Reg the Fronkey Farmer

@ Unseen – The point you make about Columbus can be used as a basic example of Bayes Theory.  If he had being given new objective information about the location then he could have updated his understanding of what he had discovered. It would have changed his reality.  That is the essence of how Bayes works. It is not “shattering a belief”. It is d…[Read more]

Thanks Simon, Bayesian thinking is all about checking out new ideas. We don’t want kids to hold beliefs, we want them to have “understandings”. Then when a new idea (information) comes along, they will have the skills to reason through it and adapt their understanding accordingly.

Bayesian reasoning, logic, and fallacy recognition would do more…[Read more]

The United States sent $50 million in condoms to Hamas. Diversity programs caused a plane crash. China controls the Panama Canal. Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Except, no. None of that is true. Not that it stops President Trump. In the first month since he returned to power, he has demonstrated once again a brazen willingness to advance…[Read more]

I have more to add but decided to start  with this. Let’s see how it develops.

@Jakelafort…..I am going to post something on Critical Thinking and improving Education for children soon.  A “first draft” that we can build upon.

@Strega, as always you are very welcome. Any break in the weather there?

@unapologetic – Point 3 – I always help xians by  correcting the chapter and verse notations when they start quoting scripture as some type of proof. I then explain the circular nature of their argument and say “If you are trying to prove the Bible is the word of your god by quoting it, then I will quote from Dracula to prove it also is”.

@Enco, Thanks, I blame cuts to the editing dept for not replying to emails asking them to explain what they actually do!!  Typo has been corrected.

Also, there is no historical evidence that Charles Darwin ever wrote, said, or implied that his goal was to “murder God.”

Have a great week folks!

Ukraine was not “part of Russia” in the sense of always being a subordinate region—it had distinct periods of autonomy and foreign rule. Russia gradually annexed much of Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries, fully integrating it into the Russian Empire by the late 18th century. While it was a republic of the USSR, it had its own identity, c…[Read more]

Some more info on the Presidio Trust.

I really thought that the Veterans would be spared from the cuts (as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins claimed). But it seems like they won’t be. I am friendly with a few who are working or living in Ireland and they are not happy!

“Unfortunately, there are two million terrorists in Gaza. Two million. Liri was in their homes, and the children—yes, even the children—are part of this. It’s not just those carrying rifles and wearing green headbands. The so-called uninvolved civilians are not uninvolved at all. And, unfortunately, we’re going to have to fight them all.”

BTW  – quotidian is one of my fav words. (but I don’t use it everyday!!).

Free speech in the United States is robustly protected by the First Amendment and it remains one of the strongest safeguards for expression in the country. In Europe (and I guess in the US too) there is an ongoing discussion about how various societal, technological, and cultural factors are influencing the practical exercise of the right to free…[Read more]

More on Al Jazeera journalism here.

It is funny how our interests broaden as we age….

I find the broader my range of interests, the less complicated life becomes. When I am on a long walk or hike, at some point I remember that I am not just observing nature, but that I am part of it. It is not external to me. Of course, you already know what I mean 🙂