For Prose

I am curious if anyone here takes cold showers and if so, do you feel you experience a sense of "hyper-awareness" during and immediately after?

Many years ago I took cold showers religiously but for some reason or another stopped. I am now attempting to reinstate the daily habit and remembered what it feels like right after.

Not to be confused with Cold Showers

I found this link while searching http://www.thehackedmind.com/7-reasons-to-take-cold-showers-and-1-that-really-matters/.

Might be a load of bull but most of it seems believable...

Well, the Buddha found one.

Sorry ForProse. It is just that I struggle to remember one thing that Dennett has contributed. I admire him for various reasons but his ability to solve problems is not one of them, and this is the philosopher's principle job. I also dislike the way he misleads his readers with clever words. I consider him to be dishonest.

I can agree and see what you mean by that. And not that it is right, but I feel the same way about creationists, so when I read Dennett, it sometimes feels like he just uses some of the same "tricks" and utilizes clever words. Most preachers I know do the same thing (Still not saying I agree with the approach).

For me, I feel that Dennett only misleads readers who are not aware with his mentality. If I was not exposed to him from someone who knew much regarding his works, I may have been or felt mislead.

I don't really read Dennett to learn things I that I didn't already know I guess. I read his work because he finds ways of putting things I already know in a different context. Like the quote iNow posted.

Favourite philosopher? Has he ever solved a problem?

One of, and please, throw out more than just "Has he ever solved a problem?". That is quite vague and I don't know what you are looking for.

Could an explanation of the Logical fallacy thing be listed please.

You should read this and study it well. Very very well.

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/pdf/FallaciesPoster24x36.pdf

Lab accidents are essential for effective supervillainy.

Lab accidents that result in some sort of uncontrollable creature = even better!

Perhaps you should build your lab with the idea that it could be either taken down in short notice, or moved around to fit whatever type of experiment you may be working on. I own my own contracting business and would love to combine the two!

You should start a blog somewhere.

Yesterday. No but seriously, I realized it around 13 when reading about Socrates journey around the village and relays to the court:

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

Made me really reflect what I thought I knew and in part is what drew me further to the sciences.

I figured, this is probably a similar technology as the "inductrack" (this is where I first heard about it) and is further similar in principle to asynchronous (cage) motor. Only, the original inductrack used permanent magnets for levitation (and therefore had to be moved at some speed to achieve the levitation) while in this case obviously electromagnets must be used to generate moving magnetic field even when the board is hovering steady.

 

This page took 100MB from my bandwidth. When I discovered it, I immediately left so I didn't have time to check if their model can carry a person nor how long would battery last.

I thought the same thing.

I am finding the quality of all the posts so far to greatly exceed my expectations.

And I discovered through SFN what the power of the web really was, not just immense amounts of knowledge, but bringing me in touch with real-world perspectives from outside the US. Suddenly, I was seeing science and the world through people from all around the world, something I think is sadly lacking in most American's lives.

 

Very interesting PfA. While it has crossed my mind, I haven't thought about it like this.

 

No. The fist thing is to admit that we cannot be 100% sure, because the sources are too vague. The next is to weigh the different options, and take the most probable assumption. It is true: we can be nearly 100% sure that Caesar existed, the situation with Jesus is definitely worse.

 

Well put Eise.

It's not too difficult to find out.

Get a few identical cups- cheap plastic or paper ones like you use for parties are probably a good bet but if you have some identical glasses that might be even better.

Just before you change the filter fill half the glasses with water then change the filter and fill the rest of the cups.

Then ask a friend to put the numbers 1 to 6 (or whatever) randomly on the cups and record which numbers are on "old" water and which ones on "new". Make sure you are out of the room while they do this.

Then ask them to leave the room (so they can't influence your choice- even by accident) and see if you can decide which glasses are "old filter" and which ones \are "new". Make a note of which ones you think are which.

 

Then check to see if you were right about which ones were which.

If you can tell whether a glass is from the old filter or the new one reliably then there's a difference- if not you can probably save money on the filters.

Having said that, in most places filtering the water is a waste of money- the tap water is OK to drink and

there's a potential risk with using the filters for a long time- they may start to grow bacteria which are harmful in themselves or which produce toxic materials.

And what of the time in between drinking the cups? If I am to do this experiment I want to do it right and feel there should be some time in between each cup.What time do you feel might be suitable? 5 minutes seems like a good amount of time to me.

And on the side note, I don't drink filtered water because I worry about it containing anything harmful. I drink it because there is clearly a taste difference between tap and filtered water where I live. The tap water tastes like it has trace amounts of chlorine. Some people don't taste it as strongly as I do. Maybe it has something to do with my attempt at "refining" my palate for so many years when tasting wines.

Well, as the author pointed out, I would be more than happy to test it out if they want to send me one of their Whiteboxes...

I am really enjoying the responses so far.

I would like to add something that came to mind as I was falling asleep. SFN also serves as a type of journal for me. I have always wanted to keep a journal but found that I am not very good at it due to the large part of keeping up with it. I can look back at things I have said as I progress through my education and determine where I am at and where I have come from.

Thank you for sharing Nicholas and I couldn't agree with you more on how helpful studiot is, especially with his diagrams.

Interesting. My favorite teachers in both high school and college were math teachers, because of their style and enthusiasm.

 

I suspect one hurdle they have for motivation, especially for introductory classes, is the disparate applications. You teach algebra or calculus to a bunch of students, but you don't know what they are going to go on to study — physics, chemistry, biology, geology, engineering? If they haven't taken those classes yet they won't know the formulas involved, and maybe they haven't even decided yet what they want to study. And the teacher probably doesn't have a whole lot of time to set up problems to give the motivation, even if they did have sufficient cross-discipline background to know the applications.

I can understand that. But what of the enthusiasm outside of the classroom? I see where you are coming from with disparate applications. That certainly makes sense. I guess my personality may also have something to do with why I get so frustrated. I could never, no matter what the subject or introductory class, show little enthusiasm or motivation, even to apathetic students. They find it boring/dull? So what! I find it interesting and would inevitably let it show. I still find the basic things I learned 10 years ago fascinating.

Hey everyone,

As I was reading through threads on the site tonight, I found myself asking why I am a member of this fantastic community. What brought me here, and why spend valuable time that could be spent elsewhere doing other things.

My answer is this; I don't get the stimulation that I desire from my peers. Whether that be philosophy, biology, mathematics, or just about anything related to the sciences. It is very easy to find someone to talk to about trivial matters, or at least what I consider trivial, such as movies, eating preferences, yada yada yada, but not science. So, first off, interaction.

Additionally, I find the learning and teaching others actually brings me a sense of contentment.

What brought you here and keeps you involved?

Hey everyone,

I am curious as to if there may be some physiological difference in which your body handles drinking water at various temperatures.

I have a feeling that this is highly incorrect, but i have occasionally imagined that your stomach is like an oven when digesting food. Breaking of chemical bonds being the "energy", and to what effect "cooling" the oven might have on digestion. In my head, drinking hot tea stimulated and aids in the breaking of those bonds and drinking ice water does the opposite. Like I stated, I know this is probably wayyy off.

I also think, as an argument against my argument, that we have probably evolved to seek out colder water which would usually be less likely to contain harmful pathogens, microbes, ect., whereas warmer or even hot water may be an indication of stagnation or bacteria filled.

Feel free to discuss either the physiological effects or evolutionary mechanisms.

Well, crispness is hard to assess, in wine, it typically relates to acidity, but in your case it is not easy to predict what you may perceive as cristp.

Taste of water does change with the dissolved salts or oxygen, but I doubt that a change of the filter will have tremendous effects. The reason to change filters is often down to bacterial growth, which is somewhat independent on how much you filter, but more temperature dependent.

First, let me say that you are one of the few I had in mind that I really wanted input from, so thank you!

Does this mean that you recommend storing the water filter pitcher in the fridge? I enjoy drinking room temperature water, and thus keep it out.

Do you know if the change in dissolved salts or oxygen would attribute to the "clean" feeling I may (imagine) experience?

And I know exactly what you mean with the wine. I tended bar for 7 years in many upscale restaurants which allowed me to taste hundreds (if not thousands) of different wines.

I have a quote i would like to share as I feel it is relevant to this thread.

" As you read the text, think like a researcher; consider the evidence that is presented, think of alternate explanations, plan experiments that could lead to new hypotheses.'

"Before closing these introductory comments, let me take the liberty of offering the reader some advice: Don't accept everything you read as being true. There are several reasons for urging such skepticism. Undoubtedly, there are errors in this text that reflect the author's ignorance or misrepresentation of some aspect of the scientific literature. But, more importantly, we should consider the nature of biological research. Biology is an empirical science; nothing is ever proved. We compile data concerning a particular cell organelle, metabolic reaction, intracellular movement, ect., and draw some type of conclusion. Some conclusions rest on more solid evidence that others. Even if there is a consensus of agreement concerning the "facts" regarding a particular phenomenon, there are often several possible interpretations of the data. Hypotheses are put forth and generally stimulate further research, thereby leading to a reevaluation of the original proposal. Most hypotheses that remain valid undergo a sort of evolution, and, when presented in the text, should not be considered wholly correct or incorrect."

(Found in Cell and Molecular Biology 7th Ed. by Gerald Karp. "To the Student". page x (not a typo))

My wish is that teachers would stress this at the beginning of their course and continue to stress this throughout periodically. If we want to train scientists and mathematicians, why not start treating us as such? I want to fed monotonous information required for later but I also want it to be done so with some type of reminder that it might not be correct.

(This is my opinion. It only applies to all the teachers I have ever had, not to teachers as a whole, as I have not been instructed by all teachers. There may be some out there that exist and would suite me perfectly.)

 

It sounds like a good idea, in your novel - having a female virologist as the main protagonist. That's very politically correct. It gives your book a good start.

However, this good start seems spoiled, when you go on to say - "she and other members of her team are ultimately unsuccessful"

 

Such lack of success by the female-led team, is bound to evoke invidious sexist thoughts. But the thoughts can be ameliorated, by a modification of your novel. Along these lines -

Keep the central character female. That goes without saying. But - allow her to have a supporting male character, who will be her companion. Acting as a contrast to her brilliance. Like Dr Watson did to Sherlock Holmes.

But don't overstress the companion's masculinity. Make him manly. But with a hint of gayness. Not overtly, only suggestively. That way you'll get three benefits -

 

1. Women will be appeased

2. Straight men will be reassured

3. Gay men will be titillated

 

I think that's all you need to write your novel. You can get the Science from SFN.

And maybe, if you are truly intent on having them fail, have the supporting male character be either the cause or maybe that he was unable to accomplish something the virologist tasked him with.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get some opinions from others on filtered water.

Whenever I change my Brita water filter, the water always seems like it goes down smoother and has almost a crispness to it. Of course, I know this could be in part to the fact that my mind knows I have just changed the filter, and could be imagined only.

I am curious to know whether or not there is anything behind this and if anyone else shares the same feeling or perception.

I do have a ppm meter that use and always replace the filter when it is half of the starting amount. I also will admit that I use my filter longer than is recommended because a) I am a single individual and I suspect that the time when it tells you to change is based upon information collected from either family use or multiple individual use and b) It's a wonder that I can even afford the filters while I am in school so I try to get as much utility from each one as possible.

Let's hear what you think or can contribute to why this may be. Maybe you feel it's all in my head, as I sometimes wonder myself.

 

Americans are the topic.

 

I can start another thread exploring the correlation between religious beliefs and lack of internet access in the US. That actually sounds interesting.

I agree and think you should.

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to have some discussion around one of my favorite philosophers and cognitive scientists; Daniel Dennett. He is no stranger to these forums. All someone has to do is search his name to find many articles where he is mentioned.

To start out, maybe we could discuss this excerpt from his book "Breaking the Spell". You can find it here.

Or here. http://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/education/Daniel%20Dennett%20-%20Teach%20Our%20Children%20Well.pdf

I would like to hear and talk about what you think on the matter. And I realize that it is something that could not realistically happen, at least not anytime in the near future...

I am in the US, currently in secondary school, and many of the teachers seem to be interested in or care about what they teach, and do so to the extent that the curriculum (there is often a final exam that must be prepared for) or their class (eg, most English classes enjoy apathetic students, however interesting the book/topic at hand) will allow.

 

The one exception is mathematics. I have never come across a maths teacher who is interested in or cares about math. In fact, maths is the only class where at the beginning of the year, instead of presenting a motivation for the topic like is done in each other subject, they present information about the final exam that will be prepared for. Two years ago my geometry teacher introduced the class by angrily lamenting the difficulty of the class and how hard everyone will have to work to earn a good grade. Last year my algebra / trigonometry teacher did so by noting how much more intensive the work would be than for any previous year and how extremely important passing the final state-mandated exam was. When I brought my algebra 1 teacher an algebra question, she noted that this specific question was something that was to be studied two years later in algebra 2, and she could not help, and when I pushed, she deferred to an unhelpful class textbook. When I showed a proof I developed of the area of a circle (pi*r^2) to my geometry teacher, she laughed and said "you did circles in the third grade".

 

These people are like kids who were trained to do well in high school, focus on mathematics classes because they're the most straight forward/mechanical at that level, memorize a pedagogy, and repeat it to new students, with no regard to the actual content; the cycle goes on and more such teachers/students are produced.

 

I would not trust these people's teaching. They are presenting real mathematical results, but the rote and plug and chug method of teaching is something that could be harmful if gotten used to, even hindering an interest in maths.

Interesting Sato. My experience has been the exact opposite. Within biology, this same sort of thing tends to happen quite frequently, but all of my math professors will spend hours talking to me and would even try and works problems in fields that they knew nothing about.

This is in my experience. I don't want Phi to feel insulted.

I'm very disappointed in the generalizations about teachers in this thread. I find it extremely insulting to the profession. Perhaps the problem doesn't lie with all of them.

I wonder if your disappointment rivals my dissapointment when trying to elicit discussions in and around the field of science with my teachers? I am not quite sure how you find it insulting, as I have made no mention of diminishing remarks of the actual competence of the teachers themselves. I, too, would then find it insulting. Criticizing one lacking aspect of something is not the same as criticizing as a whole. And I do find it lacking. If that disappoints you, well you might feel even more disappointed to know that this same sentiment is shared by my some of my peers.

If so then teaching can be a bit of a pain, especial at the lower levels where the material is not that interesting. Also of course the topic is not there speciality, it is not what they are really interested in or spend much time (other than getting ready for teaching) on. When you get to the more advanced topics this will change. The lectures will typically be working in something close to the topics they will be teaching. This is good and allows the lecturer to express interest and enthusiasm for the topic. For example, they know the real problems and interesting aspects of the topic.

And at what point do I get into the more advanced topics? When I am actually pursuing my phD? Why teach if it is not something you are interested in?