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Author Topic: You have lost  (Read 9100 times)
Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2016, 05:19:33 pm »

Now I have updated http://archania.org/ideology.pdf with the new proof for the diversity prediction theorem, and I put (axis y discontinuity=parallel) on the graph for how much the size of the Brazilian rainforest has declined since 1970.

You guys make me want to write about big pharma, and about how Elsevier is getting rich on selling research papers (not the researchers themselves).

Other people have commented that I should write more about carbon footprint, and about what might happen in third world countries when they deplete drinking water reservoirs there and run out of other resources there. Possibilities for war, mass emigration, and so on.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 11:28:56 pm by Zanthius » Logged
Death 999
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2016, 03:47:34 am »

The substitution used in the 'simplifying' line in the first proof is valid - it's a substitution of the definition of C in for the summation. You've got SUM over the xi and some things that are independent of i. You can turn the sum over i into just multiplying by N for the constant terms, and for the other one you can pull the constant factor outside the sum, and what's left is the definition of C.

Don't feel bad that this wasn't obvious. It rolled several steps into one.
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Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #17 on: December 09, 2016, 10:29:52 am »

We have the solution for how to create the best team then. We choose the most skilled people, but of different ethnicities, different education, and different personality types. Then we are likely to get a skilled team with a high level of diversity, and that team is likely to kick ass against the Kohr-Ah (Donald Trump and his supporters).

So, what should we call it? The New Alliance of Free Stars, The Concordance of Alien Nations, The United Federation of Worlds, or The Empire of Zanthius?
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 11:36:51 am by Zanthius » Logged
Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #18 on: December 11, 2016, 03:59:47 pm »

I have written a bit more about our close evolutionary history with the Mycon:

http://archania.org/magic_mushrooms_and_human_evolution.pdf

Its almost Christmas, and I am thinking that we need to come up with some new celebrations. Most people in the most developed part of the world does not believe in the old religions anymore. And why are atheists celebrating Christian holidays? It does not make any sense. And without religion Christmas is become more and more superficial. It is only about giving material things to each other.

I propose 4 new celebrations, which have a somewhat more rational foundation:

A celebration for mathematics (mid-winter)
A celebration for environmentalism (vernal equinox)
A celebration for civil rights (mid-summer)
A celebration for science (autumnal equinox)

I am starting to work on it now http://archania.org/a_somewhat_more_rational_set_of_celebrations.pdf
« Last Edit: December 11, 2016, 08:37:01 pm by Zanthius » Logged
Scalare
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #19 on: December 12, 2016, 10:03:52 am »

Science is bought and is a big part of the reason why our environment is fucked. So please scrap that Smiley
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Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #20 on: December 12, 2016, 10:42:35 am »

There are definitely challenges with how science is conducted today, such as unpublished negative results, and that we need to pay lots of money to read scientific articles on the internet. But I actually think people aren’t sufficiently grateful of science. The next time you have a bacterial infection, you should maybe investigate who discovered or first synthesized that antibiotic you use to heal yourself, and be a little more grateful to those people.
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Scalare
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #21 on: December 12, 2016, 12:01:18 pm »

You're absolutely right in the sense that we only see published research that is positive, a big problem is also that scientists get heavily funded by companies who want a certain research to go a certain way. For example engergy drink manufacturers who funded research at a university that supposedly proved that their drinks were healthy Wink.

Science will cause our extinction if we continue as we do now. Nuclear weapons are inventions of scientists, as are combustion engines, the two most likely scenarios in which we fuck up the earth beyond repair.
It could also be our salvation, we might discover clean energy or leave the earth altogether. But it has a really dark side.

Regarding antibiotics it is wise to not see it as the holy grail and be too thankful for it. Right now we're in the process of creating highly resistant superbacteriae on which antibiotics have no effect, due to antibiotics being heavily used in food production and being prescribed too liberally. A knee operation might become deadly and a bladder infection could become uncureable.
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Death 999
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #22 on: December 12, 2016, 01:56:12 pm »

Zanthius, your attempt to make holidays reminds me of this and Raemon's attempts to create rituals and holidays, starting here
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Scalare
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #23 on: December 12, 2016, 02:35:06 pm »

Zanthius, your attempt to make holidays reminds me of this and Raemon's attempts to create rituals and holidays, starting here

I recently saw a video of amending the year it is as well, to be 12016 Human Era instead of making it dependant on when a certain holy figure as born Smiley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs
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Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #24 on: December 12, 2016, 04:04:58 pm »

Reply to Scalare's first post: I agree with many of the things you are saying, but that should make it even more important to have a day devoted to science. Not just to appreciate science, but also to reflect upon problems and dangers with science.

Reply to Death:
I don't know if I agree that we should celebrate Cthulhu at the winter solstice. I might agree that people aren't exposed to enough fear, but I don't know if invoking supernatural fears is the way to go. I love horror movies, but I have heard that the catholic church is funding lots of the horror movies, since it makes people so scared of demons and the devil that they start going church.

Our current society is however underdeveloped when it comes to rituals. We have quite a lot of music, but ideally music should be a part of a ritual, where dancing and/or games are other parts. We also commonly use alcoholic beverages in our rituals. I think magic mushrooms and ibogaine also should be explored.

I agree that we should have the celebrations on the solstices and equinoxes however. I see that the "Less Wrong" website is devoted to the "Bayesian theorem". I was actually planning to use the Bayesian theorem in the introduction text to the celebration of science at the autumnal equinox.

Reply to Scalare's second post: It seems like a good idea, because it might have a unifying effect upon the cultures and countries of today, since most cultures cannot trace their timeline back that far. I am however a bit scared that we will discover a new "temple" somewhere else, that is for example 15 000 years old. And then we might have to readjust our year zero. We also have cave paintings that are much older than that, and modern human anatomy is many hundred thousand years old.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2016, 04:29:43 pm by Zanthius » Logged
Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #25 on: December 12, 2016, 06:06:59 pm »

I love this celebration idea, because now I get to write much more about mathematics, science, nature, and civil rights. Topics I care deeply about Wink
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Scalare
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #26 on: December 12, 2016, 09:41:36 pm »

Reply to Scalare's first post: I agree with many of the things you are saying, but that should make it even more important to have a day devoted to science. Not just to appreciate science, but also to reflect upon problems and dangers with science.

Reply to Death:
I don't know if I agree that we should celebrate Cthulhu at the winter solstice. I might agree that people aren't exposed to enough fear, but I don't know if invoking supernatural fears is the way to go. I love horror movies, but I have heard that the catholic church is funding lots of the horror movies, since it makes people so scared of demons and the devil that they start going church.

Our current society is however underdeveloped when it comes to rituals. We have quite a lot of music, but ideally music should be a part of a ritual, where dancing and/or games are other parts. We also commonly use alcoholic beverages in our rituals. I think magic mushrooms and ibogaine also should be explored.

MDMA could also really lead to new insights. I wondered once what it would be like if Obama and Putin would sit together when taking MDMA for the first time.
Not sure about the mushrooms, they could lead to bad trips if taken by the wrong person. Only certain people can take them Smiley. Ibogaine I think is also too toxic to really help?

Quote
I agree that we should have the celebrations on the solstices and equinoxes however. I see that the "Less Wrong" website is devoted to the "Bayesian theorem". I was actually planning to use the Bayesian theorem in the introduction text to the celebration of science at the autumnal equinox.

Reply to Scalare's second post: It seems like a good idea, because it might have a unifying effect upon the cultures and countries of today, since most cultures cannot trace their timeline back that far. I am however a bit scared that we will discover a new "temple" somewhere else, that is for example 15 000 years old. And then we might have to readjust our year zero. We also have cave paintings that are much older than that, and modern human anatomy is many hundred thousand years old.


You see the same problem with (bad) science. It is regarded as the current 'god'. So people learn 'science is so great and it can never be wrong' and then they leave school and stop challenging scientific proof, leading you to stay with the knowledge that you gained during your education.
I come from a time when pluto was still a planet, black holes were still only a theory, brown dwarfs didn't exist and the extreme exoplanets that we have discovered today were thought to be impossible.
So if I regarded science as 'god' then I would still believe in those things, and I would never have opened up my eyes regarding big pharma and the way that the world is ruled and ruined by money. All because people treat science as a religion. Something you HAVE to believe in and that can't be challenged lest you be cast out from society. Science has its zealots like every other religion has. Humans have the tremendous ability to recognize patterns and notice if something is not right, by gut feeling without being able to argumentate it. You could hear a great scientist speak and think 'something fishy is going on' leading to you inquiring about this, only to find these zealots telling you to fuck off because 'it's science, it can't be wrong'. While I think a good scientist by definition challenges EVERYTHING, regardless of whether the queen says it, Obama says it (versus Trump) or your teacher says it.  Until anthonie van leeuwenhoek made a microscope and discovered cellular structures, the scientists of that day thought that life was created spontaneously from lifeless material Smiley.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2016, 09:50:49 pm by Scalare » Logged
Zanthius
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #27 on: December 12, 2016, 11:01:13 pm »

Ibogaine is a little bit less toxic than alcoholic beverages, but way more toxic than mushrooms and LSD. But of course Ibogaine has a quite different effect, lasts much longer, and so on. It has been used for quite some time by people in mid west Africa, so I think it is moderately safe if used in the right manner. I would combine it with an asperin to avoid blood clotting, and move around and dance (not lay for 24 hours like most of the heroin addicts, that is a recipe for blood clotting). However, I would never recommend Ibogaine to someone with the same confidence as I would recommend mushrooms and LSD, because of course it is much more dangerous. People have died from Ibogaine, but as far as I know never from the physiological effects of LSD and mushrooms. If however you are eager to seek out a more profound experience, I wouldn't deny you Ibogaine. Maybe the danger is a part of the experience. Like the post Death999 referred me to, maybe we are not sufficiently exposed to fear. Ibogain can certainly scare you to death. The first time I used it, it felt like a black hole hanging in my throat.

Regarding people believing in science like a religion. Yes, that is a problem. The Bayesian theorem is the right approach to science, not Popper or logical positivism. But the great thing about making a new world government is that you can change everything. Even holidays and how science is practiced. And with smart people like you and Death999, it might be possible to create a society which has much less of these problems.

I am working on a logarithmic timeline now, which incorporates surface temperature, oxygen and co2 concentration. I am going to include it under the celebration of Nature. After all, in order to appreciate nature, we should know where it comes from and how it has evolved.



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Scalare
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #28 on: December 12, 2016, 11:07:19 pm »

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The Bayesian theorem is the right approach to science, not Popper or logical positivism.

Please defend my right to to challenge that to the death Wink.

Regarding global warming this comes to mind: https://xkcd.com/1732/
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Death 999
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Re: You have lost
« Reply #29 on: December 13, 2016, 12:57:52 am »

I see that the "Less Wrong" website is devoted to the "Bayesian theorem". I was actually planning to use the Bayesian theorem in the introduction text to the celebration of science at the autumnal equinox.

Well, it's a bit broader than that. The theorem isn't a program of rationality, just the update-on-evidence rule in the case where you can evaluate all models. Since we aren't and can't be Ideal Bayesian Reasoners, the thrust is finding better methods (those which are less wrong) for thinking. Sometimes it's explicitly Bayesian, sometimes it's qualitatively Bayesian, usually the only Bayesian aspect of it is that keeping a large family of models in mind is helpful.

The Bayesian theorem is the right approach to science, not Popper or logical positivism. But the great thing about making a new world government is that you can change everything. Even holidays and how science is practiced. And with smart people like you and Death999, it might be possible to create a society which has much less of these problems.
* Death 999 blushes.

The problem isn't mostly the smartness of the people, especially not the smartness of the few - not on its own. I think civics and sincerity (as opposed to the cynicism that yielded the 2016 Presidential Election) are more crucial to creating a society.


I am working on a logarithmic timeline now, which incorporates surface temperature, oxygen and co2 concentration. I am going to include it under the celebration of Nature. After all, in order to appreciate nature, we should know where it comes from and how it has evolved.


I think that plot leaves off the last 20 years. I can tell because the CO2 scale didn't leap to the right at the top.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2016, 06:46:32 pm by Death 999 » Logged
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