Comments on: In bed with Templeton http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:52:54 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Twinkies Bankrupt! Pscyh! - Not Any More. It’s a Make-Your-Own-Joke-a-Pallooza | Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-51734 Twinkies Bankrupt! Pscyh! - Not Any More. It’s a Make-Your-Own-Joke-a-Pallooza | Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:43:11 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-51734 [...] minds and change in our future, and the Twinkie Defense is popular again (Sean Penn stars in the movie about Harvey Milk whose murderer got a lighter sentence because of junk food (insert homophobic joke) the Twinkie Masters feel [...] [...] minds and change in our future, and the Twinkie Defense is popular again (Sean Penn stars in the movie about Harvey Milk whose murderer got a lighter sentence because of junk food (insert homophobic joke) the Twinkie Masters feel [...]

]]> By: Gordon McCabe http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50774 Gordon McCabe Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:29:23 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50774 I've already proven the non-existence of God right here: http://mccabism.blogspot.com/2008/11/proof-of-non-existence-of-god.html I’ve already proven the non-existence of God right here:

http://mccabism.blogspot.com/2008/11/proof-of-non-existence-of-god.html

]]> By: Reginald Selkirk http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50592 Reginald Selkirk Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:55:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50592 This is an example of why inheritance tax is a good idea. This is an example of why inheritance tax is a good idea.

]]> By: Elliot http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50476 Elliot Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:10:29 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50476 Oh c'mon. Let's get creative. Think outside the multiverse.... e Oh c’mon. Let’s get creative. Think outside the multiverse….

e

]]> By: Lawrence Crowell http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50458 Lawrence Crowell Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:45:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50458 God is a sort of cosmological Maxwell demon. Szilard demonstrated that the Maxwell demon which violated the 2nd law of thermodynamics could be removed by information theory. Quantum gravity and cosmology might in the future demonstrate with quantum information that there is no need for an extraphysical agent in the universe or to kick start the universe. We have a ways to go I think. This of course is not a proof for God's nonexistence. Such strikes me as impossible. However, it would demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the God conjecture in understanding the universe. Lawrence B. Crowell God is a sort of cosmological Maxwell demon. Szilard demonstrated that the Maxwell demon which violated the 2nd law of thermodynamics could be removed by information theory. Quantum gravity and cosmology might in the future demonstrate with quantum information that there is no need for an extraphysical agent in the universe or to kick start the universe. We have a ways to go I think.

This of course is not a proof for God’s nonexistence. Such strikes me as impossible. However, it would demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the God conjecture in understanding the universe.

Lawrence B. Crowell

]]> By: 12Quarts http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50456 12Quarts Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:22:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50456 Elliot, Sean still needs someone to provide an adequate definition of the monotheistic deity before he can work on a "rigorous scientific 'disproof' of the existence of God". Even then, shape-shifting has long been a resource of first resort for theology (especially in America). Elliot, Sean still needs someone to provide an adequate definition of the monotheistic deity before he can work on a “rigorous scientific ‘disproof’ of the existence of God”. Even then, shape-shifting has long been a resource of first resort for theology (especially in America).

]]> By: Elliot Tarabour http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50445 Elliot Tarabour Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:36:46 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50445 Sean, Could you win a Templeton prize for a rigorous scientific "disproof" of the existence of God? If so....get to work.... e. Sean,

Could you win a Templeton prize for a rigorous scientific “disproof” of the existence of God?

If so….get to work….

e.

]]> By: Norman Gray http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50441 Norman Gray Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:03:04 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50441 According to the wikipedia article on the Twinkie defence, the 'diminished capacity' defence was abolished in California in 1982 by, yes, Proposition 8. Cosmic.... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twinkie_defense&oldid=255153744 According to the wikipedia article on the Twinkie defence, the ‘diminished
capacity’ defence was abolished in California in 1982 by, yes, Proposition 8.

Cosmic….

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twinkie_defense&oldid=255153744

]]> By: Blake Stacey http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50440 Blake Stacey Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:46:07 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50440 I can appreciate that the checks for hate were made out of a personal account and not drawn from Foundation funds. . . but <i>damn.</i> If I <i>did</i> have an opportunity to get money from the Templeton Foundation, I'd turn it down, because I would not want any scientific work of mine to aid, even indirectly, in augmenting the good reputation of a person who is so enthusiastic about setting back the cause of civil rights. (I don't work on subjects which would make this a real possibility, so this is just a statement of my idiosyncratic principles. As a <i>Calvin and Hobbes</i> strip of sainted memory once said, "I don't <i>need</i> to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway.") I will feel <i>far</i> more comfortable when the FQXi has those other, additional sources of funding which they've said they were seeking. I can appreciate that the checks for hate were made out of a personal account and not drawn from Foundation funds. . . but damn. If I did have an opportunity to get money from the Templeton Foundation, I’d turn it down, because I would not want any scientific work of mine to aid, even indirectly, in augmenting the good reputation of a person who is so enthusiastic about setting back the cause of civil rights.

(I don’t work on subjects which would make this a real possibility, so this is just a statement of my idiosyncratic principles. As a Calvin and Hobbes strip of sainted memory once said, “I don’t need to compromise my principles, because they don’t have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway.”)

I will feel far more comfortable when the FQXi has those other, additional sources of funding which they’ve said they were seeking.

]]> By: daniel http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/comment-page-1/#comment-50439 daniel Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:45:16 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2008/12/02/in-bed-with-templeton/#comment-50439 Eric, yes, we have lost the comment preview button. It should be returning soon. And yes, separation of church and state is most certainly not a given. Jake, Dan White was a cop as well as a fireman. From the Wikipedia article on Milk, this particularly caught my eye: "After White turned himself in and confessed, he sat in his cell while his former colleagues on the police force told Harvey Milk jokes; police openly wore "Free Dan White" T-shirts in the days after the murder." Gary, Thank you for the clarification. What you say is evident in the Templeton Foundation's generous support of FQXi. We all hope it remains this way. Eric, yes, we have lost the comment preview button. It should be returning soon. And yes, separation of church and state is most certainly not a given.

Jake, Dan White was a cop as well as a fireman. From the Wikipedia article on Milk, this particularly caught my eye: “After White turned himself in and confessed, he sat in his cell while his former colleagues on the police force told Harvey Milk jokes; police openly wore “Free Dan White” T-shirts in the days after the murder.”

Gary, Thank you for the clarification. What you say is evident in the Templeton Foundation’s generous support of FQXi. We all hope it remains this way.

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