Comment Re:ISK all the way! (Score 1) 265
Seconded, Mr. AC!
Seconded, Mr. AC!
Perhaps you should take your own advice, Mr. AC. Here, I'll help =)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism
Thomas Henry Huxley said:
Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle...Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable.[8]
Philosopher William L. Rowe states that in the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that humanity lacks the requisite knowledge or sufficient rational grounds to justify either belief: that there exists some deity, or that no deities exist.[2]
So, agnosticism (even agnostic theism) holds that rational understanding is worth more than blind faith. How is this not a "rationality-based belief system?"
Certainly, Atheism has no formal organization, but neither do many religions (see also "Wicca" as an example), so that cannot be a usable guideline. But there is even more damning evidence here: Atheism does have "saints" and "preachers" (e.g. Mr. Dawkins), it does have a dogma (centered around a fairly particular definition of "reason" as its central coda, I believe, yes?), and it certainly have its zealots (oftentimes more irritating than Mormon/JV missionaries, truth be told.) Also, they seem to have the same smug self-assurance that many religious folks carry.
Finally, your very post says (without specifically saying) point-blank that Atheism has very little tolerance for anything that may intrude into the full exercise of its tenets.
I daresay that there are times when Atheism is just as much of a religion as, well, a mainstream religious organization; with some people, it is even moreso.
One very important point you're missing here is that Atheism/Agnosticism and other rationality-based belief systems generally base their 'dogma' on a scientific system - their 'dogma' is a variable, not a constant.
Many of the critics of the theory of evolution fall into the trap of misunderstanding the definitions of 'theory' and 'hypothesis'
Scientific Theory (from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scientific+theory:)
"scientific theory
noun
a theory that explains scientific observations; 'scientific theories must be falsifiable'"
Theory (from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theory?s=t:)
"theory [thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA
noun, plural theories.
1.
a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity. Synonyms: principle, law, doctrine."
Hypothesis (from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypothesis:)
"hypothesis [hahy-poth-uh-sis, hi-] Show IPA
noun, plural hypotheses [hahy-poth-uh-seez, hi-] Show IPA .
1.
a proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide investigation (working hypothesis) or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts."
Here's where things become more interesting:
Scientific Theory (from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scientific+theory:)
"scientific theory
noun
a theory that explains scientific observations; 'scientific theories must be falsifiable'"
So, a scientific theory must not only explain the phenomenon, but also be well supported by empirical evidence and experimentation and be falsifiable yet proven. A hypothesis, on the other hand, is only a proposed explanation for given observations.
Here's a nice comparison between the concepts: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Hypothesis_vs_Theory
Science destroys to understand. LHC smashes particles to examine their innards.Biologists dissect cadavers to examine their innards. Geologists smash rocks to examine their innards.
In this case, the fact that the animal was still alive should have been indication enough that science should leave the old boy alone, or attempt only explicitly non-destructive examination. This sounds a lot like Indiana Jones's style archaeology...
They also apparently:
hacked my Power Supply by implanting a trasp device in My Bose Speakers and possibly my high end water machine that sent malware farts through my electrical grid and tunneled into my system that way.
sounds TOTALLY not paranoid schizophrenic.
On topic, Truecrypt is just a tool. It can't be "subverted" to do evil - it just exists and people can use it for 'good' or 'evil.' My hammer is really good and pounding nails ('good',) but would work equally well in password extraction ('evil') =)
/me mods the parent AC down into oblivion
Take THAT! Who is ruled by numbers now, muahahaha!
I use Truecrypt's encrypted drive containers in my local Dropbox folder. The file sync'd to Dropbox is encrypted when the sync occurs, so that is all they ever see. Because Dropbox does a binary diff of the file and only uploads the differences which makes syncing large encrypted files feasible.
I've seen some chatter that Truecrypt may have been compromised - Bruce Schneier and Snowden use it so I'll trust in their judgement.
Well, the article linked asks the question of whether or not it is backdoored based upon a test that proved SOMETHING was leaking:
Now are they just hoovering up the skype IMs via the new microsoft central server architecture having back doored skype client to no longer have end2end encrption (and feedind them through echelon or whatever) or is this the client that is reading your IMs and sending selected things to the mothership.
I'd be curious to see if there's a query against a phone number sent via skype, vs a url. That would back up the claim of a backdoor much more solidly than the work that has already been done. It would be harder to verify, though.
That was kinda the point. "...to hear her tell the tale" insinuates doubt. I'm not convinced of it, but mom is. Whoosh?
HAH I actually AM related to Ben Franklin =) Great*4 uncle on my mom's side, to hear her tell the tale.
USN rollback errors are a pain in the ass
congress
I was in the process of joining a new corporation
I wish _I_ had a risk-benefit radio
Get hold of portable property. -- Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"
