Maybe you choose to believe there's no such thing, but I doubt it. I've yet to meet someone who honestly believed that they had no free will, and lived their life that way.
Well hello there then.
I don't believe in free will, not yours and not mine. The reason is simply because I have seen no evidence to support the existence of it.
Your logic is severely flawed: If I have no free will I cannot, due to my very lack of said free will, make a free decision to alter my behavioural patterns
to better fit my lack of free will.
It makes no matter to how a person lives his/her life since we are mainly following the instructions from our neurons/glands anyway.
If, for instance, I see a person kicking an infant (or performing a similarly heinous act) I'd automatically feel repulsed and want that person to suffer
some form of punishment. The fact that I can rationally comprehend that the persons mental faculties may be somehow 'broken' does not
actually change my behaviour. As a male I am hardwired so that I would enjoy seeing this person get his (in my mind) rightful punishment; the
pleasure centers in my mind would light right up with activity if you were to measure it.
Simply put if you have no free will and you know it doesn't make you any more free to do anything about your lack of free will than if you are blissfully
ignorant of it
There appears to be quite a bit of difference between the durability of DVD and CD storage though.
I just recently checked the oldest of my burned CDs I could locate. The oldest is from early 1997 so that's more than 15 years old.
I checked most of the files on it (mainly archives so they were easy to validate from checksum). Of some 30+ archives only 1 indicated that a
file was corrupt. 3 more CDs from the late 90s were also very readable. Even the signature of the CIH virus (which someone had helpfully sent
me as an attachement) was quite readable as my antivirus software started acting up when I opened an old mail folder.
Only one CD was completely unreadable and that may have been due to it being heavily scratched.
I would agree with this, except I would put classical music and/or binaural music above silence, as both have been shown to improve concentration and reduce learning and recall times.
I would not mind this being true as I quite like classical music but I consider this rather dubious.
Especially when one considers that these types of claims pop up once in a while often with very little to support them.
For instance the oft quoted study that found that certain types classical music improved test scores when listened
to prior to an exam looks to be bunk.
A follow up study was done and found that the type of music you listen to was unimportant; the only thing that appeared
to have any bearing on the test results was whether or not you liked what you heard.
The two links you used don't appear to be showing any major evidence in favor of what they claim.
They are not quoting any proper large scale investigations into the matter like a large double blind study.
Instead they appear to be enthusiastic recommendations by artistic people who play and enjoy classical music.
No. It's part of a quote and has become mainstream because of frequent use.
The quote is "I could care less but I honestly don't know how" - with a few variations.
Since we are are becoming increasingly allergic to writing long sentences this one
is used so often the original has been all but lost.
For a flight where you may get interrupted quite a few times some specific books may be more suitable than others.
Self-contained chapters of interesting non-fiction, for instance, might be of interest.
If so try What the dog saw by Malcolm Gladwell. Entertaining light reading on a variety of topics so you can skip over the ones
of that you have little interest in.
If you have read you could that try Damn interesting. Either buy the book or just download the free articles from the web page for offline reading.
For a very fun book without too much complexity try Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman.
George R.R Martin has written a few short stories set in the Game of thrones world. Not as advanced as the main books
but well worth a read.These are mainly published in collections containing other accomplished authors so you may find other things you like.
If you can have no problems following a complex even on a plane and want something more substantial try the main Game of thrones books.
You won't finish one in one flight though.
Agreed.Especially about the God Delusion and God is not Great. These are quite excellent.
Not only are they very well written with regards to their criticism of improvable or irrational beliefs but works
perfectly as factual entertainment as well.
Ok, I must ask: why are so many championing this one as one of the greats?
I'm not bashing your opinion, I'm genuinely curious.
The entire conflict is so ridiculously oversimplified you'd likely find a more nuanced picture in a random episode of the he-man cartoon.
The characters all behave like robots. Not a single one acts as a normal human being and the entire cast seems to be
made up of straw men for Rand to knock down.
The main difference between the good guys and the bad seems to be that the former behave like robots who enjoy some things
(particularly sex) and the latter like robots that don't.
Rearden, for instance, literally shows signs of what is clearly withdrawal when his family asks that he spends a single evening
away from his work with them - This is supposed to be one of the people we should root for?!
I cant find anything in here other than incomprehensible nonsense and overly simplistic political dogma.
What am I missing?
A Swede here:
You are forgetting some notable things on the tax side like the "employers fee" which is 25% of the pay an employee receives; it includes a not insignificant tax part.
We also have fairly high VAT at 25%.
There are also high taxes on energy (especially on things like petrol), taxes on property and cars as well as a burial tax aimed to pay for upkeep of funeral plots etc.
All in all our combined tax rate is higher than the EU average (~40% of BMP) at about 48% of BMP.
It should be noted that these values are not easy to directly compare as some things (like certain insurances) are tax funded in Sweden while
considered private but mandatory in other nations. One may disagree which system is best but it cannot be denied that if this is left out of the eq
it makes the tax part of Swedes look disproportionate in the absurd.
You have just provided an excellent example of a human number bias.
Humans are most likely to use the numbers 3 and 7 when asked to come up with numbers,
random or otherwise.
This can actually be used when for instance investigating financial reports to see if they
have been doctored. If there is a unlikely large (statistically speaking) nr of 3s and 7s these
can be marked suspect.
Upping the relevancy rating of more recent results is sorely needed.
When it comes to searching for solutions to tech problems this still won't be enough as most of these are very
dependent on being reasonably recent.
Try googling an error that turned up on the lastest linux [insert favourite distro name here] upgrade and see how
many relevant results you get. The same applies to most software that is updated often including Googles own
android.
It doesn't help that googles advanced searches are very crude to set up and they have made it even less
convenient to find these recently.
If they won't improve I may actually end up using Bing to look for ways to find ways to deal with an issue
that cropped up in the latest version of Android or Chrome....
I'm thinking woosh is appropriate here.
Even though the post you responded to was a little to ambivalent to work as snark. (if it actually wasn't snark
its a prime contender for worst comment ever)
"78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed"
Tablets suck for use in bed. Netbooks have a nice hinge which keeps the screen at a suitable angle for viewing when it's resting on your chest, and there's a handy attached keyboard to type on.
How on earth are you shaped man? You lie on your back and the netbook is on your chest... This means you
need to bend your head almost 90 deg to view the screen from the front. Ouch.
Personally I prefer to read on my side in a non-contorted position. Here a netbook is much less useful.
Is a netbook is better for writing? Yes, without doubt, but reading is a different story
What is this obsessive need everyone has to pick inferior devices just because they are trendy?
Some of my reasons for using my "inferior" device instead of my netbook:
My netbook has a regular CPU which can become hot after use and needs a fan. It is not suitable to have it in bed where it may end up covered by blankets.
My tablet uses a low power CPU and does not need any air cooling.
My netbook has a magnetic drive. It is not particularly well suited for moving around during use.
My tablet uses solid state storage. It may be quickly moved, turned or even dropped without harm.
My tablet weighs much less than my netbook.
My tablet is thinner than my netbook.And shaped more like a book or magazine
The viewing orientation of my tablet may be switched at any time with no hassle. This is not true for a netbook.
My tablet has better battery time than my netbook. (I know there are netbooks with better batteries. This is just a description of my personal experience).
My tablet has a larger screen than my netbook. Many tablets also have higher resolution than a netbook.
My tablet can play most 720p videos. My netbook struggles even with the most basic low bitrate ones.
Scrolling a capacitive touch screen is much less of a hassle than a netbook using a touch pad.
And a final thing: Ever seen anyone pick up a netbook and show someone something in the same manner as one would show a magazine article or a
printout? This happens with tablets all the time. A tablet is a high tech, low weight book/magazine with space for a million+ books or articles and internet access.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe you choose to believe there's no such thing, but I doubt it. I've yet to meet someone who honestly believed that they had no free will, and lived their life that way.
Well hello there then.
I don't believe in free will, not yours and not mine. The reason is simply because I have seen no evidence to support the existence of it.
Your logic is severely flawed: If I have no free will I cannot, due to my very lack of said free will, make a free decision to alter my behavioural patterns
to better fit my lack of free will.
It makes no matter to how a person lives his/her life since we are mainly following the instructions from our neurons/glands anyway.
If, for instance, I see a person kicking an infant (or performing a similarly heinous act) I'd automatically feel repulsed and want that person to suffer
some form of punishment. The fact that I can rationally comprehend that the persons mental faculties may be somehow 'broken' does not
actually change my behaviour. As a male I am hardwired so that I would enjoy seeing this person get his (in my mind) rightful punishment; the
pleasure centers in my mind would light right up with activity if you were to measure it.
Simply put if you have no free will and you know it doesn't make you any more free to do anything about your lack of free will than if you are blissfully
ignorant of it
There appears to be quite a bit of difference between the durability of DVD and CD storage though.
I just recently checked the oldest of my burned CDs I could locate. The oldest is from early 1997 so that's more than 15 years old.
I checked most of the files on it (mainly archives so they were easy to validate from checksum). Of some 30+ archives only 1 indicated that a
file was corrupt. 3 more CDs from the late 90s were also very readable. Even the signature of the CIH virus (which someone had helpfully sent
me as an attachement) was quite readable as my antivirus software started acting up when I opened an old mail folder.
Only one CD was completely unreadable and that may have been due to it being heavily scratched.
I would agree with this, except I would put classical music and/or binaural music above silence, as both have been shown to improve concentration and reduce learning and recall times.
I would not mind this being true as I quite like classical music but I consider this rather dubious.
Especially when one considers that these types of claims pop up once in a while often with very little to support them.
For instance the oft quoted study that found that certain types classical music improved test scores when listened
to prior to an exam looks to be bunk.
A follow up study was done and found that the type of music you listen to was unimportant; the only thing that appeared
to have any bearing on the test results was whether or not you liked what you heard.
The two links you used don't appear to be showing any major evidence in favor of what they claim.
They are not quoting any proper large scale investigations into the matter like a large double blind study.
Instead they appear to be enthusiastic recommendations by artistic people who play and enjoy classical music.
I think you mean he COULDN'T have cared less.
No. It's part of a quote and has become mainstream because of frequent use.
The quote is "I could care less but I honestly don't know how" - with a few variations.
Since we are are becoming increasingly allergic to writing long sentences this one
is used so often the original has been all but lost.
For a flight where you may get interrupted quite a few times some specific books may be more suitable than others.
Self-contained chapters of interesting non-fiction, for instance, might be of interest.
If so try What the dog saw by Malcolm Gladwell. Entertaining light reading on a variety of topics so you can skip over the ones
of that you have little interest in.
If you have read you could that try Damn interesting. Either buy the book or just download the free articles from the web page for offline reading.
For a very fun book without too much complexity try Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman.
George R.R Martin has written a few short stories set in the Game of thrones world. Not as advanced as the main books
but well worth a read.These are mainly published in collections containing other accomplished authors so you may find other things you like.
If you can have no problems following a complex even on a plane and want something more substantial try the main Game of thrones books.
You won't finish one in one flight though.
Agreed.Especially about the God Delusion and God is not Great. These are quite excellent.
Not only are they very well written with regards to their criticism of improvable or irrational beliefs but works
perfectly as factual entertainment as well.
Ok, I must ask: why are so many championing this one as one of the greats?
I'm not bashing your opinion, I'm genuinely curious.
The entire conflict is so ridiculously oversimplified you'd likely find a more nuanced picture in a random episode of the he-man cartoon.
The characters all behave like robots. Not a single one acts as a normal human being and the entire cast seems to be
made up of straw men for Rand to knock down.
The main difference between the good guys and the bad seems to be that the former behave like robots who enjoy some things
(particularly sex) and the latter like robots that don't.
Rearden, for instance, literally shows signs of what is clearly withdrawal when his family asks that he spends a single evening
away from his work with them - This is supposed to be one of the people we should root for?!
I cant find anything in here other than incomprehensible nonsense and overly simplistic political dogma.
What am I missing?
I think you accidentally a word.
A Swede here: You are forgetting some notable things on the tax side like the "employers fee" which is 25% of the pay an employee receives; it includes a not insignificant tax part.
We also have fairly high VAT at 25%.
There are also high taxes on energy (especially on things like petrol), taxes on property and cars as well as a burial tax aimed to pay for upkeep of funeral plots etc.
All in all our combined tax rate is higher than the EU average (~40% of BMP) at about 48% of BMP.
It should be noted that these values are not easy to directly compare as some things (like certain insurances) are tax funded in Sweden while
considered private but mandatory in other nations. One may disagree which system is best but it cannot be denied that if this is left out of the eq
it makes the tax part of Swedes look disproportionate in the absurd.
You have just provided an excellent example of a human number bias. Humans are most likely to use the numbers 3 and 7 when asked to come up with numbers, random or otherwise. This can actually be used when for instance investigating financial reports to see if they have been doctored. If there is a unlikely large (statistically speaking) nr of 3s and 7s these can be marked suspect.
Upping the relevancy rating of more recent results is sorely needed.
When it comes to searching for solutions to tech problems this still won't be enough as most of these are very
dependent on being reasonably recent.
Try googling an error that turned up on the lastest linux [insert favourite distro name here] upgrade and see how
many relevant results you get. The same applies to most software that is updated often including Googles own
android.
It doesn't help that googles advanced searches are very crude to set up and they have made it even less
convenient to find these recently.
If they won't improve I may actually end up using Bing to look for ways to find ways to deal with an issue
that cropped up in the latest version of Android or Chrome....
I'm thinking woosh is appropriate here. Even though the post you responded to was a little to ambivalent to work as snark. (if it actually wasn't snark its a prime contender for worst comment ever)
"78% of tablet users said they used their tablets while lying in bed"
Tablets suck for use in bed. Netbooks have a nice hinge which keeps the screen at a suitable angle for viewing when it's resting on your chest, and there's a handy attached keyboard to type on.
How on earth are you shaped man? You lie on your back and the netbook is on your chest... This means you need to bend your head almost 90 deg to view the screen from the front. Ouch.
Personally I prefer to read on my side in a non-contorted position. Here a netbook is much less useful.
Is a netbook is better for writing? Yes, without doubt, but reading is a different story
What is this obsessive need everyone has to pick inferior devices just because they are trendy?
Some of my reasons for using my "inferior" device instead of my netbook:
My netbook has a regular CPU which can become hot after use and needs a fan. It is not suitable to have it in bed where it may end up covered by blankets.
My tablet uses a low power CPU and does not need any air cooling.
My netbook has a magnetic drive. It is not particularly well suited for moving around during use.
My tablet uses solid state storage. It may be quickly moved, turned or even dropped without harm.
My tablet weighs much less than my netbook.
My tablet is thinner than my netbook.And shaped more like a book or magazine
The viewing orientation of my tablet may be switched at any time with no hassle. This is not true for a netbook.
My tablet has better battery time than my netbook. (I know there are netbooks with better batteries. This is just a description of my personal experience).
My tablet has a larger screen than my netbook. Many tablets also have higher resolution than a netbook.
My tablet can play most 720p videos. My netbook struggles even with the most basic low bitrate ones.
Scrolling a capacitive touch screen is much less of a hassle than a netbook using a touch pad.
And a final thing: Ever seen anyone pick up a netbook and show someone something in the same manner as one would show a magazine article or a printout? This happens with tablets all the time. A tablet is a high tech, low weight book/magazine with space for a million+ books or articles and internet access.