Sal9000

Am I the only one who was never told about Santa?

Can you provide proofs for this claim? It was first described by German psychiatrist and pathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 after who it was later named. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease Again, can you provide information on that? A metaanalysis showed so far that people with rheuma hardly get Alzheimer's which is in line with the theory that plaques cause inflammation in the brain.

Perhaps it's time to make a new report on Benghazi

There is an interesting question that has not been addressed yet. Does the (alleged) bad stuff that Cosby may have done invalidate his positive contributions like the scholarships and the Cosby show?

Somebody decided to have a closer look at the sources that Monckton uses. Pretty interesting so far.

There are cloud chambers where you can research the feedback clouds provide to infrared radiation.

Game theory is pretty important since it helps to minimize risks while maximizing profits. This is why it is related to games where you have the same goal.

Made me laugh. Really pretentious for their age.

Modern logic is formal, not material. First order logic uses variables that can be quantified. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-order_logic There are two ways in which logic is inaccurate. Logical laws are either abstract concepts that don't relate to the natural world (modern maths, ZMF and so on) or it is a mental construct to reduce complexity. In the latter case it is an approximation of reality (think of a map). There is hardly one instance where the law of identity can be proven in nature to be true without making suppositions. Abstract logic is either incomplete and without contradictions, or complete with contradictions.

Some weeks ago we watched Grave of the fireflies. This is the only anti-war movie I know. Warning: the anime is emotionally unsettling. Watch at your own risk.

Just like most brokers can quote Wall Street, most soldiers know these war movies by heart and view them contrary to the intentions.

One religion started in a similar way. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult for details.

The guys from Partially Examined Life have a look at Nozick's Anarchy, State & Utopia. It is interesting to listen how they judge the book since none of them are Anarchists. http://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2014/10/27/ep104-nozick-libertarianism/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThePartiallyExaminedLife+%28The+Partially+Examined+Life+Philosophy+Podcast%29

Can you provide a link? I'd be surprised if this was the case. According to Hegel, the history of the world is a history of ideas. Ideas begin to develop in humans, once they don't have to fight for their living. The mental process that emanates, the Weltgeist, does not care for the carrier, ie races don't play a role in this intellecutal history. In addition, I am sure that Hegel speaks of humanity (Menschengattung) instead of his races. At least that is how I understood his philosophy of law.

Quantum immortality does not say that you don't die. The entropy still works in all of the many worlds. You get older and you will die. What it says is pretty simple: If the Many World Interpretations is true, there are observers who survive suicide attempts several times, thus validating the Many World Interpretation. However, most observers will die which is the reason why these experiments don't tend to be overly popular.

Veinotte argues that Kant's or Hegel's interpretation together with the Bismarck social reforms led to Nazism. This is pretty ludicrous.

Sorry to be the party pooper, but Veinotte's historical and philosophical analysis is flawed. He relies heavily on a flawed Objectivist interpretation that has little to do with Kant (or Hegel) actually wrote. Kant's impetus was to draw a line between statements that cannot be tested (Metaphysics) and theories of the real world.

The QM only works on a quantum level. When an observer does not causally interfere on a macroscopical level there is no observer effect. The wavefunctions have collapsed long before you could have messed with them. You created two independent timelins. This is a major change.

The connection between presenting yourself and the way how you feel is bidirectional. When you feel bad, you will crouch and have a bad posture. The reverse is true too. When you are in a bad posture you will feel bad. You can check this hypothesis in four minutes. Walk around for two minutes with hunched shoulders and your pelvid pushed forward. Then walk around for the next two minutes with a good posture (feet parallel under the pelvis, straight shoulder). Note the difference. When you feel bad chances are high you pick ugly clothes. Ugly clothes however can make you feel bad too.

The simulation thought experiment seems a bit extreme, but Nick Bostrom made some interesting remarks, which make sense to me. Consider this: You are a NPC in World of Warcraft. By a magical trick you become somewhat intelligent. Suddenly you have a suspicion. What if World of Warcraft is a simulation? However, this can't be true, since you would need another World of Warcraft universe to simulate your own universe. You relax a bittle and go to the nearest tavern to talk to the hot elven.

I like the invention, but I think it is too obscure for most. In the same vein, I would like to introduce a Nebelwerfer (literally fog thrower). Arguments, that seem to be powerful but leave everybody confused (like a Gish gallop only louder).

Oil and games... Another interesting pattern: Quarterly earnings for a company are then the highest when it comes to paying bonuses.

Frank Serpico took the time to write about his experience in the NYPD and today's situation. While he does not get to the root of the problems he offers a nice description of the symptoms nonetheless. For more on his story see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070666/

I really enjoyed reading your post Josh. You put a lot of thought into it and made your point very clear. I will have to think about that for some time. A minor correction though: The axioms constitute a geometry. Mathematicians tried for centuries to make the fifth axiom shorter or to derive it from other axioms. Then during the 19th century two mathematicians found out at the same time that you can get valid geometries when you change that axiom. Nowadays most mathematicians would say that axioms constitute a mathematical theory. One of them, David Hilbert made this very clear. He said that you could replace geometrical terms with mundane objects (chair instead of point or cup instead of line) and you would still have a valid theory. In short, this axiom created the Euclidean geometry if you change it, you generate other valid geometries.

There are interesting ramifications. All financial transactions are zero sum. When you have a system where money is created via credit, every liabiliy is an asset for another agent. Lets say you have 10$ in your pocket. This money was created via credit, thus somebody else must have a liability of 10$. Wealth cannot be created out of nothing, there has to be liability that cancel it out. In the end, all transactions sum up to 0.