Begin forwarded message:
From: "David P. Reed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: December 29, 2006 11:33:28 AM EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Not even wrong, was Re: [IP] more on Quake cuts off much of
Asia Internet
The discussion about spam and the quake here suggests that "evidence"
that has no scientific merit whatsoever is now considered acceptable,
and even compelling, among the Internet elite.
In other words: "it's true because I want to believe it, so the
thinnest piece of news continues to confirm it. So I can put my
beliefs out there and people will not treat me like an uneducated
lout. And anyone who questions me about it must be attacked by me and
my defenders."
It's exactly this kind of "logic" that leads to Security Theater,
unwarranted beliefs in validity of interpretations developed by
"intelligence" agencies, the idea that a prosecutor or a president
has access to powerful knowledge that must be taken on faith despite
their unwillingness to reveal its provenance, and lots of other faith-
based inference methods.
Science has grown skepticism into a practice that works hard to fight
the confirmation biases built into human psychology, but even science
is attacked by those who need to reinforce their discomfort with the
world they live in (racism or nationalism or other hatreds being the
most extreme form of such discomforts).
That said, the best remedy for such idiot speech is ridicule. The
connection between spam and the Asian quake is so far off base it's
not even wrong, not even funny.
-------------------------------------------
<HR>
You are subscribed as [email protected]<BR>To manage your subscription, go to<BR> <A
HREF="http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip";>http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip</A><P>Archives
at: <A HREF="http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/intere
Archives: [LIST_ARCHIVES_URL]
Modify Your Subscription:
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=783980&user_secret=3568562d
Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=783980-3568562d-w7whfeym
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
