09 FEB 2018 by ideonexus
Bias in Praise VS Punishment and Reversion to the Mean
I had the most satisfying Eureka experience of my career while attempting to teach flight instructors that praise is more effective than punishment for promoting skill-learning. When I had finished my enthusiastic speech, one of the most seasoned instructors in the audience raised his hand and made his own short speech, which began by conceding that positive reinforcement might be good for the birds, but went on to deny that it was optimal for flight cadets. He said, “On many occasions I ha... 1 
notes
notesUser Cortesoft has a good analogy for this:
"Flip 100 coins. Take the ones that 'failed' (landed tails) and scold them. Flip them again. Half improved! Praise the ones that got heads the first time. Flip them again. Half got worse :(
"Clearly, scolding is more effective than praising."
(source)
See also Regression Fallacy
22 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
What is Transhumanism
Transhumanism is a term used synonymously to
mean “human enhancement.” It is an international
cultural and intellectual movement that endorses
the use of science and technology to enhance the
human condition, both mentally and physically.
In support of this, transhumanism also embraces
using emerging technologies to eliminate the
undesirable elements of the human condition
such as aging, disabilities, diseases, and involuntary
death. Many transhumanists believe these
technologies will be ...Folksonomies: transhumanism
Folksonomies: transhumanism
1 09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
Chris Allen Secular Invocation
Let us give thanks for all that we have, cherish and possess–especially for the capacity to care and love, to improve ourselves, our families and community.
Whatever one’s viewpoint, either derived from faith or from reason informed by science, having the capacity to appreciate and thank others is ingrained in the DNA of The Human Condition.
We give thanks to the volunteers, the heart and soul of our community, who donate their time and talents to help the less fortunate.
And, in this ...Folksonomies: secularism
Folksonomies: secularism
1 notes
notesChris Allen, president of Florida Humanist Association and humanist celebrant and chaplain, delivered a secular invocation at the Orlando City Council meeting on June 23,2014.
28 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
The Virtue of Empathy
Continually pushing out the empathy boundary is a life’s work. We can help our kids begin that critical work as early as possible not by preaching it but by embodying it. Allow your children to see poverty up close. Travel to other countries if you can, staying as long as possible until our shared humanity becomes unmistakable. Engage other cultures and races not just to value difference but to recognize sameness. It’s difficult to hate when you begin to see yourself in the other. And why... 1 notes
notesWe must have an empathetic impulse, even for the impulse to believe in religion.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Davy Poem Using Laws of Conservation and Thermodynamics
In a thoughtful mood Davy wrote a new kind of metaphysical poem, ‘The Massy Pillars of the Earth. It reflects on the human condition, and suggests that since nothing is ever destroyed in the physical universe, only transformed (the First Law of Thermodynamics), then man himself must be immortal in some spiritual sense. It also returns in a new way to Davy’s early Cornish beliefs about starlight as the source of all energy in the universe:
Nothing is lost; the ethereal fire,
Which from th...A poem found in Humphry Davy Works.
