"The meaning of the world is the separation of wish and fact." - KURT GÖDEL
"According to Peirce's doctrine of fallibilism, the conclusions of science are always tentative. The rationality of the scientific method does not depend on the certainty of its conclusions, but on its self-corrective character: by continued application of the method science can detect and correct its own mistakes, and thus eventually lead to the discovery of truth".
A guiding principle for accepting claims of catastrophic global events, miracles, incredible healing, invisible friends, or fill in the blank is:
“extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” - Carl Sagan
"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable." - H. L. Mencken
I would add irrational and highly delusional to the mix when faith requires one to accept magical violations of the well known, well tested or easily demonstrated laws of Nature. - PWL
"Science is Progress and the Future. Faith is regression to the Dark Ages." - PWL
“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.” - Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
"Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness." - Alfred Korzybski
"Science is a search for basic truths about the Universe, a search which develops statements that appear to describe how the Universe works, but which are subject to correction, revision, adjustment, or even outright rejection, upon the presentation of better or conflicting evidence." - James Randi
"Hypotheses are nets: only he who casts will catch." - Novalis
"Nullius in verba. Take no one's word for it." - Motto of the Royal Society
"I'm trying to find out NOT how Nature could be, but how Nature IS." - Richard Feynman
"The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin." - Thomas Henry Huxley
“A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.” Albert Einstein
"Science is empirical. Knowing the answer means nothing. Testing your knowledge means everything." - Lawrence Krauss
"Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism - and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency." - Stephen Jay Gould
"Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work." - James Randi
That’s really funny cbp, unfortunately it means that you fail at having an open mind and actually listening to what Christopher Monckton was saying or to his arguments with hard scientific data that criticize the AGW Hypothesis.
Christoper’s point was that the Pro-AGW Protesters were using techniques that were exactly the same as “Hitler Youth” to drown out points of view that they didn’t like preventing free speech from occurring. This is a valid point that Christopher Monckton makes and thus Godwin’s Law doesn’t apply.
I’d not have made such comparisons to “Hitler Youth” however apt they are.
However to cower behind “Godwin’s Law” as you do is so much more pathetic and lame than engaging in actual arguments since you’re using Godwin’s Law as an excuse to close your mind and lower your intelligence factor. As you wish of course.
Scarlet Pumpernickel said
I love it when Monckton makes a fool out of people that believe in Global Warming
cbp said
I’m calling Godwin’s Law – argument is over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
pwl said
That’s really funny cbp, unfortunately it means that you fail at having an open mind and actually listening to what Christopher Monckton was saying or to his arguments with hard scientific data that criticize the AGW Hypothesis.
Christoper’s point was that the Pro-AGW Protesters were using techniques that were exactly the same as “Hitler Youth” to drown out points of view that they didn’t like preventing free speech from occurring. This is a valid point that Christopher Monckton makes and thus Godwin’s Law doesn’t apply.
I’d not have made such comparisons to “Hitler Youth” however apt they are.
However to cower behind “Godwin’s Law” as you do is so much more pathetic and lame than engaging in actual arguments since you’re using Godwin’s Law as an excuse to close your mind and lower your intelligence factor. As you wish of course.
pwl said
Monckton is a Forcing of Nature unlike any other, that is for sure Scarlet Pumpernickel.