Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Oklahoma Supreme Court rules nation’s first publicly funded religious school is unconstitutional. This will keep happening with White Christian Nationalists. Meanwhile Louisiana is sued over Ten Commandments display in schools.

Colorado man wins court case after he was jailed for refusing to have his constitutional rights trampled upon by Christians.

Civil religion as a gateway to Christian nationalism.

World of Woo: The pseudo-scientific treatments used by athletes and sports stars.

Environment:  Scientists make concerning discovery deep below Antarctic ice shelf.

My mother was an atheist and now I understand why.

On avoiding conflict avoidance in a debate.

Can philosophy help you survive the anxiety of the 2024 election?

Scientific American and the “things are worse than ever” bandwagon.

The Big Bang was not the beginning.

A.I. robot solves a Rubik’s Cube in just 0.305 seconds.

Long Reads: Inside Snapchat’s teen opioid crisis.  Would you clone your dog?

Sunday Book Club: The Primacy of Doubt.

Some photographs taken last month.  Photos of Mexico’s freediving paradise.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Videos:  Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins discuss Science, Religion & Evolution. Why I Am/Am Not a Christian. The most controversial problem in Philosophy. Three poems from the First World War.

[Reg the Fronkey Farmer]

Have a great week!

[unapologetic]

Oklahoma Superintendent Orders Public Schools to Teach Bible as White Christian Nationalists Go ‘On Offense’

Christians have always been on the offensive.

[Strega]

Thanks, Reg!

[unapologetic]

Rubik’s solving AI;

In competitions, is there a standardized number of turns for randomizing the cube? In the linked vid, the AI solved it in 15 moves. Does that mean it was randomized using 15 moves?

[unapologetic]

The most controversial problem in Philosophy:

“what is the probability the coin came up Heads?”

A better question, less ambiguous, would be; “what is the probability that this is Tuesday?”

But there is only one coin toss, so probability won’t change. 50/50.

[Unseen]

unapologetic wrote:

The most controversial problem in Philosophy: “what is the probability the coin came up Heads?” A better question, less ambiguous, would be; “what is the probability that this is Tuesday?” But there is only one coin toss, so probability won’t change. 50/50.

If there’s only one toss, there’s no real probability at all other than a conjecture. If you take any American coin, the two sides are not identical and so, barring a really weird accident, there’s a bit more metal on one side than the other, so in the long term, absolute 50/50 is unlikely. 50/50 is just the starting position with no data available. So, yeah, each toss considered on its own is 50/50 for that particular toss.

However, carried out over and over with the accumulation of results it’s unlikely to stay that way. In the future, with historical data in hand, 50/50 may be inaccurate even as a starting position.

No?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by Unseen.

[_Robert_]

Unseen wrote:

unapologetic wrote:

The most controversial problem in Philosophy: “what is the probability the coin came up Heads?” A better question, less ambiguous, would be; “what is the probability that this is Tuesday?” But there is only one coin toss, so probability won’t change. 50/50.

If there’s only one toss, there’s no real probability at all other than a conjecture. If you take any American coin, the two sides are not identical and so, barring a really weird accident, there’s a bit more metal on one side than the other, so in the long term, absolute 50/50 is unlikely. 50/50 is just the starting position with no data available. So, yeah, each toss considered on its own is 50/50 for that particular toss. However, carried out over and over with the accumulation of results it’s unlikely to stay that way. In the future, with historical data in hand, 50/50 may be inaccurate even as a starting position. No?

Yep, there is that and the setup before the toss. I do note that people often make an error. Failure to understand each toss is mutually exclusive and independent of previous results (let’s assume a perfectly symmetrical coin and setup). People think; ‘well, we just had five “heads” in a row, the next one has to be “tails”.’ This is an incorrect conclusion. The next toss still has a 50% chance.

[Unseen]

Let’s say the “coin” is a half of a sphere with one side flat and the other side spherical. Is the toss still 50/50?

[_Robert_]

Unseen wrote:

Let’s say the “coin” is a half of a sphere with one side flat and the other side spherical. Is the toss still 50/50?

I don’t know offhand. I think the center of mass is slightly closer to the flat side since the cross sections of the half-sphere are larger there, but then you get into the aerodynamics of how it moves through air and the dynamics of how it bounces. I would think it unlikely that any asymmetrical object has a 50/50 toss chance, but I don’t know if it’s impossible either.

[_Robert_]

RE: My mother was an atheist and now I understand why.

One of the most beautiful and meaningful articles I have ever read. My own mother became an atheist late in her life, in poor health. I was probably still on the fence at the time. She said “Bobby, it’s all bullshit…all of it”. After a lifetime of indoctrination. She was courageous.

[Unseen]

_Robert_ wrote:

RE: My mother was an atheist and now I understand why.

One of the most beautiful and meaningful articles I have ever read. My own mother became an atheist late in her life, in poor health. I was probably still on the fence at the time. She said “Bobby, it’s all bullshit…all of it”. After a lifetime of indoctrination. She was courageous.

Good for her. I think my father had grave doubts about an afterlife after my mom died of a catastrophic complication of surgery, and as he faced death he sure didn’t seem to be someone expecting to meet up with the love of his life.

I was raised as a Christian and even at one point toyed with the idea of the Episcopal ministry, but my first course in philosophy in the university converted me to atheism.

[_Robert_]

Unseen wrote:

_Robert_ wrote:

RE: My mother was an atheist and now I understand why.

One of the most beautiful and meaningful articles I have ever read. My own mother became an atheist late in her life, in poor health. I was probably still on the fence at the time. She said “Bobby, it’s all bullshit…all of it”. After a lifetime of indoctrination. She was courageous.

Good for her. I think my father had grave doubts about an afterlife after my mom died of a catastrophic complication of surgery, and as he faced death he sure didn’t seem to be someone expecting to meet up with the love of his life. I was raised as a Christian and even at one point toyed with the idea of the Episcopal ministry, but my first course in philosophy in the university converted me to atheism.

It is a shame that the nonsense of religion so often fills in for our need to develop some sort of philosophy. I have had two major surgeries in the past 16-months, and not once did I even think about appealing to any of the “gods of the city” as I looked up at that big surgical lamp and started to go under.

[Unseen]

@ Robert

Speaking of “going under,” when someone wonders aloud what death is like I tell them that if they’ve had general anesthesia, then they do know what death is like. “You know that period between when you go under and when you wake up? That period of lost time? That is death.”

[Author]

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