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Comment The next poll (Score 4, Funny) 148

I think the next poll will be:
Notably more boring than last one
Slightly more boring than last one
Not significantly different than last one
Slightly less boring than last one
Notably less boring than last one
It will talk about the weather again!

Comment Re:wounding != maiming (Score 1) 180

From a law enforcement perspective I absolutely agree with you. From a military perspective, this is not true. You don't want to blind someone for 24 hours and have them back on the battlefield (as one example of obviously many).

Could you give an example of a weapon that disables someone for 24 hours? Most weapons would disable for minutes or hours (flashbang, tear gas, taser, tranquilizers), or for weeks or months (eg bullets).

Comment wounding != maiming (Score 1) 180

Worst is something that will almost certainly kill you, but does it slowly. More humane, but hardly different in the end, is something that kills you quickly. Best is something that takes you out of commission for a while, but causes no permanent damage. Fairly rotten is something that has a tendency to cause permanent disability, but less likely to kill. This last one causes a lot of damage to militaries and governments, even if individuals would prefer to be permanently disabled then killed. Although bullets can maim, they generally result in either a recoverable wound, or death. Conversely, weak lasers will only result in temporary or permanent eye damage, and have enough ammo that you can fire it continuously.

Comment Re:Fallacy (Score 1) 937

My guess is you did a quick look on Wikipedia (the level of "understanding" you demonstrate is consistent with that) and now pretend to be in possession of grande insights. I can only call that a mega-fail.

I see that your skill at identifying other people's knowledge is consistent with your skill at understanding mathematical theorems.

Comment Re:When the cat's absent, the mice rejoice (Score 4, Interesting) 286

Where is the 4th Amendment violation?

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but did Mr Logan have a warrant to search all of Washington? And where's his probable cause? Or maybe his search for child porn, wasn't a search?

Comment Re:Fallacy (Score 1) 937

So it was indeed that you misunderstood Godel's incompleteness theorem. Yes, I'm aware of it, and was even suspecting that was what you had misunderstood, but wanted to hear from you just in case it wasn't. Anyhow, the theorem says nothing about the laws of nature -- only that every (certain kind of mathematical system) will have a true statement that will be unprovable in that system. But there is no hint that one of the unprovable things might be a law of nature, and if it were you could simply prove it in a different mathematical system.

What science can't do is produce absolutely certain deductive proofs. This is because science does not start with axioms but rather tries to discover them by induction. I'd also note that the axioms of science implied by the scientific method (ie, that the universe's laws are consistent across time and space, and that the universe is objective rather than subjective) can't ever be proven either. Of course, axioms by their very nature can never be proven.

PS: If you were interested in Godel's Incompleteness Theorem, you may also be interested in Turing's Halting Problem.

Comment Re:Fallacy (Score 1) 937

They routinely do not even know very basic things about science, like Incompleteness, and routinely claim it would "explain everything", when one of the most important scientific insights is that science cannot do that.

I've never heard of such a thing. It sounds like something you made up or misunderstood.

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