> I don't see how that proves there is no free will though.
I believe that's the same study, though the write up I read had a different tone and seemed to claim we had no free will - but that was my point that it doesn't come close to proof against (or for, for that matter) free will.
> Maybe if they asked people to randomly try to change their minds halfway, it would appear
> differently on the scanners.
But that would negate the value of the study, methinks, though trying to figure out the algorithm/description for that problem is confusing my head.
This reminds me of a story I read a while ago about decision making - they tossed some folks in an MRI and presented them with a series of choices. According to the study, people made the decision up to 8 seconds before they actually made their decision.
The argument in the article was that this is proof that there's no free will. My first thought when I read that was 'how does that make any sense?' The only thing conclusive is that people are terrible at knowing when they've made a decision.
I think people don't really understand most things, including stuff we think we understand.
On the other hand, I also tend to wonder if there really is life inside the computer, and each time I push a key or something I'm killing a little electron.
"Oh Pepsi! Yes, yes, YESS!!!!"
I've always wondered why commercials are crappy - is it because they're lazy? I mean even the big name (McD's, Wally World) adverts are BORING. And if they're not boring, they're stupid. Or overdone. Is anyone else completely sick of the Gecko?
That would still be better than what we have now. "Why?" you ask? Simple. At least we wouldn't be paying for their incredible salary and benefits. Sure, we'd still be getting shafted when it comes to representation, but we'd be getting a slightly better deal...
Who really believes in election-year promises anyway?
Who believes promises from politicians period? I can't really think of any politician I believe, especially none of them that are in the race currently.
I can't claim to know everthing that goes on behind closed doors, but I think that's most of the problem is that they do have doors. Oh sure, there are some things that should be secret, but most things in the government shouldn't be.
It would seem, then, that a simple solution would be for the individual States to enact term limits. And this doesn't need to be a US Constitutional Amendment to limit Congress Critters as the 22nd Amendment limits the Presidency, because Congress are not Federal employees (which means they actually shouldn't get Federal pensions either). They are elected solely by their State, so a given State should be able to enact term limits that affect their own representation. Only the President and VP are nationally elected, thus the need for the 22nd Amendment.
If you eliminate the permanent politician in Washington, then there wouldn't be as much need for the money chase and we might actually get better laws.
What would be really interesting is if representatives could not recieve renumeration for their efforts, but instead had to pay from their own pockets traveling/food/etc. Or at the most, only recieve the "average" wages of their constituents as renumeration. I think that would lead to a lot more fair and equitable laws being passed. And elected officials would actually *care* about how much their constituents earned, and they would have a desire to increase the standard of living for all.
You may think a joke about black people is hilarious, but the black people won't.
Actually, one of my black friends routinely tells me black jokes, and vice versa. We think they're pretty hilarious.
You may think a joke about a homosexual is funny, but the gay guy won't.
Ditto.
Part of humor is being able to laugh at one's own foibles, even if they're stereotypical. While some jokes are just plain crude/crass/mean (think: dead baby jokes), most black/gay/duck/white/programmer/non-programmer jokes that I've heard aren't. They really are funny.
How many (coders) laugh (or have laughed) at this one?
Did you hear about the programmer who died in the shower?
His shampoo bottle said "Wash, rinse, repeat"!
Unless that programmer has no sense of humour (most I've met have a great sense of humour), they'll at least grin. But wait, isn't it insulting?? I mean, it suggests that programmers are so/stupid/ or at least/literal/ that they would die because they followed instructions on a shampoo bottle.
Really? Too many people need to get over their big heads.
But what about the thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions (since I can't be bothered to look up any statistic made up by anyone else) sq ft of building roof space available? Plants and critters don't respond well to having their habitat bulldozed to make way for the next bypass, but it's not like anyone actually raises protest, least of all, congress.
I can't think of once that, other than some specific federal nature reserve, the US Gov has called a full scale halt on building of homes/office buildings/etc.
It makes sense to me that we could at least offset *some* of the BFF(ootprint) by reclaiming energy that would normally just bounce off the roof of your house or office building.
Now that I'm into the swing of it... I found a claim that a 1 square meter solar panel would offer 1kWh per day in AZ. According to http://science.howstuffworks.com/question481.htm, that would require 2 square meters to power a single 100 watt lightbulb, continuously, for one year. Of course, this figure would be much more favorable in conjunction with CFLs. My guess is that the average building could at the very least produce enough electricity to power their lighting for most of the day. If other energy saving techniques were used (i.e. skylights), even with the loss transfer to batteries (or even feeding power back into the grid, or supplying power to other devices, such as PCs), solar panels would be helpful in a variety of ways.
It's ridiculous to patent the components of something that self-reproduces.
No patents for any subsystem of a self-replicating robot? Actually it's not theirs anymore, I took it, modified its genes (combined it with my own plants) and now I want to patent it.
Oh wait, that won't work, because you can only rip off God/Evolution/Nature/Whoever. Oh, and anyone who touches your stuff thereafter.
Religiosity aside, how in the world does this kind of claim make any sense?
I take a perfectly normal canola seed, and through some process arrive at SeedX. I own SeedX and it's DNA now.
Where the heck did they get the prior DNA that's now embedded in SeedX? Certainly they didn't create it from scratch? So how does this make any sense and more importantly why the heck is it legal? That's my question...
AFAIK - I'm not a sniper, but I've shot some rifles accurately at a longer distance than their normal range, fairly reliably. And I've never had any formal training. I know there's a lot of calculus/physics/etc when it comes to sniping. And then there are the other variables - elevation, wind speed, velocity, swallows laden with coconuts, heat (rising air), etc.
It can be blowing 1000yds away, but deathly still where you are. The only way to judge is by movement in the grass/flags/trees. Then you also have to have target recognition - is that an enemy with a rocket launcher, or one carrying a pole with some water?
I think human snipers will be better for a long time, however, I prefer my bullet magnets (front line) to be robots.
I figure in about 50 years now, they'll realize "why fight for PHYSICAL land? Let's just do this C&C style baby! h4>0rs to the max!"
Or something like that...
Well, unless we prove we're as addicted to games with crappy laws attached as we are addicted to wal-mart.
Maybe now we'll start voting with our wallets and simply stop purchasing anything under the DMCA - now we can go get our entertainment from the "real" world.
That's really the best way to do it - let them succeed in their "rights management". Let them manage their rights right into their closets. If everyone stops purchasing their spam-walled products (You know, spam is crap nobody needs, and nobody intelligent wants, but people pay for it anyway or it would go away. DRM is crap nobody needs, and nobody intelligent wants, but people pay for it anyway, or it would go away. Spam-Wall(tm) security through annoying the heck out of the end user), then they would get no profits.
Then pretty soon they would realize that DRM is a bad idea. But right now, as long as we're making the choice to consume their spam, they can pretend to pass laws for the good of the creator (of the content we want. The laws are good for the creators of their spam)
The only way to stop stupidity is to stop paying for it.
So please, stop stupidity.
That's my understanding of it. I don't know about auto auctions, because here in the US you have the lemon law that allows usually three days to return a car if it's a "lemon".
That's the risk you run of an auction on eBay - someone gets it for less than you wanted to sell it for.
No longer caveat emptor, but the seller too!
In reality, that's actually all the artists get paid for.
Specifically, concerts. Why the heck do you think tickets for U2, Madonna, et al run in the excess of $100/ticket (and in the case of U2 at least) sell out phenominally?
The record company robs them of their rights, so all they have left is to turn tricks for their audiences. The only ones who really have a lot of money are those who love to perform, so it's not a bad deal for them.
But sadly, the ones who profit from copyrights aren't the author/talent, just the marketers...
If we live thousands of years, honestly, what's the point in ANY type of activity - $100 put away today will end out (with compound interest, of course) oh, around a gajillion dollars in 300 years.
But why him? There were FAR worse out there. In particular, North Korea. Because Iraq didn't have any allies, such as how Korea enlisted China
That's mainly why Korea sucked big time. China is perfectly glad to have another communist (North Korea) country on her border. China is also perfectly glad to send (IIRC) somewhere in the realm of 300,000 troops to push back the UNC.
That, and all that delicious Texas Tea... Iraq was a plum ripe for the picking!
all the "patriots" who think that saying "This is the best damn country in the world!" is something you use to excuse problems instead of a reason to acknowledge, fix and rise above them! That's why I tell people that it's a shame that the US is the best country in the world. I truly believe we are, but we are so completely screwed up that I wish we were last place. Kinda says something about the rest of the world (sorry all you other country-folk. Some countries are great and if you grew up there you probably like it just fine... but sadly you have problems that make me look at the US and think... "Well, maybe one more year...")
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> I don't see how that proves there is no free will though. I believe that's the same study, though the write up I read had a different tone and seemed to claim we had no free will - but that was my point that it doesn't come close to proof against (or for, for that matter) free will. > Maybe if they asked people to randomly try to change their minds halfway, it would appear > differently on the scanners. But that would negate the value of the study, methinks, though trying to figure out the algorithm/description for that problem is confusing my head.
This reminds me of a story I read a while ago about decision making - they tossed some folks in an MRI and presented them with a series of choices. According to the study, people made the decision up to 8 seconds before they actually made their decision. The argument in the article was that this is proof that there's no free will. My first thought when I read that was 'how does that make any sense?' The only thing conclusive is that people are terrible at knowing when they've made a decision. I think people don't really understand most things, including stuff we think we understand. On the other hand, I also tend to wonder if there really is life inside the computer, and each time I push a key or something I'm killing a little electron.
"Oh Pepsi! Yes, yes, YESS!!!!" I've always wondered why commercials are crappy - is it because they're lazy? I mean even the big name (McD's, Wally World) adverts are BORING. And if they're not boring, they're stupid. Or overdone. Is anyone else completely sick of the Gecko?
That would still be better than what we have now. "Why?" you ask? Simple. At least we wouldn't be paying for their incredible salary and benefits. Sure, we'd still be getting shafted when it comes to representation, but we'd be getting a slightly better deal...
Except then the muscle behind the DMCA would come after you!
:P
Then you'd wish you could decapitate someone
and access to lawyers.
Who believes promises from politicians period? I can't really think of any politician I believe, especially none of them that are in the race currently.
I can't claim to know everthing that goes on behind closed doors, but I think that's most of the problem is that they do have doors. Oh sure, there are some things that should be secret, but most things in the government shouldn't be.
Sorry mate, they belong to my girlfriend...
^_^
What would be really interesting is if representatives could not recieve renumeration for their efforts, but instead had to pay from their own pockets traveling/food/etc. Or at the most, only recieve the "average" wages of their constituents as renumeration. I think that would lead to a lot more fair and equitable laws being passed. And elected officials would actually *care* about how much their constituents earned, and they would have a desire to increase the standard of living for all.
At least I *think* so.
Actually, one of my black friends routinely tells me black jokes, and vice versa. We think they're pretty hilarious.
Ditto.
/stupid/ or at least /literal/ that they would die because they followed instructions on a shampoo bottle.
/me is in the front of that line!
Part of humor is being able to laugh at one's own foibles, even if they're stereotypical. While some jokes are just plain crude/crass/mean (think: dead baby jokes), most black/gay/duck/white/programmer/non-programmer jokes that I've heard aren't. They really are funny.
How many (coders) laugh (or have laughed) at this one?
Did you hear about the programmer who died in the shower?
His shampoo bottle said "Wash, rinse, repeat"!
Unless that programmer has no sense of humour (most I've met have a great sense of humour), they'll at least grin. But wait, isn't it insulting?? I mean, it suggests that programmers are so
Really? Too many people need to get over their big heads.
But what about the thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions (since I can't be bothered to look up any statistic made up by anyone else) sq ft of building roof space available? Plants and critters don't respond well to having their habitat bulldozed to make way for the next bypass, but it's not like anyone actually raises protest, least of all, congress.
I can't think of once that, other than some specific federal nature reserve, the US Gov has called a full scale halt on building of homes/office buildings/etc.
It makes sense to me that we could at least offset *some* of the BFF(ootprint) by reclaiming energy that would normally just bounce off the roof of your house or office building.
Now that I'm into the swing of it... I found a claim that a 1 square meter solar panel would offer 1kWh per day in AZ. According to http://science.howstuffworks.com/question481.htm, that would require 2 square meters to power a single 100 watt lightbulb, continuously, for one year. Of course, this figure would be much more favorable in conjunction with CFLs. My guess is that the average building could at the very least produce enough electricity to power their lighting for most of the day. If other energy saving techniques were used (i.e. skylights), even with the loss transfer to batteries (or even feeding power back into the grid, or supplying power to other devices, such as PCs), solar panels would be helpful in a variety of ways.
Just my $0.02 USD.
Oh wait, that won't work, because you can only rip off God/Evolution/Nature/Whoever. Oh, and anyone who touches your stuff thereafter.
Religiosity aside, how in the world does this kind of claim make any sense?
I take a perfectly normal canola seed, and through some process arrive at SeedX. I own SeedX and it's DNA now.
Where the heck did they get the prior DNA that's now embedded in SeedX? Certainly they didn't create it from scratch? So how does this make any sense and more importantly why the heck is it legal? That's my question...
Sad thing is that's not far off the mark...
Well then, when he returns it, the guy can sell it again ;)
AFAIK - I'm not a sniper, but I've shot some rifles accurately at a longer distance than their normal range, fairly reliably. And I've never had any formal training. I know there's a lot of calculus/physics/etc when it comes to sniping. And then there are the other variables - elevation, wind speed, velocity, swallows laden with coconuts, heat (rising air), etc.
It can be blowing 1000yds away, but deathly still where you are. The only way to judge is by movement in the grass/flags/trees. Then you also have to have target recognition - is that an enemy with a rocket launcher, or one carrying a pole with some water? I think human snipers will be better for a long time, however, I prefer my bullet magnets (front line) to be robots. I figure in about 50 years now, they'll realize "why fight for PHYSICAL land? Let's just do this C&C style baby! h4>0rs to the max!" Or something like that...
Well, unless we prove we're as addicted to games with crappy laws attached as we are addicted to wal-mart. Maybe now we'll start voting with our wallets and simply stop purchasing anything under the DMCA - now we can go get our entertainment from the "real" world. That's really the best way to do it - let them succeed in their "rights management". Let them manage their rights right into their closets. If everyone stops purchasing their spam-walled products (You know, spam is crap nobody needs, and nobody intelligent wants, but people pay for it anyway or it would go away. DRM is crap nobody needs, and nobody intelligent wants, but people pay for it anyway, or it would go away. Spam-Wall(tm) security through annoying the heck out of the end user), then they would get no profits. Then pretty soon they would realize that DRM is a bad idea. But right now, as long as we're making the choice to consume their spam, they can pretend to pass laws for the good of the creator (of the content we want. The laws are good for the creators of their spam) The only way to stop stupidity is to stop paying for it. So please, stop stupidity.
That's my understanding of it. I don't know about auto auctions, because here in the US you have the lemon law that allows usually three days to return a car if it's a "lemon". That's the risk you run of an auction on eBay - someone gets it for less than you wanted to sell it for. No longer caveat emptor, but the seller too!
In reality, that's actually all the artists get paid for.
Specifically, concerts. Why the heck do you think tickets for U2, Madonna, et al run in the excess of $100/ticket (and in the case of U2 at least) sell out phenominally?
The record company robs them of their rights, so all they have left is to turn tricks for their audiences. The only ones who really have a lot of money are those who love to perform, so it's not a bad deal for them.
But sadly, the ones who profit from copyrights aren't the author/talent, just the marketers...
If we live thousands of years, honestly, what's the point in ANY type of activity - $100 put away today will end out (with compound interest, of course) oh, around a gajillion dollars in 300 years.
That's mainly why Korea sucked big time. China is perfectly glad to have another communist (North Korea) country on her border. China is also perfectly glad to send (IIRC) somewhere in the realm of 300,000 troops to push back the UNC.
That, and all that delicious Texas Tea... Iraq was a plum ripe for the picking!
Too bad they didn't check for worms...
Awww heck, why not just use pokemon?
State, Federal... does anyone really believe states have individual powers anymore?