/sci/ - Science & Math

> I believe
* infinity doesn't exist
* math that uses infinities is fundamentally flawed
* emphasis on fields makes no sense in an age of computation since computable reals do not form a field

> beliefs I think are stupid
* evolutionary psychology is full of shit from beginning to end
* austrian economics
* objective theories of value

>>5315347
> Dualism
ouch

in before:

>hey yall i ahve a really controversal opinon it's called eugenics

>hey everybody i was watching the discovery channel and darwin said im biologally programmed to want to fuck 12 yr old girls

> pretending those aren't your actual beliefs

I believe women are attracted to intelligence.

>I believe
The Equivalence Principle is wrong
Faster than light travel is possible, we're just looking at it wrong
Magnetic Monopoles exist
The Navier-Stokes equation does have smooth solutions that exist for all cases

>I don't believe
Teleportation
Math is ever wrong, ever
Survival of the fittest even REMOTELY applies for humans
The fall of the roman empire was due to Constantine

>>5315452
> magnetic monopoles
oh come on dude, seriously!?

>>5315347
>Things I believe
Everything is connected. Humans are simply atoms responding to other atoms.
Free will doesn't exist.
There are aliens somewhere in the universe.

>Beliefs I think are illogical:
God

>>5315472

Why do magnetic fields exist? No one has given me a reasonable explanation why such an elegant symmetry COULD exist but doesn't.

It makes such logical sense to me.

>>5315483
cont...
Also I don't believe that humanity has an overriding purpose or that we should have some noble altruistic one,

We exist period. Nothing is expected or required of us. If we do x or y so be it.

>>5315347
>Dualism

Really faggot? I seriously doubt you've ever read any serious literature about that or you wouldn't support such a ridiculous claim. Or are you just referring to the term "dualism" as it is used in philosophy of science rather than in philosophy of mind?

>>5315347

>singularity with happen 2030
extremely doubt it, but hey, I can hope

>Dualism
lol
aka delusion to make yourself feel better

How do you reconcile these two? You want mind computer uploads but think that the mind is supernatural?

>>5315498
Not him, but what's wrong with dualism?

>>5315452
This, 100%.

>>5315493
It is totally wrong to think that morality must be based on altruism. It can be, but it certainly doesn't have to, the whole contractarian tradition is about that. Alternatively, it is possible to demonstrate with a high degree of probability that human beings are by nature(evolution) somewhat altruistic.Not a lot, but enough for forming certain moral systems and political communities. It's a very interesting subject, it's not something you can reject simply because of your intuitive belief.

>Things I believe
Man should live for discovery, learning, and human connection.
People that do drugs waste time, potential and health for shallow escapism.
I'll be able to live a long live, hopefully over 100 years old, thanks to technology developed while I'm alive

>Others' beliefs that I think are stupid
Doing drugs/partying
Any form of pseudoscience (alternative medicine, The Secret etc.)
Having morally contradictory views (pro-life pro death penalty, christian vales against welfare, green energy anti nuclear)

>>5315493

Well ok, maybe not humanity, but you don't think that life or the universe has some overridding purpose?

>>5315502
Pretty much everything. It's highly unscientific so it has tons of problems. The most famous (and probably effective) one is the challenge to explain how the two substances (mind and matter) interact. I mean, we can see that they interact in human beings, but what's the mechanism? Descartes famously claimed that it happens in pituitary gland, which is obviously ridiculous but the problem is even deeper. Even if they somehow managed to explain this interaction, it would mean that there's some link between the substances, and therefore they're no longer two substances. They'd have to be irreducible one to the other, and any kind of link or mechanism between them implies the opposite.

> Things I believe:
NP = P
Nothing matters. Do whatever you want with your life because it doesn't matter in the end.
Irrational numbers are not present in the real world, even if relationships we have "discovered" using math use transcendentals and complex numbers (and even quaternions / octanions)
Determinism
Art and Literature are just as respectable as STEM, if not more.


> Others' beliefs that I think are stupid:
Many-worlds theory
You can find a universal theory of physics that applies to the real world (I think it is literally impossible)

>>5315518

>People that do drugs waste time, potential and health for shallow escapism.

Mushrooms made be a better person. You can't equate all drug users to the pothead stereotype.

>>5315546
>NP = P

Could you explain plz?

>Things I belive:
overwhelming evidence..Logical arguments

>things I don't belive:
Stuff without evidence .. Illogical arguments

>>5315547
Really? Cause I'm pretty sure that your life would of been better and more prosperous if you never did drugs.

Pro tip: You don't need hallucinations to find 'who you are' you can do that with good old fashioned learning and thinking.

>>5315533
Nope. I don't think there's any objective purpose as I see no reason for it to have a purpose.

>>5315452
>The Navier-Stokes equation does have smooth solutions that exist for all cases
Mah nigga.

>>5315559
>i'm sure that someone whom i've never met would have a better life if they never did drugs

I'm never even gotten drunk nor am I the poster you're responding to but your main point is flawed.
>People that do drugs waste time, potential and health for shallow escapism

Sure I'd say that probably fits many drug users but not all. I can certainly see drugs being beneficial to the life of a few people who used them at the right time and did so safely.

> Things I believe:
Strong AI is possible without a brain simulation on a biological level.
The singularity is real and will happen around 2050.
P=NP
The meme theory is the best attempt at explaining human thinking/behavior we have.

> Others' beliefs that I think are stupid:
Dualism.
Free will and any bullshit like that.
The (current) concept of existence, including any statement if pi, infinity or w/e "exists".
Accepting shit-tier research/work for a lack of alternatives.

>>5315347

> Things I believe:
science
math

> Others' beliefs that I think are stupid:
consciousness / qualia / dualism bullshit
racism
sexism
existence of aliens
ftl travel
singularity

>I believe
Numbers like 2^35^35 do not exist.
A computer cannot be conscious.
>bullshit
Spread of Christianity was a bad thing.
Free will.

>>5315573
>existence of aliens
Why does that seem stupid?
The universe is large, so I doubt it's far-fetched to believe that suitable conditions for life were met elsewhere and that other intelligent lifeforms are alive.

I think it's much more stupid to believe that we're the only planet to meet the necessary conditions for life and form intelligent life.

>>5315559

>Really?

Yes.

>Cause I'm pretty sure that your life would of been better and more prosperous if you never did drugs.

You have absolutely no basis for that.

>Pro tip: You don't need hallucinations to find 'who you are' you can do that with good old fashioned learning and thinking.

You're right. I don't NEED them, but they sure do help and they're fun to boot.

>>5315590
Believing in anything that has no evidence is stupid.

>>5315581

>Numbers like 2^35^35 do not exist.

Uh, what?

>>5315546
>NP = P
fuck bro, that's even more sensationalist than Dualism.

>>5315518
>People that do drugs waste time, potential and health for shallow escapism.

True for most drugs, but you may be surprised to find that psychedelics can be a beneficial thing. Even though they helped create hippies. Acid is the reason I stopped being depressed and got into chemistry, and now I'm doing research and having a great time with my life. It's like taking a day off to remember everything that's led up to the day you're experiencing.

>I believe
Life and death are illusions, we are all facets of one universe experiencing itself, blah blah. A fair number of things I would never get into a conversation about with colleagues.

>>5315593
>any number
>existing

Pick one, faggot.

>>5315593
He's right. A syntactically incorrect expression is not a valid representation of a number.

>>5315601
I linked the wrong post, should have been:
>>5315581

>>5315590
Oh, nice one. (OP here)
I should have included the aliens thing in my list. In fact, I believe that a civilization can only reach one of two possible ends: 1) Singularity, or 2) self destruction. In either case, they would make no contact with us, which completely solves the Fermi Paradox in my mind.

>>5315452
>we're just looking at it wrong

a witty pun

>>5315597
The laws of physics permit self-polymerization. The laws of physics are the same everywhere.

How is this not valid inference?

>>5315597
>ITT, we admit the arguably unreasonable or illogical things we stubbornly believe
>Do you reading comprehension?

>>5315597
Evidence:
1) The universe is fucking huge
2) We have been to exactly 1 planet
3) It has life on it

Extrapolate, you turd

Everyone should be vegetarian lest they be considered immoral cunts.

I'm only posting this because he said stubborn beliefs. Normally I actually like to hear what others have to when they justify their view on things. But when I hear people try to justify eating meat all I hear is "I care about the sweet taste of burgers more than the life of another being".

>>5315607
Why shouldn't a singularity civilization make contact with us?

>>5315489
Magnetic fields exist because special relativity.

>>5315616
Vegetarianism is classist.

>>5315616

Every carnivorous/omnivorous non-human animal on Earth is an immoral cunt?

>>5315573


>existence of aliens

You believe in math yet you're ignorant to statistical models that predict millions of planets in the life belt of millions of stars?

You can't subjectively choose what math/science you want to believe. Even if empirical evidence doesn't exist, there is no known theory that EXPLICITLY prevents life from forming on other planets.

>>5315616
>implying that I care about being moral or immoral

>>5315623
I know, but it is in the same way you're classist against Nazis.

Also vegetarians aren't always classist, granted I probably am though.

>>5315616
>"I care about the sweet taste of burgers more than the life of another being".
This is the only reason to eat meat. The meat industry is fucking the planet in the ass, hard core. It is, by far, the largest source of pollution, aside from the fact that nine billion animals are killed by it every year.

>Things I believe:
Kids are much smarter than we give them credit for. Anyone can learn calculus and number theory at age 13 with proper guidance.

>Beliefs I think are stupid:
Y2012

>>5315625
Yes. But that's not their fault they aren't rational enough to see what they're doing is bad. They have no concept of morality.

Humans have an option.

>>5315621
Because we're the equivalent of microbes to them. Have you tried to communicate with ants in your backyard recently? Do you think they would have anything interesting to say to you?

>>5315611
Just because something is possible, it doesn't necessarily happen. Go believe in unicorns on >>>/x/

>>5315612
>and we mock others for their own stubborn beliefs
Nice reading comprehension failure, cretin.

>>5315615
>extrapolate
>from sample size one
Let's see: There is a real number having the value pi. Therefore there must be infinitely many real numbers having the value pi.

>>5315627
You are ignorant of statistics and probability theory. Please do not talk about things you don't understand. Wishful thinking is inappropriate on this board.

>>5315635
Animals are killed by mechanized farming, period. Vegetarians and vegans have a ton of blood on their hands, too.

>>5315637
>Kids are much smarter than we give them credit for. Anyone can learn calculus and number theory at age 13 with proper guidance.
I don't agree with your conclusion about calculus but I do agree that kids are much smarter than we give them credit for and if we optimized learning the potential is amazing.

>>5315642
Actually, we basically have a branch of science dedicated to that, in case you didn't notice...

>>5315638
>>5315632
>>5315616
FUCK YES
I thought I was the only one.
You have made my day, /sci/bro.
My faith in humanity is 0.01% restored.
Thank you.

>>5315597
I feel like the belief in extraterrestrial life is more founded in probability than concrete evidence. Ya dig?

>>5315643
>You are ignorant of statistics and probability theory

Please, enlighten me. I wish to know why evidence of exoplanets, extra-terrestrial water, LITERALLY millions of stars with the same age, intensity, and spectrum of our star do NOT point to even MICROBIAL life existing somewhere else.

It's a well known paradox that we should have encountered aliens LONG ago.

>>5315638
>Humans have an option.
Unless you are capable of photosynthesis, we don't.

I believe in
>gender
>IQ
>liberal arts being more important than science

Stupid bullshit:
>AGW
>macroevolution
>racial equality
>physicalism

>>5315655
No, we don't. We study other forms of life for our own informational purposes, but we don't try to teach them our knowledge. The only "communication" we have with them is brutal (from their point of view). It would be more like an alien civilization coming here and slaughtering half of us (because we just happen to be in a part of their backyard where they don't particularly want an ant hill) and then performing random experiments on the other half, like pulling off our legs, etc...

Fortunately, civilizations that reach singularity just wouldn't have any need to perform those experiments.

>>5315644
Yes, you are correct. Way less blood though.

Sadly, there's little way avoiding this for the time being. Hopefully, one day their will be.

>>5315663
No, it isn't. If you knew anything about probability theory, you wouldn't spout such idiotic nonsense.

>>5315664
Just because something is possible, it doesn't necessarily happen.

>>5315562

Can you imagine the shit storm of knowledge and technological advancement we could achieve from solving a MATH problem?

I mean I know it isn't an ordinary math problem, but seriously. It would be a defining moment for this century, hell maybe even this millennia

>>5315672
there* damn it.

>>5315643
>Just because something is possible, it doesn't necessarily happen.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. This isn't probability. Self-polymerization is a non-random, deterministic process, and it doesn't require much "fine-tuning" of environmental conditions. Example: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v389/n6652/full/389706a0.html

>>5315668
It makes more sense to harm as little as possible rather than just go along with "welp, we can't not harm everything, fuck it, let's harm everything".

>>5315680
>This isn't probability.
Exactly. Your link shows that the process described there is possible. It doesn't allow any conclusion on how likely it is to happen in nature.

>>5315678

0/10

If you're going to troll you need to make people rage at your responses. You're just dismissing counterpoints and not responding to inconsistencies in your argument.

>>5315689
I am not trolling, you mentally crippled piece of shit. Go to a fucking school and learn basics of probability theory before defiling this board with your cretinous ignorance.

I believe:
>our universe didn't explode from one point but was created when two proto-universes collided
>nondualism (everything isn't just one type of thing, everything is one)
>there will always be something and always has been
>situated cognition
Stupid:
>dualism
>materialist monism
>the idea that evolution has little/no room for mutual aid

>>5315387
>>hey yall i ahve a really controversal opinon it's called eugenics
>>hey everybody i was watching the discovery channel and darwin said im biologally programmed to want to fuck 12 yr old girls
>tfw that was me 4 years ago when I was an edgy /b/tard
horrible times

>>5315672
Yes, about 16 times less blood, on average.

It's like this:
Option A: Eat a plant, get 100 calories. End of story.
Option B: Eat an animal, get 100 calories. The animal had to be fed (on average) 1000 calories of plants to produce that 100 calories' worth of meat. PLUS, it had to use up about 22 times more land in order for it to exist long enough to be turned into meat. PLUS animal farming requires several times more fossil fuels (farm vehicles, etc). And, finally, the animal itself had to be slaughtered.

>>5315698
Oh, I also believe the NASA warp drive will work.

>>5315698
>Stupid:
>>dualism
>>materialist monism

But there is no third option.

>>5315710
Yes there is. Nondualism.

>>5315687
Yeah, it would be like doctors saying "Well, fuck it, we haven't cured cancer, so we might as well bring back Polio and every other horrible disease we have been able to cure. Can't save 'em all, so why save any of 'em?"

>things I believe
memes are cool xD
Neil Tyson is the best scientist after Dawkins
math is stupid
sage is a downvote
reddit is the best site of the internet
liberals are smarter than everyone else
murrica is the best country in the world

>stupid shit others believe
string theory
dualism
quadratic equations
IQ