Category Archives: Philosophy

Consensus vs Scientific Method

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In the Anthropomorphic Global Warming (AGW) debate the word ‘consensus’ has become very important. Little thought is given the idea of the scientific method. AGW skeptics are charged with ignoring science. So, for the intellectually honest it would seem understanding ‘consensus verses the scientific method’ would be a core point in any debate of AWG. In researching that point I came across a funny and informative video. 9 minutes.

[youtube EYPapE-3FRw]

Merriam-Webster defines CONSENSUS as:

a : general agreement : unanimity <the consensus of their opinion, based on reports … from the border — John Hersey>

b : the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned <the consensus was to go ahead>

Alternate: group solidarity in sentiment and belief

Notice that consensus is about opinion and belief. It may be informed opinion, even well informed opinion. But, it is still opinion.

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SL Philosophy by Gwyneth Llewelyn

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I enjoy Gwyneth’s writing. She has a new article out that inspires thought and examination of one’s thinking about Second Life™ with some interesting comparisons between human behavior in Facebook and SL.

It supports many of my perceptions of life and human nature, so I found really interesting.

I like how she has described the fallacies in the thinking of the interviewees. I enjoy rational examination of philosophy and human behavior, which is why I have a Philosophy Section in my blog.

Gwyneth is responding to interviews of by Aria E Appleford with SL Residents that have left SL. I think it is good reading. See: Second Life Has No Humans.

While you are there, check out the poll that Gwyneth has on her blog: What do you think about Philip Rosedale’s upcoming virtual world, High Fidelity? I am surprised how many have not heard of it… well… there are only 17 respondents when I voted. So, it’s too small a sample to provide much insight.

Wackadoodles

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These wackadoodle people show up in so many places… it gets infuriating. I see where Jessica Lyon responded to one in the Firestorm Viewer blog. I mention this because I am impressed by her statesman like response. Well done Jessica.

The blog article is announcing the re-opening of the Firestorm Viewer’s Preview Group. This is a group that will get Firestorm’s Beta version of their viewer. The team wants people that will help them test the viewer before it goes to main release.

Just as the Lab rolls server updates to 30% of the main grid for testing in a more diverse environment so too, the FS Team needs a larger selection of equipment and driver versions running their viewer before making a final release.

So, if you are interested in helping the team, check out: Feeling Brave? If you are NOT willing to file JIRA bug reports, please don’t bother.

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Gwyneth Llewelyn’s mADness

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I like Gwyneth’s writing because; her ideas are clearly expressed and her thinking rational. Her latest is about Linden Lab starting to use Google’s Adsense advertising and people’s reactions. It ranges from estimates of how much the Lab may be making to the psychological aspects of SL and the freedom available in SL that IS NOT available in other social sites/games/networks.

Gwyneth points out the details of how the Lab is using the advertising. She compares it to how other services use advertising. The Lab is certainly atypical in their use of Adsense.

The basic idea many people have is that paid services do NOT have advertising. But, that is not accurate. Consider cable and satellite TV. Those are paid services that have a load of advertising. Newspapers and magazine that we purchase have a load of advertising too. We pay to go into a movie and then sit through ads for coming movies and local services and products.

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Who Do You Listen To?

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Looking through the comments on Metareality’s articles I noticed one that is typical of people in various online communities. It seems humans have a tendency to provide their opinions for solutions to problems they have little if any knowledge about. In my experience such behavior is pretty much a universal trait of human nature, online or not.

Jo Yardley recently wrote: Noob experience revisited. Jo clearly sees problems with the new user’s introduction to Second Life™ process and is frustrated by it. Jo has some great ideas for fixing them. But, never mentions his first experience with the SL experience, just his looking at the experience as it is now from a more experienced viewpoint.

I’ll give Jo credit for trying to look at it from a new users perspective. But, that is impossible for him because he has 4 years of experience with SL. He can only IMAGINE what it might be like. How many time have we found things not to be as we imagined?

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Login2Life Video

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If you have not yet seen this video, check it out. This is about how people are using Second Life™ and World of WarCraft™ virtual worlds. The video runs 1:27 hour:minutes. This is primarily in German. But, most of the people are speaking in English and the video provides German subtitles. Unfortunately the German, Japanese, and other language parts do not have English subtitles.

I’ve placed a trailer first. It is all English. It runs 2:31 minutes.

[youtube BFalissUWGE]

There are apparently some legal issues with the display of the main Login 2 Life video on YouTube. I didn’t understand what that was about, other than I am NOT supposed to say who tipped me off to the video. But… thanks for the tip.

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Gun Confiscation in California

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This is a political and controversial topic. Skip it if you cannot handle intellectual debate in a civil manner. – We are hearing from mainstream media that the right wingers’ fears of gun confiscation are unfounded. The mainstream media has for weeks said that could not and would not happen. The proof that gun confiscation is a real threat has come to California. The state legislature has submitted the bills. Read these articles:

There are some things the media is not telling people. Let’s take two of the basic tenants of gun laws. The idea of a 10 round magazine being unnecessary for self defense is common. What people do not consider is that most hand guns have magazines of 10 or more rounds. So, the law effectively makes most hand guns illegal.

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