfgang Pauli said, “It’s not even wrong.”
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Masks
One of the ways to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus is to wear a mask over the nose and mouth. For some reason, this has resulted in many people losing their shit and in many cases becoming violent. I don’t get it.
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