The Unreal Universe Reality, as we sense it, is not quite real. The stars we see in the night sky, for instance, are not really there. They may have moved or even died by the time we get to see them. This unreality is due to the time it takes for light from the distant stars and galaxies to reach us. We know of this delay. Even the sun that we know so well is already eight minutes old by the time we see it. What is surprising (and seldom highlighted) is that when it comes to sensing motion, we cannot back-calculate in the same kind of way as we can to correct for the delay in observation of the sun. Einstein chose to resolve the problem by treating perception as distorted and inventing new fundamental properties in the arena of physics - in the description of space and time. Einstein instead redefined simultaneity by using the instants in time we detect the event. Special Relativity gives an unambiguous answer to this question. This disconnect is not uncommon in philosophical schools of thought.
Chapter 1 1.1. The assumption of objective reality, a necessity for survival and for science? The assumption of an external reality is the assumption that there is a real world that is external to our mind and senses, and that it exists whether or not we as observers exist, and whether or not we are observing it. It is one we all commonly make without even thinking about it. The assumption of external reality is necessary for science to function and to flourish. In addition to the assumption of an external reality, we also make the assumption that this reality is objective. As we have said, science assumes that objective reality is "external" to the minds that observe it. The concept of objective reality is also applied to the study of history, which is thought to be a more-or-less accurate record of past events. What about the person who observes his/her own thoughts, feelings, and sensory experiences? If we now ask, "what are purely subjective experiences?" To leap or not to leap? 1.2. 1.3. 1.
Argumentum ad populum "Ad populum" redirects here. For the Catholic liturgical term, see Versus populum. In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: "If many believe so, it is so." This type of argument is known by several names,[1] including appeal to the masses, appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to democracy, appeal to popularity, argument by consensus, consensus fallacy, authority of the many, and bandwagon fallacy (also known as a vox populi),[2] and in Latin as argumentum ad numerum ("appeal to the number"), and consensus gentium ("agreement of the clans"). Examples[edit] This fallacy is sometimes committed while trying to convince a person that a widely popular thought is true. Explanation[edit] There is the problem of determining just how many are needed to have a majority or consensus. Evidence[edit] Exceptions[edit] Social convention[edit]
STFU - Homepage | Softenthefckup 5 Lovable Animals You Didn't Know Are Secretly Terrifying If there’s two things Cracked is all about, it’s fucked up animals and dongs. And since they won’t let me write “The 7 Most Fucked Up Animal Dongs,” (Editor's Note: Only because it's been written already) I had to settle for focusing on just the animal stuff. So hey, here you go: Here’s a bunch of adorable animals that will probably nonetheless scar you for life. Let's skip the pleasantries and get right down to hyperventilating and swearing at nature, shall we? Bears are pretty intrinsically scary, but come on – look at that guy! That’s not a bear, that’s a fat raccoon. Holy shit! If there was a color-coded scale for cuteness like there is for Terror Alert Levels, the red fox would be at Level Orange: way above Adorable Bomb Threat and just half a notch below Snuggle Jihad. I would name him Mr. Now, here’s the sound he makes: If you came of age in a small town, you’re probably already familiar with the sound red foxes make. You: Jesus, this weed is amazing. You: Don’t "what was what?"
Aesthetics Aesthetics may be defined narrowly as the theory of beauty, or more broadly as that together with the philosophy of art. The traditional interest in beauty itself broadened, in the eighteenth century, to include the sublime, and since 1950 or so the number of pure aesthetic concepts discussed in the literature has expanded even more. Traditionally, the philosophy of art concentrated on its definition, but recently this has not been the focus, with careful analyses of aspects of art largely replacing it. Table of Contents 1. The full field of what might be called “aesthetics” is a very large one. Aesthetics in this central sense has been said to start in the early eighteenth century, with the series of articles on “The Pleasures of the Imagination” which the journalist Joseph Addison wrote in the early issues of the magazine The Spectator in 1712. By far the most thoroughgoing and influential of the early theorists was Immanuel Kant, towards the end of the eighteenth century. 2. 3. 4.
Miller–Urey experiment The Miller–Urey experiment[1] (or Miller experiment)[2] was a chemical experiment that simulated the conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth, and tested the chemical origin of life under those conditions. The experiment confirmed Alexander Oparin's and J. B. S. After Miller's death in 2007, scientists examining sealed vials preserved from the original experiments were able to show that there were actually well over 20 different amino acids produced in Miller's original experiments. Experiment[edit] Descriptive video of the experiment The experiment used water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2). After a day, the solution collected at the trap had turned pink in colour.[9] At the end of one week of continuous operation, the boiling flask was removed, and mercuric chloride was added to prevent microbial contamination. Chemistry of experiment[edit] CO2 → CO + [O] (atomic oxygen) CH4 + NH3 → HCN + 3H2 (BMA process) Other experiments[edit] K.
10 Ways Our Minds Warp Time How time perception is warped by life-threatening situations, eye movements, tiredness, hypnosis, age, the emotions and more… The mind does funny things to our experience of time. Just ask French cave expert Michel Siffre. In 1962 Siffre went to live in a cave that was completely isolated from mechanical clocks and natural light. He soon began to experience a huge change in his perception of time. When he tried to measure out two minutes by counting up to 120 at one-second intervals, it took him 5 minutes. But you don’t have to hide out in a cave for a couple of months to warp time, it happens to us all the time. 1. People often report that time seems to slow down in life-threatening situations, like skydiving. But are we really processing more information in these seconds when time seems to stretch? To test this, Stetson et al. (2007) had people staring at a special chronometer while free-falling 50 metres into a net. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Time is relative “Time is an illusion.
Possibilianism Not to be confused with Possibilism. Possibilianism is a philosophy which rejects both the diverse claims of traditional theism and the positions of certainty in strong atheism in favor of a middle, exploratory ground.[1][2][3][4][5] The term was first defined by neuroscientist David Eagleman in relation to his book of fiction Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.[6] Asked whether he was an atheist or a religious person on a National Public Radio interview in February 2009, he replied "I call myself a Possibilian: I'm open to...ideas that we don't have any way of testing right now."[6] In a subsequent interview with the New York Times, Eagleman expanded on the definition: "Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether his traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true.
More Poverty = More Religion Religion has a surprisingly high correlation with poverty, according to a Gallup survey conducted in more than 100 countries. The more poverty a nation has, the higher the “religiosity” in that nation. In general, richer countries are less religious than poorer ones. The biggest exception? Religion & Poverty graphic via NYT Hat tip Flowing Data> Sources: Religious Outlier CHARLES M. Religiosity Highest in World’s Poorest Nations United States is among the rich countries that buck the trend Steve Crabtree Gallup, August 31, 2010 Category: Digital Media, Psychology, UnScience
Extraordinary Claims Why harmony pleases the brain - physics-math - 19 September 2011 The key to pleasant music may be that it pleases our neurons. A new model suggests that harmonious musical intervals trigger a rhythmically consistent firing pattern in certain auditory neurons, and that sweet sounds carry more information than harsh ones. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, we have known that two tones whose frequencies were related by a simple ratio like 2:1 (an octave) or 3:2 (a perfect fifth) produce the most pleasing, or consonant, musical intervals. This effect doesn't depend on musical training – infants and even monkeys can hear the difference. But it was unclear whether consonant chords are easier on the ears because of the way the sound waves combine in the air, or the way our brains convert them to electrical impulses. A new mathematical model presents a strong case for the brain. "We have found that the reason for this difference is somewhere at the level of neurons," says Yuriy Ushakov at the N. That makes the model experimentally testable. Surprise!
10 Fascinating Cases of Mind Control Animals Controlling the minds of other living creatures is simply the stuff of science fiction right? Well for some creatures becoming a real live zombie is a daily hazard. Here are 10 examples of real parasitic behavior modifications. These are in no particular order. Phorid flies Pseudacteon The genus Pseudacteon, of which 110 species have been documented, is a parasitoid of the ant in South America. Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite the definitive host of which is the cat, but the parasite can be carried by all known mammals including humans. Euhaplorchis Californiensis This parasite lives in the gut of shorebirds and produces eggs that are released in the bird’s stool which are spread into the salt-water marshes and ponds of southern California. Jewel Wasp Ampulex Compressa When a female jewel wasp is ready to lay its egg it finds a cockroach and administers two stings. Hairworm Spinochordodes Tellinii Costa Rican Parasitoid Wasp Hymenoepimecis Argyraphaga Lancet Liver Fluke Bonus