ysumlin

Reg:

Jerry Coyne stresses that evidence and falsifiability are the checkpoints that separate science from pseudoscience or dogma. That’s why he’s not keen on “decolonizing science” if it puts ideology ahead of method.

As with opposite electrical charges, I see in the comments to this article that Woke Left ideology infiltrating into the pra…[Read more]

In the human brain, much of what it knows is almost like a fog, not necessarily bound to a particular location. AI, intelligent enough to know that a loss is a loss may determine that it’s wise to achieve a kind of hive mind with what it knows distributed far and wide so that no “kill switch” can keep it from thinking.

Simon Paynton wrote:
The pressure to heal bones is the same pressure that pushes us to attain benefits and achieve goals.

Or rather, it has the same evolutionary origin.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Not sure what you mean Simon. If I was in a bad car wreck and broke my leg…..I wake up from a coma 3 months later. My bone is fully reset as it was a ‘clean break’ and to the point that I have no awareness that it was ever even broken.

I had zero input into its healing.

That’s what I mean – your conscious mind could…[Read more]

Reg:

The peculiar persistence of the AI denialists.

I don’t deny AI exists, of course. I just deny that it’s ready for Prime Time Robot Overlording. It shouldn’t be be in control of any heavy machinery without a manual override.

Reg:

Could A.I write a better Bible?

Not until it can point out at least as many contradictions in The Holy Bible as either Sam Harris’ chart or Steve Wells’ Skeptic’s Annotated Bible

Here is Duck AI’s answer on the number of contradictions, a.k.a. “teaching the controversy”:

The question of logical contradictions in the Holy Bible,…

[Read more]

Reg:

They want us to believe young people are more prone to believe in conspiracies!

The article says:

“Conspiracy theories are now for everyone,” Stockemer told CBC Radio’s All In A Day, noting that between 20 and 25 per cent of the population believes in one.

For example, their research suggests a slight year-over-year drop in conspiracies…

[Read more]

Reg:

@Enco……I understand it is not a simple cure and generally involves a taskforce approach by multidisciplinary medical teams. I am hearing more about it in recent times from people I know. Maybe that is a sign of my own aging 🙂

All I’ve dealt with is the local hospital’s Emergency Center, the hospital Foot and Ankle clinic (now closed), the…[Read more]

Reg,

Can people believe a broken bone is fixed with faith or by prayer.?Yes, when they are delusional. The body will heal itself and medical assistance will help the process. But reasoning only happens in the mind. It is a skill that needs to be developed. As Dan Dennett once said;” Yes, I do believe in a power greater than myself. I call it g…

[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
The body will heal itself

That sounds like your own personal higher power, that you have a relationship with.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
“I don’t believe in a higher power. I believe in higher reasoning.” – me.

Yes, but can you reason your way out of a broken leg?  Who or what does the work, in the end, of healing a broken bone?  The doctors, nurses, hospital, etc. only help it along.

That’s super-interesting, Enco.  That’s why I love the history of languages, they’re a way into the ancient past movements of people.

According to the internet, Aquatinian was the tribal language of the Aquatini tribe or clan or whatever, in the Pyrenees.  It’s a Paleohispanic and Vasconic language.  Around where I live, we had the Iceni tr…[Read more]

Jake and Simon,

It turns out that although Basque language is unique, it may not be as totally mysterious as I had previously supposed. It is actually a genetic isolate language that has been spoken in the same region for longer than surrounding Indo-European languages. It’s ancestor is thought to be Aquatinian. Some linguists think it is…[Read more]

Simon,

Genetics would certainly explain the capacity for language. Whether there are innate structures in the brain for how a language forms is something different.

Another great mystery is the Basque language. It’s still a guess where it came from because it bears no resemblance to Spanish or French, yet Basque country is in between Spain and France.

Reg,

The Time article I cited said the same thing, but it evidently needs repetition, so no fault here.

Mind you, while I still think that crime is crime, regardless of the motive, as long as the hate enhancement exists, everyone should be covered by it.