Thursday, September 20, 2018
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
our ideas about the world need to be informed by FACTS about the world (10 much discussed points)
our views of the world need to be informed. to be informed one has to inform one's views from all angles. statistics help. there are armies of experts tabulating information. now, reliability in statistics, like in any other factual endeavor is a matter of sedimentation (i.e., obtaining information that validates the result over time). so, here are 10 random samples:
1. in the discussion of marijuana, my students are generally pro legalization. are they aware that the marijuana today is quite different from the "pot" of the flower generation? here is the study.
2. in the discussion about family roles of men & women, one needs to know how society presents itself. this study will surprise you.
3. 43% of women leave the workforce after having children. that's the number, now, let's not jump into conclusions.
4. take the pareto distribution rule to explain why 20% of the population basically is basically richer than the remaining 80% (no matter what you try to do to change it).
5. latino college students are falling behind whites and blacks,
6. i'm not kidding when i say absenteeism and academic productivity are directly proportional?
7. millennials are reading more than the previous generation: GOOD,
8. as per our political inclinations... (read carefully),
9. minorities resent one another as much as they do whites (1996 poll),
10. as per immigration (80% close the border, 70% end chain migration),
1. in the discussion of marijuana, my students are generally pro legalization. are they aware that the marijuana today is quite different from the "pot" of the flower generation? here is the study.
2. in the discussion about family roles of men & women, one needs to know how society presents itself. this study will surprise you.
3. 43% of women leave the workforce after having children. that's the number, now, let's not jump into conclusions.
4. take the pareto distribution rule to explain why 20% of the population basically is basically richer than the remaining 80% (no matter what you try to do to change it).
5. latino college students are falling behind whites and blacks,
6. i'm not kidding when i say absenteeism and academic productivity are directly proportional?
7. millennials are reading more than the previous generation: GOOD,
8. as per our political inclinations... (read carefully),
9. minorities resent one another as much as they do whites (1996 poll),
10. as per immigration (80% close the border, 70% end chain migration),
Monday, September 17, 2018
Whatever happens is perfect
dead British soldiers at the battle of Fromelles, 1916
you've heard me saying "whatever happens is perfect". here's why:
* in actuality (as something happens) global cause and effect cannot be undone.
* in actuality (as something occurs) global agent decisions cannot be undone.
* once something happens there are sufficient reasons for it to happen.
a) as per history:
* history is one big glunk (the whole history is one big history of little histories),
yet,
* history is not the summation of all events (since not all events are, or will be recorded in history),
* history is not in time, since time is not a bucket/container of anything,
* history is not the summation of all events (since not all events are, or will be recorded in history),
* history is not in time, since time is not a bucket/container of anything,
rather,
* time is a mode of being of reality: time is the becoming of reality.
* time is a mode of being of reality: time is the becoming of reality.
as a result,
* from the future we cannot cherry-pick globally (while ignoring local regions),
b) as per necessity:
* whatever happens necessarily happens (otherwise SOMETHING ELSE would happen),
* what happens supervenes on the agents contributing the diverse processes including the agents themselves,
c) we get a distorted view of the past through PRESENTISM:
* presentism is the distortion that the present is normatively better than the past,
* the past cannot be retrofitted into a principle of satisfaction: it is what it is,
* the past can only be understood as IT WAS, not as a subjunctive modality ("it should've been" this or that).
* to understand the past ONE HAS TO GO TO THE PAST, rather than bring the past to the present.
thanks,
* from the future we cannot cherry-pick globally (while ignoring local regions),
b) as per necessity:
* whatever happens necessarily happens (otherwise SOMETHING ELSE would happen),
* what happens supervenes on the agents contributing the diverse processes including the agents themselves,
c) we get a distorted view of the past through PRESENTISM:
* presentism is the distortion that the present is normatively better than the past,
* the past cannot be retrofitted into a principle of satisfaction: it is what it is,
* the past can only be understood as IT WAS, not as a subjunctive modality ("it should've been" this or that).
* to understand the past ONE HAS TO GO TO THE PAST, rather than bring the past to the present.
thanks,
Friday, September 14, 2018
Topics for final exam (monday 5:40pm class) fall 2019
click here for the anthropological/evolutionary argument for religion,
click here for my notes on mysticism,
click here for shamanism and religion,
click here for faith vs. reason,
click here for proofs for the existence of God and Plantinga's theodicy,
click here for the final paper criteria and specifications,
click here for my notes on mysticism,
click here for shamanism and religion,
click here for faith vs. reason,
click here for proofs for the existence of God and Plantinga's theodicy,
click here for the final paper criteria and specifications,
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Scientific Theories, Laws and Criteria of Adequacy
A scientific theory is a system of explanations of aspects of the natural world whose parts should have been tested and verified in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluation results. Where possible, theories are tested under controlled conditions in an experiment. Here are some examples:
* cell theory, (Biology)
* atomic theory, (Physics)
* Big Bang theory, (Physics)
* Plate tectonics, (Geology)
Are theories revised? YES. All the time. As new discoveries are made, the theory needs to be tweaked and revised. The reason is that theories have many different parts and the parts are put together by inferential conclusions.
The distinction between scientific theory & scientific law
Scientific laws and scientific theories are produced from the scientific method through the formation and testing of hypotheses, in order to predict the natural world. Both are typically well-supported by observations and/or experimental evidence. Scientific laws are descriptive accounts of how nature will behave under certain conditions. Scientific theories are broader in scope, and give overarching explanations of how nature works and why it exhibits certain characteristics.
So, for example, Newton's Second Law, F = ma is a formula.
(It states that the acceleration of an object as produced by a force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force, in the same direction as the force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object).
This formula belongs in a body of theories known as Classical Mechanics. Classical mechanics, is a branch of Physics that describes the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars and galaxies.
Whereas laws should obtain all the time, theories incorporate laws with the purpose of explaining more general phenomena. They both explain, but laws are simpler.
____________
We need good explanations. In order to achieve this, we need to create a criteria of adequacy. Here are five points:
● Simplicity → Quality of relying on only a small number of assumptions (less is more).
● Scope → The amount of diverse phenomena (more is more).
● Consistency/Coherence → Lack of contradictions. (especially internal contradictions)
● Fruitfulness → The number of new facts predicted or problems solved (ability to make predictions).
● Conservatism → Quality of fitting well with existing theories (previous conclusions).
* cell theory, (Biology)
* atomic theory, (Physics)
* Big Bang theory, (Physics)
* Plate tectonics, (Geology)
Are theories revised? YES. All the time. As new discoveries are made, the theory needs to be tweaked and revised. The reason is that theories have many different parts and the parts are put together by inferential conclusions.
The distinction between scientific theory & scientific law
Scientific laws and scientific theories are produced from the scientific method through the formation and testing of hypotheses, in order to predict the natural world. Both are typically well-supported by observations and/or experimental evidence. Scientific laws are descriptive accounts of how nature will behave under certain conditions. Scientific theories are broader in scope, and give overarching explanations of how nature works and why it exhibits certain characteristics.
So, for example, Newton's Second Law, F = ma is a formula.
(It states that the acceleration of an object as produced by a force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force, in the same direction as the force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object).
This formula belongs in a body of theories known as Classical Mechanics. Classical mechanics, is a branch of Physics that describes the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars and galaxies.
Whereas laws should obtain all the time, theories incorporate laws with the purpose of explaining more general phenomena. They both explain, but laws are simpler.
____________
We need good explanations. In order to achieve this, we need to create a criteria of adequacy. Here are five points:
● Simplicity → Quality of relying on only a small number of assumptions (less is more).
● Scope → The amount of diverse phenomena (more is more).
● Consistency/Coherence → Lack of contradictions. (especially internal contradictions)
● Fruitfulness → The number of new facts predicted or problems solved (ability to make predictions).
● Conservatism → Quality of fitting well with existing theories (previous conclusions).