Posts Tagged ‘science’

Gimmie that old time Science It’s good enough for me

Posted: March 28, 2024 by datechguy in culture, medicine
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Matthew Harrison Brady: Does right have no meaning to you, sir?
Henry Drummond: Realizing that I may prejudice the case of my client, I must tell you that right has no meaning for me whatsoever. But truth has meaning… as a direction!

Inherit the Wind 1960

One of the most perverse attacks that the left in general and the Biden administration in general have made on people these days has been claiming that people who opposed them were “anti-science” and “science deniers”. For me this type of thing is the ultimate end in the rush to redefine words and meanings to serve an agenda. While I may no longer work in an engineering field one of the things about being having a Computer Science degree from the 1980’s in the days before “woke” entered everything was the idea of evidence driving conclusions.

Thus the famous quote from Feynman

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.

Richard P Feynman

There was a time when the left and even Hollywood believed this and in fact the most celebrated episode of the entire Star Trek TNG franchise celebrated Science as it was

Picard (as Kanin): Hey, that’s my hobby. Find your own.
Meribor: You’re the one who taught me. Don’t complain if you’ve turned me into a scientist.
Picard (as Kanin): And what has the scientist been up to today?
Meribor: Analyzing soil samples. There isn’t any anaerobic bacteria. The soil is dead. This isn’t just a very long drought, is it, Father? I have entries in my log that go back ten years. You have data preceding that for fifteen years. You’ve reached the same conclusion, I know you have.
Picard (as Kanin): I haven’t reached any conclusion. A good scientist doesn’t function by conjecture.
Meribor: A good scientist functions by hypothesizing and then proving or disproving that hypothesis. That’s what I did.

Star Trek The Next Generation The Inner Light 1992

Note that he doesn’t prioritize if the data confirms to some “woke’ theme or advances a social standard, it’s observation, experimentation and deduction. You go where the evidence takes you no matter how much China or a particular industry might want to pay. Why? To serve the truth:

Meribor: You’ve taught me to pursue the truth, no matter how painful it is. It’s too late to back off now. This planet is dying.
Picard (as Kanin): Perhaps I should have filled your head with trivial concerns. Games and toys and clothes.
Meribor: I don’t think you mean that.
Picard (as Kanin): No, I don’t. It just saddens me to see you burdened with the knowledge things you can’t change.

It’s practically impossible to think of an episode of Star Trek advancing such a line now in an age where everyone has their own “truth” which can be whatever it is. Today science must serve the cause or it must be suppressed.

Thus when a black Harvard professor, a winner of the MacArthur Genius Fellowship, the author of dozens of papers studied interactions with the police and came to a conclusion contrary to THE NARRATIVETM and his own expectations It and he must be attacked

“All hell broke loose” immediately after the 104-page economics paper with a 150-page appendix was published, according to Fryer.

Within four minutes of publishing the paper, Fryer received an email that read: “You’re full of s**t.”

He explained, “I had colleagues take me to the side and say, ‘Don’t publish this. You’ll ruin your career.'”

The hostilities toward Fryer were so intense that he required police protection for about a month, including his then-7-day-old daughter.

“I was going to the grocery store to get diapers with the armed guard. It was crazy. It was really, truly crazy,” Fryer said during a recent episode of “Honestly with Bari Weiss.”

Mind you he was surprised at his own results but unlike people who trusted “The ScienceTM” he took steps to confirm they were not mistaken:

Fryer said he was surprised by the results because he “expected” to see racial bias towards blacks in police shootings.

He hired eight fresh researchers to ensure the results were correct, and the results remained the same.

Richard Feynman would have been proud but he’s been dead for 36 years plus he’s a white guy so obviously today his opinion wouldn’t count.

I bring all this up because of a story I saw today about a study out of Japan that is rather troubling:

A team of researchers in Japan say that, based on the volume of evidence that has come to light about post-vaccination harms, medical professionals worldwide should be alerted to potential dangers in using blood derived from people who have had the jab, as well as from those suffering persistent symptoms from covid itself (‘long covid’). They say methods to identify and remove the contaminants are urgently needed, and propose a range of specific tests and regulations to deal with the risks.

Again this was not the expected result:

Contrary to initial expectations, the genes and proteins are now known to persist in the blood for prolonged periods, and post-vaccination syndrome, or ‘spikeopathy’, has become a major global problem, the researchers say. The jabs should have been regarded as biomedicine, but because they were classified as vaccines, huge numbers of people were inoculated and many areas of medicine are beginning to become involved with the consequences. ‘This has never happened before in the history of biomedicine, and consequently it is highly suspected that blood products for transfusion have been affected.’

Now as this is from the pre-print of the paper and is yet to be peer reviewed so it’s a tad early to have an opinion it but I predict we will see two different methods of dealing with this study by the media

  1. Ignore it
  2. Attack it

However I being a believer in actual science rather than THE SCIENCETM I’m going to do what an engineer or a scientist of the old school, of the Feynman school would do: Take in the evidence given while awaiting the peer review of this paper before I make any final conclusions. Because that is how the old time science works.

It’s good enough for me.

Post Christian/Marxist Sore Thumbs in Science, Law, Tribalism, Truth and the Fruits of it All Under the Fedora

Posted: July 25, 2021 by datechguy in catholic, crime, culture, education, elections, News/opinion, politics, under the fedora, Vive L'Empereur
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You don’t really understand the costs of a Post Christian society until it arrives here are a few thoughts on the subject.

The scientific community was once one of the most trusted communities in the country, because it was based on the process of observation, theory experimentation and results, that is truth. This is a Christian basic principle:

You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

John 8:32.

But once “science” became all about pleasing the money men or advancing an ideology, truth was not a goal and once that was recognized trust in scientific institutions disappeared.

Haven’t you ever wondered why so many totalitarian counties were behind scientifically or needed to steal secrets from the west? When truth is suborned to fear it’s hard to generate accurate results.

One of the most critical principles of Christianity is equality before God and equality before the law You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. Leviticus 19:15 That was a radical idea when God gave this law to Moses and it was of the things that Jesus called out the Pharisees for:

The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.

Matt 23:2-4

The blatant double standards we have seen from Hunter Biden and his “Art” sales , to official flaunting the lockdown & mask rules they foist on others, to the treatment of rioters who burn cities vs those who sit on desks and take laptops enrages people. Furthermore the unwillingness to allow those who wish to actually enforce the law as written to do so in cities has led to the exodus of police and the turning of parts of those cities into ‘no go” zones.

The idea that an American could not walk safely in an American city is a concept that was so foreign in my youth that the tolerance of such things today completely puzzles me.

One of the basic principles of Judeo-Christian culture is the caring for others as yourself both in the Old Testament:

You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the LORD.  

Leviticus 19:16

And the New

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.“

Mark 12:28-31.

However the Marxist left biggest goals have been to divide us. Punish those who protect their neighbor, allow people to rob and steal. The good one one race isn’t the good of another. The law of one race is not the law of another. The damage this has caused is self evident, yet the realization that the reason this has been so easily accomplished has been the withdrawal of Christian principles of society is not. Nothing better illustrates the bankruptcy of a society then when we decided it was licit and even proper to not lift a finger when other is beaten before us.

The audits have been the best example of another Christian Principle that has been completely suborned:

A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles.

Luke 6:43-44

Our friends on the left insist that the last election was on the up and up but then do all they can to suppress not only the audits of these count and ballots, audits that would supposedly verify their claims, but suppress any that might question then online, why because the truth is not valued. Their reaction and the “Cancel Culture they promote” is no different than the reaction of the crowd to St. Stephen, the 1st of the Martyrs who called out his accusers by their own history and they killed him for it:

But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:57-60.

They are creating digital Martyrs although we have not yet reached the point where they are killing us, well except for Ashli Babbitt whose name must not be mentioned by media but whose mother got a standing ovation at yesterday’s Trump rally.

I suspect this martyrdom will have the same results on the voting community as the church’s martyrs did on the spread of Christianity.

Finally the most destructive of these things has had it seeds planted for the last several decades, the denial of the value of Fatherhood and of discipline:

Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it

Hebrews 12:9-11

And instead we gave trophies to those wo did not achieve, we indulged when we should not have and we refused to say no. We were warned of the fruits of this in scripture as well:

He who spoils his son will have wounds to bandage, and will quake inwardly at every outcry. A colt untamed turns out stubborn; a son left to himself grows up unruly. Pamper your child and he will be a terror for you, indulge him and he will bring you grief. Share not in his frivolity lest you share in his sorrow, when finally your teeth are clenched in remorse. Give him not his own way in his youth, and close not your eyes to his follies.

Sirach 30: 7-11

The result, we are not only at the point where are children are unsure of what they are, afraid of everything, led like sheep but even worse we are actually giving these kids the right to decide on destructive surgery that will scar them forever and going after their parents if they object!

All of this comes from the rejection of God, the idea that there is nothing greater than themselves and what they feel at any given moment. This is ironically but not surprisingly the very 1st temptation of the Devil to mankind:

But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”

Genesis 3:4-5

It is the primary lie that those who for years told us not to make the cultural fight to protect their own advancement that got us here. Jesus knew these types implicitly & called them out:

Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word. You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:43-44

The saying goes when you don’t believe in God you’ll believe in anything from people being able to change their sex and gender at will to dark magic as a solution to problems

This was the endgame, and it was always the endgame from the very start, but you couldn’t get to this endgame without creating a post Christian society.

Wednesday Thoughts Under the Fedora: Score one for Roberts, No Incentive needed, The Slaves of “Freeattle”, Beating Depression and Unsettled Science

Posted: March 20, 2019 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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I’ve been pretty hard on Justice Roberts aka “Old Yellowstain” as he has thrown his supposedly conservative principles to the wind on issues like Obamacare so it’s only fair that I complement him when he reminds us that he is capable of being the conservative that he claims to be:


From the beginning, the decision handed down in the Ninth Circuit appeared irrational. They focused on a phrase in the applicable federal law saying that such a “no-bail determination” could apply to someone “when the alien is released.” The Ninth Circuit interpreted that to mean it only applied on the day that they were released and the provision disappeared at midnight. Given the logistics involved in getting ICE over to a jail to pick someone up on the same day – particularly in places where sanctuary city laws prevent police from notifying ICE – that can prove impossible. The Supreme Court’s interpretation is simply common sense.

Jazz Shaw

Jazz may be right that the 9th circuit was irrational but even so that “irrational” decision was one vote away from being upheld. John Roberts might not be the best goaltender for our right but until another liberal leaves the court he’s all we’ve got.

Tom Brady’s is in the last year of his contract and the question comes, Do the Pats sign him for another two years. I looked up Tom Brady’s current contract with the New England Patriots (you can read it here) and I noticed something interesting

Like most players Brady had incentives for certain achievements in the deal. Those incentives are for making top five in five different passing categories but no incentive for getting to or winning a Superbowl.

That’s how good Tom Brady is, there’s no point in giving an incentive for something you think he’s going to do anyways.

As bad as Massachusetts is getting in terms of liberalism it can’t yet compare to Seattle:

As I noted last month, just 100 homeless people in Seattle were responsible for 3,500 criminal cases. This special references that story. It also asked Seattle police officers to comment anonymously on what was happening and those responses are enlightening. One officer told KOMO, “People come here because it’s called Free-attle and they believe if they come here they will get free food, free medical treatment, free mental health treatment, a free tent, free clothes and will be free of prosecution for just about everything; and they’re right.”

Every day I thank my lucky stars I didn’t move to the Northwest as my wife were thinking of doing 30 years ago.

As I was in the checkout line at the grocery store today I noticed a booklet about beating depression. I know a lot of people have issues but I couldn’t help think of my parents who had to live though the actual Great Depression when a fully belly was an iffy proposition and my dad leaving school at 13 to work to help support the family was not abnormal, and of course it was followed by World War 2.

Could you imagine the snowflakes of today dealing with this stuff?

At Drudge there is a story about a giant sunfish washing ashore on a beach in Australia, there was a line in that story that caught my eye.

Sunfish generally eat jellyfish and are found in oceanic waters worldwide. They get their name from their habit of basking in the sun to warm up before they dive hundreds of metres beneath the ocean.
Foster said not a lot was known about the fish, and a new species was discovered only two years ago.

That we’re still discovering new species is pretty cool but the real lesson here is the reminder that we don’t know everything and the science is always settled until it isn’t anymore.

Evolution and God, goes together like the horse and carriage

Posted: January 31, 2011 by datechguy in opinion/news
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I noticed Jazz Shaw’s post on Evolution linking to Steve Benen “look how dumb those Christians are” post, and Stacy McCain’s answer..

Forgetting the fact that Mr. Benen apparently wants to put a religious test on who can serve in congress and forgetting his seeming ignorance concerning Christianity’s history and science. I suggest he buy a copy of How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (my review here no wonder the left hates Western Civilization so much but I digress).

I’ve already made my point in this post about the Bible and science:

In our science we basically have educated guesses in pursuit of truth. As time and our knowledge expands our guesses become better and more informed but in the end a lot of it is still a guess, yet these guesses are a million times better than Moses would ever be able to make. If our science would be beyond Moses, how much more beyond him would be the actual methods of how God works explained on a scientific level?

It is my opinion that God gave Moses the answers that were truthful, but also in a way that he and his people, bronze age humans could understand and grasp. Like at the waters of Massah and Meribah he didn’t give him a thesis on Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms combined to create water, he didn’t give a geological explanation of how steams wear down soil and cause erosion, he provided the water.

It doesn’t matter for example if the entire world was flooded in Noah’s time, or if it was an individual continent, or just a country the size of Iraq or whatever. In the understanding of Noah it was the world, and in the understanding of Moses it was the world. It makes it no less the action of God nor do the lessons drawn from it change. It is no different than trying to explain to a 3 year old how something works, you tell him the truth but in a way that he can grasp it.

Now as I said Science is a question of our best educated guess, but many people try to use it as a club to attack Christianity in general and the Bible in particular as Stacy puts it:

Having spent quite some time studying the arguments over evolution, it has for many years struck me that while the scientific priesthood of neo-Darwinian orthodoxy in astrophysics, paleontology and anthropology often disagree vehemently over their own theories and interpretations, they are united by one major agreement: The Bible is wrong.

On that point, they are quite fanatical, and one need not debate fanatics. Merely demonstrate that they are fanatics — occasionally point out their more obvious errors, provoking their predictably intemperate responses — and you will discredit them in the eyes of reasonable people.

I think people often confuse “natural selection” and survival and the fittest, which is certainly scientifically sound and full blown evolution the creation of one species from another.

The second has several problems the biggest of which for me is the math.

Here is what you need for evolution of that nature to work:

  1. You need some kind of mutation.
  2. Said mutation needs to be a beneficial mutation so it doesn’t increase the likely hood of the creature caught by a predator.
  3. You need a mutation that doesn’t prevent breeding with a similar creature
  4. The result of that breed must carry said mutation so it has to be dominant trait
  5. Continual breeding has to take place so that dominant trait spreads until all members of the species without that dominant trait disappear.
  6. Repeat until an amoeba becomes Snooki from Jersey Shore.

Now think about the mathematical odds of each of those steps and imagine the development of a claw from a fin.  Think of NOTHING else, just that single development.  What would the mathematical odds of each step taking place? How many times would the dice have to fall a particular way for that to happen just for that step to take place? What are the odds of such a thing happening by chance and not just by chance, but over and over again for every species that is out there?

Is that possible, sure. I believe in God, with such a God something like this is very possible, what I find amazing is that those who are so vehement in denying the existence of God are willing to bet their reputations on a process that mathematically is so unlikely that they’d never bet real money on it.

I submit that if you believe in Evolution you almost HAVE to believe in God because the odds of such a process taking place without him are so slight as to be nil.

Or to put it another way. You can have God without evolution, but considering the odds involved I submit you can’t have evolution without God.

Now is it really important? Not really, It’s an interesting scientific discussion and like anything such scientific discussion you go where the evidence takes you. We keep researching, we find clues and make assumptions based on them, test them, and repeat. That’s fine. Religion of course doesn’t need to explain the nuts and bolts of how a universe is created, it’s primary job is to save souls. These goals aren’t mutually exclusive and we need to remember what science and religion’s purposes are:

Man didn’t need God to provide him a science text, man can write those texts himself. Man did need instruction on the salvation of his soul. God provided that and still provides it through Scripture, prayer, the Church and Tradition. We can take advantage of those things provided or not. It’s totally up to us.

I await to see Steve Benen’s piece attacking the scientific ignorance of Islam.

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