28th August 2003, 12:28 AM
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You debunked nothing. I'm pointing out reality. Personal thoughts determine nothing about reality. There's no "probability" to raise here. How does opinion change reality? It doesn't. Thus, how can you say many people believing something raises the chances of it being true? Probability altering is a change in reality. It ALWAYS is. For instance, if there are two sides of a die that have the number 1 on it, the chances of rolling a 1 are increased. However, when it comes to opinion, you aren't changing the fabric of reality by believing anything. Here's another example using dice. Just because more people believe that a normal 6 sided die will roll a 5 doesn't mean it's more likely to roll a 5. Nothing was altered. This case is exactly like any other.
The BETTER thing to believe is that more people are likely to believe that which reflects reality. Reality CAN affect people's beliefs. You however didn't say that at all, nor can your point be construed to mean that. The OPPOSITE of what you say is in fact something resembling truth.
Your red example for instance tells me nothing about the situation. Has anyone seen said object, or are they all guessing? If they are guessing, your logic is faulty. Odds, as I said, are nonexistant because there are no odds to determine here. The belief has no attachment to the determination of what state the object is in. Since it has no attachment, it has no effect. No effect means no odd alteration. The chances are exactly 50/50, and as in the case of that cat of that one physicist, the state, until it's actually observed, is actually BOTH at once. Thus, it's purple :D. Now, if people HAVE seen it, it's like my second paragraph. The people's thoughts were affected by reality, not reality being affected by the people's thoughts. In this case, the chances of the majority being right is higher, but NOT the chances of it being red or blue. That's already determined. I hope I cleared this up for you.
You debunked nothing. I'm pointing out reality. Personal thoughts determine nothing about reality. There's no "probability" to raise here. How does opinion change reality? It doesn't. Thus, how can you say many people believing something raises the chances of it being true? Probability altering is a change in reality. It ALWAYS is. For instance, if there are two sides of a die that have the number 1 on it, the chances of rolling a 1 are increased. However, when it comes to opinion, you aren't changing the fabric of reality by believing anything. Here's another example using dice. Just because more people believe that a normal 6 sided die will roll a 5 doesn't mean it's more likely to roll a 5. Nothing was altered. This case is exactly like any other.
The BETTER thing to believe is that more people are likely to believe that which reflects reality. Reality CAN affect people's beliefs. You however didn't say that at all, nor can your point be construed to mean that. The OPPOSITE of what you say is in fact something resembling truth.
Your red example for instance tells me nothing about the situation. Has anyone seen said object, or are they all guessing? If they are guessing, your logic is faulty. Odds, as I said, are nonexistant because there are no odds to determine here. The belief has no attachment to the determination of what state the object is in. Since it has no attachment, it has no effect. No effect means no odd alteration. The chances are exactly 50/50, and as in the case of that cat of that one physicist, the state, until it's actually observed, is actually BOTH at once. Thus, it's purple :D. Now, if people HAVE seen it, it's like my second paragraph. The people's thoughts were affected by reality, not reality being affected by the people's thoughts. In this case, the chances of the majority being right is higher, but NOT the chances of it being red or blue. That's already determined. I hope I cleared this up for you.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)