Recent comments - A voice crying in the wilderness

Recent comments (30)

In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 323 days old
by skip2468 [Member]

Christmas Greetings to you and yours all the way from New Zealand. more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 492 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

I'm sure you're right about the technology, if there was the will to apply it properly, and also the commitment to behavioural change to make sure we don't just keep finding other ways to screw up.
It's age and cycnicism that makes me so suspicious I'm afraid.
I keep hoping that somehow we will pull back from the brink - but right now, more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 492 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Oh, I DO like the photo :yes:
A Foxy Whiskered Gentleman!
Filing, sadly, can be done perfectly comfortably standing up :roll:
My higher senses are in dire need of stimulation... more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 492 days old
by Foxwriter [Member]

I can see your predicament.

(I can. Really. My eyesight is phenomenal).

Writing standing up will be difficult, however scribbling in an elevated position should stimulate the higher senses. more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 492 days old
by MonkeyPie [Member]

Yeah, it's quite sickening the way that oil companies act in such a parasitic way.
Perhaps it's because i'm an engineer that i put faith in technology but I truly believe that were it applied correctly and soon that we have the resources and knowledge available now, to make a change starting now.. it's just the beaurocracy which halts the pro more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 493 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Slipped on the stairs and went straight down :(
A fortnight ago now.
Guess the only way to get it to heal is not to sit on it -
:roll:
Tricky :yes: more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 493 days old
by Foxwriter [Member]

A concussed coccyx?

Ouch!

Sympathy duly awarded and soothing cream dispatched.

How on earth did you do that? more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 493 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

But there is so much disinformation around these days – and so little trust – that the majority of people just refuse to accept the magnitude of the problem. Any tentative measures suggested by politicians are see as some kind of dodge to raise taxes, and the more forcefully the message is put, the more it is distrusted and resisted.

h more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 494 days old
by MonkeyPie [Member]

There is so much evidence to show that the greenhouse effect is a present and real symptom of our way of life, it really annoys me that there are still so many people who try to discredit it or bury their heads in the sand. The main difficulty with introducing technical solutions to such a problem is a) trying to convince politicians to implement t more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 494 days old
by The_Walrus ^{^Pro}

In that case, a decent sized plot of land on Crete and a book on subsistence farming will be what I need... more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 494 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

I don't have a lot of faith in technical fixes - historically, they have tended to create as many problems as they solve.
And behavioural change, if it ever happens, will be too little, too late.
So, taking into account the available evidence, and having spoken to people far more knowledgeable than I, my considered opinion is...
W more…
In response to: "Processes (more about scientific debate)" 494 days old
by The_Walrus ^{^Pro}

Also, given that we know it is a bit of a problem, when will we get round to looking for a technological fix? Because, just setting quotas and targets is not going to solve anything... more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 494 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Bruised tail bone (ouch) :(
A pathetic and transparent appeal for sympathy. more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 494 days old
by Foxwriter [Member]

Sore heads or rears? more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 494 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Thanks :)
But it's easier to think up those kind of arguments when you're not actually trying to parry somebody else's points in a debate.
That's why I gave up on one debate I was involved in recently, and tried going back to first principles - the result being this original post.
more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 494 days old
by SeasideMan ^{^Pro}

Excellent bit of writing, and I love the hypersonic concrete god! What you explained there is exactly what I couldn't get across to someone in a debate recently about evidence for god and how that compares to scientific evidence.

Tom.

more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 495 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Appreciation of an attractive rear-end is not confined to either gender in particular. ;)
Newton, however, was more renowned for his head - and who knows which gender he would have preferred anyway? (though Neal Stephenson expounds an interesting theory in 'The Baroque Cycle').
However, speaking of Newton's head, do you not think perhap more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 495 days old
by Foxwriter [Member]

You are quite right, nobody likes a smartarse.

But, and speaking strictly as a man, if we are talking about a smart arse.....;)

And, although Newton had the right idea, he did not consider the possibility that the apple, growing tired of the restriction imposed by a tyrannical tree, wrenched free and hurled itself to destr more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 495 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

When I first started studying the nature of scientific debate, and understanding about unscientific uncertainty, conflicting theories etc etc, I felt a terrible sense of vertigo, and fell into a horrible post-modern, relativistic mire for a while...
Till I realised, that, of course, there IS a physical world with physical realtionships which more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by SeasideMan ^{^Pro}

Right, I'm with you.

That book is a new one on me - I'll look it up.

Tom. more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Well said! :)
sorry, just playing devil's advocate on my own argument there.
But, in practice, a lot of arguments which are put forward as being scientific do have ideological elements. The physical world exists, and science can aspire to perfectly objective knowledge, but insofar as scientists are people, they can never be sure they've more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by SeasideMan ^{^Pro}

No, I don't. In this context, "good" just means done accurately and without bias, a genuine seeking of the truth.

Tom. more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

But don't you think 'good science' in itself is an ideologically loaded term? more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by SeasideMan ^{^Pro}

Belief and ideology have no part in "good" science, and there's nothing disingenuous about saying that.

This is an interesting subject and I'll be keen to read anything else you choose to post on it.

Tom. more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Hmmm, maybe I need to clarify my terms a bit more.
'Political' was just a handy label that I grabbed. As I said, there is also aesthetic. And you're correct to point out that empirical evidence can also be used in political debates, that had also occurred to me. I did say it was a spectrum.
But 'belief' and 'ideology' are rather general more…
In response to: "Scientific and political debates" 496 days old
by SeasideMan ^{^Pro}

I don't entirely agree with you. There is a lot of overlap between the two modes of discourse. Political arguments have statistics as evidence: unemployment and inflation are both lower with my party than yours, child poverty is lower, standard of living is higher and so on.

I think it's belief and ideology that are the opposite of sc more…
In response to: "Quotation form the guru of gurus (or the guru of geeks, anyway)" 499 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

Can't comment on the rest, but on this I'm with Albert (obviously, that's why I posted it), and I don't think he was being mischievous.
Maths works beautifully in its own pure world - but wehn applied to the physical world, let alone the biological or social, it is subject to all kinds of messiness. Or is that just down to our inability to me more…
In response to: "Quotation form the guru of gurus (or the guru of geeks, anyway)" 499 days old
by Collar [Member]

That's just his opinion. (And he may have been being mischievous that day.) I'm being serious.. he certainly advanced ideas in physics... but he carried a lot of idealogical baggage around with him. Those who want to use Einstein for their own agenda will no doubt say his achievements in science were because of these extras... I think it was despit more…
In response to: "Evolution by natural selectoin" 538 days old
by CassandraofTroy [Member]

overtaken by events.
Never saw the meteor coming. more…
In response to: "Evolution by natural selectoin" 539 days old
by technomist [Member]

I see your ideas about the environment did not make it to the page when you thought it might. Did your idea fail to survive by adapting, or adapting to, its environment? more…

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