Things exist.
It’s an odd statement to make. It seems obvious, and it is obvious. Every time you open your eyes, you can see a variety of objects. Not only that, but you can go over and feel the objects too. Even if you leave for a while, you can safely assume that everything you left behind still exists. There are literally more than a billion lifetimes worth of experiences that suggest that things actually exist, but even then, it is ultimately an assumption about the way the world works.
This is a problem that has troubled many minds. At its most basic, we have to take the mere existence of things as an assumption. There is no way around this. The problem is illustrated in Godel’s Incompleteness Theorems. In order for the world to make sense, we must assume a few fundamental properties. There are two that I want to reference specifically:
Things exist.
There is sufficient cause for everything.
These are only assumptions about the nature of the universe, but without them, nothing makes sense. I mean that in a very literal way. Logic itself breaks down if we can’t make these sorts of assumptions. If we can’t assume that things exist, then there is nothing to which we can attach any meaning. If we can’t assume that there is causality, then events happen at random. You couldn’t have any measure of control over what happens, and everything you do lacks meaning.
There are reasons for us to assume these things, which I will get into later. For now, I will simply say that I hope nothing here registers as particularly surprising to anyone. These seem like perfectly ordinary assumptions to me, which is why I am particularly troubled that my very own field of science is reporting its results in such a way that makes it seem like these fundamental tenets of logic aren’t true.
Hello everyone! After much cajoling, I’ve been convinced to start blogging. Gogman has been incredibly gracious and has allowed me to use some of his space to give it a try. Hopefully, some of you will find my ramblings interesting.
To start things off, I give you a few things about me:
<< That guy there, he’s me. Dashing hat aside, I’m a pretty average human. I am currently in grad school studying physics, where I also serve as a teaching assistant. They say to work with what you know, and I am a huge nerd. Most of what I write will be about physics and science in general, but I’ll also be making forays into realism, reason, games, trying to understand the universe, and a selection of other things that happen to pass through my head.
Now, I’m not quite the authority that I’d like to be on some of these subjects, and I have been known to make mistakes. The best I can do is be honest and tell you the things I think I know. Luckily, every mistake is an opportunity to do better, and you can expect that I will take every opportunity I can get.
Once again, Bill Whittle nails it.
Take a look around, how much of this do you see going on?
This November, it’s time to return to a successful America, not a failed America.
How much is your phone worth?
It’s a rare day – once every 4 years – so I figured I should at least post something.
Been hugely busy with a new project, so I got nothin’.
Anyway, Happy leap-day!
There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.
Miracle Max – The Princess Bride (1987)
So we have lots of people and publications declaring SOPA and PIPA dead.
I have news for you: Cancel the parades, parties, and dancing. SOPA and PIPA are NOT dead. I repeat, SOPA AND PIPA ARE NOT DEAD.
What has happened to SOAP and PIPA, is that they are simply in a procedural hold in both houses of Congress. In plain English, the bills have been moved from the stack of crap coming up for votes to a filing cabinet drawer. At any time these bills can be pulled out of the filling cabinet and put back in the stack of crap. As a matter of fact, I suspect these bills will be pulled out at a later date when nobody is looking because SOPA and PIPA are not about stopping piracy, they are about control.
You hear supporters of SOPA and PIPA, such as the detestable hagfish that is Bill Maher – and oh yes, he supports SOPA - claiming it will have no effect on domestic Internet sites as it only targets foreign sites. This is not true. It is a bold faced lie. As a matter of fact, both bills have a disproportionate effect on domestic sites versus foreign ones.
Here’s a great video in plain English from the well known and well respected Khan Academy explaining exactly how SOPA and PIPA work and will destroy the Internet as we know it.
Khan Academy explaining exactly how SOPA and PIPA work and will destroy the Internet as we know it.
You see the picture and quote by Miracle Max from the Princess Bride up there? Under SOPA and PIPA this site could be taken offline WITHOUT my being able to defend myself or know who my accuser is, EVEN THOUGH I am using those items within US Copyright Law Fair Use Standards 17 U.S.C. § 107 (listed below).
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
-
- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
So let’s look at my use versus fair use:
- Well, this blog is non commercial and this post is definitely intended to be educational. We pass there.
- It is a movie that was released world wide and is well known. We pass there.
- It is a cropped image of a single character and a single line of text spoken by that character. All in all, a tiny fraction of the original work. We pass there.
- I would argue that it increases the value of the original work by keeping it in the public eye. It certainly does not detract value from the original work. Again, we pass.
So I am legal in under the current copyright laws, yet under SOPA and PIPA, I could – mind you, could – be taken offline by a single complaint. I stress the word could because this is a small site and would most like slip under peoples radar, but you never know. But for large sites like, um, oh I don’t know, YouTube for example, they are going to be gone very quickly after SOAP or PIPA passes.
OMGWTFBBQ! I wake up with a bad hangover and here we are TWO WEEKS into 2012. I DID NOT GET THE MEMO!
In the theme of not getting the memo, it seems Hulu , SOPA, and PIPA are still alive. AMAZING. Not only is Hulu not dead, it seems to be growing. As for SOPA and PIPA, WTF why are we even talking about these bills, they should have been dead LONG AGO!!!
The wife and I were early subscribers to Hulu Plus, however we put our account on hold last summer before we sailed from Hawaii to Santa Barbara because we were going to be gone for a month sailing across the Pacific. Once we got back however, we KEPT IT CANCELD.
Why?
WE DO NOT WANT TO PAY TO HAVE ADS PUSHED AT US AND WAIT WEEKS FOR NEW EPISODES TO BE POSTED. Especially the lame “what ad do you want to see now” crap style ads from the late 90’s. Stuff like this is why people like <cough>bittorrent</cough>. Content is ad free and they can get in *hours* versus days or weeks. Why pay money for shit service when you can stick it to man and get better product AND service…
Hulu, et al, your only hope is to open the floodgate. The consumers have WON. It is all over. Just give up, fuck SOPA and PIPA. Just let us pay for the shit we want, when we want it. And stop the bloody interstitial ads. Have you not learned anything from history?
To each of you and your families, I sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Years!
God Bless, and see you in 2012!
History people, history. And facts, and common human decency.