Dániel Boros

So is WAP useless, but true or is it wrong because of selection bias ?

People are moving to Russia to escape Socialism. Hahaha so ironic...

I think the term Universe may be used in methaphysics in a different way than in epistemology. Fine tuning is methaphysics. For a definition I would say: The thing that started with the big bang. Obviously the Universe did not start...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antropic_principle If I understand it correctly the anthropic principle states that the Universe is fine tuned for life because otherwise we would not be here asking why the Universe is finely tuned. It is true that we would not be here if fine tuning was out of sync with life, but that doesn't mean that that is the cause of the fine tuning. If the Universe conisted of many 'smaller universe' it would makes sense that life would only exist in a universe where the laws and constants are finely tuned, that however does not prove that there are more than one universe, therefore (if no evidence for a Multiverse exists) the anthropic principle is wrong. Also there is no need to explain any supposed fine tuning of the Universe. It is what it is and that's all we need to know. Or am I wrong?

Yeah this one is better. Number three depends on context though. Hungairan is a lot different than most (and by most I mean all) European languages since we came from a far. Actually we are from Venus

Thank you everyone for your comments Just for kicks here's my translation: "Az állítás tagadásának ismerete olyannyira egyenértékű az állítás ismeretével, hogy szinte mindegy melyiknek a jelentésével vagyunk tisztában."

I am translating Antony Flew's Theology and Falsification (http://www.politik-salon.de/files/theory_of_falsification.pdf) from English to Hungarian, however I have a sentence that I cannot translate, because I am simply unable to understand the meaning of the sentence. Can anyone please explain in detail what does the highlighted sentence mean? thanks in advance

What is the infinity axiom?

For Attila "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw Whether someone will be happier thanks to his or her study of philosophy is not guaranteed. Someone who (for example) lives on 1$ a day probably could use his or her time more productively than studying philosophy...

I don't believe that LEM has much to do with the original question. Does anyone have any input on the concept of physical constants and how they should be treated or thought of?

one word: excellent

*** Mod's note: Merged topics "FISHING AND PROPERTY. - sN *** Fishing is the prime example of the tragedy of commons. Since nobody owns the Ocean nobody abides by the regulations governments set for fishing thus destroying their own bread and butter in the long run. Obviously fish in the Ocean do not respect property rights, but is there no better way to conserve the amount of fish in the water than to regulate how much fishing boats can fish?

According to what I have read here: http://forum.objecti...showtopic=12514 ... the extension of space and | or time cannot be infinite (and are also discrete) since infinity cannot be applied to physically existing things. If that is so can it be possible that the physical constants we use and are regarded to be irrational numbers can be interpreted in ways in which they would not need an infinitely long number to represent them? If we get the right point of reference shouldn't these constants be integers, or at least finitely long? http://en.wikipedia....ysical_constant http://en.wikipedia....rational_number

Why? Euclidean geometry can work in any hypothetical space with bounds and also in the ones without bounds. Why would the latter be more likely than the prior? No Universal constant is infinite (equal to infinity) so why should the extension of space be an exception?

That's far from being conclusive. No matter how long you have travelled in a infinite Universe you could never prove that it is infinite since you can only travel a finite distance. Same is true for light and anything else we can measure.

If the Universe is finite in both time and space and if causality works as we think it does than there had to be a first cause, right? A cause not caused by anything, an existence that is necessary for things to exist. Or am I wrong?

Aren't values what etchics is all about? When a musician sings - And without music what would my worth be? - don't you think he believes that his highest value is to do creative work like Howard Roark did? Also this: I never said this was Ayn Rand grade literary work. If it were the guy would have most likely ended up in prison.

This is a song that in my opinion could be easily called the hymn for rational selfishness. Hope you will like it. "Zene nélkül mit érek én" in hungarian: Zene nélkül mit érek én in english (my rather poor translation): Original author Máté Péter from 1982 A very good remake by the band Black to Black

I was going the put quotation marks around that word.

The Legend of Korra is a famous American animated series whit an interesting backstory. Story: In the World of Avatar some people have special magical powers (earth,water,fire,air). The people are called benders. Benders have had a privileged position in society due to their abilities, but their role has diminished over time due to technological advancements. A guy named Amon has the ability to take away any persons bending powers, and he wants to equalize everyone into non- benders. He is the leader of the equalizers and his goal is the great equalization (reminds me of socialsm). Kora is the avatar, a bender who can control all four elements, and who with her friends and some other people opposes Amon so that benders could keep their powers. What I would like to emphasize from a objectivist standpoint is that the good guys are the ones who have been gifted unfairly with the talents the bad guys want to take away and not the other way around. So the good guys motivation is simply to keep their powers, which is a rather selfish motive. Setting: The show takes place mainly in Republic City that was founded by the protagonist from the prequel. The city is a mix of Chinese architecture and the industrial revolution.

Good old PZ Myers. He should run for office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQYoHiM-Uko worth watching

Are you sure that the people supported the bail outs and the stimulus? I mean the current system did not prevent this so don't really see the validity of the argument. I would say politicians did what they did because they knew they could get away with it. On a side not about the issue of the people being ignorant compared to the wise bureaucrats of Washington: This is somewhat related to Atlas Shrugged

Do you realize how much money would it require to achieve a majority with a 30$ token and that whatever happens could be reversed the same way it was made? Also if that is all you worry about a time lag can be introduced of 1 week before the token change takes effect. That way people can change their minds for free during that week.