Posts by konceptual99

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

konceptual99

Testimonial evidence is accepted as valid in Law for instance

A witness saying "I saw that man in the dock rob the bank" is not the same as "I prayed for something nice to happen to me today and then someone put a £50 through my letterbox therefore God answered my prayer."

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

konceptual99

I don't think is possible to have scientific evidence about God.

Which is convenient.

But there are physical evidence, testimonial evidence, logical evidence and metaphysical evidence (like visions, prayers, intuition, etc).

You mean evidence which is baseless interpretation, highly subjective, carries a high risk of confirmation bias, difficult to independently verify, not subject to peer review and so on. In other words, everything that scientific method has been developed to avoid.

27

Jehovah's Witnesses and Love

by Cold Steel in

comments?

stories?

reminiscences?.

konceptual99

I think there can be a lot of love amongst Witnesses. The problem is that it is conditional.

If you watch The Path on Amazon there is a character who is removed from the cult and goes to see another person who has been out of the cult for help. The guy can't help him and as he is leaving the character says...

"I wish I hadn't believed you lost your worth when you lost your faith"

This is exactly what happens with Witnesses. You lose faith and you lose your worth, your human capital, with those still in.

205

Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

by towerwatchman in

mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

konceptual99

Interestingly enough data analysis is exactly what has resulted in a new paper being presented that questions the classic two groups of dinosaurs - bird hipped and lizard hipped.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/t-rex-gets-new-home-shakeup-dino-family-tree

The work is causing some waves and the hypothesis may yet be proven false however the interesting thing is how the conclusions have been reached.

It is not possible to examine dinosaur DNA to work out the genetic relationships but it is possible to examine different traits in the skeletons and process this massive dataset to look for similarities and patterns.

The author of the paper was interviewed in a recent BBC Radio 4 Science programme and he is expecting his findings to be rigorously challenged because this is how science works but is nevertheless a great example of how mathematics can be scientifically used to understand the evolutionary process.

205

Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

by towerwatchman in

mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

konceptual99

Absolutely. Brilliant.

1

JW Russia Ban Threat Being Reported on BBC

by konceptual99 in

just for information really.. the bbc is reporting the jw ban.

they have a news article and have been running a video report amongst headline items on the bbc world news channel.

the article is below, i cannot find the video report online yet.

konceptual99

Just for information really.

The BBC is reporting the JW ban. They have a news article and have been running a video report amongst headline items on the BBC World News channel. The article is below, I cannot find the video report online yet. The video report highlights the wider impact of the law on extremism on free speech including an atheist and political activists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39304984

70

Apologists saying that the JWs shouldn't be banned, what the hell!??

by Crazyguy in

it's been brought to my attention that there are xjw that say they support the witnesses and don't think russia should ban them.

i would just like to remind all of you that jws are guilty of murder, causing higher rates of suicide, covering up child molestation, and keeping members in prisoned because if they leave they loose family, financial support, possible employment etc.. sure their not strapping bombs to their chests but they easily get members to kill themselves with their blood policies.

they are an extremist group!

konceptual99

Criminalising 150,000+ people does not protect Russia.

The undermining of human rights and the abuse of the legal system to do so by the government is far more dangerous to the Russian people. Extremism is growing in Russia but it's actually government sponsored thuggery and a growing sense of freedom for right wing and nationalistic groups that is the real concern.

70

Apologists saying that the JWs shouldn't be banned, what the hell!??

by Crazyguy in

it's been brought to my attention that there are xjw that say they support the witnesses and don't think russia should ban them.

i would just like to remind all of you that jws are guilty of murder, causing higher rates of suicide, covering up child molestation, and keeping members in prisoned because if they leave they loose family, financial support, possible employment etc.. sure their not strapping bombs to their chests but they easily get members to kill themselves with their blood policies.

they are an extremist group!

konceptual99

The WTS as an organisation is guilty of many things and I welcome any legal pressure put on this structure and representatives. Banning the Witnesses in Russia will do nothing to weaken the organisation and criminalise individual Witnesses, many of whom are essentially harmless on a day to day basis.

This law is not being used solely against the Witnesses either. It's being used against many other organisations and is a reflection of an insidious culture of legalised oppression and suppression of some basic freedoms that seems to be increasingly endemic inside the Russian political machine.

Nobody is apologising for the WTS as far as I can tell, it's just there is a bigger picture around this ban that is far more worrying for the human rights of many, many people in Russia that have nothing to do with the Witnesses.