Tommy Boy

Philosophy Ph.D. Logic, statistics.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@charlesmurray The dust bowl years were obviously special. But I've never understood why they were special. Did the dust bowl cause the bad weather, or vice versa, or what?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

Why the escalation? I should think it's obvious: we need to force Iran to open up Hormuz. If they hadn't effectively closed it, we could walk away with a big win. But we can't walk away with it closed.

But it is what it is. We will have to pummel it until the IRGC is made to give in.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

It's interesting that the obvious advantages blacks possess in speed and jumping seems to have relatively little impact on soccer. Quite in contrast to their prominence in American football and in basketball.

I guess this shouldn't be surprising in a sport in which someone like Messi rises to the very top.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork It would be useful to know a few details here.

How long was he detained? How long did it take for the IDF to enable him to leave?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork Maybe Trump will allow these cretins to dick around until the midterms, but after? He's going to have over 2 years to inflict any kind of damage on them he wants. Do they not see this? Are they so completely incapable of long range thinking?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

The reporters were told that two friends would not be able to directly corroborate the sexual assault aspect of the story, but that other friends would. The reporters then contact only the two friends who would not be able to support the claim of sexual assault. And then, they report that the friends they contacted were not able to support the claim?

How is this only negligence? The dishonesty and deliberate manipulation is obvious and outrageous.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork There is a notable difference between a true accusation and a false one.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork Question now is, Can the Dems find a way to dump him?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

This is a big reason I can't take soccer seriously as a sport. It's played not so much to get the ball into the net as to get or pretend to get an injury. The fakery involved is everywhere, on almost every play. If you manage to have the refs call a purported or even only possible injury on the other side, then you get a huge, potentially game winning advantage. With incentives like this, the game seems unwatchable -- to me anyway. Flops are the road to success. If I wanted BS, I'd turn on a political debate.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork Is there a country more militantly woke than Spain? Not sure which it would be.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@charlesmurray Also quite interesting would be to compare the gene pool of those who took the risk to emigrate to America with that of those of the same background who chose to stay at home.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

It's actually a savvy move, I think.

Kamala is black, or at least black enough. Nothing is more leftist coded in the Democratic party, and in the DSA, than being black. She is automatically ahead of all other Dem candidates who are not black in her progressive credentials. Aligning with the DSA solidifies their support of her. At the same time, even if some of her policies are centrist, she won't be punished for them as would be non-blacks. She could win over both sides of the party.

Of course, working against her is her repugnant personality and brainlessness.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@bradford_skow You can't disagree in here! This is the Philosophy Room!

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ShaneGoldmacher But in what sense is Fetterman in particular still effectively a Democrat?

He's not going to vote for, say, packing the SC, is he?

The Dems would have to win 5 seats to do the more damaging things they have in mind.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ProfMJCleveland He's quoting Alex Byrne? His colleagues in philosophy will now reward him with unending grief.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@charlesmurray Tao scored 760 on the math SAT at age 7.

Who among us has not done that?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@ByronYork Doing what you fancy sounds like liberty.

So how could it be a good thing?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

I wonder how much the leaders in Iran, who act as if they have Trump by his midterm short hairs, ever pause to consider that when the midterms are over, they will have to deal with a totally unencumbered Trump. Sure, they can get away with all kinds of BS now, but in just 4 more months, they may well have absolute hell to pay. They may act intransigent, but can they be that short sighted?

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

A related point is how measurements get distorted when a political agenda is at stake.

In 2013, a well publicized study of citations in contemporary philosophy found that women contributed only 3.6% of the most cited publications.

The response? A perfectly obvious effort to include more citations to women in all articles and books. Now one can scarcely read any reference to a woman's ideas without instinctively dismissing them as of little consequence -- quite different from before.

Same with awards, of course.

[Tommy Boy @tomterrif]

@charlesmurray I wonder how many standard issue Marxists are left in academe. Identity obsessed "Marxists", sure. But those focused as Marx was on economic class?