5 Things You Love That Are Also “Just a Theory”
Bananas
I promised myself I wasn’t going to turn neoSpockets into a soapbox blog, but there’s been a bit too much depressing anti-evolution news in the past few weeks and I can’t keep my mouth shut any longer.
This “evolution is just a theory” battle-cry is tiring. I’ve seen this card played far too many times, and I’m fatigued in its lame attempt to make a pseudo-intelligent argument out of a clearly religious-centered theme.
Disclaimer: I’m not going to attack any specific belief system in this post, but rather show the fallacy of this common and clichéd “just a theory” argument. Let me state very clearly upfront that it honestly doesn’t matter to me what you believe in. At the end of the day, we all believe whatever solution gives us the most peace-of-mind. But when you’re passionate enough about your beliefs to start trying to discredit my boy science, I start to get a little peeved.
9 Semi-Famous Nerds to Follow on Twitter
#3.14159
I have yet to reach a conclusive opinion about Twitter.
Finding itself on my list of 5 Technologies That Will Be Gone in Five Years, I don’t see this social-media/micro-blogging concept staying ahead of the spammers who ruined AIM, Craigslist, and MySpace.
Personally, I could care less about what celebrities think about seasonal Starbucks coffee flavors, or what “FKAS – FOX Kansas” is up to.
But despite the spam and naval-gazing aspect of Twitter, I have to admit that I do enjoy hearing about the day-to-day’s of some of my favorite famous brainiacs.
So for those who actually want to get some quality and intelligent* posts out of their Twitter experience, I present my top 9 Semi-Famous Nerds to Follow on Twitter.
*quality and intelligence not a guarantee.
The Indisputable Evidence Box
I wholeheartedly endorse a justifiable amount of skepticism. I think that to whatever belief system you subscribe, it is important to occasionally look around and find all your emergency exits.
In economics, a phenomenon exists known as the endowment effect, which can be simplified to state that “people place a higher value on objects they own than on objects that they do not.” This concept extends nicely into human belief systems; it is often consciously easier for a person to discredit a competing belief, than to apply such scrutiny to their own beliefs. In effect, you continue rooting for your horse regardless of its position in the race.
Any scientist worth his/her weight in beakers will tell you that we don’t know anything for sure. Even the most studied and excepted theories have microscopic decimal of doubt. But this skepticism is an extremely important part of the scientific method and paves the way for scientific progression. Personal skepticism unfortunately doesn’t always meet with such rigor.
A good exercise in personal skepticism is the Indisputable Evidence Box. This is a strictly hypothetical test, but may fall under a “test of faith” category for some.
5 Technologies That Will Be Gone In Five Years
In April, 2009 FOXNews.com posted an article entitled Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct. I will save you the time and stigma of going to FOXNews.com and list the 10 gadgets here: landline phones, floppy disks, wristwatches, VHS tape, beepers, film cameras, typewriters, the Walkman, dial-up, and DVDs.
Really? Typewriters are just now circling the drain? Let me repeat part of that first sentence again: APRIL, 2009. Most of these are already extinct! Now I will agree that landline phones are certainly heading out of the door, but come on FOXNews. This article should have been written 5 years ago.
So here’s my response: 5 modern technologies that will be gone by 2015. Pay attention Shepard Smith.
Tell Your Friends
