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Originally posted by Trancer-X What's wrong with listening to the person's viewpoints and then following that up with your own dedicated research? For everybody's sake, I sure hope you don't make it a habit of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Anyway, I think it's a shame that people have been so thoroughly dumbed down that they need to rely on some "expert" rather than good, old fashioned common sense. It seems as though a lot of people are all too eager to offer excuses which only help to safeguard their preexisting prejudices - something which only further perpetuates the ignorance that has come to so thoroughly pervade our society. Alan Greenspan and "Helicopter" Ben Bernanke are "experts" and look at what bang-up jobs that they've done.

I never said there's something wrong with listening to someone's viewpoint. I never made that argument. That is what I call a "straw man fallacy". When it comes down it, it is academia who have the highest authority on a subject in which the academic specializes in. I can listen to some guy on the street talk about the Big Bang all day. I can only take his words with a grain of salt. It's only until I listen to astrophysicists, that I can take their word because of the extensive expertise and direct research they have done. I don't care who you are. I take everything with a grain of salt, including you.

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Originally posted by Krypton I never said there's something wrong with listening to someone's viewpoint. I never made that argument. That is what I call a "straw man fallacy". When it comes down it, it is academia who have the highest authority on a subject in which the academic specializes in. I can listen to some guy on the street talk about the Big Bang all day. I can only take his words with a grain of salt. It's only until I listen to astrophysicists, that I can take their word because of the extensive expertise and direct research they have done. I don't care who you are. I take everything with a grain of salt, including you.

Ironic, since astrophysicists know as much about the big bang as that guy on the street. =P

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Originally posted by DJ Shibby Ironic, since astrophysicists know as much about the big bang as that guy on the street. =P

Wrong. Unless you're being sarcastic or something..

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Originally posted by Krypton Wrong. Unless you're being sarcastic or something..

Not sarcastic at all.

Or did do you actually believe in the big bang? And that "astrophysicists" have some secret inside information that can enlighten your existence?

Oh god, we're fucked. We can't even detect basic patterns.

Why wouldn't one believe in the big bang? Currently its the most feasible theory given the evidence we have and are receiving. If in some time in the future our greater knowledge of physics allows us to form a new, better theory then we move on to that, but at this point in time, big bangs theory stands.

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Originally posted by Capitalizt Has America been dumbed down? You be the judge..

Yeah they got the same retards interviewed after probably interviewing a lot more Americans who had answers. I'm sure I can go into a rural town in southern Germany and encounter the same dumbasses there too.

Not defending my country or anything. But saying America is dumb based on the bible belt is like saying Europe is poor based on Poland.

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Originally posted by DJ Shibby Sometimes I wonder if our liberal use of plastics or fluoridation of water supplies has lead to some of the strange illnesses our culture suffers from. Impossible to tell really.

Nah it's the schools that supply kids with shitty food and sugar up the ass. I don't think there should ever be coke machines or candy machines in schools. I swear to you it's the food. Fast fatty food that gives you an immediate good feeling but nothing of value to last. Sorta like a one night stand. Yeah, fast food is like shitty sex. See what I did right there?

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Last edited by Jake Benson on Oct-05-2008 at 12:07

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Originally posted by Jake Benson Yeah they got the same retards interviewed after probably interviewing a lot more Americans who had answers. I'm sure I can go into a rural town in southern Germany and encounter the same dumbasses there too.

Exactly. It's actually pretty dumb of anyone to draw any conclusions from videos like that.

And yes, I can easily find idiots like that in rural Sweden too, even though we usually score top three on geography tests in the world. That said, US usually scores amongst the worst there, hehe.

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Originally posted by DJ Shibby Not sarcastic at all. Or did do you actually believe in the big bang? And that "astrophysicists" have some secret inside information that can enlighten your existence? Oh god, we're fucked. We can't even detect basic patterns.

Then you've got problems.

Ever heard of cosmic microwave background radiation? Hubble's law of red shift? The abundance of primordial elements (hydrogen, helium, lithium), etc. etc. Really all you're doing is insulting the decades of dedicated work done by astrophysicists, cosmologists, astronomers, by the likes of Albert Einstein, Edward Hubble, Steven Hawking... You don't know shit compared to these guys. I'll take them at their word over yours any and every day of the week.

If you don't even believe basic scientific truths, then there's no point debating you as to the superior authority an academic has in their specialized field. Do you also deny the holocaust?

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Originally posted by Krypton Then you've got problems. Ever heard of cosmic microwave background radiation? Hubble's law of red shift? The abundance of primordial elements (hydrogen, helium, lithium), etc. etc. Really all you're doing is insulting the decades of dedicated work done by astrophysicists, cosmologists, astronomers, by the likes of Albert Einstein, Edward Hubble, Steven Hawking... You don't know shit compared to these guys. I'll take them at their word over yours any and every day of the week. If you don't even believe basic scientific truths, then there's no point debating you as to the superior authority an academic has in their specialized field. Do you also deny the holocaust?

Not insulting anyone's work... just not buying the theory.

I imagine whatever happened to "create" the universe is probably without definitive beginnings or endings, and most likely is unfathomable by humans in our current incarnation.

I do like the theory though; its elegant, simple, and practical. I like that people enjoy it and find solace in its possibility, which it certainly is.

PS: I don't necessarily trust doctors with my health, either. Degrees do not impress me one bit, no matter the field; I need to speak with someone, or hear them speak, to get a feeling for their intellectual and spiritual value.

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Originally posted by DJ Shibby Not insulting anyone's work... just not buying the theory. I imagine whatever happened to "create" the universe is probably without definitive beginnings or endings, and most likely is unfathomable by humans in our current incarnation. I do like the theory though; its elegant, simple, and practical. I like that people enjoy it and find solace in its possibility, which it certainly is. PS: I don't necessarily trust doctors with my health, either. Degrees do not impress me one bit, no matter the field; I need to speak with someone, or hear them speak, to get a feeling for their intellectual and spiritual value.

I don't really have any problems with the big bang theory but I liked your post nonetheless .

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Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
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Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

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Originally posted by DJ Shibby Not insulting anyone's work... just not buying the theory. I imagine whatever happened to "create" the universe is probably without definitive beginnings or endings, and most likely is unfathomable by humans in our current incarnation. I do like the theory though; its elegant, simple, and practical. I like that people enjoy it and find solace in its possibility, which it certainly is. PS: I don't necessarily trust doctors with my health, either. Degrees do not impress me one bit, no matter the field; I need to speak with someone, or hear them speak, to get a feeling for their intellectual and spiritual value.

Well, you know, the Big Bang theory says the exact same thing you just said. At the instant of the Big Bang event, all 4 fundamental forces of the universe were unified. Our current model of the universe can't describe this extremely short period of time. It's called the Planck Epoch, or 0 to 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. What we know about it is basically completely blank.

As for cosmology, I'll take the advice of an cosmologist over anyone else any day. Same thing goes for all fields of science. I wouldn't ask you what you thought about particle physics, I'de ask the particle physicists themselves.

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Originally posted by Krypton Well, you know, the Big Bang theory says the exact same thing you just said. At the instant of the Big Bang event, all 4 fundamental forces of the universe were unified. Our current model of the universe can't describe this extremely short period of time. It's called the Planck Epoch, or 0 to 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. What we know about it is basically completely blank. As for cosmology, I'll take the advice of an cosmologist over anyone else any day. Same thing goes for all fields of science. I wouldn't ask you what you thought about particle physics, I'de ask the particle physicists themselves.

What do you think about particle physics?