I'm going to take another class in archeology, which means I am probably taking a class with an instructor who learned basic logic watching reruns of Sherlock Holmes movies.
Sherlock Holmes rarely used deduction. Holmes used abduction based on induction.
Lets take a common scene. Super detective notices a man with some specific details, for Holmes in the 1890s this could mean what appears to be drips of wax on his coat cuff, shaggy, uncut hair, a hat that appears to need brushing. Notice "appears". We can't make absolute statements based on simple observation. What looks like wax probably is wax, but, might be something else. Holmes "deduces" that the man is unmarried because no self respecting wife would allow her husband to leave the house in such a state.
First, this is induction because it moves from the specific to the general.
Second, this is abduction because the conclusion uses an unproved hypothesis as the basis for the conclusion. There is no evidence that wives actually care about their husbands or that caring for a husband means grooming them or that men are incapable of grooming themselves.
Because fiction refers to this process of "abduction" as "deduction" most people can't tell a fact from bullshit.
Anthropology and Sociology are primarily deductive meaning, typically, the study moves from the general to the specific. We want to understand a community so we study the community and then we study individuals within the community.
Deduction always results in a fact. Induction always results in a probability. Abduction is speculation, which is why we generally don't discuss abduction in science, except in the context of fiction like the super detectives on television.
This is not to say that an Anthropological or Sociological study will always result in a fact, just that anthropology and sociology can develop facts.
Archeology is necessarily inductive. Archeology examines something specific, an artifact, and induces probabilities about that object based on studies of community.
Archeology also uses a lot of abduction or speculation based on probabilities theories.
Reading books by Dillehay, Meltzer and Adovasio and their focus on how their abductive inferences are "true" is a hilarious ride through egotistical and logical stupidity.
Not looking forward to trying to deal with this stupid bullshit. They call themselves archaeostars! Adovasio does anyway.
Fortunately, there has been some common sense and logic injected into the process and the application of archaeological theory is called "archaeological inference", meaning that the application of archaeological theory to specific artifacts creates inferences, not facts.
This is different from the application of scientific analysis of artifacts which produces probabilities, like age and specifics like composition or DNA analysis.
These facts about an artifact are collected. Archaeological theory is applied and abductive inferences about the artifact are developed. Supposedly archaeologists know that these are not facts, they are inferences, but, reading the egotistical arguments in Dillehay, Meltzer and Adovasio tells me that these people actually believe their inferences should be accepted as "fact" or "truth" or "reality".
It makes me want to puke.
But, at least there is a semi reasonable process we can call kind of scientific. Not that I expect any archaeologist I meet to actually understand the difference between reality and speculation.
Thus, metacognition or knowing the difference between knowing what we know, what we believe and the difference between knowing and believing.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Einstein is full of shit
The problem with infinity is that most people cannot comprehend the concept. For example, there is the infinite set of integers and the infinite set of real numbers between each and every integer.
So the infinite set contains an infinite set of infinite sets. A lot of people would consider this fairly useless mental masturbation, however, understanding the difference between infinity and practical limits is wicked critical.
For example, mathematically if we start at zero and calculate the distance between point A and point B as "D" and attempt to use division, as in B=(B-A)/2, to define the steps necessary to reach B we enter the infinite set between the finite set of (A,B) because we are using that infinite set as a function, or a portion, of the finite set.
In reality though what we have done is confused units from the finite to the infinite.
It is like the old joke about the engineer and the mathematician, the math guy can't talk to a pretty girl because he moves towards her in a proportional function of the finite distance which results in a curve that can never achieve intersection.
The engineer uses an interval function which results in a straight line that intersects.
The engineer meets the girl while the mathematician becomes stuck in an infinite loop.
So the question is, when accelerating do we move based on the addition of energy or do we move based on the multiplication of a proportional velocity or mass?
In fact, since energy is mass, as we expend energy to achieve velocity we reduce mass because we are working, from a practical application, with the addition of energy and the subtraction of mass rather than the multiplication of proportional velocities and proportional masses which can only result in an infinite mathematical loop.
And that is why Einstein is full of shit.
So the infinite set contains an infinite set of infinite sets. A lot of people would consider this fairly useless mental masturbation, however, understanding the difference between infinity and practical limits is wicked critical.
For example, mathematically if we start at zero and calculate the distance between point A and point B as "D" and attempt to use division, as in B=(B-A)/2, to define the steps necessary to reach B we enter the infinite set between the finite set of (A,B) because we are using that infinite set as a function, or a portion, of the finite set.
In reality though what we have done is confused units from the finite to the infinite.
It is like the old joke about the engineer and the mathematician, the math guy can't talk to a pretty girl because he moves towards her in a proportional function of the finite distance which results in a curve that can never achieve intersection.
The engineer uses an interval function which results in a straight line that intersects.
The engineer meets the girl while the mathematician becomes stuck in an infinite loop.
So the question is, when accelerating do we move based on the addition of energy or do we move based on the multiplication of a proportional velocity or mass?
In fact, since energy is mass, as we expend energy to achieve velocity we reduce mass because we are working, from a practical application, with the addition of energy and the subtraction of mass rather than the multiplication of proportional velocities and proportional masses which can only result in an infinite mathematical loop.
And that is why Einstein is full of shit.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Christ is a Fat, depressed, drunk?
If Christ came back as a fat, depressed drunk carrying a sidearm would you flock to him?
Matt 11:19 describes Christ as a Glutton. If I described an emaciated man as a glutton people would think me crazy. The idols, or icons, we make generally depict an emaciated man, but, if Christ had been emaciated describing him as a glutton would have destroyed the credibility of those describing Christ. Scripture describes Christ as being a glutton, overweight, fat.
Luke 7:34 describes Christ as a winebibber. Someone who drinks too much wine. A drunk. This is not as easy to prove as a being overweight, but, it doesn't matter. Christ is perceived as, and described as, a drunk by people.
Isaiah 53:3 tells us that Christ is a man of sorrows, rejected and despised. Depressed in the current language.
Luke 22:36 describes Christ as telling his disciples to sell their clothes and buy swords, the popular sidearm of the era. We know one of the swords belonged to Peter, John 18:10. Who carried the other sword? Was a Christ a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of guy or was Christ a “do as I do” kind of guy? If Christ is a “do as I do” we can assume he carried that second sword. We know he attacked people in the temple with a scourge, similar to what he was whipped with. John 2:15
Scripture describes Christ, arguably, as a fat, depressed drunk carrying and using a weapon.
In our culture, and many others, this description is derogatory and truthfully the reason Christ was crucified, despised and rejected because people perceived of him as being a “bad person”.
I figure history repeats so when Christ comes back he will be perceived of as a bad person by most people, just as he was two thousand years ago.
I'm ready for that because God opened my eyes. I look around and I see many people who have their own idea, just as the Jewish people did, of a conquering hero rather than a fat depressed drunk. I know God does things God's way and is not really interested in submitting to the will of people.
I don't depend on my understanding of how Christ is going to be when Christ comes back. I'm going to depend on recognizing Christ's voice, however people describe Christ.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Firearm liability and black markets
Some idiots are trying to sue the group that manufactured the rifle used in the Sandyhook elementary school shooting. Bushmaster is owned by Cerberus Capital through a subsidiary called "Freedom Group".
This is a frivolous lawsuit. The suit itself cannot be won, it is intended as an intimidation device to be used to extort money from a firearms manufacturer.
The problem is that these kinds of situations increase black market activity.
It is not illegal to use the justice system in the United States to cost corporations money by suing them. It is a misuse of the justice system, a perversion, a way of causing damages legally.
Lawsuits are expensive to address and there are many, many different tricks that some lawyers use to cause damages to other legally.
This creates anger and sometimes a desire to obtain revenge. Since the misuse of the system was designed to stop a manufacturer from making something, some of those people who have been unemployed, or consumers who enjoyed the products produced by the organization, as a result of the immoral and unjust acts of extortion can obtain revenge by manufacturing the products in hiding.
This has been true of alcohol, recreational drugs like ecstasy or meth, revolutionary pamphlets and weapons.
When people engage in excessive punitive activities, as determined by those being punished, consumers, employees, supporters, those being "punished" often rebel. Make no mistake, "fans" identify with the object of their attention and feel "hurt" when what or who ever they are fans of is "punished", especially unfairly. Sometimes with hidden, impotent actions like spitting in food. Sometimes by blowing up federal office buildings. Often doing something inbetween these extremes.
These actions may very well cause Bushmaster to go out of business, but, the unfair way that the legal system is being misused will cause animosity.
This is incredibly stupid and it will backfire. Most people are like me, they will just go build their own. Some people are not, some people are wacked and some people are going to do wacked things because they are angry about inequity.
This is a frivolous lawsuit. The suit itself cannot be won, it is intended as an intimidation device to be used to extort money from a firearms manufacturer.
The problem is that these kinds of situations increase black market activity.
It is not illegal to use the justice system in the United States to cost corporations money by suing them. It is a misuse of the justice system, a perversion, a way of causing damages legally.
Lawsuits are expensive to address and there are many, many different tricks that some lawyers use to cause damages to other legally.
This creates anger and sometimes a desire to obtain revenge. Since the misuse of the system was designed to stop a manufacturer from making something, some of those people who have been unemployed, or consumers who enjoyed the products produced by the organization, as a result of the immoral and unjust acts of extortion can obtain revenge by manufacturing the products in hiding.
This has been true of alcohol, recreational drugs like ecstasy or meth, revolutionary pamphlets and weapons.
When people engage in excessive punitive activities, as determined by those being punished, consumers, employees, supporters, those being "punished" often rebel. Make no mistake, "fans" identify with the object of their attention and feel "hurt" when what or who ever they are fans of is "punished", especially unfairly. Sometimes with hidden, impotent actions like spitting in food. Sometimes by blowing up federal office buildings. Often doing something inbetween these extremes.
These actions may very well cause Bushmaster to go out of business, but, the unfair way that the legal system is being misused will cause animosity.
This is incredibly stupid and it will backfire. Most people are like me, they will just go build their own. Some people are not, some people are wacked and some people are going to do wacked things because they are angry about inequity.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Electromagnetic firing pin
What happens if we use an electromagnetic tubular push solenoid as a firing pin?
No, I'm not going to explain specific forces required. I am not exactly sure what I used or of the legality of this exactly or the liability if some idiot tries this at home.
It is a home made gun and that much is legal. I used a 24 inch long pipe so the barrel would be legal. The gun couldn't be carried since it required a car battery and I dissembled it years ago. I built it from junk I had in the garage one night about twenty five years ago, just something to do. I showed a couple of friends, but, it was fricking LOUD! and reasonably useless, so just an experiment. Motorcycle backfire can be a excellent excuse for loud noises. Just make sure your neighbors know that you work on cars or motorcycles so they aren't surprised at loud bangs.
There is discussion about this on the web and there are a lot if idiots suggesting that anyone who tries this should be nominated for the Darwin awards. People have done this. I've done this. No trouble, just be smart about it, or you could blow yourself up, so, don't do this at home.
The force required to activate a primer is a funny thing, it is actually pressure, not really force. Pressure is force distributed over an area. We call it force, 21psi of force, 15 newtons of force, etc, but, really, pressure is force distributed over area.
Most firing pins, centerfire, are rounded at the end. If you look at solenoids you might discover that they have different ratings based on the diameter of the rod the solenoid is moving. A "1000" gram solenoid becomes "2000" grams when the diameter of the rod is smaller. 454 grams are roughly a pound of force. A 2000 gram solenoid is roughly, 4 pounds.
If you get a double head nail, double head nails are the "McGyver" home gunsmithing "easy peasy" firing pins, cut the head off and round it or just round the point of a normal nail. Put it in an electric drill, have someone hold the drill and file the point round. That makes a fair firing pin for any zip gun
By reducing the area of the force, you have increased the mechanical advantage. Truthfully, a 2000 gram solenoid will probably punch right through some primers once it is attached to a firing pin.
Now, depending on what someone is firing the rest of the rig is important. Shotgun shells are not really high pressure, smooth bore, all that. Still, they need something strong enough to absorb the recoil. 3/4 inch black pipe with a pipe cap will do, but, make sure the rounded point reaches the primer. I've filled the pipe cap with different things. I like rubber hose washers, make sure the cap threads on securely and the pipe washer pushes the shotgun shell firmly into the barrel.
If you attach the nail to the solenoid it will move in and out of the hole drilled in the pipe cap. Use a fired shell to set the distance from the pipe to the solenoid. I used U clamps for pipe into a 2x4 for the pipe. The solenoid was square. I had to notch the 2x4 for it and I used a simple C clamp to hold the solenoid in place.
I C clamped the thing to my work bench and I used shotgun shells I had pulled the shot from. Getting the alignment and the stroke right was the hardest part. I only fired it a couple of times and it did work.
I also considered drilling a couple of holes in the primers on fired shot gun shells and using nicrome wire or Estes rocket igniters to set off the reloaded shot gun shell, but, I never did do that.
Doing stuff is fun, building stuff is fun. Messing with guns can be dangerous, so if you ever do any home gun smithing or reloading remember that it's dangerous and be careful. Shove a hunk of 1 1/4 pipe over the 3/4 pipe if you are worried about the breech pressure. Some epoxy will keep it in place.
Now, some idiot is going to claim I "encouraged" some other idiot to do something stupid. I'm not encouraging anyone to do this, I'm just explaining how I did it and how it can be done. So, don't try this at home.
No, I'm not going to explain specific forces required. I am not exactly sure what I used or of the legality of this exactly or the liability if some idiot tries this at home.
It is a home made gun and that much is legal. I used a 24 inch long pipe so the barrel would be legal. The gun couldn't be carried since it required a car battery and I dissembled it years ago. I built it from junk I had in the garage one night about twenty five years ago, just something to do. I showed a couple of friends, but, it was fricking LOUD! and reasonably useless, so just an experiment. Motorcycle backfire can be a excellent excuse for loud noises. Just make sure your neighbors know that you work on cars or motorcycles so they aren't surprised at loud bangs.
There is discussion about this on the web and there are a lot if idiots suggesting that anyone who tries this should be nominated for the Darwin awards. People have done this. I've done this. No trouble, just be smart about it, or you could blow yourself up, so, don't do this at home.
The force required to activate a primer is a funny thing, it is actually pressure, not really force. Pressure is force distributed over an area. We call it force, 21psi of force, 15 newtons of force, etc, but, really, pressure is force distributed over area.
Most firing pins, centerfire, are rounded at the end. If you look at solenoids you might discover that they have different ratings based on the diameter of the rod the solenoid is moving. A "1000" gram solenoid becomes "2000" grams when the diameter of the rod is smaller. 454 grams are roughly a pound of force. A 2000 gram solenoid is roughly, 4 pounds.
If you get a double head nail, double head nails are the "McGyver" home gunsmithing "easy peasy" firing pins, cut the head off and round it or just round the point of a normal nail. Put it in an electric drill, have someone hold the drill and file the point round. That makes a fair firing pin for any zip gun
By reducing the area of the force, you have increased the mechanical advantage. Truthfully, a 2000 gram solenoid will probably punch right through some primers once it is attached to a firing pin.
Now, depending on what someone is firing the rest of the rig is important. Shotgun shells are not really high pressure, smooth bore, all that. Still, they need something strong enough to absorb the recoil. 3/4 inch black pipe with a pipe cap will do, but, make sure the rounded point reaches the primer. I've filled the pipe cap with different things. I like rubber hose washers, make sure the cap threads on securely and the pipe washer pushes the shotgun shell firmly into the barrel.
If you attach the nail to the solenoid it will move in and out of the hole drilled in the pipe cap. Use a fired shell to set the distance from the pipe to the solenoid. I used U clamps for pipe into a 2x4 for the pipe. The solenoid was square. I had to notch the 2x4 for it and I used a simple C clamp to hold the solenoid in place.
I C clamped the thing to my work bench and I used shotgun shells I had pulled the shot from. Getting the alignment and the stroke right was the hardest part. I only fired it a couple of times and it did work.
I also considered drilling a couple of holes in the primers on fired shot gun shells and using nicrome wire or Estes rocket igniters to set off the reloaded shot gun shell, but, I never did do that.
Doing stuff is fun, building stuff is fun. Messing with guns can be dangerous, so if you ever do any home gun smithing or reloading remember that it's dangerous and be careful. Shove a hunk of 1 1/4 pipe over the 3/4 pipe if you are worried about the breech pressure. Some epoxy will keep it in place.
Now, some idiot is going to claim I "encouraged" some other idiot to do something stupid. I'm not encouraging anyone to do this, I'm just explaining how I did it and how it can be done. So, don't try this at home.
"righteousness", genocide and Internet Stalkers
One of the things that amazes me is people who have no control in their lives. These are the abusers, the people who are constantly trying to force people to abide by their beliefs.
Parents beating children into submission. Anonymous blackmailing, extorting and intimidating people. Bullies at school. Politicians. Religious fanatics.
I'm opinionated and I'm not shy about sharing my opinions. They are generally well thought out, and when they are not I generally learn something from an exchange. I'm not perfect and I fall into the same traps others fall into, I just do it less often and I spend more time educating myself.
But, there are those who cloak themselves in "righteousness" and they stalk people, abusing them, "for the greater good". They become the inciters of genocide, killing those people "who are not right".
I've always been amazed at them, the older I've gotten the more amazed I have been. I thought it hilarious when righteous fanatics in anonymous adopted the image of a righteous religious fanatic who tried to kill King James for having the Bible translated into English.
Like most of us, Julian Assange, anonymous, are not perfect. In some cases they do a lot of good. Wikileaks is a perfect example of an organization which increases public transparency of oppressive organizations. Extorting popstars or whatever is a perfect example of oppressive scum.
Like ignorance, abusive behavior is something we all engage in.
The word "schooled" is a synonym for "humiliating defeat" because teachers, those we entrust to educate ourselves and our children often humiliate students. We see it in movies. We see it in classrooms. We laugh. We do the same things, like teachers, like parents, we bully, ridicule and humiliate each other.
Christianity is interesting because, alone among religions, it teaches forgiveness through faith. All other religions teach punishment. Christ teaches that if we have a problem with another person we shouldn't have anything to do with that person. Matthew 18. There is no punishment in the New Testament. Everyone who repents and believes is saved, regardless of their sins. The last becomes first and the first becomes last because all are equal.
Most Christians don't hear that. They hear the same old story from all other religions, karma, law, good behavior, social hierarchy, secures a place in paradise and they demand punishment. It is sad. The book is there, most can read, few actually think about what they read.
We see what we want to see. We see our own righteousness and without being psychotic there is no way to be completely emotionally detached and totally objective.
We can train ourselves provided we decide we will learn. Few do, and that amazes me.
Parents beating children into submission. Anonymous blackmailing, extorting and intimidating people. Bullies at school. Politicians. Religious fanatics.
I'm opinionated and I'm not shy about sharing my opinions. They are generally well thought out, and when they are not I generally learn something from an exchange. I'm not perfect and I fall into the same traps others fall into, I just do it less often and I spend more time educating myself.
But, there are those who cloak themselves in "righteousness" and they stalk people, abusing them, "for the greater good". They become the inciters of genocide, killing those people "who are not right".
I've always been amazed at them, the older I've gotten the more amazed I have been. I thought it hilarious when righteous fanatics in anonymous adopted the image of a righteous religious fanatic who tried to kill King James for having the Bible translated into English.
Like most of us, Julian Assange, anonymous, are not perfect. In some cases they do a lot of good. Wikileaks is a perfect example of an organization which increases public transparency of oppressive organizations. Extorting popstars or whatever is a perfect example of oppressive scum.
Like ignorance, abusive behavior is something we all engage in.
The word "schooled" is a synonym for "humiliating defeat" because teachers, those we entrust to educate ourselves and our children often humiliate students. We see it in movies. We see it in classrooms. We laugh. We do the same things, like teachers, like parents, we bully, ridicule and humiliate each other.
Christianity is interesting because, alone among religions, it teaches forgiveness through faith. All other religions teach punishment. Christ teaches that if we have a problem with another person we shouldn't have anything to do with that person. Matthew 18. There is no punishment in the New Testament. Everyone who repents and believes is saved, regardless of their sins. The last becomes first and the first becomes last because all are equal.
Most Christians don't hear that. They hear the same old story from all other religions, karma, law, good behavior, social hierarchy, secures a place in paradise and they demand punishment. It is sad. The book is there, most can read, few actually think about what they read.
We see what we want to see. We see our own righteousness and without being psychotic there is no way to be completely emotionally detached and totally objective.
We can train ourselves provided we decide we will learn. Few do, and that amazes me.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Friearms Restrictions
Firearms restrictions
It is basic economics that the market in any product is driven by demand and the ability to provide a supply.
There is a demand for a cancer cure and people willing to supply that demand so there is a market in cancer cures. Do they work? I'm no medical professional, but, I would say most of the cures for cancer being sold are less than effective. This is simply an example of demand creating a supply.
There is a demand for recreational drugs and there is a supply. We call this the "war on drugs". Prescription drugs are widely available in this black market despite attempts at rigid market controls. Precursors for meth are controlled and meth is still available because there is a demand and there are people willing to supply that demand.
The United Nations has been battling illegal firearms manufacturing for years. When the British were occupying Israel the Israelis built hidden, illegal, factories that produced firearms and ammunition. Google "illegal firearms manufacturers" and read about busts of people illegally making guns here in the states.
As market controls increase, black market activity increases. As long as there is a demand there will be a supply. Period. Increasing regulations will only increase black market activity and create a "war" that makes the "war on drugs" look like a playground fight.
It is basic economics that the market in any product is driven by demand and the ability to provide a supply.
There is a demand for a cancer cure and people willing to supply that demand so there is a market in cancer cures. Do they work? I'm no medical professional, but, I would say most of the cures for cancer being sold are less than effective. This is simply an example of demand creating a supply.
There is a demand for recreational drugs and there is a supply. We call this the "war on drugs". Prescription drugs are widely available in this black market despite attempts at rigid market controls. Precursors for meth are controlled and meth is still available because there is a demand and there are people willing to supply that demand.
The United Nations has been battling illegal firearms manufacturing for years. When the British were occupying Israel the Israelis built hidden, illegal, factories that produced firearms and ammunition. Google "illegal firearms manufacturers" and read about busts of people illegally making guns here in the states.
As market controls increase, black market activity increases. As long as there is a demand there will be a supply. Period. Increasing regulations will only increase black market activity and create a "war" that makes the "war on drugs" look like a playground fight.
U.S. Genocide
U.S. Genocide
The United States has participated in at least two genocides, Africans and Native Americans. Both of these were politically supported primarily by the Democrats. Andrew Jackson used a donkey to represent that he was too stubborn to be swayed by abolitionists or those advocating for Native Americans. The Democrats still use that symbol.
It is very much like having the NAZI party around. During WW2 the Democrats controlled the government and rounded up ethnic people, Japanese, German, Italian, and put them in camps. I don't know exactly how many died during that round up, but, genocide is defined by targeting and killing people based on ethnicity. I don't think there is a specific number attached.
Although, calling the rounding up of people and causing the death of, hundreds, thousands, A genocide does seem to detract from the genocides of Africans, Native Americans and Jews....
The United States has participated in at least two genocides, Africans and Native Americans. Both of these were politically supported primarily by the Democrats. Andrew Jackson used a donkey to represent that he was too stubborn to be swayed by abolitionists or those advocating for Native Americans. The Democrats still use that symbol.
It is very much like having the NAZI party around. During WW2 the Democrats controlled the government and rounded up ethnic people, Japanese, German, Italian, and put them in camps. I don't know exactly how many died during that round up, but, genocide is defined by targeting and killing people based on ethnicity. I don't think there is a specific number attached.
Although, calling the rounding up of people and causing the death of, hundreds, thousands, A genocide does seem to detract from the genocides of Africans, Native Americans and Jews....
Judging...again
I have news for anyone who claims to be Christian and is talking about how people get what they deserve.
People are judged the way they judge. All have fallen short of God's glory. If you believe people get what they deserve, I guarantee you will get what you deserve.
Do yourself and everyone you witness to a favor. Start witnessing the Good News of the Forgiveness of Sin by Faith. Forgive and you will be forgiven, and incidentally, you won't get what you deserve, you'll be forgiven.
Remember Job and how God reacted towards Job's 3 friends who told Job that God was righteous and Job was getting what Job deserved.
Something I want to point out, a lot of people teach the commandments of men as doctrine. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a fruit to be desired to make one wise, and people will say God wants us to pray for wisdom. Solomon did exactly that and ended up worshipping other Gods.
An Apostle is one sent by Christ with the message, there were at least 70 and their genders are not specified, yet people teach there were only 12 and they were all men.
If we read the Southern Baptist Conventions resolutions on abortion over the years, first in favor of legalized abortion in some cases, later against all abortion, none of those resolutions address Exodus 21:22, the only scripture which addresses abortion.
I could list a hundred things people teach as doctrine that are not scriptural, yet, people twist scripture to support.
If you Google "even if a brother has done us wrong" you might find some essays about scripture, including the ideas that one should not discuss the issue because it would damage the credibility of the brother. This is common Catholic and Protestant theology, based on John 13:34, "love others" scripture.
Now, suppose people behave badly towards an individual. Teaching Biblical falsehoods, lying, treating a person badly and they pretend righteousness. Suppose the individual points out these sins, maybe once out of a hundred, and the vilified person is even more vilified.
Based on that scenario, how does God judge the people involved?
The truth is, God doesn't. Grace and the forgiveness of sin through Christ covers those who believe.
But, do people who teach false doctrines actually believe in Christ or do they believe what people say about Christ?
I say, stick with prayer and scripture. Believe in receiving direction and instruction and what we ask for and believe we shall receive. This way, we learn to depend on God and we are not cursed by trust in people.
Here is another of those things people can only understand through Christ's perspective of Grace.
People will be judged as they judge.
If one judges as Christ, which is to say not at all since Christ is about the Good News of forgiveness of Sin by Faith, one is forgiven as they forgive.
But, if one judges by Law, one is held accountable by Law.
People will be separated into sheep and goats. People whose faith is in Christ, who forgave, who listened to Christ and know Christ's voice, follow Christ and end up with the sheep.
Those who depend on their understanding of scripture, who judge by the law, who do not know Christ's voice, they end up with the goats.
The issue is, to refuse to judge people and allow people to judge for themselves is a judgment. People will be judged as they judge.
This is a statement like, the first shall be last, which happens when everyone is equal. The first become last and the last become first.
But, to place faith in my explanation would be to place trust in people, which Jeremiah tells us is wrong, cursed be the man who trusts in man. Even if people believe what I say about Christ, their belief is misplaced since they are believing in what I say rather than in Christ.
Scripture is pretty simple, we just need "God glasses" to read it, easily found, completely free and delivered on demand by the Holy Ghost.
People are judged the way they judge. All have fallen short of God's glory. If you believe people get what they deserve, I guarantee you will get what you deserve.
Do yourself and everyone you witness to a favor. Start witnessing the Good News of the Forgiveness of Sin by Faith. Forgive and you will be forgiven, and incidentally, you won't get what you deserve, you'll be forgiven.
Remember Job and how God reacted towards Job's 3 friends who told Job that God was righteous and Job was getting what Job deserved.
Something I want to point out, a lot of people teach the commandments of men as doctrine. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a fruit to be desired to make one wise, and people will say God wants us to pray for wisdom. Solomon did exactly that and ended up worshipping other Gods.
An Apostle is one sent by Christ with the message, there were at least 70 and their genders are not specified, yet people teach there were only 12 and they were all men.
If we read the Southern Baptist Conventions resolutions on abortion over the years, first in favor of legalized abortion in some cases, later against all abortion, none of those resolutions address Exodus 21:22, the only scripture which addresses abortion.
I could list a hundred things people teach as doctrine that are not scriptural, yet, people twist scripture to support.
If you Google "even if a brother has done us wrong" you might find some essays about scripture, including the ideas that one should not discuss the issue because it would damage the credibility of the brother. This is common Catholic and Protestant theology, based on John 13:34, "love others" scripture.
Now, suppose people behave badly towards an individual. Teaching Biblical falsehoods, lying, treating a person badly and they pretend righteousness. Suppose the individual points out these sins, maybe once out of a hundred, and the vilified person is even more vilified.
Based on that scenario, how does God judge the people involved?
The truth is, God doesn't. Grace and the forgiveness of sin through Christ covers those who believe.
But, do people who teach false doctrines actually believe in Christ or do they believe what people say about Christ?
I say, stick with prayer and scripture. Believe in receiving direction and instruction and what we ask for and believe we shall receive. This way, we learn to depend on God and we are not cursed by trust in people.
Here is another of those things people can only understand through Christ's perspective of Grace.
People will be judged as they judge.
If one judges as Christ, which is to say not at all since Christ is about the Good News of forgiveness of Sin by Faith, one is forgiven as they forgive.
But, if one judges by Law, one is held accountable by Law.
People will be separated into sheep and goats. People whose faith is in Christ, who forgave, who listened to Christ and know Christ's voice, follow Christ and end up with the sheep.
Those who depend on their understanding of scripture, who judge by the law, who do not know Christ's voice, they end up with the goats.
The issue is, to refuse to judge people and allow people to judge for themselves is a judgment. People will be judged as they judge.
This is a statement like, the first shall be last, which happens when everyone is equal. The first become last and the last become first.
But, to place faith in my explanation would be to place trust in people, which Jeremiah tells us is wrong, cursed be the man who trusts in man. Even if people believe what I say about Christ, their belief is misplaced since they are believing in what I say rather than in Christ.
Scripture is pretty simple, we just need "God glasses" to read it, easily found, completely free and delivered on demand by the Holy Ghost.
pi is pie?
Obama endorsed a pie maker on pi day.
And this is why the United States is failing at Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
We have a president who believes pi is pie.
A president extolling on how wonderful flour mixed with lard, filled with sugar mixed with fruit is during an obesity epidemic.
And people actually believe the guy doing this an intelligent person. No wonder people are voting for trump, we live in an Idiocracy.
And this is why the United States is failing at Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
We have a president who believes pi is pie.
A president extolling on how wonderful flour mixed with lard, filled with sugar mixed with fruit is during an obesity epidemic.
And people actually believe the guy doing this an intelligent person. No wonder people are voting for trump, we live in an Idiocracy.
Steps to reduce violence
Steps to reduce violence.
This goes back to communication, socialization and a really, really poor educational system. At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
How successful people are generally depends on how well they communicate with others. Poverty level people tend to be predominantly Kinesthetic in their learning and communication styles. Typical "talk and chalk" education doesn't address kinesthetic learners, so, students in poverty level communities tend to feel that being "schooled" is to suffer a humiliating defeat. (Listen to M.C. Hammer's "can't touch this" for an example of the popular use of the word "schooled").
We actually train each other to ridicule and dismiss learners who are predominantly kinesthetic.
Properly educating and socializing people improves their employment possibilities, which helps stabilize society more than almost anything else.
In addition, Pavlovian behavior modification, "punishment/reward", works only when it is rigidly consistent. Typically values change from teacher to teacher, and teacher to parent. Normally students learn to adapt to the current authority figures values. This doesn't work well if the parents and teachers have different value systems. The adaptive authority process often teaches disrespect for parents, typically becoming "critical" around teen age years. Students often learn their parents are not the predominant authority figures in their lives and feel no obligation to listen to them.
To address the problem we need to address kinesthetic learning styles and be more adaptive to individual students learning styles.
Standardized tests are helpful in this regard because they identify students that are not responding to standard educational processes. Rather than use them for identification of non-standard students, teachers and school administrators often use them to humiliate students and then complain about being forced to humiliate students rather than implement expensive alternative or individual education.
Once we address learning styles, we need to stop using "punishment/reward", Pavlovian behavior modification. We need to replace it with positive reinforcement and pretty much eliminate punishment, except for violent situations that result in bodily harm. Pavlovian punishment/reward creates a dependence on authority structure.
Third, we need socialized medicine with comprehensive mental health care so that people with issues can receive help when they need it.
Fourth, as income inequality increases society destabilizes. IRS SOI Tax Stats for 2013 publish the Adjusted Gross Income for 2013 collected from 1040s. The range, 99.7%, is $1M to $0. That makes the middle $500,000.00. 85% of returns report an income of less than $100K. There is no middle class in the United States.
Compensation should be limited to 100 times the compensation of the lowest paid worker, including temps and contractors. Minimum wage should be increased to a living wage. Henry Ford overpaid auto workers and the results of that action are historic and non-intuitive.
Disposable income is critical to social stability and economic growth. Personally, I'd make a flat tax of 50% of all income over the previous years 75% range. In 2013 about 75% of people made less than $75K. I'd tax the upper 25% at 50%. Someone making $100K would pay $12.5K in taxes and someone making $1M would pay $462,500.00 in taxes.
This places the tax burden on those who are less likely to spend all their discretionary income.
These are sweeping changes, and the resistance will be extreme, but, it's pretty much change or die. There might be alternative solutions capable of achieving the same results, but, I have not heard them.
At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
If we keep doing the same things, we'll get the same results. If we oppress people more, they will rebel more. To battle social violence we need to improve our community socialization institutions, schools, provide free mental health care and reduce income inequality.
This goes back to communication, socialization and a really, really poor educational system. At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
How successful people are generally depends on how well they communicate with others. Poverty level people tend to be predominantly Kinesthetic in their learning and communication styles. Typical "talk and chalk" education doesn't address kinesthetic learners, so, students in poverty level communities tend to feel that being "schooled" is to suffer a humiliating defeat. (Listen to M.C. Hammer's "can't touch this" for an example of the popular use of the word "schooled").
We actually train each other to ridicule and dismiss learners who are predominantly kinesthetic.
Properly educating and socializing people improves their employment possibilities, which helps stabilize society more than almost anything else.
In addition, Pavlovian behavior modification, "punishment/reward", works only when it is rigidly consistent. Typically values change from teacher to teacher, and teacher to parent. Normally students learn to adapt to the current authority figures values. This doesn't work well if the parents and teachers have different value systems. The adaptive authority process often teaches disrespect for parents, typically becoming "critical" around teen age years. Students often learn their parents are not the predominant authority figures in their lives and feel no obligation to listen to them.
To address the problem we need to address kinesthetic learning styles and be more adaptive to individual students learning styles.
Standardized tests are helpful in this regard because they identify students that are not responding to standard educational processes. Rather than use them for identification of non-standard students, teachers and school administrators often use them to humiliate students and then complain about being forced to humiliate students rather than implement expensive alternative or individual education.
Once we address learning styles, we need to stop using "punishment/reward", Pavlovian behavior modification. We need to replace it with positive reinforcement and pretty much eliminate punishment, except for violent situations that result in bodily harm. Pavlovian punishment/reward creates a dependence on authority structure.
Third, we need socialized medicine with comprehensive mental health care so that people with issues can receive help when they need it.
Fourth, as income inequality increases society destabilizes. IRS SOI Tax Stats for 2013 publish the Adjusted Gross Income for 2013 collected from 1040s. The range, 99.7%, is $1M to $0. That makes the middle $500,000.00. 85% of returns report an income of less than $100K. There is no middle class in the United States.
Compensation should be limited to 100 times the compensation of the lowest paid worker, including temps and contractors. Minimum wage should be increased to a living wage. Henry Ford overpaid auto workers and the results of that action are historic and non-intuitive.
Disposable income is critical to social stability and economic growth. Personally, I'd make a flat tax of 50% of all income over the previous years 75% range. In 2013 about 75% of people made less than $75K. I'd tax the upper 25% at 50%. Someone making $100K would pay $12.5K in taxes and someone making $1M would pay $462,500.00 in taxes.
This places the tax burden on those who are less likely to spend all their discretionary income.
These are sweeping changes, and the resistance will be extreme, but, it's pretty much change or die. There might be alternative solutions capable of achieving the same results, but, I have not heard them.
At the core, social violence is an income/power/communication issue.
If we keep doing the same things, we'll get the same results. If we oppress people more, they will rebel more. To battle social violence we need to improve our community socialization institutions, schools, provide free mental health care and reduce income inequality.
Why mass murders occur
Why are Middle Eastern terrorists attacking us? No, it isn't to destroy our way of life, it is to maintain their own way of life.
Western Industrialized multinationals seek out resources and markets that they can use to expand their for-profit business interests. Incidentally to this process we export Western culture and value systems, which we hold up as standards even while we violate them ourselves.
For example, sexual equality, we (Western Industrial nations) treat women as less than men and then demand equal rights for women in other nations.
As these people see their traditional values being destroyed by "do as I say, not as I do" hypocrites they get angry, just as we would.
Now, most people don't go around killing other people when they get angry, so our hypocrisy does not excuse their behavior. Generally, what happens is that some individuals, a very, very small percentage, who have been treated unfairly, "experienced excessive punitive action", act out against their oppressors.
This is true of most mass murders, from high school shooters to terrorists. The percentage might be 1 in 1 million, or 1 in 100,000. Our population is growing and so the number of individuals who will react violently when confronted with "excessive punitive action" will increase, not matter how small the percentage is.
Most cultures have a concept of "fair". When an individual experiences "excessive punitive action" by other individuals who ignore the rules they are supposed to be enforcing, or who enforce rules unequally, they act out.
If we are going to use Pavlovian conditioning, punishment/reward behavior modification, it must be consistent and equally applied. The less consistent and the more unequally applied the more of these mass murders will be created.
I believe that as our population grows the less consistently and more unequally we are applying our Pavlovian standards.
This begins in our education system and our education system must change if we want to reduce the potential for future mass murders.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Gun control
I don't hate the idea of gun control. I think gun control is stupid. There is no evidence it reduces violence. 1934, 1968, violence increased. Correlation isn't causation and to even infer causation, correlation must be consistent. Gun control legislation is not consistent when correlated with reductions in violence. People doing silly things doesn't upset me. I expect silly, self destructive behavior.
I do hate the idea of a deadly black market where submachine guns that are similar in quality to crack or meth, which is cooked by people who flunked chemistry, are produced by people who flunked metal shop and are just as easy to buy as crack.
For over 30 years I've warned people about the danger of a black market in guns. I watched as people started building guns during the "assault weapon" ban and I built an AR15 myself.
I've watched as we went from guys like me who enjoyed home gunsmithing fabricating guns to people having "build parties" where people who have never learned anything about metal work fabricate their own assault rifles.
Every time a market is restricted, the black market in that commodity increases. As long as there is a demand, there will be a supply.
There isn't anyway to put the cat that we let out by passing the stupid assault weapon ban back in the bag. We can hope it doesn't get worse, but, it looks like it is going to get a lot worse.
And when I say a lot worse, I mean low quality Saturday Night special submachine guns as easy to buy as a crack rock, and the deaths that go with that kind of market.
I do hate the idea of a deadly black market where submachine guns that are similar in quality to crack or meth, which is cooked by people who flunked chemistry, are produced by people who flunked metal shop and are just as easy to buy as crack.
For over 30 years I've warned people about the danger of a black market in guns. I watched as people started building guns during the "assault weapon" ban and I built an AR15 myself.
I've watched as we went from guys like me who enjoyed home gunsmithing fabricating guns to people having "build parties" where people who have never learned anything about metal work fabricate their own assault rifles.
Every time a market is restricted, the black market in that commodity increases. As long as there is a demand, there will be a supply.
There isn't anyway to put the cat that we let out by passing the stupid assault weapon ban back in the bag. We can hope it doesn't get worse, but, it looks like it is going to get a lot worse.
And when I say a lot worse, I mean low quality Saturday Night special submachine guns as easy to buy as a crack rock, and the deaths that go with that kind of market.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Nina Jablonski and "Skin"
There are some videos of lectures by an anthropologist named Nina Jablonski on the web. Ted talks, etc. Essentially she argues that skin pigmentation is a result of evolutionary pressures based on ultraviolet radiation. Total bullshit of course, but, people eat that shit up without thinking about it.
"survival of the fittest"! In reality, evolution is determined by reproductive fitness.
Survival of the fittest is defined as:- a nineteenth century concept that the strongest survive. Often called "Social Darwinism." "Survival of the fittest" misrepresents the process of natural selection. The mechanism of natural selection is reproductive fitness, those who produce offspring. Social Darwinism refers to being the most powerful, which is not the mechanism for natural selection.
Natural selection is the evolution works. Mutations in species which contribute to the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce become predominant in a species. The key here is surviving to reproduce.
The age of reproduction is about 13 in human beings. If skin pigmentation offered an evolutionary advantage based on geographic location we would see children living in the wrong geographic location die. Black children would die in Europe. White children would die in Africa. Both would die where evolution selected brown people, places like the Middle East and the Arctic circle.
What amazes me is that a so obviously flawed hypothesis is so eagerly accepted by academics who are supposed to understand the theory of reproductive fitness.
What a bunch of ignorant bullshit. Dr. Jablonski tells us, in one of her video lectures, that her team worked for 15 years on this "theory" and no one ever explained reproductive fitness and natural selection to her.
Un frickin believable.
"survival of the fittest"! In reality, evolution is determined by reproductive fitness.
Survival of the fittest is defined as:- a nineteenth century concept that the strongest survive. Often called "Social Darwinism." "Survival of the fittest" misrepresents the process of natural selection. The mechanism of natural selection is reproductive fitness, those who produce offspring. Social Darwinism refers to being the most powerful, which is not the mechanism for natural selection.
Natural selection is the evolution works. Mutations in species which contribute to the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce become predominant in a species. The key here is surviving to reproduce.
The age of reproduction is about 13 in human beings. If skin pigmentation offered an evolutionary advantage based on geographic location we would see children living in the wrong geographic location die. Black children would die in Europe. White children would die in Africa. Both would die where evolution selected brown people, places like the Middle East and the Arctic circle.
What amazes me is that a so obviously flawed hypothesis is so eagerly accepted by academics who are supposed to understand the theory of reproductive fitness.
What a bunch of ignorant bullshit. Dr. Jablonski tells us, in one of her video lectures, that her team worked for 15 years on this "theory" and no one ever explained reproductive fitness and natural selection to her.
Un frickin believable.
Thinking about propaganda
The problem with propaganda is that it generally fails to last historically. There are notable exceptions which are recognized to be B.S. by advanced scholars and which are still commonly held to be "true" by the general population. The idea that people believed the Earth was flat before Columbus for example.
More recently, people ignore the fact that the Democrats are politically responsible for multiple genocides. Andrew Jackson the first President elected as a Democrat after the Democrats changed their name from Democratic Republicans, committed genocidal atrocities against both African Americans and First peoples. More recently, most democrats in Congress voted against the 1964 Civil Rights act.
If we go further back, we can examine the propagandistic concept that the Church was responsible for the Aristotelean theory of the Geocentric Universe when the conflict between the Church and Galileo/Copernicus was really an academic conflict between the prominent educational institution and some researchers challenging academic cannon. At the time of the Renaissance the Catholic Church was the primary publishing house, the primary provider of education and the primary religion of Europe.
Or we could examine the idea of the "Dark Ages" where people claim "the entire world was plunged into intellectual darkness by religious fanatics" when in actually it was only Europe. Priests in Europe have always been Scholars and many priests have been responsible for educating researchers (like Copernicus and Galileo) and/or researching new ideas. The biggest problem after the fall of the Roman Empire was that Rome sucked at technical documentation and excelled at religious and political documentation. Technical information was passed along by word of mouth through apprenticeships. As the technical experts responsible for amazing achievements like the aqueducts, the Colosseum and Roman roads died off the technical lessons learned by those experts died with them. The practice of maintaining technical secrets (closed source technology, ala Microsoft) creates a potential for a similar collapse. Fortunately Open Source addresses that and minimizes the potential for a "dark ages" should a cultural collapse occur.
So, while many of these issues are understood by various advanced scholars, these propagandistic ideas still permeate our education and academic circles.
It would be cool to see what people believe about the worlds political leaders of today in a thousand years, the differences between what is taught at lower and more advanced academic levels.
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