1080ish, I forgot as soon as I closed the tab. I'm on and off with activity around here, it usually comes in spurts. The place has changed quite a bit since I joined and I haven't kept up with all the new features and what have you, so I feel even more lost.

I've seen some very interesting and in depth discussion generated by this article on the web.

Overall I agree with Ellis and Silk - empiricism is vital to the scientific method and progress, and these notions of "post-empiricism" seem, to me at least, to be a dangerous path to go down.

I think what it comes down to is the degree to which we are willing to investigate hypotheses which have not been confirmed. I have not read the criticisms mentioned in the article, such as Smolin's or Woit's books, so I do not know exactly what they are advocating. If they are saying we should completely halt research on string theory and focus our efforts elsewhere, then Dawid's post can be seen as appropriately reactionary. I don't think string theory is without use, even though it has not (and likely will not be) experimentally confirmed, and research should continue. However, if the message in this criticisms is much more modest, then I don't see the use in Dawid's arguments. What do we gain by treating String theory as confirmed that we do not by treating it as unconfirmed? I guess I just don't see the point in Dawid's arguments, unless they are to argue for continued research in String Theory, which is already happening.

As with any fusion announcement, I am skeptical until there is an actual working prototype.

It is exciting, however, to see such a big name behind the announcement this time. It does lend it some credibility.

What would you say the best essay in Baseball's history is? I love reading these types of things.

Definitely not too encouraging to be reading as someone going into the sciences. I suppose that it has always been a struggle, though.

Uh, what makes you think that?

Oh wow, I opened this link having never wanted to buy an island, but now I certainly do.

In any case, I need to get out in nature more.

Eh, the fact is not all lies are created equal. It is far more detrimental to a child'd development to lie to them about history (i.e. Lord of the Rings actually happening) than to let them believe in Santa as a child. It's a cultural tradition, really, especially if you are in America (not sure what Christmas traditions are elsewhere). I don't see any harm from it, and I can't think of a single instance where this lie undermines the adult's authority in the eyes of the child. It certainly didn't for me.

Once again, great podcast.

With regards to the question of whether or not spirituality is innate, I would say it is not. What is innate, however, is the human desire to understand the world around us and our place in it. How we go about satisfying this desire is what defines our spirituality, I think. Some believe in a higher power, some rely on human reason, but the goal for all is the same.

As for future suggestions, I am still a fan of my idea here.

In what way do you see them as independent? I concede that they can breath on their own, but there's not much else a newborn can do on its own. A baby right out of the womb certainly can't provide for itself and will likely die if left alone. How is it more independent now than before?

With regards to the umbilical cord, would you consider killing a baby who is out of the womb yet still attached via this cord as morally the same as taking the morning after pill?

Well, for the sake of discussion we can continue.

Why don't you agree with the above? We can agree that someone is alive once they are born. What has changed about them through the process of exiting the womb that differentiates them from how they were an hour before, as a fetus. The only thing I can think of is physical location, changing from in to out of the womb.

Hm, I have always found this position hard to understand, which is why I am curious.

In fact, it is because of this 'thought experiment' that I define life to start at conception. To me, aborting a fetus a day before it is due is much much worse than doing so early on. A day before the due date, the fetus is completely viable, so to me there is little difference between this and murdering a newborn. We could think of the even more absurd scenario in which you kill the fetus once labor has actually started (after all, it can be a long process). What about two days before? Three days? This thought process always reminds me of Sorites Paradox

I agree that defining life to begin at some arbitrary point in the pregnancy makes very little sense, but I go in the opposite direction than you and say it begins with conception rather than birth.

Anyway, I don't mean to challenge your beliefs so don't take the above the wrong way or anything. Just explaining why I (and probably other pro-lifers) see conception as the logical starting point.

Most fundamental Christians believe that the guilt of original sin bars them from entering Heaven, not that it warrants their death. They believe that it is only through the grace of God that sinners (i.e. everyone) can enter Heaven. This is why you don't see them going around murdering people.

Hey, I'm from right around Naperville! I have to say, the Pacific Northwest has always been appealing to me, but I have never been to Portland (excluding an excursion from Seattle for one day). I have been to Seattle multiple times though.

What made you pick Portland?

Just out of curiosity, do you feel differently about abortions very early on in the pregnancy (e.g. the morning after pill) than those that occur late. That is, if someone were to theoretically (and I know in many places this is prevented by law) abort their pregnancy the day before they were due, would you still argue the fetus is not alive?

No, not at all.

I'm just saying, knowing what ALS stands for, especially when the words are somewhat technical, is not the metric by which you should be judging people's knowledge of the disease.

I'd highly recommend Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, it is one of my favorite books.

Not sure, tbh. I was just arguing that fundamental Christians can still see 'innocent life' in the sense that they do not deserve whatever has happened to them, while still acknowledging that none are worthy of entering Heaven by themselves.

Nice article, thanks for posting.

I recently picked up the book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, briefly mentioned in the article. I haven't read it yet, but reaing this article made me move it up on the list.

I often see maps that have no data available for Alaska and Hawaii, so I just assumed that there was no data there.

I think it is probably significant that the intensity follows pretty closely the state lines out near Nevada.

I've been getting into Arctic Monkeys lately, I can see why they're popular.

Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High

I wouldn't call Windows 8 a full merging of desktop and tablet OSs, but rather a desktop OS that has been designed to be functional on tablets. I'll grant you that Metro can at times seem gimmicky, but its something you quickly get around and might even find yourself enjoying.

The 'tiles' that you often hear about with regards to Windows 8 are easily the biggest adjustment and most noticeable intrusion of Metro into your workflow, but that's not necessarily bad. Some Metro apps are quite good, like the Skype or Netflix ones, and I often find myself using them more than the desktop counterparts. Heck, the Chrome metro app is a essentially Chrome OS being run from within Windows 8, which is useful if your job is browser heavy. Even with this, you can still run the normal versions of this programs, in which case your experience is very similar to using any other Windows OS.

There are some other advantages to Windows 8 as well, which are less apparent from a cursory glance. Start up is certainly quicker than with 7 (something I've noticed on other machines that have upgraded. I'm not attributing my laptop's start time wholly to Windows 8, but it plays a part). Windows 8 is generally more secure than 7 as well, something that was lauded at release.

In my opinion, if you can overcome the hurdle of the new start menu (I find myself hitting the windows key and typing to search all programs anyway), Windows 8 is really a pleasant experience and a nice upgrade from 7.

I must suggest a book I read recently called The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. It is about Bell Labs, as you probably guessed from the title. Moreso, however, it is about how Bell Labs facilitated an environment that was conducive towards innovation, and how innovation involves much, much more than the " Eureka!" moment of discovery.

"Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!" convinced me to study physics. Now, I have no delusions of grandeur and thjnk I will be the next Feynman or anything, but this book did show me what physicists actually do. Before I had always thought they were a serious bunch or antisocial or unemployable, but reading about his exploits showed me that what you study has little bearing on how you comport yourself in the rest of your life.

Perhaps such an approach would have worked 100 years ago, when federal power was, relative to today, extremely small. Nowadays however we need a strong executive to guide the federal government in its facilities. Furthermore, being the figurehead for the US abroad, we need a president who is confident and knows how to wield power. This is not to say we should have a power-hungry president, but barring any major changes in the role of government in America, we need a leader with an agenda.

I want to learn so that I can eventually discover something unknown, and contribute to the collective pool of human knowledge. The way I see it, everything I know has been known by someone else at some point. I want to discover something, to be the first person to know something and show it to others. To reach that point, I have to learn as much as I can.

I also think its amazing that I have access to information that people labored their whole lives to produce, and in some cases fell just short of. Archimedes would have killed for a modern calculus book, one that is readily available to me. It seems almost disrespectful to these great people to just pass this information up out of apathy.

Also, there's the general sentiment that knowledge is its own reward, which is also true.