Posts by TD

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

TD

Seabreeze

We could just as easily replace the cat with a gust of wind from an open window....

In neither case is the shattering of glass information in the sense that language, codes, cyphers, hieroglyphics, paintings, pictograms. knotted strings, story sticks and all other products of intelligent minds are.

When physicists speak of an information wave vs a matter waved, they're talking about theoretical states at the quantum level. Neither is information in the specific sense above, which we reserve to describe the transmission of thought.

We could, I suppose, argue that the molecular arrangement of carbon in your example is the information contained in the wave, but that doesn't really get us anywhere, as it's simply a circular prior assumption of the intelligent design of carbon.

DNA comes a little closer to making your point because there's no question that the instructions to encode proteins are in a sense, information, but it's also equally true that were talking about biochemical reactions that happen all on their own even in the most primitive forms of life

Resolving that question would require us to go back to the source of life itself, which is the million dollar question and what the whole debate is about.

--Interesting patio conversation over a beer, but not a question that can be resolved with a magic bullet.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

TD

With respect, Seabreeze, you're still bouncing back and forth between abstract and specific definitions of information.

When my cat knocks a drinking glass off the counter and it shatters on the tile floor in the kitchen, the auditory wave striking my eardrums is, in a sense, information.

But that is not information in the sense of the encoding of thought. It was an accident, where purely natural forces took over.

Similarly, when physicists quibble over the difference between a matter wave and an information wave, they're not saying what you seem to think they're saying.

193

My Prediction: Trump Wins Big

by minimus in

jw
friends

a month ago it might have been questionable.

not now.

after bader’s death and biden’s inability, this shouldn’t be close.

TD

Now that's scary.

It certainly is.

Equally concerning is the fact that Trump doesn't seem to realize it.

Don't misunderstand. I prefer Trump to Biden, but his basic lack of understanding of our Constitution, which even conservative groups like the Heritage and Second Amendment foundations have pointed out is a problem.

193

My Prediction: Trump Wins Big

by minimus in

jw
friends

a month ago it might have been questionable.

not now.

after bader’s death and biden’s inability, this shouldn’t be close.

TD

Some folks escape a cult only to be ensnared by another...

I don't know about cult, but there are some curious similarities shared by all mass movements:

You can't trust scientists who keep changing their minds all the time. Let's trust (Insert name) instead.

You can't trust doctors who are all in the pocket of big Pharma / the AMA Medical Combine / Blood banking industry. Let's trust (Insert name) instead.

You therefore can't trust formal studies (See above) that don't further the interests of (Insert name) Let's trust YouTube quacks that support (Insert name) instead

You can't trust the media who are all part of a conspiracy against (Insert name.) Unless of course they're saying something positive about (Insert name.)

(Insert name) is sometimes a little rough around the edges and unpolished in a worldly sense, but he speaks the truth. Let's trust him

Criticism of (Insert name) is automatically opposition against (Inset name) and support of someone else. Don't listen to it.

When (Insert name) violates and/or otherwise fails to live up to the core principles he/she/it claims to follow, it's okay (See above)

193

My Prediction: Trump Wins Big

by minimus in

jw
friends

a month ago it might have been questionable.

not now.

after bader’s death and biden’s inability, this shouldn’t be close.

TD

So are any of you here conservative in the academic sense? As in you follow conservative scholars, attorneys and think tanks; the history and interpretation of the Constitution or one of its amendments is a personal hobby, or something along these lines?

193

My Prediction: Trump Wins Big

by minimus in

jw
friends

a month ago it might have been questionable.

not now.

after bader’s death and biden’s inability, this shouldn’t be close.

TD

So what is the connection to Ginsburg's death?

32

Where have the NWT Bible changed verses to fit their theology ?

by smiddy3 in

i can think of two to start off with .

john 1:1 and luke 23:43 ,what others can you come up with ?.

TD

These threads (And we've had a lot of them) are invariably predicated upon three misconceptions about language and how language works.

1. That there is a word for word equivalency between languages

No. This isn't even true with closely related modern languages, like English and German, which share many cognates. Words have ranges of meanings. The range of a word in language A might overlap with a word in language B, but the overlap is never complete.

In addition, the grammar and word order between language A can be very different than language B. Most translators don't even bother to bracket the words they insert to get smooth English. If they did, then half the words in the Bible would be bracketed

2. That translation revolves entirely around dictionary definitions.

Again, no. Groups of words combine to have meanings above and beyond the sum of their definitions. What does, "Um die Häuser ziehen" mean in German for example? You're welcome to go to Google Translate if you don't speak the language, but the phrase doesn't mean what Google's clumsy word for word rendering says.

Another example that we're all familiar is the clumsy word for word rendering of ἀπέχεσθαι ...καὶ αἵματος, in the NWT, which the JW's have used for years and years to support the blood doctrine. The NWT is not wrong here, but the situationally specific meaning is lost in translation as the saying goes.

3. That a poor translation is a mistranslation

A translation is acceptable if it falls within the boundaries of grammar and word usage in the source language. You may not agree with the translation. You may think it's clumsy and awkward and you may be right. But that doesn't make it wrong in sense that it was changed from what the original text clearly says. Language is much more slippery than that.

Many of the examples typically presented incorporate one or more of these ideas. Philippians 2:9? The NWT is not alone here in the use of the word, "other" and it is not inserted out of "thin air." The word "other" can be understood in the sense of every other name (with the exception of his own) and Bibles like The New Living Translation and the Contemporary English Version appear to use it in that sense.

32

Where have the NWT Bible changed verses to fit their theology ?

by smiddy3 in

i can think of two to start off with .

john 1:1 and luke 23:43 ,what others can you come up with ?.

TD

Changed from what?

The only one I can think of where the word, "changed" in the sense of an English rendering beyond any possible way the source language could be translated was John 17:3 and they eventually fixed that.

Most of the other examples scream, "I couldn't compose a simple sentence in Ancient Greek if my life depended on it."

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