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Comment by MelJ on How Much Should We Care What the Founding Fathers Thought About Anything? · 2010-02-11T18:27:57.933Z · LW · GW

Because he claims that his decisions are based just on what the constitution says and that he is NOT influenced by anything else. He fails to admit his interpretations of the constitution are affected by his personal biases and are not always the result of rational thought.

Comment by MelJ on How Much Should We Care What the Founding Fathers Thought About Anything? · 2010-02-11T06:57:20.856Z · LW · GW

Scalia is a complete hypocrite and it amazes me how many people think he is a rational jurist. He wrote a book on how lawyers can persuade judges depending how they dress, talk, act, etc. If Scalia really just based his arguments on what the constitution says, only the logic of a lawyer's arguments should matter. I suggest that Scalia be blindfolded when hearing case on the Supreme Court so he can better control his prejudices.

Comment by MelJ on That Magical Click · 2010-01-22T19:30:20.432Z · LW · GW

Whether something seems "reasonable" or "implausible" can depend on how one's brain happens to be wired, perhaps due to a stroke, mental illness, or even just genetics. As your former blog post about asognostics shows, the human brain can come to some silly conclusions with the input it's given. How do you know if what "clicks" for you matches reality or is due to a faulty circuit?

Personally I require evidence and I'll sign up for cryonics when the first dead mouse is brought back to life after dying and being frozen. People believe in all sorts of things because they seem "reasonable". How do you account for the fact that about 10% of top scientists (Nobel Prize winners, members of National Academy of Science, etc) belief in god? By comparison for the same group, I wonder what the percentage is who believe in cryonics?

Comment by MelJ on Absolute denial for atheists · 2009-07-18T17:30:20.399Z · LW · GW

The earth's climate has gone through many large changes in the past and it is natural for it to continue to do so in the future and there is no reason these changes should be for the benefit of the human species.