Why do most NTs have little regard for professionals?
DenvrDave
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Actually, there is a very precise way to make a scale for radio carbon dating. It is a very accurate way for estimating the age of carbonaceous materials, especially materials that are more than 100 years old. Radio carbon dating was developed in 1949 and has survived 60 years of scientific scrutiny and skepticism from all angles, not just people with a religious agenda. Furthermore, the guy who invented it won a Nobel prize in chemistry after accurately estimating the age of a piece of wood for which the age was known from historical documents. The half-life of the carbon-14 atom is know to a very high level of accuracy, 5,730 years plus or minus 30. That's pretty darn accurate. Furthermore, there are many isotopes of many other elements that also have very precisely measured half-lives and allow estimates of the age of materials several millions and even billions of years old.
The BEST people (PhDs or not) are those who keep a watchful eye on the current science and apply an open mind to the fact that what we actually KNOW about science is insignificant to what we do not know. A PhD doesn't mean ANYTHING if you think you have nothing more to learn.
Spot on.
Having a degree can mean very little. Applying learnings to the real world is the key. Never assume someone knows more than you just because they have studied the subject. Not only are people sometimes biased, judgemental or misguided, but also consider other motives such as commercial interests.
From what I have seen, psychology is a poorly understood branch of science with many conditions that are not clearly defined. It must be very difficult for a therapist to understand how and why a person acts when they think so differently to them. It is certainly a profession based strongly on good observation skills and applied learning.
As far as the theological debate. I can fully understand the intense fear of 'nothingness' upon dying that drives believers to argue so vehemently. As seen here, there is often a tendency for one to delve into more and more incredulous arguments to make their point of proving the existence of god. For this reason I avoid such debate vehemently.
Only to young earth creationists. Some creationists accept a much older earth.
You don't believe everything you're told, do you?
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When God made me He didn't use a mold. I'm FREEHAND baby!
The road to my hell is paved with your good intentions.
I personally believe the universe is 13+ billion years old, but your logic is faulty and someone will call you on it at some point.
A deity that is capable of creating this universe in 7 days is also capable of creating every photon and sub-atomic particle and assigning to them whatever initial positions and trajectories within space time as such a deity might choose. Said deity could create a galaxy 13 billion light years away along with every photon between the Hubble telescope and that galaxy.
This is the difficulty in discussing such an immensely powerful entity, Such an entity is not bound by rules, logic or the laws of physics as we understand them. All the science and all the data we can uncover can be simply brushed away by a single thought from such a being. This is the realm of true believers and nothing can undermine it.
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When God made me He didn't use a mold. I'm FREEHAND baby!
The road to my hell is paved with your good intentions.
That's because you don't have a PhD and have the mistaken notion that you need time and money to pursue one. If you had a PhD, you would know that most PhD programs take in a few students with full funding.
I haven't paid a penny for mine, but we're both in Europe while she's in the States where some people seem to identify education with privilege (probably because it can get so expensive).
I kind of see both POVs here - I tend to appreciate and value other people's achievements and always admire someone who masters something - anything. But a lot of people seem to think that years of study and hard work mean nothing but a meagre piece of paper that can be obtained with money and no real effort. In such cases I agree with Ana's post about trying to dismiss/minimise something you don't have and know you can't achieve.
On the other hand, I also know what kfisherx means - I've met a large number of highly educated people who get very smug and patronising and decide that once they've got their diploma they have nothing to learn any more and everybody less educated is a stupid ape. Not to mention some of them are completely incompetent themselves.
Both are very unfortunate and ignorant positions.
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"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live" (Oscar Wilde)
Last edited by Sallamandrina on 04 Jan 2011, 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Absolutely correct as browsing this forum would unfortunately prove.
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"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live" (Oscar Wilde)
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Have you done a statistically well structured poll to establish your conclusion? If so when, how and what methodology?
ruveyn
Most of my NT friends have too much regard for professionals. I think I have close to the right amount. I trust what some (most) of them say, but if I disagree I will seek another opinion. But what I'm talking about is more in the realm of doctors and lawyers. Something like ancient history...I can admit I don't know the first thing about it
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After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.
--Spock
I haven't paid a penny for mine, but we're both in Europe while she's in the States where some people seem to identify education with privilege (probably because it can get so expensive).
See, it is peopl who have not gone to PhD programs who make assumptions like these. I did my undergrad and Masters in the US and I did not pay for that either. Both European and US universities usually fund the few PhD students they accept. The ones who don't get funded and really want to go anyway can apply for scholarships or loans or work part time. It is unfair to claim that people who get PhDs are there because they have money and time. The vast majority of my peers in my program come from poor or middle class families and we study in a very famous university.
Look, earning a PhD does not mean that one knows everything. Life is an ongoing work in progress. However, I do know much more about my field than a layperson or someone who does not have the sort of degree I have. I do not rub my PhD on people's faces. I also realise that someone without a PhD might know more about a specific subfield than me, but I want to see concrete arguments about their stance on things, not arguments based on stuff they have picked up from the internet or from one or two magazine articles.
Only to young earth creationists. Some creationists accept a much older earth.
You don't believe everything you're told, do you?
Abosolutely not. You mean there's some other way?
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thechadmaster
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[quote="Alla"][quote]I did my undergrad and Masters in the US and I did not pay for that either. Both European and US universities usually fund the few PhD students they accept. The ones who don't get funded and really want to go anyway can apply for scholarships or loans or work part time. It is unfair to claim that people who get PhDs are there because they have money and time. The vast majority of my peers in my program come from poor or middle class families and we study in a very famous university.[quote]
im curious, are you a united states citizen? i am, and even after applying for grants and scholarships and working my entire time in school, i still racked up over $50k in student loans during my undergrad years. thats definitely not free. i would be highly offended if you were not a citizen and received a free higher education from my country when i, as a citizen, could not.
as for a phd being free, thats like claiming the view from the space needle is free. sure you can look out at the city once you are up there, but the elevator ride costs a pretty penny to get to that point.
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Neurotypically confused.
partner to: D - 40 yrs med dx classic autism
mother to 3 sons:
K - 6 yrs med/school dx classic autism
C - 8 yrs NT
N - 15 yrs school dx AS