Viewing profile — bellaire

Not at all. It is true that CO2 has never led temperature change before; that's because the massive anthropogenic CO2 spike in the data is completely unprecedented, so we don't kno…

Both are views of death are technically correct, but focusing on the former while ignoring the latter is problematic for reasons described at length in the article.

Afraid doesn't necessarily denote the emotion of fear, I think in this context we can safely say it's merely the anticipation of something which is disliked. Like, "I'm afraid if I…

Ostensibly, yes. However, the reality of the situation is left as an exercise for the conscientious reader.

The article specifically describes a comparison of Finland with Norway, similiar in size and ethnic composition. Apples-to-apples, as you say. Norway's education policy is much mor…

I agree with your post, but this: ...as meaningful as comparing a phillips screwdriver with a flathead. They're used for different purposes. is perhaps not the best analogy. They a…

Using xargs with a pipe is easier. I don't know any reason why I'd want to "save a pipe" when working at the command line. Also note that text surrounded by asterisks in your comme…

You can other things to show that you give a damn besides apologizing, which is kind of her point. Would a woman apologize to another woman about the behavior of a crude man? No, b…

Teleology was used somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The older literature was problematic because it aligned too neatly with anthropocentric ideas of goal-oriented evolution, and gave rise…

Build me a quantum teleporter, then we can compare masses.

Great post, more informative than the article. As far as I know, the adaptive radiation theory is now held as correct for hominids just as it is for every other group of species. T…

Surprising, and highly unlikely. If it's not too taxing for you, you could read the rest of the Wikipedia article to better understand when measures other than reproductive compati…

There are two differences: One, stuff is a positive number. If your goal is to have less stuff to be happy, you can't get less than zero stuff. It's self-limiting. If your goal is …

From the article: "Our ongoing research suggests that teams need a moderate level of cognitive diversity for effectiveness. Extremely homogeneous or extremely diverse groups aren’t…

That study is exclusively with smaller groups: 3 people. The social dynamics of a 3-person group are very different than a 10-person group as in this study. This probably has much …

Those aren't fallacies, those are merely points with which you disagree. The appropriate thing for you to do is provide contrary evidence.

Makes sense. EFF knows the law as well as anyone, the concern here is that they could be entangled in as-yet-unknown legal disputes because of their use of bitcoin. That'd be waste…

The linked PDF is ambiguous, "penalisation of the production and making available of tools ... for committing the offences". If this requires mens rea , i.e. they prove that your i…

From the article: "The tech supposedly makes the batteries up to ten times more efficient than their traditional counterparts, and even more importantly, the new tech is cheaper to…

Very real and legitimate objections based on a right to privacy aside, the main flaw with this point of view is this: "If there's almost 0 chance..." Almost 0 is not zero. If you'r…

You forgot the most salient point: At that temperature, the styrofoam was so soft (though not quite melted) that after removing the lid, it collapsed on itself. So she "spilled" th…

Scandals rarely are. Someone gives or receives money, favors, or information inappropriately. It's the perceived degree of impropriety that makes something scandalous, not how comm…

Virtually all studies (and there have been many) have shown that people with diabetes who use glucose meters regularly are at markedly reduced risk of complications than those who …

A utility function or cost/benefit tradeoff isn't a matter of opinion. If your situation and available information dictates that a certain decision is rational, then we aren't talk…

Yeah, punctuation, wow. I mean, here's a sierpinski triangle generator: 32.times{|i|i.upto(31){|k|putc~k&i>0?32:35};puts} Oh, wait. That's Ruby. I meant to say: Oh, sorry! That's P…