ChrisG

Secular sceptic enjoying having long held ideas/views/assumptions challenged by the likes of Sam Harris, Steven Pinker, Glenn Loury.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

I use Twitter to follow people I value reading; occasionally engage in civil discussion; maybe ask a few questions; welcome having my views challenged & changed.
Not here to promote myself nor troll, I don't want any followers. Hence anonymity and no photo. Hope that explains.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@gabemckeownuk @unherd You're very welcome. I've just subscribed to your substack too, looking forward to more of your writing.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@Barristerblog @elonmusk And use this setting too, btw.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@Barristerblog @elonmusk Yeah, it works, I've been using if for ages, cuts out so much trash.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

"If you weren't conscious, you wouldn't ask the question whether god exists or not."
Interesting take.
Nancey's definition of consciousness is unclear, hoped to ask her but not on X.
Is this a view you've considered and/or discussed Annaka? @annakaharris
https://t.co/2v7Clg8mZN

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@TOKphysics @ToKTeacher Please clarify what 'better' means here. How do we measure 'better' when comparing two problems? Thanks.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@ylecun @jon_barron @RichardDawkins But consciousness isn't required for the brain to solve problems and execute tasks, that can all be subconscious.
As @annakaharris explains here, maybe consciousness isn't really doing anything proactively, rather just making us aware of decisions taken?
https://t.co/BxRkyBAXoU

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@hoovlet @JustMisogyny @slakademic @MForstater @Emmabarnett @BBCWomansHour @BBCWomensHour Carole, your diagram implies hormones determine whether bi-potential gonads become testes or ovaries - don't think that's right.
As per @FondOfBeetles diagrams, genes determine gonad-type, then hormones produced by those gonads (e.g. AMH & T) determine further sex-development

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@DrewZi3 @Crowd33 @BSeradjeh @DavidDeutschOxf @seanmcarroll Incremental forever?
Do you expect our current explanation of seasons to be refuted at some point, a better explanation in the offing?

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@DrewZi3 @Crowd33 @BSeradjeh @DavidDeutschOxf @seanmcarroll Drew, your focus is relentlesly on error. Why?
Why assume error, go searching for error?
In my simple example of seasons, how would one 'search for error' in that explanation?
https://t.co/MsVxNOhVMz

[Drew Zi @DrewZi3]

@ChrisGuk1 @BSeradjeh @Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf Yes, clues to where error lies.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@Crowd33 @DrewZi3 @BSeradjeh @DavidDeutschOxf Key to @seanmcarroll 'Big Picture' is that we describe & talk about reality at different levels.
Seasons are due to the tilt of the earth, and postion of earth in its orbit round the sun.
Why presume that level of explanation is in error?
Most importantly, it 'works'.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@DrewZi3 @BSeradjeh @Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf We had no idea what rainbows were, someone got inquisitive, noticed clues.
No idea why we have repeating pattern of seasons every 12 months (clue: orbit round sun), summer in northern hemisphere when winter in southern & vice versa (clue: tilt of the earth?)
Not pure conjecture.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@DrewZi3 @BSeradjeh @Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf Popper's ideas are valuable, but I think we too often exagerate how conjecture occurs, how ideas & hunches arise. Yes there are examples of 'pure wild guessing', but that's not typical. The reality we observe inevitably gives us clues, most of the time.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@BSeradjeh @Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf Guessing is not random, we're steered by facts, data, observation, clues, whether we realise it or not.
Knowledge builds on knowledge, foundations.
What is rain? Why do we have seasons? Why do we breathe - theories built on and from data, observation, clues.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@BSeradjeh @Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf We're born with base theories, instincts. And we react to reality in ways we do not control e.g. flinch at the sight of a snake. Those data, those observations, are the starting point, and we build on those foundations. Other theories follow.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@Crowd33 @DavidDeutschOxf Still don't get the downplaying of observation/data.
David appears to promote a 'be still & just think your way to explanation'.
But conjecture isn't random guessing, has to start with us being in the world, interracting with, observing, physical reality?
https://t.co/w398CgRzjB

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@charleshymas @KarabergKara @HannahQuirk1 @haylesdixon Thanks, appreciated.
I've just emailed you.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@charleshymas @KarabergKara @HannahQuirk1 @haylesdixon Charles, could you post a copy of your FoI request here, and the reply you received from the CPS, thanks.

[ChrisG @ChrisGuk1]

@charleshymas @KarabergKara @HannahQuirk1 @haylesdixon You sure of that, Charles? All 260 females referred by the police to the CPS in the last 4 years were definitely for the act of rape, not aiding and abetting?
You do know that aiding and abetting (male or female) is also recorded & charged as rape, yes?