Occasionally I will hear that some issue is “settled science.” Often it’s in the context of a 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 Dunning-Kruger Effect
Briefly, the Dunning-Kruger (DK) effect is the erroneous self-assessment of skill, knowledge, or other qualities in a field that is not the person’s area of expertise. This can be laymen grappling with an unfamiliar discipline, or experts who have strayed from their own fields into others. The DK effect is partly due to the person not knowing enough to understand the difficulties and complexities of the unfamiliar field.
From xkcd.com
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Conspiracy Theories
Bielefeld
Conspiracy theories strike me as an attempt to hold on to a cherished idea when there is insufficient evidence to support it. Rather than consider that the idea is wrong, a person clings to it and invents reasons to explain the lack of evidence.
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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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Cottingley Fairies
Before There Was Photoshop
In 1917, two girls borrowed their father’s camera and took some photos in their back yard. When the photos were developed, they showed several fairies dancing and playing in the yard as the girls looked on. For the first time there was photographic evidence that fairies exist.
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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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