tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post6571845976209544027..comments2024-02-20T15:17:48.594+11:00Comments on A.E.Brain: Todays Battles : The Theory behind themZoe Brainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13712045376060102538noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-34332742075352360842011-04-01T03:34:20.142+11:002011-04-01T03:34:20.142+11:00I don't see the lines quite as cut and dried -...I don't see the lines quite as cut and dried - I've gone down false paths in areas that I've had a significant amount of education (but was insufficiently skeptical), and I've never seen a significant false path in others where I have little education (say, Spanish) but I think you have a good point overall.<br /><br />I think perhaps the thing to keep in mind is that in some fields there are advantages to keeping false paths for some people/entities - for (a hopefully archaic) example, Tobacco companies want to promulgate the few studies that show beneficial or few harmful effects from tobacco, whereas there's little benefit to creating and maintaining a constructed language as though it were another language.Zimbelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-60484982257046106902011-03-29T13:52:10.302+11:002011-03-29T13:52:10.302+11:00Zimbel,
That is where the Internet and online edu...Zimbel,<br /><br />That is where the Internet and online education of all forms is useful, to fill in gaps in your knowledge when you already know the basics. It allows information to be distributed cheaply to a very dispersed group of information seekers. It can make things affordable that otherwise would not be.<br /><br />But online education is not a good idea for teaching basics. You need the interaction with teachers and other students to stop you from continuing on mistaken paths when you are being introduced to unfamiliar concepts.Lloyd Flackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00832519369660328832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-85150793740249702892011-03-29T08:24:37.869+11:002011-03-29T08:24:37.869+11:00@Lloyd Flack-
The main advantage of the internet ...@Lloyd Flack-<br /><br />The main advantage of the internet is that if I know what information to look up, and how to find a trustworthy source, I can do that nearly instantaneously. I can even often delve a level or two into source materials far quicker than I could look up a single source in a brick and mortar library.<br /><br />To take your particular example, I can easily read the most recent <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" rel="nofollow">IPCC</a> report. Less than 1 minute later, I can get to the information they have in the fourth report on the Mid-Pliocene era. Previously, it might have taken me days or weeks just to get my hands on a physical copy of the fourth report. At minimum, I would have needed to travel to a major library, and manually copy down information or photocopy pages to find that information - and that's ignoring the time it would have taken to figure out that that's the report I probably wanted.Zimbelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-69623635756735029812011-03-27T11:30:49.462+11:002011-03-27T11:30:49.462+11:00It is OK to discriminate and have beliefs. We need...It is OK to discriminate and have beliefs. We need individualality and a purpose. <br /><br />What we do not need is multiculturalisum and one size fits all.<br /><br />RonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-64816843157442328522011-03-27T03:23:01.477+11:002011-03-27T03:23:01.477+11:00Hi Zoe,
I've noticed your prolific commentin...Hi Zoe, <br /><br />I've noticed your prolific commenting for several years now, and I thank you for it. However, I sometimes wonder how just ONE person can post on so many different sites! <br /><br />It's led me to wonder if you're not actually an entire group of grad students running a social experiment posting under one name, or if in addition to your other biological anomalies, you suffer from a SERIOUS case of insomnia that keeps you up all night posting on trans / intersex issues all over the planet.<br /><br />Either way, I'm grateful for all your help in educating the public.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />Cynthiasvelte_brunettehttp://www.youtube.com/user/Cyntillation01noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-33455894307814572872011-03-26T18:10:50.592+11:002011-03-26T18:10:50.592+11:00Unfortunately the internet has made the formation ...Unfortunately the internet has made the formation of echo chambers easier since one can now search the whole nation or ever the whole world for those who agree with you. If you then make them your near sole source of information then you are in trouble. With the older media it is more difficult to avoid information coming from those you disagree with.<br /><br />An area where I think you have fallen into this trap is climate change. You have sometimes believed claims in this area that are internet myths. You have got too much of your information from sites with a political axe to grind and not looked in detail at what those actually working in the field have done. This has fed into the blind spots that working in IT can cultivate. I've noticed how much climate scepticism comes from people in IT trying to fit natural systems into their approach to problems.Lloyd Flackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00832519369660328832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-91835363279234603332011-03-26T15:32:00.059+11:002011-03-26T15:32:00.059+11:00Well said, Zoe.Well said, Zoe.Nicole Jadenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573426.post-65710740616668898612011-03-26T05:05:44.311+11:002011-03-26T05:05:44.311+11:00But in the left-wing sites, there's usually so...<i>But in the left-wing sites, there's usually some now who will admit to being a little right of centre on some issues, economic ones anyway.</i><br /><br />At least in the U.S.A., both major parties have significant presence of corporate conservatives, many of whom believe in the Austrian School of Economics, and/or follow Real Business Cycle theory. This is partly due to our duopolistic politics, and partly due to how we fund our political campaigns. So it's of little surprise (that in the U.S.A., at least) you'd note economic conservatives in left-leaning sites.Zimbelnoreply@blogger.com