Unthreaded
Mark Hodgson
I drop by occasionally, but the interesting people I debated the science with have all gone.
My reading list is too long already.
MMB98 has been confirmed repeatedly by other work in the twenty years since it was published. A book whose title denies the scientific evidence is a low priority since its content is unlikely to be worth the effort.
Entropic man
Established Science?
Paul Kench said “We tend to think of Pacific atolls as static landforms that will simply be inundated as sea levels rise, but there is growing evidence these islands are geologically dynamic and are constantly changing,”
We think blah? Nope, I didn't - coral atolls are dynamic, plus plate tectonics move Pacific islands down as they move east. Established [Global Warming] Science is snake oil.
Pcar
Theresa May still wants to shilly shally around over Brexit with a half baked plan to keep Britain half in the single market.A bit like dancing the Hokey Pokey. When will she learn that Barneir doesn't know the step and doesn't danice ether.! May’s song and dance routine
Kleinefeldmaus
The entire insurance industry revolves around discrimination, if it didn't premiums would rocket
Feb 10, 2018 at 6:52 PM | Pcar
It is not "discrimination" to categorise some people as higher risk, than others, especially when there is statistical evidence to support the categorisations.
Not all insurance companies understand this concept.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/24/insurance.crime
golf charlie
Entropic Man - welcome back. It would be nice if you contributed actively again. It is important that views are challenged here to prevent it becoming (or even, dare I say it) remaining an echo chamber. So, please don't take offence if I respond as follows to this from you:
"I would not buy "The Hockey Stick Illusion" for the same reason that I would not buy a book claiming to prove that the Earth was flat.
If someone were willing to give me a free copy, then I might read it for the entertainment value, red pencil in hand."
The first sentence contains an extraordinary mismatch. We know that the earth is not flat. We do not know that the science of climate change is definitively and totally understood.
As for the second sentence, there has to be a good chance you could borrow a copy of Andrew Montford's book from the local library. That is what I did. You could read it without it costing you a penny.
I remain perplexed at the willingness of people to be critical of a book they have not read. I had a similar on-line conversation here a couple of years ago with Raff when he used to turn up occasionally. By the way, does anyone know where he went? Did he reincarnate himself as the "Len Martinez" who comments at cliscep?
Anyway, please hang around and keep contributing. We need you to make us sharpen our pencils.
Mark Hodgson
@Radical Rodent, Feb 10, 2018 at 4:23 PM
“Well-established science” has been proved wrong on so many occasions, yet you still cleave so assiduously to that meme. So sad.
Agree.
Established science claimed cholera was caused by bad air
Established science claimed stomach ulcers were caused by stress induced excess acid
Established science was wrong.
Pcar
@stewgreen, Feb 9, 2018 at 10:09 PM
If Khan's end up with higher premium than whites , based purely on name , then that is illegal racist discrimination.
The entire insurance industry revolves around discrimination, if it didn't premiums would rocket
Pcar
@tomo, Feb 9, 2018 at 8:46 PM
I refuse to use the term AI to describe automated / algorithmic pattern searches which are now a thing
AI was part of the mid 80s degree I studied and was touted as the next big thing. Seems to be like fusion, always ten years away..
.
@tomo, Feb 9, 2018 at 10:04 PM
I'd be very surprised indeed if insurance companies exposed their true actuarial metrics - shocked even :-)
Actuaries tend to be uncommunicative, secretive and even more boring than accountants.
Pcar
stewgreen
in the late 1970s it was commonplace to assure positive product reviews in UK Hi-Fi la-la land with a brick of hashish....
That said - Musk's use of taxpayer funds seriously pales into near insignificance when compared to NASA's bureaucratic splurging astonishing amounts of other people's money on projects that might have been dreamed up by a satirist on drugs.
8 minutes about NASA manned space exploration - well worth a watch imho.
It doesn't excuse Musk's exploitation of taxpayers that's unlikely to be repaid... It'd be interesting to track back who among the hallelujah-ing scribes have experienced Californian hospitality.
tomo
Hate Crime Awareness Week. - Madness knows no bounds.
Crime figures released this week revealed that fatal stabbings in England and Wales are at the highest level since 2010-2011, while rapes at knifepoint rose by 23 per cent in the past year
Real fatal crime up again, police priority:
Time of year? Too cold/dark to report online an alleged hate crime? Police Farce auditioning for BBC "Comedy"?
Hmm, perhaps the fake hate crime meme accusers have moved on to #metoo etc. It's becoming like the "not enough rape victims", we are now seeing the repugnant consequences of that policy.
Mr Plod, time to leave comfy warm office and go outside and uphold law by Preventing Crime.