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  1. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Newsflash. The owners of these factories, or the conglomerates that employ the factories, are either Western or schooled in the Western tradition. The fact that we reject child labor, even if we are to assume that these people don't know any better, it's because we in the West are applying our...
  2. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    This standard of proof you've invented now doesn't exist. You're now saying you can't prove laws of physics either. Well there is no stronger form of proof. So all you're doing now is playing with words, rejecting a definition of proof that everyone else accepts. You really don't understand...
  3. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Ethics evolve in civilizations, not globally over time. The Aztecs may have thought human sacrifice is perfectly cool, while the Jews thousands of kilometers away, who'd never met them, might condemn it. Just in the way that Saudi Arabia will probably catch up with us one day on gender equality...
  4. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    I have enough empirical evidence to be confident about it. Just like the 1001st experiment. If we take this as a premise, then it can be explained in terms of evolution. Even if you have never told a lie, you know innately that lying is wrong, because generations upon generations of your...
  5. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    I see, so the Aztecs had human sacrifices and the colonists had slaves and all through history various people did unethical things, until today when we who are lawful human beings just happen to do everything that is ethical, right? Just like that? I'm afraid you're looking at history with...
  6. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    If I do believe that, then I know that this memory is somewhere in her brain, even if I don't know how to locate it. But then if I drop a coin in a desert, I probably can't find it either. The problem is I don't have an efficient way of searching for it. But my reason for thinking it's there is...
  7. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    I have another example for you. If you're watching the game with a friend, and Inter wins 5-0, and your friend becomes so crazy over this that he wants to kill some Inter fans, and he knows you have a gun in the house, and he asks you for it, and you really believe he's going to go out killing...
  8. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    So how do you know that it exists then? If you ask her if she remembers, and she tells you, then that's empirical proof and voila you have proof. No, it's not. Lying as a general rule is hurtful and therefore unethical. But that doesn't mean it is wrong in every single case. You can just as...
  9. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    What then? Proving that a mind exist is not the same as proving that a memory exists. Sure it is, you're lying to him. And even if you say he'll never find out there's always a chance he will, and then he'll be hurt. On the other hand, if it turns out he's not hurt, then it wasn't...
  10. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Math and logic does not operate on the same plane as natural sciences. In physics you do experiments and check if they correspond to the theory. This is the only way to learn something in physics. In math you can do the same, but mathematical proofs are not like this, they prove something...
  11. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    1. Logical and mathematical truths cannot be proven. False, because every mathematical theorem has to be proven to be accepted. The same with logic. Math is proven with math, not physics. The fact that you cannot test math by throwing a ball and calculating the distance doesn't mean mathematical...
  12. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Such as?
  13. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Atheists have faith in things that have been shown by experiment. Only those things. If someone came up to you and told you that there is a ninja living in your house, so stealthy and skillful that you've never seen him, yet he absolutely is there, observing your every move, would you believe...
  14. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Yes, but if you ask a guy for directions, should you believe him or not? You can't mistrust everything all the time. Hopefully this guy doesn't invest all his savings according to the CNBC pundit. Or if he does once he's not gonna do it again. But these are all experiments that can be performed...
  15. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    If I repeat an experiment 1000 times and every time the result is the same, am I unreasonable to think the result will be repeated? Yes, it's a form of faith, but it's very well substantiated faith. It has nothing to do with the faith in an eternal life noone has ever confirmed. If we never...
  16. Martin

    Interesting analogy by Taleb

    Weak analogy indeed. Stock investment is not done by rolling a die, or listening to what some random person says is gonna happen. It's an analysis of historical stock value, and a knowledge of what the companies are you're investing in and what condition they're in. If he said playing the...