Penelope, have you seen the movie "Interstellar" yet?

I've a feeling it was made for you.

I cried like a baby

youkrst:

Penelope, have you seen the movie "Interstellar" yet?

I've a feeling it was made for you.

No, I haven't heard of it, but I will watch out for it. We are at present all watching the TV series 'Wolf Hall' about the Tudors. It is really atmospheric and superbly cast, but miserable. I can never go straight to bed after watching it. I always have to find something funny to take my mind off the serious stuff.

I'm the same, after researching some depressing stuff I had to listen to a bunch of old red dwarfs just to detox

We're big Red Dwarf fans. That series is so imaginative.

Which character are you? I feel a bit like Holly on this forum.

It's hard to pick just one as I can see all of them in myself...I'll get back to you as I watch more eps, probably 40% lister 50% rimmer and 10% cat but my better half would likely vary those ratios a little there's some kryten in there too

I'm currently trying to hunt down the episode with the "justice zone" in it, some real gems in there.

OK, I've finished this chapter and I did find it much more absorbing than earlier chapters.....no little green men.

I liked his list of bullshit detectors - although I'm not sure how they can all be applied in everyday life. As he points out towards the end of the list, scientific data can be faked - as in the cigarette industry instance. I also read a scathing report about how the company who developed the sweetener 'Aspartame' faked data, bribed people and etc., to get it passed as safe. I know it isn't safe, not through any scientific research, but because it makes me feel ill. Sometimes I might buy a product (fruit juice in particular) which says sugar free. I might choose it because I am diabetic, and then realise that it must contain aspartame when I begin to go into a decline, like a Victorian heroine.

I haven't smoked for six years now, but when I did, I knew it was stupid.......anyone who doesn't realise that inhaling smoke into the lungs is not good for the general health.....must be stupid or kidding themselves. I smoked anyway.....and I stopped because it was such a wicked waste of money.....not really because of my health.

liked his list of bullshit detectors - although I'm not sure how they can all be applied in everyday life. As he points out towards the end of the list, scientific data can be faked - as in the cigarette industry instance. I also read a scathing report about how the company who developed the sweetener 'Aspartame' faked data, bribed people and etc., to get it passed as safe. I know it isn't safe, not through any scientific research, but because it makes me feel ill. Sometimes I might buy a product (fruit juice in particular) which says sugar free. I might choose it because I am diabetic, and then realise that it must contain aspartame when I begin to go into a decline, like a Victorian heroine

Michael Shermer's Skeptic Society has a "Baloney Detection Kit" they sell (along with other skeptical literature) at all their speaking engagements. It's roughly what's covered in this chapter.

The Tobacco Company has scientist employed as hired guns to defend their interests.
Those interests are profits of course.

Perfect example of science playing the handmaiden role.

ant wrote:Perfect example of science playing the handmaiden role.

I don't think it's wise to anthropomorphize science. It leads to silly conclusions. It's like anthropomorphizing Scrabble. Sure, people are needed to play the game, but the two aren't equivalent.

Right.

The only problem is that people anthropomorphize everything, at some point.
I'd gable and say even you.

Sagan and celebrity scientists like him talk little about science not guaranteeing those who practice it as being rational caring human beings.


I am glad you are the de facto moral consciousness for those of us that have not evolved to a point where we can explain everything and wave it off as delusional like you do.

Remember you once made the bold claim that homo sapiens have evolved enough to understand reality?
And now intelligent alien civilizations exist because WE are evidence that they do.

ant wrote:Remember you once made the bold claim that homo sapiens have evolved enough to understand reality?

So it’s changed to something about understanding reality?

You brought this up once before, and I don’t think you understood my point then either. We’ve evolved to the point where our phenotype no longer needs to change. We have an infinitely pliable extended phenotype by virtue of our ability to manipulate our environment and create tools. An extended phenotype is like a beaver dam, something not directly manifest from genes as part of the organism, but rather as an influence upon the environment indirectly from the genes. What this leads to is our ability to go deep under oceans, into space, to the moon, etc. We don’t need to evolve the phenotypic requirements for space, because we create them as part of our extended phenotype.

If we’re talking about understanding reality, we could definitely use a bit more processing power.

ant wrote:The only problem is that people anthropomorphize everything, at some point.
I'd gable and say even you.

I'm sure I do, but that doesn't excuse either of us

Sagan and celebrity scientists like him talk little about science not guaranteeing those who practice it as being rational caring human beings.

Why would that need to be mentioned? Science is a tool. Evil men can use it just as readily as good men. The hope is that the corrective mechanisms of science will work over the long run. The variable is how long the "run" is.