John Dub

Can you explain to me in detail why the scientific method is the only sure way to acquire knowledge?

I can, but if you sincerely wanted an answer, you would first look it up, then come here for clarification. 

Steven Pinker recently wrote an article for Skeptic.com. It starts by pointing out that you can’t question reason. If you are…[Read more]

I meant “I’m not him” in the sense that I’m not exactly like him.

Thanks for that William. Hopefully we are smarter than that here. In grade school, when we learned about Hitler, they really drilled into our heads that we needed to know this story so it wouldn’t happen again. I’ve been to the Tolerance Museum in LA which also covers the issues of how a democracy can turn in to a dictatorship.

Have I led you to believe I’m trying to do that?  — CC

No, not really. I was substantiating my point that you we don’t know the sources of our nature.

After the middle ages tribal stories, accepted ancient doctrines and religious “truths” were no longer enough to …  — CC

You lost me about here. Too speculative. Science can be found in Greek cu…[Read more]

I think we have nothing but independents here. Also people who listen to reason and will keep discussing it to find whatever is behind an opinion.

What do we have here? A transcript of testimony. Does that count as “open”?

Lausten,

You finally said it. You will not abide by laws you selectively disagree with. Thank you for your honesty. — Will

It’s called Civil Disobedience. It really shouldn’t surprise you that I support that. It’s a long standing tradition in this country. One that reduced the deaths in Vietnam and led to the end of the draft. There is also…[Read more]

Sorry I missed this thread earlier. Your thoughts are very much appreciated. I learned a few things from Occam, but I’m not him.

The volunteer and moderators hats are a challenge to juggle, but I think it’s a good challenge for me. I’ll probably make some missteps.

@Mriana.    I’ve been dropping some pretty strong hints, but a pattern has developed, and that warrants official action.

I’ll try to get some reflective time on the above from you. Meanwhile, here’s something from the great givers of this forum space, Skeptic.com. Steven Pinker points out that we have just as strong of an innate sense of rational reasoning as we do for our sometimes troublesome agency detection. Rather than be paralyzed by the need to have all data…[Read more]

I’m getting bored with the discussion about tone, so I’m going to ignore that as best I can. I’d like some clarification on this though, since it is the consequence of this theme of yours of waiting for the official verdict.

I believe, tainted the investigation before Trump officially took office, even though the Republicans I fear, will not…

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NO. Not ever.  Mange ma plotte!

Hey, I just googled that, and my work tracks what I google!

Very close. The Peugeot story is a good one. What sets it apart from religion is that a corporation it is technically called a fiction. They’re the same as religion because most people don’t think of them as such. But I’ve been with groups that discuss changing how we give corporate charters and I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to make that happen.…[Read more]

Oh yay.  Another wall of text which says, “I’m not going to listen to anybody who doesn’t agree with me no matter how wrong they’ve shown me to be!”

There is a rule for that, but I don’t like using it. You could make the case that a lot of posting is repetitive.

Okay, now that you’ve backed yourself into this rather mundane corner, let’s review where you started. You said,

Remove Trump by hate, and his base will be fired up for revenge. They will go to the polls in mass next election.  –Will

Lots of assumptions in there. The hate comes from the evidence of criminal activity. I don’t need a grand jury t…[Read more]

I was afraid you might ask that. I was so proud of that compact little quote.

Try rolling the clock back, see where it goes. Before Darwin, we didn’t have a solid theory for where our instincts came from. All the ideas of spirits and gods were still in play. Those go back before nation states developed, back when we were small tribes, slowly m…[Read more]

If it is so obvious, why continue the investigation and waste money.

I don’t even know what you are arguing anymore. You want there to be a process, but don’t want anyone to say anything about it until it is over? What world do you live in? If we shouldn’t comment on it, why have it be open? Do we all just keep our mouth’s shut until the…[Read more]

Why I have some feelings about our current man in the White House.

CC; I wish had the filing system you do. I have tons of links saved and a variety of folders, but I can lose something that I just wrote yesterday.

You arent wrong, because nobody knows if its facts. Its all theory, both sides have holes. Just dont try to belittle the other side.

Been thinking about this. On one level, it’s a simple matter of calculating probabilities. So, sure, “both sides have holes”, but one side is 99+% probable while the other is whatever fraction of a percent is left.…[Read more]