1. "Wikihistory" is an intriguing, very brief science fiction short story by Desmond Warzel. As BoingBoing notes, the form is "a series of messages posted to a time-travelers' forum -- it's basically a Wikipedia edit war, where the old hands have to keep on slapping down the noobs for killing Hitler"
International Association of Time Travelers: Members' Forum Subforum: Europe - Twentieth Century - Second World War Page 263
11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl's cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!At 14:57:44, SilverFox316 wrote:
Back from 1936 Berlin; incapacitated FreedomFighter69 before he could pull his little stunt. Freedomfighter69, as you are a new member, please read IATT Bulletin 1147 regarding the killing of Hitler before your next excursion. Failure to do so may result in your expulsion per Bylaw 223.At 18:06:59, BigChill wrote:
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what's the harm?
Read the rest here.
2. J. Budziszewski on what we lose when we forget what sex is for:
Suppose a young man is more interested in using his lungs to get high by sniffing glue. What would you think of me if I said, "That's interesting--I guess the purpose of my lungs is to oxygenate my blood, but the purpose of his lungs is to get high"? You'd think me a fool, and rightly so. The purpose of the lungs is built into the design of the lungs. He doesn't change that purpose by sniffing glue; he only violates it.
We can ascertain the purposes of the other features of our design in the same way. The purpose of the eyes is to see, the purpose of the heart is to pump blood, the purpose of the thumb is to oppose the fingers so as to grasp, the purpose of the capacity for anger is to protect endangered goods, and so on. If we can ascertain the purpose of all those other powers, there is no reason to think that we cannot ascertain the purpose or purposes of the sexual powers too.
3. In honor of the excellent miniseries on HBO, I give you this attack ad on John Adams:
4. Mark Dever on what evangelism isn't:
Imposition
Probably the most common objection to evangelism today is, "Isn't it wrong to impose our beliefs on others?"
Some people don't practice evangelism because they feel they are imposing on others. And the way evangelism is often done, I can understand the confusion! But when you understand what the Bible presents as evangelism, it's really not a matter of imposing your beliefs.
It's important to understand that the message you are sharing is not merely an opinion but a fact. That's why sharing the gospel can't be called an imposition, any more than a pilot can impose his belief on all his passengers that the runway is here and not there.
Additionally, the truths of the gospel are not yours, in the sense that they uniquely pertain to you or your perspective or experience, or in the sense that you came up with them. When you evangelize, you are not merely saying, "This is how I like to think of God," or "This is how I see it." You're presenting the Christian gospel. You didn't invent it, and you have no authority to alter it.
(HT: One Eternal Day)
5. Malcolm Gladwell's "Disclosure Statement." As Harrison Scott Key notes, "Topics in this lost essay include: how often he gives speeches (a lot), why he sometimes charges a speaking fee and sometimes doesn't (free for charities and academic institutions, usually), how many words The New Yorker expects him to write in a year (40,000 to 50,000), what he thinks about journalistic objectivity (mostly impossible, but still preferable), what party most journalists vote for (surprise!), and why his speechmaking and his financial success as a writer present him with a complicated ethical dilemma."
6. Quote of the Week: "Precautions are always blamed. When they are successful, they are declared to be unnecessary." -- Benjamin Jowett
7. Sports Illustrated has introduced the Vault, a free site within SI.com that contains all the words Sports Illustrated has ever published and many of the images, along with video and other material, in a searchable database. (HT: NYT)
8. WaPo: A list of 209 once-common things that are either obsolete or well on the way: Carbon paper, Wite-Out, Lickable stamps, Printer paper with holes on the sides, Walkmans, Tie tacks, Dial-up, Sound of the modem starting up, Diaper pins, Wall-mounted pencil sharpeners, ... (HT: Cranach)
9. Thomas Berg on why we care about the Founding Fathers:
...[N]ot only judges and lawyers but a lot of Americans seem to care about the Founders' views. Because our nation is built less than others on geographic and ethnic ties and more on a sense of a shared project, the people who started that project - who are seen as its source, or closer to its source, of inspiration - have an extra claim on attention. In contrast to Prof. Eberle, I see this attitude as having "Protestant" overtones, in that Americans look back to the original documents and the generation that produced them - much as evangelical Protestants look back to the scriptures and the first-century church - more than they emphasize an evolving tradition....Of course you can question the analogy between the Christian relevatory generation and the American founding, but for "a nation with the soul of a church" the analogical move isn't that surprising. Even if the analogy is bad, the sense that our national project starts from some founding principles, to which that generation was closest, is very understandable.
10. D.A. Carson on contextualization:
Paul refuses to circumcise Titus, even when it was demanded by many in the Jerusalem crowd, not because it didn't matter to them, but because it mattered so much that if he acquiesced, he would have been giving the impression that faith in Jesus is not enough for salvation: one has to become a Jew first, before one can become a Christian. That would jeopardize the exclusive sufficiency of Jesus.
To create a contemporary analogy: If I'm called to preach the gospel among a lot of people who are cultural teetotalers, I'll give up alcohol for the sake of the gospel. But if they start saying, "You cannot be a Christian and drink alcohol," I'll reply, "Pass the port" or "I'll think I'll have a glass of Beaujolais with my meal." Paul is flexible and therefore prepared to circumcise Timothy when the exclusive sufficiency of Christ is not at stake and when a little cultural accommodation will advance the gospel; he is rigidly inflexible and therefore refuses to circumcise Titus when people are saying that Gentiles must be circumcised and become Jews to accept the Jewish Messiah.
11. Why husbands should be uglier than their wives
A team of psychologists recruited 82 newlywed couples and rated each spouse's physical attractiveness and satisfaction with the marriage. They then observed how the two interacted with each other while discussing personal issues. It turns out that couples where the wife was more attractive were characterized by more supportive interaction on the part of both spouses; but, if the husband was more attractive, he was less satisfied and both spouses exhibited less supportive interaction. The psychologists suggest that a relatively attractive husband may feel he has more extramarital options, causing him to be less supportive of his wife, who, in turn, is less supportive of her husband. On the other hand, because women are less focused on the physical appearance of their mate, a more attractive wife is less likely to harbor resentment about her spouse and, meanwhile, has a husband who counts his blessings.
12. Gene Veith on Aesthetics & American Idol:
...[I]t is important to realize that there is a huge difference between saying "that is good" and "I like that." The former is an objective statement. The latter is a subjective response. Most confusions about aesthetic matters come from mixing up the two kinds of judgments. Indeed, ignoring the first one, considering the objective merits, and thinking that LIKING something is that same as recognizing its beauty. We can LIKE all kinds of things-things that make us feel gooey inside, nostalgic associations, easy jolts of hedonism, things we agree with, appeals to our sinful nature (which is why Hollywood goes the way it does)-whereas discerning beauty requires knowledge of the art form and careful attention and reflection. Growing in taste involves learning to subjectively "like" what is objectively 'good.'
13. The Most Horrible English Words (HT: The Presurfer)
14. Slate columnist Emily Yoff on out-of-wedlock births:
We still think of the archetypal unwed mother as a Jamie Lynn Spears--a dopey teenager who dropped her panties and got in over her head. A generation and more ago, that's who most unwed mothers were. But according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, teenagers account for only 23 percent of current out-of-wedlock births. That means the vast majority of unwed mothers are old enough to know what they're doing: Unwed births are surging among women ages 25 to 29.
15. Qipit is a free mobile online copy service that lets you copy documents, whiteboards and handwritten notes with your camera phone or digital camera to store, fax, email or publish.
16. NPR's Laura Sullivan on why burglaries are on the decline in the U.S.:
For almost 20 years, Mathis burglarized homes to support a drug habit. He only got caught a few times. Mathis says he stopped breaking into homes because there's just no money in it anymore.
"If you're going to do a burglary, you need to have some buyers," Mathis says. "Everybody has everything now."
Mathis says there's just too much on the street already. Everyone he knows already has a digital camera, iPod knockoffs and pirated DVDs shipped in from China.
"And if it's not new, a lot of people don't even want to fool with it," Mathis says. Forget about last year's video games and old laptops, Mathis says. And don't even bring a VCR or boxy TV to the street.
"You can get a TV for nothing almost," he says. "People are giving them away now."
(HT: Marginal Revolution)
17. Timewaster of the Week: Dicewars (HT: Neatorama)
18. 29 Ways to Glorify God as a Parent
19. Rent Vs. Buy Myths That Ruined the Housing Market (HT: kottke.org)
20. Novelist Anne Rice on her Trust in the Lord:
Look: I believe in Him. It's that simple and that complex. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the God Man who came to earth, born as a tiny baby and then lived over thirty years in our midst. I believe in what we celebrate this week: the scandal of the cross and the miracle of the Resurrection. My belief is total. And I know that I cannot convince anyone of it by reason, anymore than an atheist can convince me, by reason, that there is no God.
(HT: David Kuo)
21. Fact of the Week: 40% of all spam comes from just one source
23. Lee Harris on non-interventionism in foreign policy
It is simply a myth to believe that only interventionism yields unintended consequence, since doing nothing at all may produce the same unexpected results. If American foreign policy had followed a course of strict non-interventionism, the world would certainly be different from what it is today; but there is no obvious reason to think that it would have been better.
24. Wowio is a new kind of online bookstore that enables readers to download ebooks for free, using commercial sponsorships to compensate authors and publishers. (HT: The Presurfer)
25. LOLCat LOLShark of the Week
see more crazy cat pics
26. Scott McKnight on loving the "other":
Jesus' mission was to love God and to love others -- and you can express this central motif of Jesus in a variety of ways -- and only because Jesus expanded the meaning of "others" do the poor come into the picture. In other words, we love the poor not because they are poor but because we love them as Eikons of God (made in the image of God). We love the poor because they happen to be Eikons who are also our neighbors. We don't have to make the poor our neighbors in order to love the other.
Because we love others we love the poor; loving the poor is not the only "other" we are called to love. We are called to love all others, including the poor, but not only the poor. Our mission is to love the other, whoever that might be.The genuinely loving person loves all others. In fact, that person finds the needs in others and knows that needs cannot be limited to socio-economic condition; some need friendship, etc..
Wealthy people, who are loved by God, deserve our love. Established people deserve to be loved by God. Disestablished people deserve to be loved. Poor people deserve to be loved. The poor are loved, not simply because they are poor, but because they are our neighbors and we are called to love the other. The problem is that many shrink the meaning of "other" to where it means "those I like."
27. The Virginia Quarterly Review analyzed their poetry submissions for words that would appear to be clichéd and found that the terms (water, death, blood, cat, etc.) do get published more often than not. (HT: kottke.org)
28. Neighborhoods play key role in how much people exercise, study says -- The neighborhoods people live in can help inspire -- or discourage -- their residents to exercise and keep physically active, new research suggests. Residents of neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty, lower education, and more female-headed families are less likely than others to exercise, according to the study.
29. Does Touch Affect Flavor? Study Finds That How A Container Feels Can Affect Taste-- Does coffee in a flimsy cup taste worse than coffee in a more substantial cup? Firms such as McDonalds and Starbucks spend millions of dollars every year on disposable packaging, but a new study suggests that trying to skimp in this area might not be worth it -- and may negatively impact consumers' perceptions of taste and quality. The effect is most pronounced for those who do not usually like to touch things while shopping.
30. Appendix Removed Via Mouth; First Such Surgery In U.S. -- On Wednesday, March 12, 2008, surgeons at UC-San Diego Medical Center performed what is believed to be the country's first removal of a diseased appendix through the mouth. They made one small incision to insert a small camera in the belly button for the oral appendix removal procedure.
31. Happily Marrieds Have Lower Blood Pressure Than Social Singles -- Happily married adults have lower blood pressure than singles with supportive social networks. Both men and women in happy marriages scored four points lower on 24-hour blood pressure than single adults. Having supportive friends did not translate into improved blood pressure for singles or unhappily marrieds.
32. Money Buys Happiness When You Spend On Others, Study Shows -- Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Harvard Business School have found that it's possible to buy happiness after all: when you spend money on others.
33. Burst
Re #4: "It's important to understand that the message you are sharing is not merely an opinion but a fact."
The problem is that the message you are "sharing" is NOT a fact. That doesn't mean it isn't true; it simply means that it can't be proven true through objective means.
Let's not change the meanings of important words like "fact".
"Fact" means what is the case, what is true. It does not mean what can be proven in this or that way. It's quite possible that something be true but unprovable. Indeed I would think it obvious that there are unprovable truths, for the attempt to prove everything that one knows either leads to a vicious infinite regress or to circularity.
I can't objectively prove that I brushed my teeth this morning... but it is a fact.
We can ascertain the purposes of the other features of our design in the same way. The purpose of the eyes is to see, the purpose of the heart is to pump blood, the purpose of the thumb is to oppose the fingers so as to grasp, the purpose of the capacity for anger is to protect endangered goods, and so on. If we can ascertain the purpose of all those other powers, there is no reason to think that we cannot ascertain the purpose or purposes of the sexual powers too.
Clearly the primary purpose is then to provide individual pleasure and bonding between human beigns with a secondary purpose of reproduction.
But according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, teenagers account for only 23 percent of current out-of-wedlock births. That means the vast majority of unwed mothers are old enough to know what they're doing: Unwed births are surging among women ages 25 to 29.
This ties in with an idea I believe I read in Freakonomics regarding abortion rates. Lifetime fertility appears constant. What that meant for abortion is that our population is probably not 'missing' any large number of people. Abortion more often than not simply shifts the number of children a woman would have in her lifetime to an older age. (Instead of having 3 children at 17, 25 and 27 the woman who has an abortion at 17 would, without abortion, have cut out the baby at 27 keeping herself to two kids).
If women are getting married at older and older ages then if lifetime fertility is more or less constant then they would have to increase out-of-wedlock births. Likewise we should see a rise in mixed families too with children of divorced parents who have remarried.
NPR's Laura Sullivan on why burglaries are on the decline in the U.S.:
1. New TV's today almost certainly do not cost 'almost nothing'. HD TV's are pretty pricey but this is probably why burglaries aren't a good way to get them. Many people still have the older TV's in their houses so it's not worth the risk unless you happen to know a particular house has the better TV's.
2. In my area burglaries are amply supported by the nefarious store Gamestop. They buy 'used' video games and systems from kids which has created a mini-racket of teens swiping games and systems from each others houses to sell there.
Facts
I can't objectively prove that I brushed my teeth this morning... but it is a fact.
But that's not the same as being unprovable. Depending on how firm a proof one wanted, we could prove you brushed your teeth by any number of ways. The easiest might be to smell your breath. More involved might be to survey the bacteria in your mouth, compare that with their known growth rates and demonstrate that there must have been some massive cleaning happening in there not two or three hours ago.
We may not be able to conduct that type of proof for logistical reasons or simply because no one cares whether your brushed your teeth besides your wife...and she already has enough problems being married to you. That's not the same as it being unprovable and we know from Godel some things will be fundamentally unprovable.
Wow, Boonton contributes a very long comment where he merely gainsays various things he has quibbles with, while not introducing ANY new ideas! Great job!
New ideas for John M (condensed version)
1. Sex's primary purpose is recreation, procreation is secondary. (Yes the original post left out its purpose, only told us one could see a purpose with it...but we all know where that meme is going).
2. New TV's aren't cheap, but since so many have the old TVs it isn't worth it to rob someone's home.
3. If women are going to have a set number of kids AND marry later then they will almost certainly have more kids out of wedlock.
I liked the sci-fi short story (enough to link to it myself!)... thanks for including it.
Dever: "It's important to understand that the message you are sharing is not merely an opinion but a fact."
Amen Pastor Dever! It is an objective fact established by sound legal-historical reasoning and methods.
Joe:
Are there issues today that are pertinent to the contextualization post? Or was this just an alert to a future post?
"'Fact" means what is the case, what is true."
Not when it is contrasted with the word "opinion", as it is in this case. The word "fact" has several denotations, but the only one that can be correctly contrasted with "opinion" has the element of verifiability.
This ties in with an idea I believe I read in Freakonomics regarding abortion rates. Lifetime fertility appears constant. What that meant for abortion is that our population is probably not 'missing' any large number of people. Abortion more often than not simply shifts the number of children a woman would have in her lifetime to an older age.
This is almost certainly true and it's an important point in all these discussions of so-called "missing babies". But I'm pretty sure it does not appear in Freakonomics. The whole point to the "aborted criminals" argument is that Levitt doesn't grasp your point above. He believes the total number of children born since Roe is smaller than it would otherwise have been by the total number of abortions since Roe. (If you pressed him on the point, he would probably admit that isn't strictly true, but the "aborted criminals" argument requires that it be mostly true.) In fact, the total number of births since Roe is probably very close to what it would be if Roe had not occurred (but Griswold and Eisenstadt still had) - only the temporal distribution is shifted. Reading his book, I kept waiting for some recognition of that obvious fact, but he plows on regardless.
Kevin,
I don't think Levitt's hypothesis requires a smaller number of children being born. His thinking is that women who know they are in a bad situation and likely to do poorly as mothers (at that moment) will be more likely to have abortions. That can be made up, though, by those very women having kids when their life is more stable or by more stable women having kids while the less stable ones abort them.
Levitt noticed there was a surprising drop in crime that could not be explained simply by there being fewer young people. As a matter of fact, the demographics indicated that there was supposed to have been an increase in crime from a new generation of 'super predators'. What happened seems to be that on average people born post-Roe are less prone to crime than pre-Roe. This is a different argument than there simply being fewer people therefore fewer crimes.
# 23
...If American foreign policy had followed a course of strict non-interventionism, the world would certainly be different from what it is today; but there is no obvious reason to think that it would have been better.
US Constitutional government is selfish:
Is it America's job to make the world a better place?
To the believer who has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit the essence of the gospel is without doubt a fact. The difficult part for non-believers is their incapacity to understand Spiritual things without being Spiritually enlightened. This will always be the case, so for the believer it is not to try to convince them of the facts but to present them without doubt and fear and allow the Spirit to open the eyes of the Spiritually blind just as He did for all believers.
Well said, Edward Cropper.