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Hi guys. I know it's been a really long time, and there's a reason for this. I'm really questioning my libertarian leanings. For starters, as I've mentioned before, I know next to nothing about economics, and when economics forms a major part of the ideology, that is a problem for me. Also, I'm not sure libertarianism is compatible with my goal of becoming a scientist. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a scientist who was openly libertarian. It doesn't help that there is some science denial coming from the libertarian camp. In particular, I've noticed that many libertarians are global warming deniers. I know the issue has become very politicized, but that shouldn't get in the way of the actual evidence. It also doesn't help that John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods and one the country's biggest peddlers of organic bullshit, is a libertarian.

Sorry for making you put up with my whining, but I need to get this off my chest. For now I think I'm going to consider myself apolitical until I'm more informed on the relevant topics. If anyone here wants to try and change my mind, feel free to do so. I'm open to what you have to say.

Lately, I've been getting very interested in the Civil War, but still am unsure as to the exact causes of it. I know slavery is often cited as the issue, but I've seen Shane mention in an old thread that the causes of the war are very complex. I would appreciate it if he or anyone else knowledgeable on the topic could enlighten me on this. If that's too much for a thread, I wouldn't mind being directed to some good sources from which I can learn more.

I've been noticing that a number of folks on the autism spectrum have jumped on the social justice bandwagon, throwing around SJW buzzwords like "ableist" a lot. As an aspie, I feel a little frustrated with this trend, and it is one of the reasons I've been distancing myself from my condition lately. Since I know at least a couple of others on this forum are on the autism spectrum, and Shane has even mentioned that his son is autistic, I'm wondering if anyone else here is bothered by this trend.

Sorry for resurrecting this somewhat old thread, but I've thought of another example in the form of South Park: The Stick of Truth. The government characters in it are, in typical South Park fashion, portrayed as complete idiots who are all too willing to abuse their authoritah. In the end the day is saved by a group of LARPing kids instead of the incompetent agents.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-sharks-dont-deserve-their-own-week/

Now, I never got into Shark Week and I hate how it's become about showing fake Megalodon documentaries, but the reasons listed here are just stupid.

http://phys.org/news/2014-07-declassify-dinosaurs-great-great-grandparents-birds.html

For fuck's sake! When are the BANDits going to quit it? And of course all the "science" reporting outlets are gobbling this shit up without mentioning that the authors are part of a fringe group notorious for doing bad research.

What? Just, what?

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Jesus Fucking Christ I WISH this wasn't real!

Are you sure this isn't satire? Not that it would surprise me greatly if it wasn't.

Also, we probably would never have known about Jesse James and his gang, since they were former Confederate guerrillas who were essentially continuing the fight. If the Confederates one, there likely wouldn't have been a need for such actions.

Personally don't give a shit about soccer, but at the same time this just seems obligatory.

What the hell? I knew Ann Coulter was an idiot, but I'm amazed even she would spout such a ridiculous non sequitur.

You know what pisses me off?

Those stupid "tests" you see on sites like Buzzfeed where people find out what (insert literally anything you want here) they are.

It's basically the modern equivalent to astrology, but it's worse because I've seen people who fucking know better fall into this shit.

Seriously, any con artists out there want to know how to find a good mark? Talk to anyone who takes these quizzes more than once a week. Folks, while the quiz may be telling you how smart and great you are, it's lying to you. If you were truly as smart as they said you were, you would have realized what bullshit it is and moved the fuck on.

Also, I've told people how these are pure bullshit and while they tell me they know it's bullshit, they'll continue to post their results and go, "YEP THAT'S TOTALLY ME GUYS." I don't know if it's just that they like having their egos stroked every once in a while (and by once in a while, I mean every 10 minutes with some people) or if they think these things are totally legit. Either way, I'm tired of fucking seeing them.

Your post reminds me of this video from Glove and Boots that does a nice job of showing just how stupid those quizzes are.

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I'll be honest, I consider PZ Myers to be a joke. It really frustrates me that his blog is apparently the most widely read "science" blog on the internet.

"As a child, my parents spanked me. As a result, I now suffer from a psychological disorder known as 'respect for others.'"- Guy on Facebook

Excuse me, but how does spanking teach children to respect other people? I always got the impression that it only teaches them fear.

While on the subject of bad textbooks, my very first semester of college I took psychology as a blow-off class, and the textbook was one of the most godawful things I've ever subjected my eyes to. The author was a faculty member at the community college I was attending at the time (thankfully, he wasn't my instructor), and damn, he could not write for shit. I never checked to see if proofreaders were listed, but if there were, I suspect they would have been the aforementioned non-English speakers. Typos and spelling mistakes abounded, and his writing style was maddeningly convoluted. A prime example was the book's account of the David Reimer affair. I was actually interested in the story, since I'd read a little about it and wanted to know more. Unfortunately, the narrative was so disjointed and hard to follow that it only left me confused. I know it wasn't an English textbook, but if you're going to tell a story, you should at least try to make it coherent. I and the rest of my class were understandably relieved when the teacher decided to stop assigning readings from it.

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I've also noticed (and this was sort of touched upon in one of his background slides) that HIV/AIDS denialists tend to also be proponents of other forms of pseudoscience. For example, Phillip Johnson, the founder of the intelligent design movement, is an HIV/AIDS denialist, as is Jonathan Wells, another prominent ID proponent. Another is Henry Bauer, who, in addition to HIV/AIDS denialism, is also known as a proponent of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. I know this isn't really surprising, but I thought it was worth pointing out.