Phi for All

Imo, you've always been like the guy who stalks a sports figure but knows nothing about sports. You're a science stalker, with lots of hateful to go around. The sources you base your arguments on are pretty ridiculous, and show the kinds of contortions you have to do to justify your anti-science positions.

Oh my, think about what you're saying! "This is brilliant because it makes you think about things that aren't true and for which there is NO EVIDENCE!!!" That is the opposite of science.

IIIRC, it's attached to the bladder, but more as an anchor point. It only stretches so far, so if your belly gets bigger, the "button" becomes deeper.

Many warehouses and storage facilities are moving towards LED lighting that takes better advantage of motion and IR controls, so lights only come on when and where needed. However, the sensors aren't sophisticated enough, so they tend to err on the side of caution, and often stay on for minutes after people have left the area. Or if they have no IR component, they may shut the lights off on someone who is there but not moving much. My idea was to have a lighting system keyed to a portable device (a badge?) so the light sensors respond to the device clipped onto a person rather than the person's motion or heat. I think they could be much more accurate that way. Warehouses and storage units could have lights that come on and go off 10 meters all around you, so you're always in an efficient bubble of light. I haven't checked this is a couple of years, so someone may be doing it, but I think controls like this would convince many building owners to switch to solid-state lights.

! Moderator Note Edited.

"Large"? "Really large"?! If this is a science project, start being more precise right now. And don't you mean 5 millimeters? I don't think bulletproof glass is 5 inches thick. So you need a big size sheet of pyrex, and places like Amazon and Alibaba can't help you?

Growth business models won't stop at trying to educate to a standard. They can't stop, that's the point of growth. At some point, they'll need to grow by teaching more than their competitors, knowledge that must come from alternative sources. We're already seeing how much they're pushing the point of alternative facts. Honestly, it always looked like the Republicans were purposely trying to make Americans stupid with all the pushback to public education they supported. I never understood how they thought that made us a stronger country. Now it's beginning to look like it was just a wealth-driven gaslight to make them stupid enough to elect someone like this. It would be the ultimate Republican scam to wave the flag for so long, keeping it in our faces ALL THE TIME, and then suddenly flip and say WOW, those Russian leaders sure are admirable human beings! They'll do whatever it takes to get the job done! They NEVER get pushed around! Their government lets them grab whatever they want to! Morals are for fragile little snowflakes! It's might that makes us RIGHT!

! Moderator Note I'm leaving this thread open because there's an actual science discussion going on between swansont and Dan MP. madmac, I snipped this out of one of your recent posts to show why others are objecting to your loose, guesswork-based, rigor-free discussion style. You are simultaneously refusing to study mainstream science, and giving in to its greatest weakness, subjectivity. You don't formally study and then you inflict your uninformed guesswork on yourself. There are an awful lot of posts here and in other threads offering you help with this. You should reread them all.

! Moderator Note We wish you luck, but this is not the site to ask for donations. We're a science discussion forum.

It's hard not to be depressed thinking about how many people consider him to be an American leader. He's a billionaire with a crippled grasp of right and wrong who lies to Americans about solutions to every fear they can think of, so he can gain the power to do whatever he wants. Did no one's grandma tell them the stories about wolves and sheep with wool over their eyes?

... based on a hazy level of intelligence, beyond which we're not encouraged to go. If it's too intelligent, it's unnatural. Your smart-ass will never look good in those jeans.

I disagree that democracy itself is on the decline, nor is it an institution since it's not a single thing. Certain democracies show signs of needing restructuring, but that flexibility is supposed to be one of its strengths.

He was a fraud, that's the explanation. And I think he was living in Canada.

The chances of today's physics being wrong on the fundamental level some crackpots claim is practically impossible. The exceptions certainly exist, but will most likely not be complete game-changers.

I spent decades in sales, marketing, and business. I always avoided unethical practices yet prospered nonetheless. It seems there is more admiration for extreme wealth than there is disdain for ruthless predatory scheming in many people's minds. Honesty seems to be losing favor quite quickly.

Better marketer? Is the lying snake oil salesman who cares about nothing but profit a better marketer because he tricks more people into buying from him? Perhaps this is part of why the ruthless businessman is admired. Marketing is allowed to have certain levels of dishonesty in order to be effective, it seems.

Think about who they're after with this kind of stuff. They have their base well in hand. The folks they want are the ones who're leaning their way. If a leaner checks out these stories, he finds out Atlanta was untrue, but that actually makes him convinced now that since Boston and San Bernadino were true then something needs to be done about them. It's a tactic that helps confirm biases already present, stapling them together in the leaner's mind with whatever the administration is calling for.

When did people like him become role models for humanity? In fiction, the ruthless businessman who can't succeed unless he makes others fail is always the antagonist. He basically lives completely against the Golden Rule (the most universally recognized moral foundation), unless you believe he prefers to be ridiculed, tormented, treated unfairly, ripped-off, lied to, touched without his consent, marginalized, and discriminated against. In most stories, people like him always meet with a bad end, or the audience wishes he would but he doesn't, and you're not left with admiration, but with frustration that the bad guy won this time. Why is the ruthless businessman suddenly wearing a white hat? You've read the stories/histories. Do you think the ruthless businessman is sincere in his desire to suddenly help the people he's always NOT treated as he'd like to be treated? Why do you think he's more excellent than you?

I need to check with my local PD and find out if taser-gloves are legal! Pretty crafty, crabs.

I've heard that hemp makes very durable shirts and trousers, and if you're patient they'll eventually feel wonderfully worn, soft, and comfortable. Anyone wear clothing from hemp fiber? It's definitely considered "natural", but does anyone prefer it?

Most things we consider witty are inconsistent with the pattern they pretend to follow. We have certain expectations that are broken in novel, silly, or clever ways. Puns seem witty and clever because they're like gratifying mini-puzzles, easily figured out in the course of normal conversation pace. Example: Two peanuts are walking down a dark alley. One was assaulted. Misdirection is another path to wittiness. Make people think they know what you're going to say, then change direction unexpectedly.

I can give you the Cliff's Notes version if you like. Grow up very wealthy and privileged, go to college, borrow money from your father to start your own business, be as ruthless as you possibly can, make deals that seem to benefit everybody involved but then refuse to hold up your end so you make money for almost no effort, ignore contracts that your lawyer can easily tie someone up in court over, make any promises you like but only keep the ones that make you money, don't EVER care about anyone who isn't your family, only deal with people who will do anything you say, viciously attack anyone who criticizes you, and above all keep repeating over and over about how great you are, because enough idiots will believe you eventually.

I've always hated this, mostly because it's come to exclude just about anything we do, even though we're animals living in this environment too. It's natural for a chimp to use a blade of grass to fish for insects, but if I make a hammer with a rock, a stick, and some vines, it's unnatural. As someone who has lived through the early days of synthetic fabrics, I can tell you the science has come a long way. Modern synthetics breathe well, wick moisture away, hold colors longer, and don't shrink as much after cleaning. I have some pieces that are like wearing silk; very strong, comfortable, and lightweight. And I'm not ashamed of what we can do with our intelligence. There is nothing unnatural about anything we do or create. We're part of nature. We should be quite a bit more responsible about it, and for that very reason I think it's wrong to consider ourselves unnatural. It makes it too easy to divorce ourselves from the things we inflict on our environment.

This is the route I would recommend. There seem to be two distinct paths the self-taught travel down. The other path usually leads to misunderstanding, and eventually these folks start thinking they have a special insight and everybody else is wrong.

I feel torn. On one hand is Let's Make Armageddon Great! Pence and the buck-toothed, hill people, fundamental extremist interpretation of their sacred text he represents. On the other are the alt-wealthy who fondly recall the days of separate drinking fountains, and are trying to further separate the educational goals of our society by trashing public education to make private education worth more in the world of commerce. These aren't Republicans in power. This is how Money rules, with morally riddled scum who are a menace to everyone's prosperity except their own, the very last frikkin' people on Earth we should allow to lead a People's democracy.