"All I can offer for empirical proof is the testimony of several of Christ's contemporaries, most of whom went to their deaths defending their statements."
We have no such things. None of the identities of the Gospel writers have been agreed upon by Biblical scholars, and there are no extra-Biblical contemporary accounts of his life.
Nitpicking time! "Historically, we can demonstrate the existence of Jesus, due to the historical events of Pontius Pillate and Ceaser and other shit happening around that time lining up, and something about some annoying beggar-preacher that they executed. "
Not even that much. There are no events in the life of Jesus that can nail down any dates. Even the census that was supposed to be going on while he was in utero was supposedly taken by a guy (Cyrenius) who wasn't in the right position of power to do it for at least another decade after Jesus was supposed to have been born.
Carry on...
No, it doesn't. You have a model. It works, mostly. You discover new evidence that points out a flaw in the model. You hypothesize a possible solution to the flaws. You gather evidence and make observations to try to determine if the hypothesis is correct. That's the current state of dark energy - hypothesis. Observations and calculations have shown that the assumptions made about dark energy have fixed some of the flaws in the model and made more accurate estimations and predictions than the model could make before. The fact that we don't know what it is isn't really relevant; the evidence seems to point out that something is going on there. Figuring out what it is is a separate question to figuring out whether or not it's there.
It isn't so much about belief in a god or your own particular ideology... It's about a denial of evidence and rejection of the scientific process.
Exactly. Creationists begin with the conclusion and attempt to find evidence to support it. That's the exact opposite of science, and that sort of mindset will affect your ability to teach science properly.
An argument from authority is only fallacious if you say that someone is right BECAUSE they're an authority. If someone is an authority AND has the evidence on their side, it's not a fallacy.
And where exactly does this enable a huge number of people running around stealing millions of dollars of IP?
I see what you did there! Comparing copying to stealing. Funny how they're not even vaguely similar. People who pirate games almost certainly would never have spent the money to buy them. No sales were lost.
The point is that there's no possibility of redress of grievances. The code is now widely distributed on the internet; suing Hotz to get him to remove his copy is a totally ineffective means of getting rid of it.
I bought a device. I made no such agreements to gain access to the device - only to their network. The device is mine, and Sony (in a perfect world) should have no control over what I can do with it. That's not the same as saying I should be able to share any information about what I figure out how to do with it, though.
That's a damn good question, and part of the motion Sony filed tries to argue that we're only allowed to use our property the way its makers want us to:
"[GeoHot] intentionally accessed the PS3 System without authorization..." "FAIL0VERFLOW... broadcast detailed instructions for their circumvention method... and promised to divulge information and proprietary code they obtained by unlawfully accessing the PS3 System." (Unlawfully accessing their own property? They needed authorization to dig into their own hardware? What the hell does it even mean to own something anymore?)
There's also this funny bit: "Defendants Bushing, Hector Cantero, Sven Peter and Segher formed FAIL0VERFLOW, a hacking group, with the purpose of circumventing the technological protection measures in the PS3 System and accessing and obtaining SCEAâ€s proprietary code from within the System." Apparently, an encryption key - a NUMBER - is proprietary code. This is just like the AACS key debacle all over again.
Not to mention... This is the company that fought for fair use copying rights back in the Betamax decision. They invented a device that enabled movie and TV piracy, and fought vigorously to defend its use. How the times have changed...
Again, the "enabling" provision of the DMCA pops up. It's like these lawyers have never heard of the phrase "necessary but not sufficient." Yes, GeoHot's tools can be used to enable piracy, but they're not enough on their own. You also need a computer. Maybe Sony should sue computer makers for contributing to the problem.
Regardless, the lawsuit is over so far. They weren't seeking damages, just a restraining order over the information. GeoHot decided to put the information back up on his site, so we'll see what happens there.
Baseline readings at several presumably non-haunted locations seem to be obvious requirements for comparison. Once you have those, what kinds of results would it take to convince a skeptic there's something unusual going on, or demonstrate that there's not?
Nothing alone those lines. First, you'd need to demonstrate that a ghost actually makes the sort of changes you're expecting in your "readings." To do that, you would need to already provably have a ghost handy, so that you could test its effects on its surroundings. Otherwise, you haven't even established the phenomena you're claiming as evidence.
But, if my experiences and those of others are of any indication, not much will happen until all your stuff is turned off.
How convenient that they had no evidence of their experience beyond a story, and yet you believe them. You're phenomenally gullible, and you're delusional to boot (judging from your other posts here).
Slashdot Mirror
"All I can offer for empirical proof is the testimony of several of Christ's contemporaries, most of whom went to their deaths defending their statements."
We have no such things. None of the identities of the Gospel writers have been agreed upon by Biblical scholars, and there are no extra-Biblical contemporary accounts of his life.
Nitpicking time!
"Historically, we can demonstrate the existence of Jesus, due to the historical events of Pontius Pillate and Ceaser and other shit happening around that time lining up, and something about some annoying beggar-preacher that they executed. "
Not even that much. There are no events in the life of Jesus that can nail down any dates. Even the census that was supposed to be going on while he was in utero was supposedly taken by a guy (Cyrenius) who wasn't in the right position of power to do it for at least another decade after Jesus was supposed to have been born.
Carry on...
"it's as easy to explain hatred in the oil-poor parts of the mideast as collateral damage of feuding jealous gods"
"Easy" does not mean "right." Right means right. And if we want to find out what's right, we need empiricism.
No, it doesn't. You have a model. It works, mostly. You discover new evidence that points out a flaw in the model. You hypothesize a possible solution to the flaws. You gather evidence and make observations to try to determine if the hypothesis is correct. That's the current state of dark energy - hypothesis. Observations and calculations have shown that the assumptions made about dark energy have fixed some of the flaws in the model and made more accurate estimations and predictions than the model could make before. The fact that we don't know what it is isn't really relevant; the evidence seems to point out that something is going on there. Figuring out what it is is a separate question to figuring out whether or not it's there.
It isn't so much about belief in a god or your own particular ideology... It's about a denial of evidence and rejection of the scientific process.
Exactly. Creationists begin with the conclusion and attempt to find evidence to support it. That's the exact opposite of science, and that sort of mindset will affect your ability to teach science properly.
Which is insane, because the Catholic Church also promotes the concept of Original Sin, which requires a literal Adam and Eve.
This is the sort of tripe the journal is willing to publish: Is Darwin the New Jesus? and Is Craig Venter Playing God with Genetics and DNA? Garbage journal... disregard.
Mod parent up +1, Totally Gets It.
That's purely a coincidence.
An argument from authority is only fallacious if you say that someone is right BECAUSE they're an authority. If someone is an authority AND has the evidence on their side, it's not a fallacy.
I do believe you should get back on your meds.
"Arguing about what the universe would look like if some particular constant were different is pure conjecture." Horseshit. It's math.
I see what you did there! Comparing copying to stealing. Funny how they're not even vaguely similar. People who pirate games almost certainly would never have spent the money to buy them. No sales were lost.
You only agree to that license when you install a firmware update.
The question, then, is whether or not there's enough of a parallel between iPhone and PS3 jailbreaking for the iPhone precedent to apply.
The point is that there's no possibility of redress of grievances. The code is now widely distributed on the internet; suing Hotz to get him to remove his copy is a totally ineffective means of getting rid of it.
I bought a device. I made no such agreements to gain access to the device - only to their network. The device is mine, and Sony (in a perfect world) should have no control over what I can do with it. That's not the same as saying I should be able to share any information about what I figure out how to do with it, though.
That's a damn good question, and part of the motion Sony filed tries to argue that we're only allowed to use our property the way its makers want us to:
... broadcast detailed instructions for their circumvention method ... and promised to divulge information and proprietary code they obtained by unlawfully accessing the PS3 System." (Unlawfully accessing their own property? They needed authorization to dig into their own hardware? What the hell does it even mean to own something anymore?)
"[GeoHot] intentionally accessed the PS3 System without authorization..." "FAIL0VERFLOW
There's also this funny bit: "Defendants Bushing, Hector Cantero, Sven Peter and Segher formed FAIL0VERFLOW, a hacking group, with the purpose of circumventing the technological protection measures in the PS3 System and accessing and obtaining SCEAâ€s proprietary code from within the System." Apparently, an encryption key - a NUMBER - is proprietary code. This is just like the AACS key debacle all over again.
Not to mention... This is the company that fought for fair use copying rights back in the Betamax decision. They invented a device that enabled movie and TV piracy, and fought vigorously to defend its use. How the times have changed...
Again, the "enabling" provision of the DMCA pops up. It's like these lawyers have never heard of the phrase "necessary but not sufficient." Yes, GeoHot's tools can be used to enable piracy, but they're not enough on their own. You also need a computer. Maybe Sony should sue computer makers for contributing to the problem. Regardless, the lawsuit is over so far. They weren't seeking damages, just a restraining order over the information. GeoHot decided to put the information back up on his site, so we'll see what happens there.
Nope. I'll go ahead and say you're lying, because that's more likely than that you weren't.
Baseline readings at several presumably non-haunted locations seem to be obvious requirements for comparison. Once you have those, what kinds of results would it take to convince a skeptic there's something unusual going on, or demonstrate that there's not?
Nothing alone those lines. First, you'd need to demonstrate that a ghost actually makes the sort of changes you're expecting in your "readings." To do that, you would need to already provably have a ghost handy, so that you could test its effects on its surroundings. Otherwise, you haven't even established the phenomena you're claiming as evidence.
I was with you right up to 'irregardless.'
But, if my experiences and those of others are of any indication, not much will happen until all your stuff is turned off.
How convenient that they had no evidence of their experience beyond a story, and yet you believe them. You're phenomenally gullible, and you're delusional to boot (judging from your other posts here).
It has to come from above or it doesn't happen.
ORRRR it doesn't happen at all and you're deluded.