Diary (December 29, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Monday December 29, 2020.

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Diary

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  All I am saying is give Rand a chance.

Strange Days

I liked "Strange Days" quite a lot. Conventional Hollywood tech-thriller fare, with violence and sex in abundance, but also with plenty of fresh tech ideas, a lavish visual style, and a downbeat remorse attitude which passes for conscience.

• [ Comment] @ Facebook

Russell's teapot

Russell's teapot is an analogy, formulated by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), to illustrate that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making unfalsifiable claims, rather than shifting the burden of disproof to others.

Russell specifically applied his analogy in the context of religion. He wrote that if he were to assert, without offering proof, that a teapot, too small to be seen by telescopes, orbits the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars, he could not expect anyone to believe him solely because his assertion could not be proven wrong.

Russell's teapot is still invoked in discussions concerning the existence of God, and has had influence in various fields and media.

• Russell's teapot @ Wikipedia

• Russell Steepot
• Russell Steep-Hat
• Russ T. Pot

Believe what you must

"While you're busy being an ignorant idiot, believe what you must."

—Fell Swoop

All I am saying is give Rand a chance

All I am saying is give Rand a chance

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles