Asbestos and Smoking Risks

[N2EY]

K5END and WX7G:

I watched the video too. I give it four stars for production values and one star for content. And as you say, a couple minutes' content stretched out to 20.

There are so many logical fallacies in the thing that it's hard to know where to start. Most of them fall under the heading of Assuming The Conclusion, Appeal to Authority, and False Dichotomy.

There's also the fact that their argument assumes the very thing they are denying in its "proof".

For example, suppose we could somehow do the brain-in-a-vat thing and create a completely artificial reality-perception for that brain. Doing so would require that the brain exist in the first place, and that other entities who set the whole thing up must exist as well. Yet such entities do not have to be God to do so, nor do they have to create the brain experiencing the artificial reality.

IOW, it's really just the logical equivalent of a load of dingo's kidneys, just playing the opposite side of the street from Oolon Colluphid's bestseller "Well That About Wraps It Up For God"

btw, I first read Plato's Republic long ago. Good starting place.

"Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance" is my favorite, though. Very appropriate to Amateur Radio if you change the technology a little.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[WX7G]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a good book. I've read it twice and have also read Lila. I'm starting on my third reading of Zen. I still don't understand all of it. Is there a study companion to it? The metaphysics of quality.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a free download.

[K5END]

Yep, I concur.

The 20 minute film had basically one valid point and 34 other bits of BS.

I liked "The Matrix" better. I don't normally like Sci-Fi movies, but that one had some pretty good symbolism.

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"load of dingos' kidneys," eh?

Very good expression. I'd not heard it before.

Now, that is one I'll have to remember for use in a meeting at work sometime!

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To iterate, TG and eham for the misc forum.

It makes for an interesting diversion from the usual "what is the best radio for me?" and "why does my cat get RF burns when I use my G5RV?"

[N2EY]

is "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", a series of wonderful books by Douglas Adams.

First, you have to understand the Babelfish:

"The Babel fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy received not from its own carrier but from those around it. It absorbs all unconcious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish."

Oolon Colluphid used the Babel fish as the main theme of his best-seller, "Well, That About Wraps It Up For God."

The argument goes like this:

God refuses to prove that He exists because proof denies faith and without faith God is nothing.
 
Man then counters that the Babel fish is a dead giveaway because something so mind-boggingly useful  could not have evolved by chance.

Which proves God exists.

But such a proof eliminates the need for faith.

God realizes He hadn't thought of that and promptly disappears in a puff of logic.

It should be noted that most leading theologians claim that Colluphid's argument is "a load of dingo's kidneys."

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Well, it's a better argument than the one in the video. And a lot quicker.

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And that's just the beginning of the Hitchhiker books.

73 de Jim, N2EY

(who knows where his towel is)

[WX7G]

N2EY I read the hitchikers guide to the galaxy for the first time last month. A quick and fun read.

[N2EY]

WX7G: Then you understand.

Be aware that there are sequels, such as "The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe" and "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"

The recent film was pretty good too.

Google "Vogon Heavy Industries" when you get a chance.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[N6PJB]

Have another hit.

[WX7G]

N2EY okay I bought and downloaded the restaurant book to my Kindle just now.

[N2EY]

WX7G: There's a 'Guidebook' to ZAMM. Authors are Ron DiSanto and Tom Steele. There are copies on Amazon and it can be Kindled (is that a word?). I haven't read it yet. Also need to get Lila from the library.

What parts of ZAMM don't you understand?

The edition I have has an explanatory introduction by Pirsig that really helped me understand the whole narrator/Phaedrus business. There are also font changes that make this clearer.

The book was rejected by 121 publishers (a Guinness record!) before being accepted. Since it first hit the shelves it has never gone out of print.

I found a website through Wikipedia that has pictures from the trip and the actual route taken. Nice motorcycles too.

73 de Jim, N2EY