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What do you "Think" you know about science?


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2020 Dec 7, 2:07pm   5,108 views  94 comments

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Guest Post by Simon Black



If there were a Mount Rushmore to memorialize the greatest scientists in US history, Richard Feynman’s face would almost certainly be on the monument.

He was only 24 years of age when he was recruited into a secret research group that eventually became part of the Manhattan Project, joining some of the other most prominent scientists of his age, like Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi.

Feynman went on to make unparalleled advances in the fields of particle physics and quantum mechanics. He conceived of nanotechnology as early as the 1950s, and quantum computing as early as 1982.

Feynman also won the Nobel Prize, plus countless other awards and medals; and he was ranked by leading scientists as one of the greatest physicists of all time– alongside Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Galileo.


In short, Feynman knew what he was talking about when it came to science.

One thing that was really interesting about Feynman is that, despite all of his success and credentials, he was the first to admit that nothing was truly certain and absolute, even in science:

“Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain.”

Feynman railed against “myths and pseudoscience,” and the so-called experts that peddled their theories as unquestionable truth.

According to his biographer James Gleick, Feynman found this type of scientific absolutism to be like an “authority, against which science has fought for centuries.”

Or, as Isaac Asimov put it, “Science is uncertain. Theories are subject to revision; observations are open to a variety of interpretations, and scientists quarrel amongst themselves.”

Yet now we’re being force fed a narrative that science is absolute and 100% certain… and that, above all else, we must listen to the scientists.

Or, more precisely, we must listen to the scientists they want us to listen to.

We must listen to the scientists, for example, who tell us that 2+2 = white supremacy.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us that biology no longer determines sex.

And we absolutely must listen to the scientists who tell us to cower in fear in our homes because of a virus.

We must listen to the scientists who say that unmasked BLM protestors packed together like sardines are not a danger to spreading the virus because of the righteousness of their cause.

We must listen to the scientists at the WHO that told us in late March to NOT wear masks, and then, oops, just kidding, please do wear masks.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us that we need to keep our masks on, and then take their own masks off as soon as they’re no longer on camera.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us to cancel everything and not spend time with friends and family, who then themselves hop on a plane to visit their own friends and family.

We must listen to the scientists who agree that cannabis dispensaries, acupuncture clinics, and casinos are “essential businesses”, but masked worshipers six feet apart in churches and synagogues must be forced to stay home under threat of imprisonment.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us that the national debt doesn’t matter, and the government can simply print as much money as it wants and give out free money to everyone without any consequences ever.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us that standing on wet sand is safe, but standing on dry sand will spread the Coronavirus.

We must listen to the scientists who tell us we need to do whatever it takes to prevent a single Covid death… but that deaths due to suicide, heart attack, and stroke are perfectly fine, and so are domestic violence, drug addiction, and depression.

And we must listen to the scientists who tell us that an unproven vaccine devoid of any long-term study is completely safe and effective.

Yes. Those are the scientists we must listen to.

But we absolutely must NOT listen to any scientists who voice concerns about Covid vaccines.

We must not listen to scientists whose peer-reviewed research shows that Covid might not be as bad or as deadly as the media continues to portray.

We must not listen to scientists, including a Fulbright scholar / MIT PhD in data science, whose research shows bizarre, highly suspicious statistical anomalies regarding the 2020 election.

No. We definitely must NOT listen to those scientists.

And thank goodness that Big Media and Big Tech make it so easy for us to not listen to those scientists.

Twitter and Facebook have conveniently censored posts, prevented sharing, and even suspended the accounts of dangerous scientists who present new ideas.

And the big media companies simply refuse to report on those stories altogether. How thoughtful of them to pre-determine for us what we should see and what we should believe!

It’s clear the people who control the flow of information– Big Media and Big Tech– are deliberately shaping the story they want us to believe.

Forget Feynman. Their science is certainty. Their science is unassailably, 100%, absolutely true…

Anyone who dares question the certainty and sanctity of their science is ridiculed. The media calls any blasphemy a ‘hoax’ and chastises your ‘baseless assertions’.

And Twitter subjects you to the “Two Minutes Hate” ritual from Orwell’s 1984 (along with the hateful cancel culture rituals from Orwell’s lesser known work, 2021).

At this point I just want to know what these people are so afraid of– why are they so terrified of anyone asking questions?

Because when you’re not allowed to question something, it’s no longer science. It’s just authoritarian propaganda.

« First        Comments 74 - 94 of 94        Search these comments

74   PeopleUnited   2020 Dec 16, 1:01am  

just_passing_through says
Rin says
How about the idea that Paul was a channeler and only knows Jesus as a channeled entity? That's also a start.


I think I know where you're going with this but I'm going to mangle the fuck out of it and not get it right:

Isn't it true that apparently Jesus died, rose whatever and then nothing happened for something like 50 or 100 years. Then a cloud or a bolt of lighting or something told someone (Paul?) the story and that's when the religion started? There was definitely some large gap in time as per what I read long ago...


Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, he appeared to Mary and his disciples that same day. (Jews measure days from sundown to sundown so he may have technically rose on what we would call Saturday evening.) He appeared to many over the next 40 days before ascending into Heaven. 10 days later (After His Ascension) was Pentecost where God poured out His Spirit into the hearts of men and women who were gathered in His name and this is the start of the church. So, no gap.

Paul was actually a devout Religious leader in Jewish traditions who persecuted and sought to kill Christians until God showed him his error. Saul became Paul after his conversion to Christianity, this happened about a year after Pentecost. Paul was roughly 30 years old at the time of his conversion and was essentially a contemporary of the disciples (Peter, John, Luke etc...) who unlike the disciples never met Jesus in he flesh. Though they never met, surely Paul knew of Jesus and his followers who Paul sought to destroy as heretics before his conversion, let’s just say that Jesus made a bit of an impression on the world of his day.
75   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 7:16am  

What happened to the church immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven? During the first twenty years of the church, no New Testament book was written. Paul only began writing about twenty years later, and the Gospels only began to appear about forty years after Jesus’ ascension.

https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/the-first-twenty-years-what-happened-to-the-church-immediately-after-jesus-died/

That gap.
76   richwicks   2020 Dec 16, 7:31am  

just_passing_through says
What happened to the church immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven? During the first twenty years of the church, no New Testament book was written. Paul only began writing about twenty years later, and the Gospels only began to appear about forty years after Jesus’ ascension.

https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/the-first-twenty-years-what-happened-to-the-church-immediately-after-jesus-died/

That gap.


What is the point in shaking somebody's religious belief? How does this advantage either you or them?
77   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 7:41am  

It's a science thread. What is the point of shaking someones scientific belief? Normal religious people don't do this. Only christian 'scientists'. I always push back against that crap.

Advantage? I just do it for fun!
78   Onvacation   2020 Dec 16, 8:08am  

just_passing_through says
Only christian 'scientists'. I always push back against that crap.

What was before the big bang?
79   Onvacation   2020 Dec 16, 8:11am  

The theory that we are a hologram sent from the stars or live inside a computer simulation are as valid as the creation story.

My wife has this theory that covid and online work is just a way for AI to take over.
80   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 8:12am  

Onvacation says
What was before the big bang?


Who knows. Many physicists consider that in invalid question. In other words time might not have existed. So the question itself doesn't make sense / is a divide by zero error.
81   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 8:13am  

Onvacation says
The theory that we are a hologram sent from the stars or live inside a computer simulation


Is making more and more sense all the time... More from physicists: When you get down to the Planck Length, the math breaks down into several programming languages.
82   Onvacation   2020 Dec 16, 8:14am  

And where does the tangent function go when it is between positive infinity and negative infinity?
83   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 8:15am  

Onvacation says
And where does the tangent function go when it is between positive infinity and negative infinity?


Need. More. Coffee.
84   Onvacation   2020 Dec 16, 8:15am  

Math is mans feeble attempt to explain nature. It works!

We still have a lot to learn.
85   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 16, 8:20am  

https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/22/2/247/htm

Abstract
We modify the simulation hypothesis to a self-simulation hypothesis, where the physical universe, as a strange loop, is a mental self-simulation that might exist as one of a broad class of possible code theoretic quantum gravity models of reality obeying the principle of efficient language axiom.
86   Patrick   2020 Dec 16, 8:53am  

Onvacation says
My wife has this theory that covid and online work is just a way for AI to take over.




I was wondering this myself. Seems paranoid, but possible.
87   FarmersWon   2020 Dec 16, 9:32am  

Patrick says
Onvacation says
My wife has this theory that covid and online work is just a way for AI to take over.





I was wondering this myself. Seems paranoid, but possible.


I believe the opposite will happen.
Look at election, The technology caused all the mess.


People will be so fed up that there will be premium for vacation/living on island with no internet connectivity beyond basic SOS.
I heard that all the Tech CEOs limit their kids access to technology to nothing.
88   Patrick   2020 Dec 16, 6:00pm  

election2020 says
I believe the opposite will happen.
Look at election, The technology caused all the mess.


Might happen, especially after this kind of thing keeps recurring:

https://patrick.net/post/1336827?offset=0#comment-1720290
89   theoakman   2020 Dec 16, 7:35pm  

The kids at my school went on a field trip to Mexico. They got no signal or wifi for a week. They thought they were going to be miserable. They said it felt so liberating.
90   PeopleUnited   2020 Dec 25, 7:23pm  

just_passing_through says
What happened to the church immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven? During the first twenty years of the church, no New Testament book was written. Paul only began writing about twenty years later, and the Gospels only began to appear about forty years after Jesus’ ascension.

https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/the-first-twenty-years-what-happened-to-the-church-immediately-after-jesus-died/

That gap.


What do you think the purpose of Christians is? To sell books?

They were busy telling everyone who wanted to hear of Christ. That is what every Christian is called to do.

Merry Christmas!
91   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2020 Dec 25, 7:53pm  

Christianity is the original self help books. Basically don’t do bad shit, and world will be a better place. Collection of stories of successes and failures.
92   PeopleUnited   2020 Dec 25, 8:46pm  

Fortwaynemobile says
Christianity is the original self help books. Basically don’t do bad shit, and world will be a better place. Collection of stories of successes and failures.


Well, not exactly. What Christianity is, is an acknowledgment of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection as an atonement for personal sin. The goal is not to make the world a better place, even though Christians do tend to be moral. The actual goal is to give people a choice, trust God or trust yourself, and preach the consequences for that decision.
93   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2020 Dec 26, 8:56am  

PeopleUnited says
Fortwaynemobile says
Christianity is the original self help books. Basically don’t do bad shit, and world will be a better place. Collection of stories of successes and failures.


Well, not exactly. What Christianity is, is an acknowledgment of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection as an atonement for personal sin. The goal is not to make the world a better place, even though Christians do tend to be moral. The actual goal is to give people a choice, trust God or trust yourself, and preach the consequences for that decision.


That too. But it’s also advice on how to reduce suffering. Suffering was everywhere, and collection of stories through example showed what leads to suffering and what to good life.
94   just_passing_through   2020 Dec 28, 9:09pm  

All of these posts about religion in a science thread is like someone posting hairy dick pics in the Tired of politics - sexy picture thread.

Make a religion thread... They are mutually exclusive.

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