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User: Livius

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  1. Reproducibility on How Scientific Consensus Has Gotten a Bad Reputation · · Score: 1

    Saying that consensus has no place in science is going too far, but there is a fundamental difference between science based on reproducible experiments such as the physical sciences, and investigations of phenomena that are inherently irreproducible, such as data in psychology, economics, and climate science. This is why climate science is a combination of making observations of irreproducible event and then applying known physical science to draw conclusions. It's also why it's harder to come to these conclusions, so a certain reliance on authority tends to happen, and it's harder to convey the science to others not familiar with the subject matter. It doesn't help that economics has been totally hijacked by ideological agendas, discrediting the 'soft' sciences in general..

    Tragically, both sides have abused the inherent uncertainties in climate science. Rising temperatures are reality on a planet-wide scale. The rate of rise is vastly greater than anything that has happened before. But there is increasing uncertainty when we start to look at specific factors that are causes, and more uncertainty about the ideal course of action. Both the certainties and the uncertainties have to be acknowledged.

    By the way, I'm pretty sure "the backlash against the idea of consensus in science" started in the Middle Ages if not earlier. Remember Aristotle and Ptolemy were once the consensus.

  2. Bug Free on GM To Introduce Hands-Free Driving In Cadillac Model · · Score: 2

    Please feel free to name any tech company that can produce bug-free systems.

    Oracle.

    (They call them 'features'.)

  3. Re:The trouble with billionaires on Bill Gates Wants To Remake the Way History Is Taught. Should We Let Him? · · Score: 3, Informative

    He didn't make an ad hominem, he made a conclusion based on observation.

    Perhaps his sample size was not statistically significant, but that's a different issue.

  4. Re:Why do blacks never do this? on Two Explorers Descend Into An Active Volcano, and Live to Tell About It · · Score: 1

    Sure, blame the humans when clearly the volcano is at fault.

  5. Big History different from History on Bill Gates Wants To Remake the Way History Is Taught. Should We Let Him? · · Score: 1

    Big History is not really a branch of History, it's its own subject, which is interesting and rich and a worthwhile contribution to someone's education. Generally it studies trends, whether cosmological, evolutionary, economic, or political, that span times greater than a human lifespan. It's not the usual meaning of history, and it can't replace history.

    It's actually a good way to teach science, because a lot of science gets put into a historical narrative and tied to the real world.

  6. Re:bringing in more H1Bs will solve this problem on IT Job Hiring Slumps · · Score: 1

    Almost, but not quite.

    Fad languages exist and in the short term they matter. No-one has quite found the right solution for websites, for example, and thus new 'improved' languages/platforms/whatever keep appearing. All of these are fads, but websites exists, and website developers have jobs.

    Think of pure maths versus applied maths.

  7. Re:Launched *Themselves*??? on Space Station's 'Cubesat Cannon' Has Gone Rogue · · Score: 1

    They could have formed a committee, in which case a plan is much less likely.

  8. Re:Like DRM? on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    Not to mention: Not letting the Ottomans take it over in 1466 and forcing everyone to live together.

  9. Re:QUESTION? on Could Tech Have Stopped ISIS From Using Our Own Heavy Weapons Against Us? · · Score: 1

    Declaring war is not unreasonable when someone's navy is shooting at your submarines.

  10. Re:Automated test in is a minimum on Can ISO 29119 Software Testing "Standard" Really Be a Standard? · · Score: 1

    Unit testing legitimately comes under both job descriptions, though
    1) the coder really understands the meaning of 'unit' in a particular context, and
    2) the tester is the subject matter expert on testing.

    The two need to have a dialogue. If they aren't talking, there are bigger problems.

  11. No school can teach it on Does Learning To Code Outweigh a Degree In Computer Science? · · Score: 1

    What is needed in today's job market is someone who can work as part of a complicated project, perhaps even a bloated one. That means communicating with team members, understanding client requirements, comprehensive testing, and some basic engineering principles. Neither school assignments, even team projects, nor self-taught hobby project, ever reach that level of complexity. That means the workplace is the first place a programmer/computer scientist is exposed to it.

    For simple projects, where the design is straightforward or has been provided, a coder can do well without a post-secondary education. But there aren't many simple projects left, and education matters for complex projects and working within large diverse teams.

  12. Re:Interesting line from TFA: on Radioactive Wild Boars Still Roaming the Forests of Germany · · Score: 1

    I imagine the praying mantis would indeed prefer that.

    If given the choice....

  13. Re:What will it take? on Study: Antarctic Sea-Level Rising Faster Than Global Rate · · Score: 1

    Unless you already live in a place with such hostile climate that it could only improve, you don't actually know that things will be better for your location. And remember economic dislocations very far away can affect you.

  14. Re:What will it take? on Study: Antarctic Sea-Level Rising Faster Than Global Rate · · Score: 1

    It's called global climate change. The 'global' part means that it affects more than one place.

  15. Re:yet if we did it on Deputy Who Fatally Struck Cyclist While Answering Email Will Face No Charges · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I believe the parent was referring to the law as it applies to the police. What the rest of us would call rationalizing violations of the law.

  16. What will it take? on Study: Antarctic Sea-Level Rising Faster Than Global Rate · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So much freshwater from melting glaciers that sea level isn't even level anymore, and some people still don't want to believe there might be a climate problem.

    (I don't mean the people who question how to address the problem - that's still legitimately an open question - or the severity of the problem, I mean the people still in denial that there's a problem at all.)

  17. Re:yet if we did it on Deputy Who Fatally Struck Cyclist While Answering Email Will Face No Charges · · Score: 1

    No, actually, willingness to believe tends to have very little to do with facts.

  18. Re:Free market escapades! on China Gives Microsoft 20 Days To Respond To Competition Probe · · Score: 1

    Yet unsurprising.

  19. Re:Just nuke them already on Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" · · Score: 2

    So.... you support starting with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, right?

  20. Re:Way to go on Hacker Disrupts New Zealand Election Campaign · · Score: 2

    We are not completely sure what kind of hacker this is. Revealing the truth selectively could create an unfair situation, which is not what you want for an election.

  21. Re:Today's "Natives" eliminated the Clovis culture on DNA Reveals History of Vanished "Paleo-Eskimos" · · Score: 1

    So... embracing the truth is 'taking sides'?

  22. Re:Just nuke them already on Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" · · Score: 1

    Just nuke these animals already.

    I'm pretty sure that solution also has moral implications.

  23. On the bright side on Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" · · Score: 1

    At least there is a political disagreement and (a small number of government) people are talking about the issue.

    It's scarier when you remember that Iran is a liberal democracy compared to some countries (Saudi Arabia).

  24. Wrong Laptop on Islamic State "Laptop of Doom" Hints At Plots Including Bubonic Plague · · Score: 1

    The actual terrorist laptop has documents describing the real terrorism strategy, which consists of, "plant a laptop with vague, nasty-sounding terrorist plots that will induce panic in people who don't think too hard about plausibility".

    Who the genuine terrorist is who owns that laptop is a separate matter.

  25. Re:Obvious Reason on Why Women Have No Time For Wikipedia · · Score: 1

    Wikipedia isn't doing enough to attract women to contribute.

    Wikipedia isn't doing enough to attract *adults*. It's not a gender issue.