FTL is becoming anti-science

[AL the Inconspicuous]

[...]  I never claimed that there existed a contradiction between one's dislike for medical quacks, for example, and my Anarcho-Capitalist philosophy, it's just a matter of priorities!

For example, I was driving with someone recently and when another car failed to signal she went on for like 5 minutes about how black people are bad drivers, to paraphrase it mildly.  It's not the first time either, she just seems to be overly fixated on what ethnic group other people happen to be.  And she's not that great a driver herself, and her son crashed his car while driving drunk - twice!  But apparently the biggest problem in the world, according to her, is black people!  Well, I think your priorities are just as screwed up!

It's an internet forum, douchebag-- people are going to talk about what interests them, and contrary to popular opinion bitching about one thing 90% of the time and another thing 10% of the time does not amount to furthering a solution to either problem.  And that includes bitching about the people who are doing the bitching. 

Faith healers suck.  So does tyrannical rule.  You can hold and espouse both views simultaneously-- try it!  If it seems hard, try watching Penn and Teller for a bit.

This is an anything-goes forum, sure, but I was accusing places like JREF of having twisted priorities through which their well-intentioned work has serious negative consequences.

If faith healers suck then tyrannical rule (SUCKS * 10000), and bashing the former is very often the excuse to empowering the latter.  People who hire faith healers are the objective arbiters of the total value they bring to them, whether they choose to place their psychological well-being above their life expectancy is their business.

And I've never missed an episode of P&T's BS, but I cannot endorse their opinions in their entirety.

[Scott in Winnipeg]

Faith healers suck.  So does tyrannical rule.  You can hold and espouse both views simultaneously-- try it!  If it seems hard, try watching Penn and Teller for a bit.

Yep

[anarchir]

Gotta love Penn and Teller's Bullshit.  Too bad they aren't in NH.

[Rillion]

[youtube=425,350]XGK84Poeynk&[/youtube]

I can't get the youtube link to work, but do check this out. 

[sillyperson]

http://symphonyofscience.com
I downloaded all the MP3s to my ipod, they are awesome. They are linked toward the tai end of the Cthulu thread

To link YouTube, you have to cut-and-paste the whole embed HTML think to the youtube tags. See Brasky's thread.

[AL the Inconspicuous]

"If there is life on Mars, I believe we should do nothing with Mars. Mars then belongs to the Martians, even if the Martians are only microbes." -- Carl Sagan, Socialist Jerk

[youtube=425,350]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VAIpWttwPT0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VAIpWttwPT0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]


That aside, I can't dig up any dirt on Tyson or Feynman.

[The ghost of a ghost of a ghost]

I don't like Bill Nye anymore. 

[Rillion]

I don't like Bill Nye anymore.  

Meh, he didn't say anything too terribly problematic.

Would it be better if the U.S. produced its own energy?  Yes.
Would it be great if American scientists discovered new forms of energy?  Yes.
Is it good to teach children math and science so that they may become great scientists?  Yes.
Is sustainable energy a good thing to shoot for?  Yes.
Is the earth still going to be around no matter what?  Yes.
Should we want to take care of the planet for our own sake?  Yes.

Does the thickness of the earth's atmosphere really have much to do with the matter of whether humans affect it or not?  I doubt it.  
Are Nobel Prizes ever given to discoveries that are false or misrepresented?  Yes, I think a few have, Nobel committees being fallible.  
Are "green" forms of energy like wind and solar really a viable replacement for fossil fuels?  Not hardly.  But he didn't seem to think they are.  I wish he'd mentioned nuclear.

That aside, I can't dig up any dirt on Tyson or Feynman.

I don't know why you should want to.  Only an idiot would only value the achievements and statements of a person if that person is perfect and has no "dirt" on them.  

[sillyperson]

I don't like Bill Nye anymore. 

you liked him?

Must be a young'n

[Rillion]

I don't like Bill Nye anymore. 

you liked him?

Must be a young'n

I prefer Bill Nighy. 

[sillyperson]

I prefer Bill Nighy. 

Hey ... wait... izzat ... SLARTIBARTFAST?!?!?!

[Rillion]

Hey ... wait... izzat ... SLARTIBARTFAST?!?!?!

Indeed.   

[gibson042]

I don't like Bill Nye anymore. 

He was too nationalistic, and too certain that climate change will make the world less comfortable for humans, but rightfully acknowledged that its economic "problems" might well turn out to be opportunities.  All in all, a positive message that rises above the "global warming will kill us all!" noise.

[spicynujac]

I have liked Bill Nye since I was a lil one
So what did he say that was nationalistic ?

[Rillion]

I have liked Bill Nye since I was a lil one
So what did he say that was nationalistic ?

I don't know what gibson thought was nationalistic, but what I thought was nationalistic was that he placed a lot of emphasis on how it should be an American who solves the climate change problem because America is the country of innovation, blah de blah.  If climate change really is a problem to be solved, I don't see why it matters who solves it.  Innovation isn't a soccer game.  People solving problems is a good thing regardless of where they're doing it.