McBeer

There is a radiolab podcast explaining the science of how it is calculated. Skin- 14 days Gut lining- 5 days Intestine Muscles- 15.9 years Fat Cells - 10 years Hippocampus - 20-30 years Brain Cortex - As old as you are. http://www.radiolab.org/story/carbon/

I have been struggling the past week with a decision that I had made. I am feeling a little better about it now, but could use some help achieving some clarity with this issue. For the past year I have been in the process of getting hired into a job that pays very well. It is a union job, so right from the beginning I had mixed feelings about it. As part of the hiring process there is a test which is divided into two sections. The first part of the test is math and blueprint reading. No problem there, it was super easy. The problem was with the second part of the test. Before the test it was repeated several times that they were just looking for consistency with the answers, so please just answer honestly. The test was (with the clarity of hindsight), to determine whether or not I am a socialist. I am not a socialist, but I knew the kind of answers they were looking for. Instead of lying and telling them what they wanted to hear, I answered honestly. After the test, I asked my friend who also took the test how he answered the questions. He said he lied and gave them the answers they wanted. The job would provide great financial security for his family, so I don't hold it against him for answering the way they wanted. The test scores determine the order in which new people will be hired. My friend who answered the way they wanted is at the top of the list, and I am at the bottom. This job would have been life changing for me. I was looking forward to being able to get out of debt and move out of my small starter house that I bought 15 years ago. I have a wife and two kids to take care of. There was never a question of whether or not I could do the job well. It would have been easy for me. I am extremely skilled at my profession of design, manufacturing, and automation, but even a management position does not come close to the pay and benefits that the union job would have provided. Sorry if this post jumps around and is confusing, that's how it is running though my head. Here is the question. Was it the right decision for me to sacrifice the union job to maintain my integrity as an honest person?

I just listened to Joe Rogan interview him. Pretty interesting stuff.

What it the cost/benefit ratio of going to Mars? I cannot see any way that Mars is a good investment. You can only consider this as a possibility is you do not consider the tremendous cost. That is the problem with any government program. Theft=free? Penal colony on Mars? I will give you a bullet to save myself years of my stolen wages.

I am successful. I have a great wife and two awesome kids. I work enough to provide a stable life for myself and my family. Beyond that, I have little interest in wasting my life providing the tremendous amount of value I have to offer to a world which does not acknowledge property rights. The more value I produce, the more the world claims a right to seize my property. Also, wouldn't it be immoral to provide resources to a system which initiates the use of force? In a free market my skills could change the world, but in our current system I will build my skills and continue my research for my own enjoyment. I would like to thank Ayn Rand and her John Galt for this perspective. I have never been happier in my life.

Is this list to be read with the assumption that shaming is always bad no matter what? People should be ashamed of themselves when exhibiting shameful behavior. ...or they are ashamed of themselves already, but want us to let them ignore their well deserved shame.

I wonder what superior foreign competition is? Is the entire foreign country better at everything? Its really all about specialization and distribution of labor. It may not be profitable to compete in a specific field that a specific country specializes in, but there are infinite possibilities for economic growth in a free market situation. Can a country which is restricted by taxes and regulations compete with a country that isn't? I say no, it can't.

It would be much easier to save money if I wasn't being robbed every week.

I don't understand what you are saying. If most of your teachers were pretty good teachers, then how was school a waste of time? Personally, I can only think of two, maybe three teachers I have ever had that were any good at all. There was a physics teacher in high school that actually treated students like human beings, and a college calculus teacher that worked hard to actually teach calculus and make it interesting. The rest of my time in school was a waste. The "no child left behind" mentality of schools means that no child is allowed to get ahead. I always felt that the purpose of school was hold everybody down to the level of the slowest students. If everybody progressed at their own speed then it would make the slower kids feel bad. 99% of school is just waiting for everybody else to catch up. I never struggled to pass their stupid tests, so no attention was ever given to me. In public school it was as if I didn't even exist. I cannot have sympathy for teachers, because they did not have sympathy for me.

I've been thinking that some catchy tunes with controversial lyrics might spread though the internet pretty quickly. Stefan already has the lyrics in his podcasts. Anyone up for making an FDR album?

I would be curious to see what a Rand Paul presidency would look like. He will most likely be out of the race before he makes it to the Michigan primary, so voting for him won't be an option for me. When I ask around, the average person hasn't even heard of Rand Paul.

This is why I donate to FDR. The larger this group becomes, the more the ideas here will spread.

The democracy IS functioning. Do you not like how it is functioning? Too bad, that's democracy.

Live your life and enjoy it. Don't waste your time on things and people that are not important to you. Be an example for others to follow.

Isn't "neurotypical" itself a mental disorder?

I know what you mean with the subtle sighs and hints people use to communicate. I tell people I don't understand their secret code, and please just say what you mean. If something isn't important enough for you to say it clearly, then it must not be important enough for me to acknowledge.

I have been a bit curious about Asperger syndrome for a while and am wondering what others think about it. I have never put myself in a place where I could be diagnosed, but many of the symptoms apply to me. (from autism-society.org) I do not understand conventional social rules. I do not know how to fit in and interact with most people(without being completely fake). When I am interested in a subject it borders on obsessive. I do not like eye contact with most people. I have above average intelligence. I have good language skills. I've met a few people who were diagnosed, and they seemed better than normal to me. I think Asperger's is just a title for rational people who stand out in an irrational world. Any thoughts?

Sorry for getting off topic on that previous post. The original post was about the rights of the father, not abortion as a whole. I have had that exact conversation a few times, probably with the same results. If a fetus is the sole property of the mother, then she has no claim to child support from the father. If a fetus is joint property between the mother and father, then the mother cannot abort without consent of the father. This is an obvious contradiction, but for most people contradictions are irrelevant. If you point out the contradiction and all you get is rationalizations and justifications, walk away. You cannot have a rational conversation with somebody who refuses to think.

I see abortion as being directly related to the idea of peaceful parenting. If you view a child as your property then you may do with it as you wish. Spanking. Threats. Abortion. If a child is human being then the NAP applies. No hitting, no threatening, no abortion. Is a child transforms from property to human, then what is it specifically that is different? Is it consciousness, thought, rationality, or some other distinguishing characteristic that makes a fetus become a person? Peter Singer argued that a baby is not a person until it is self-aware, so abortions should be allowed well after birth. I know this isn't an argument, but whenever somebody talks about abortion I imagine a mother with her newborn baby, then the mother grabbing a hammer and smashing in the skull of the baby. If this is really what she wants then she should do it herself. I never bother discussing abortion with people, because the conversation never goes anywhere. The conversation is in a loop where the arguments never change, but people just keep shouting them louder and louder.

"Childish" is another one of those vague terms of varying definitions. It depends on one's own childhood as to what it could mean. I have been called childish for being honest and expecting honesty when it is not socially acceptable. Kids say the darnedest things. Like the truth.

I can't help but wonder if this is related to Volkswagen not making a deal with the UAW. You know what happens if you don't pay the mob for their protection. Maybe it's completely unrelated, I don't know.

He did not make a clock. He disassembled a standard alarm clock and put it in a box. This serves no purpose that I can see other than to make it look like a suitcase bomb. It most likely doesn't even work unless it is plugged in. All he would say about it was that it was a clock.

I would make it personal and honest. I would say "My mom treated me that way, and now I won't even answer her phone calls." That should get her thinking about how she interacts with her children. I think we need to be more open about the idea of voluntary relationships. If she think her children will always be there for her no matter what, then it will not matter to her what she does to them.

In the classes which I learned the most, homework was optional. You know what you don't know, and if you don't know it you should practice to get better. If I completely understand the "why" and the proof, then homework becomes pointless busy work. Imagine having a school requirement in college where you had to write the alphabet 1000 times every day just to prove you know the alphabet. For me, this is how I viewed homework. Stop wasting my TIME!!!!! I have also heard that practice makes perfect. Ok. Write down the alphabet 1000 times and see how much better the last one is compared to the first. I bet the last one is much worse, because by the time you finish the last one you hate the alphabet and the teacher so much you just don't care anymore. You will be scribbling it down so fast it won't even be legible. This is homework. I don't know if this is how it was for everybody else, but this is how it was for me. This is why this system of schooling will never ever work. Just because the system may work for someone, doesn't mean it isn't excruciating torture for someone else. Please do not try to justify homework to me. It is torture.

Santa was an obvious lie in which my parents couldn't claim ignorance. I always hoped that when I proved that they were lying I would finally get some truth from them. When they finally admitted that Santa wasn't real, they changed their focus to Jesus. I asked "What if I don't believe in Jesus either?" I was told if I didn't believe in Jesus I wouldn't get any presents. It was impossible for me to be religious when the primary argument was that if I didn't believe I wouldn't get presents. Of course I lied to them. Oh yeah I totally believe. Praise Jesus. Now where are my presents?