The Skeptics Wink and Nod.

Here is an informative little video by a guy named Steve Mould who does a lot of “science” videos on youtube.  Its all (ostensibly) about how simple little processes can make “meaningful” structures from stochastic processes-and he uses magnetic shaped little parts to show this.  Its a popular channeled followed by millions, and is often referenced by other famous people in the science community-and his fans love it.

And hey, it does show how meaningful structures CAN form from random processes.  Right?  So you can learn from this.  Wink, wink.  Nod, nod. And all the skeptics will know exactly what he is really saying.  Cause we are all part of the clique that knows this language-the language of the skeptic propagandist.  I mean, he almost hides it, the real message, it is just under the surface, and the less skeptically aware, the casualist, might even miss it.  The casualist might not learn as much about Steve Mould and what he is trying to say here-but the skeptic knows.  “See, atheism is true! Spread the word!” Steve has given the wink. The same wink used by DeGrasse Tyson, and Sean Carroll, Lawrence Krauss, Brian Greene, and on and on.  You know the one.

And for 95% of his viewers, whether they know it or not, they got his message.  I mean, look, its plain as day, right?  He just showed you, that is certainly a meaningful structure that arose from random processes, isn’t it?  Its defintely meaningful, its a, a, a , well, it’s shape that, we have a, a  name for…that’s kind of…anyway, defintely random, I mean other than the magnets and the precut shapes, and the little ball with nothing else inside, and the shaking only until its just right then stopping kind of way…That’s random kind of right???

But there are 5% percent of his viewers that spotted his little wink and nod, and said, hold on a second.  If you want us to believe that your little explanation about how simply life can form from nonsense without a plan, how blind exactly do you want us to be?  95%, they are hooked, you got them (Ryan StallardThere are so many creationist videos this obliterates. Especially 4:18.). But some likeGhryst VanGhod helpfully point out: “this is incorrect. the kinesin travels along fibres within the cell and takes the various molecules exactly where they need to be, they are not randomly “jumbling around in solution”. https://youtu.be/gbycQf1TbM0  ” and then you get to see a video that tells you just a few more of the things that are ACTUALLY happening which are even more amazing if you weren’t already skeptical (the real kind).

And if you go through some more of the comments you will notice a few more (real) skeptics, not the wink and nod kind, and you will start to notice why the wink nod propogandist skeptics everywhere you look in modern culture are a very puposefully designed cancer on knowledge and thought.

1,212 thoughts on “The Skeptics Wink and Nod.

  1. DNA_Jock:
    Alan Fox,

    Do you like me?

    Of course!

    If it’s your ten dollars, then I do not swap.

    I neglected to mention the entrance fee. It’s ten dollars to play a round.

    [there’s no math involved…]
    now to read on…

    I think OMagain is already exploiting that loophole.

  2. Well, there’s two different games we might be playing.
    In one case, I always swap. In the other, I never do.
    In one case, it’s a counter-intuitive (to some) lesson in probability. In the other, it’s a sad fact of psychology.
    In one case, I’ll pay up to $6 to play. In the other, I won’t.
    Can’t say more…

  3. Alan Fox:
    CharlieM: I can see that I have asked the wrong question here. What I would like to ask is, are you open to the possibility of interaction-free measurement “without any physical particle / matter / energy being transferred between the parties”?

    Alan Fox: First, I wonder why it would matter. A classic case for me was first encountering Blackbird on another discussion site. I dismissed the idea initially as counter to the conservation of energy and the second law of thermodynamics but I saw the light eventually.

    Or as a character in Game of Thrones remarked: “I’m open to anything really”.

    Have at me!

    Well it doesn’t really matter in the great scheme of things. But it’s interesting to think about. Human technology has only recently advanced enough to harness and make use of quantum effects. But I think that nature has always been making use of this in life. Any new ways that humans come up with to use and convert energy, we find that nature has already been doing this and usually in a much more efficient and sustainable way. From mechanical devices through the use of electricity, then electronics and now on to quantum technology we are just mimicking nature.

    I remember the Blackbird discussion. It was a good problem for exercising the mind.

  4. Alan Fox: Charlie:

    I’m going to give you the chance to win some virtual money. Here on the table in front of you I have three half-walnut shells and a pea. Now, watch carefully! I place the pea under one shell and shuffle the shells around with amazing and professional dexterity. Now, your turn! Choose a shell, the one you think the pea is under. If you choose the one with the pea, you win virtual ten dollars. OK, you keep that near you – no, don’t turn it over yet. Let me show you something. Here are the two shells you didn’t choose and I’m going to turn one over. Ah, no pea! Now, are you still happy with your choice? Because, if you like, I’m going to let you swap to the other unturned shell. Would you like to swap?

    (Hint: as a professional shell game player, I can keep track of the hidden pea)

    Anyone can answer: keep or swap. No spoilers!

    I’ll decline your offer as I gave up gambling a very long time ago. I have seen this puzzle presented before, although I don’t remember the ins and outs and the various odds involved and I’m too lazy to try to figure them out.

  5. CharlieM: From mechanical devices through the use of electricity, then electronics and now on to quantum technology we are just mimicking nature.

    I remember the Blackbird discussion. It was a good problem for exercising the mind.

    It’s also a good example of a load-bearing axle.
    I’ll get me coat.

  6. Entropy: CharlieM:
    Yes, I’ve retracted that rash statement.

    Sorry that I hadn’t noticed you retracted it.

    No need to apologize. I think it was after your comment so you couldn’t have noticed it.

  7. CharlieM: I’ll decline your offer as I gave up gambling a very long time ago. I have seen this puzzle presented before, although I don’t remember the ins and outs and the various odds involved and I’m too lazy to try to figure them out.

    No worries. Though it’s not really about gambling. It’s a version of the Monty Hall problem involving US TV, cars and goats. I found it counter-intuitive.when I first encountered it.

  8. CharlieM: […] maybe you will see why inner contemplation can be empirical.

    If you imagine yourself riding a bicycle real hard you are still not riding a bicycle. There is no subtitute.

    The elucidation of ALL of the examples you listed whether it is planetary motion, the chemical structure of benzene or meteor showers involved empirical work. Goethe’s archetypes are not on equal footing with those examples because the grunt work has not been put in.

    CharlieM: So how do transcription factors acquire positional information and keep track of this as cells migrate during development?

    Not all cells migrate during development and migrating cells often follow fixed routes, so usually it suffices that cell differentiation states are inherited mitotically. But I am guessing that you are referring to the capability of some cells to change developmental fate when they find themselves in an unexpected position, e.g. because of wounding. Cells are not autonomous entities but perform a lot of crosstalk among themselves, which informs cells of their direct environment and guides cell differentiation. I’ll just close with noting that cellular crosstalk was not discovered by just thinking real hard about it.

    CharlieM: But fitness is a very slippery term. If a few inches of height gives a giraffe a fitness advantage does this mean that a tall giraffe that has just reached maturity will outcompete its younger siblings who may have become taller adults but don’t get the chance when food is scarce? In ever changing conditions a trait that is advantageous might suddenly turn into a disadvantage.

    And you always wonder why people mistake you for a creationist. This is the reason: you repeat their talking points. If an organism carries an unconditionally lethal allele, it dies and all the “coordinated network of activities” will not save it. Nothing slippery about that. Hence, changes in the DNA have the potential to affect fitness. period.

    CharlieM: Believing that creativity is determined by physical forces alone is a matter of faith.

    We once agreed that “the creativity of life” could be defined as “the ability to make novel functional forms”

    Why do you believe known physical processes are incapable of producing novel functional forms?

    CharlieM: Why should empiricism be restricted to outer experience when our inner experiences contribute so much in gaining knowledge.

    LOL! Are you now complaining about how empiricism is defined? The success of the scientific method is in large part based on empirical research. I am afraid you cannot appropriate it retrospectively by redefining empiricism into “thinking real hard that you are observing something”.

    I’ll also note that Goethe’s position does not align with yours: Goethe wasn’t averse to experimentation; he just took a phenomenological approach to interpreting its results.

  9. Corneel: If you imagine yourself riding a bicycle real hard you are still not riding a bicycle. There is no subtitute.

    Are you aware that just thinking specifically about a type of exercise actually increases muscle size and strength for that exercise? And not just trivially, interestingly.

  10. phoodoo: Are you aware that just thinking specifically about a type of exercise actually increases muscle size and strength for that exercise? And not just trivially, interestingly.

    I was not. But even if this is the case, I am willing to bet that actually doing exercises will have superior results to merely thinking about them.

  11. Corneel: I was not. But even if this is the case, I am willing to bet that actually doing exercises will have superior results to merely thinking about them.

    Possibly. But then again it may depend on how much mental energy one puts into thinking about it.

  12. phoodoo: But then again it may depend on how much mental energy one puts into thinking about it.

    I would hazard a guess this maxes out at a substantially lower level than physical exercise. At least, I never heard of somebody thinking theirselves to exhaustion 😀

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