Posts: 3226
Threads: 244
Joined: April 17, 2012
Reputation:
54
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 11:10 am
(November 23, 2013 at 10:50 am)whateverist Wrote: (November 23, 2013 at 5:49 am)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Finished reading Genome by Matt Ridley, it's a science book which means it's outdated. But anyway, so it's pretty interesting, and I got to the last pages and he made a remark about climate change and equated politicians who are pushing for action to be done about climate change to the politicians who were pushing for eugenics. So I googled him and turns out he thinks that climate change is good for people!
And this is not just some writer who decided to write about the genome, he has a science education up to PhD and then became a journalists that continued to write about science and has a few books on evolution and such.
You just can never tell these days.
No, you can't. There is no reason to suppose that doing science or understanding science will guide one to enlightened policy positions. Science provides a means but the ends they are put to are entirely subjective. This should really grab people's attention more than it does.
There's at least one creationist who has a phd (from a real school). Probably holds the record for plugging their ears and going "la la la la la la la la."
My ignore list
"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
Posts: 2168
Threads: 9
Joined: June 21, 2013
Reputation:
27
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 5:01 pm
(November 23, 2013 at 10:46 am)The Reality Salesman Wrote: It speaks volumes about your character that you were able to make it through to the end. If I get a sense that the author of a book I'm reading is an idiot, it's hard for me to press on. Or were you saying it wasn't apparent until the end?
Wasn't apparent till the end. And it was just that one sentence. I can tell he is very opinionated throughout the book, but it's mostly about the public's reaction to science, and the public's fear of genetic engineering, eugenics, etc. after the genome was sequenced. He is obviously a brilliant man, very well written book.
@ Whateverist, climate change is science first and foremost, what people decide to do about it is politics and I think only the US is so adamant in denying climate change. What this guy is saying isn't that climate change isn't there, it's there but it's good for us. Just surprised because he's so evidence based throughout his book and unless they're sellouts I generally expect someone who has a PhD in science to be able to read reports and understand what they say.
Posts: 29590
Threads: 116
Joined: February 22, 2011
Reputation:
159
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 5:11 pm
(This post was last modified: November 23, 2013 at 5:13 pm by Angrboda.)
I'm home for a two hour layover before I hop on another bus. While it's within the realm of possibility that home is where the heart is, a far more documentable fact is that home is where the painkillers are: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, caffeine, cinnamon flavored whisky, hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce - I've even got some leftover hydrocodone, though I won't be needing it today. Moar Sriracha sauce!
Posts: 2082
Threads: 72
Joined: March 12, 2013
Reputation:
44
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Just made a bad ass fire in the living room, now I'm tending to a couple of 3/4 filet minions out back while sipping on a very nice Cabernet and watching my son chasing the dog, and I am a happy man!
Posts: 10470
Threads: 165
Joined: May 29, 2013
Reputation:
53
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Gosh, you're mean to your relentless followers! :o
As for me, stupid trip 25 miles out of the way to try to attend a Nutcracker only to have the bus not go as far as I thought and two cabbies hang up on me.
I think I'm going to bake some chicken now and make somesalad to accompany it.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
Posts: 1537
Threads: 43
Joined: July 24, 2013
Reputation:
31
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 8:28 pm
I'm making bean and bacon soup. I added 3 lbs. of bacon
Posts: 2082
Threads: 72
Joined: March 12, 2013
Reputation:
44
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Fucks yeah! Ivy will be pleased.
Posts: 2279
Threads: 22
Joined: February 16, 2013
Reputation:
64
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 23, 2013 at 11:33 pm
(November 23, 2013 at 10:13 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: Fucks yeah! Ivy will be pleased.
I'm afraid. You know me so well. How on earth could you have known that?
Pointing around: "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you, I'm out!"
Half Baked
"Let the atheists come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of heathens belongs to people like these." -Saint Bacon
Posts: 2082
Threads: 72
Joined: March 12, 2013
Reputation:
44
RE: What's everyone up to right now?
November 24, 2013 at 9:26 am
(This post was last modified: November 24, 2013 at 9:28 am by The Reality Salesman01.)
Posts: 2968
Threads: 10
Joined: June 2, 2012
Reputation:
44
Re: What's everyone up to right now?
November 24, 2013 at 9:42 am
Crying after watching last night's Doctor Who again. Something about that bit with Tom Baker at the end rips my heart out.
|