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Is cryonics worthwhile?
Cryonics is the preservation of an animal by cooling with the hope that future medical advances can revive that animal. Modern cryonics make use of cryopreservatives to minimize cellular damage caused by freezing, particularly to the brain. Advocates of the procedure typically believe that so long as the critical structure of the brain is preserved, a person could one day be brought back to life.
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Benja
12 hours ago
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Is living forever or having a greatly extended lifespan desirable?
The average life expectancy in developed countries is at best 80 years. Advances in technology may inhibit or even reverse aging, to open up the possibility of living extraordinarily long times. However, would this actually be a good thing for society, or even for the long-living individual?
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Benja
17 hours ago
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Is information-theoretic death the most real interpretation of death?
Information-theoretic death is defined as the moment when the neural structures in your brain are destroyed. At that point, it becomes theoretically impossible to bring a person back to life. Some philosophers and scientists regard this as a more real interpretation of death than legal death.
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Benja
18 hours ago
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Could a computer ever be conscious?
Consciousness, or our awareness of ourselves and the world around us, is central to our existence. Fascinatingly, it is also notoriously difficult to define. Is it unique to humans or other living creatures, or could robots one day have it to?
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Benja
2 days ago
added the opinion of:
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Packbat
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Is the unconscious philosophical zombie possible?
The philosophical zombie is a hypothetical person whose behavior is indistinguishable from an ordinary person, but who lacks conscious experience. The zombie might say "the strawberry is red" but they would not experience the qualia of red, that is, the sensation of red. Some philosophers allege that the theoretical possibility of such a zombie undermines physicalism.
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Benja
on 06 Jan 2010
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Is global warming caused primarily by humans?
Since the industrial revolution, humans have been emitting greenhouse gases that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believe are responsible for Global Warming. While the majority of climatologists agree with the IPCC's conclusions, skeptics suggest that the IPCC's climate models are flawed and that recent climate changes should be attributed to natural causes.
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Peace, Hope, Love
on 29 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Is the IPCC objective?
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is a scientific body formed by the United Nations in 1988 to summarize research on climate change for the purpose of informing policy makers. Those who are skeptical of anthropogenic global warming have questioned the objectivity of the organization.
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Steve
on 25 Jan 2010
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Can the military presence in Afghanistan help create democracy?
A month after the September 11th attacks, the U.S. in conjunction with the U.K. invaded Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban regime that was sympathetic to Al-Qaeda. Kabul, the country's capital, has for decades at best provided only a weak form of central government, and the country quickly descended into anarchy. This prompted the U.N. to create the International Security Assistance Force to help establish peace and security in the region, but to date they have had very limited success.
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Benja
on 28 Jan 2010
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Is truthfulness a characteristic of a politician who is good for the people?
Politicians are notorious for their spin, lies, and hypocrisy, frequently making their profession distasteful to the people they represent. However, while truthfulness is generally regarded as an admirable quality in our friends and family members, is it rational to want this quality in our leaders?
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Lisa
on 27 Jan 2010
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Is not bothering to vote acceptable?
Advocates of voting proclaim that voting is the duty of a democratic citizen. Critics say that your vote will almost certainly be inconsequential, since elections are seldom won by a single vote. Furthermore, the critics claim that in the case the parties don't offer significant differences, that the impact of that single vote is reduced.
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Benja
on 27 Jan 2010
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Is democracy the best form of government?
A democracy is a type of government where political power is shared by allowing each citizen to vote. Proponents have various arguments in support of democracy, perhaps the most common being that is affords its citizens the most freedom. Its critics tend to believe that the average citizen is unqualified to vote.
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Benja
on 25 Jan 2010
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Should psychoactive drugs be legal?
Psychoactive drugs are illegal in most countries. The arguments for their illegality are based on their negative health effects and associated social costs. The arguments for their legality are typically based on respecting individual liberty, being scientific about the health risks, and the cost, failure, and injustices of enforcement.
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Steve
on 25 Jan 2010
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Are social networking sites good for society?
Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are amongst the most popular destinations on the web. No doubt in some cases this has contributed to Internet Addiction Disorder, but have they on the whole had a positive effect in our lives?
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porter2010
on 20 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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HoustonSEOExpert
on 14 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Is the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics correct?
The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that a quantum event doesn't have a single random outcome, but rather all possible outcomes, meaning that each event splits the universe into multiple divergent universes that exist in parallel.
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Steve
on 11 Jan 2010
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Can science prove or disprove the existence of God?
People who believe in God generally believe that a purely analytical and scientific method of forming knowledge is constrained to a subset of reality that cannot encompass God. Atheists on the other hand, typically say that God is merely one of numerous theories that lack coherence and supporting evidence, and that these shortcomings already constitutes sufficient proof of God's non existence.
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Matarael
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Packbat
on 09 Jan 2010
added the opinion of:
and
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Does cryonic preservation with today's best technology cause information-theoretic death?
There are a number of companies today that charge for cryopreserving a body (or just a head) immediately after death. To minimize damage from freezing, the dead bodies are injected with cryopreservatives. A vital question is whether this process protects the critical neural structures in the brain. If not, then the process is by anyone's criteria a waste of time, since "information-theoretic death" will have occurred.
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Benja
13 hours ago
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Is optimism rational?
Optimism is an attitude where a person believes things will generally turn out well, often with the assumption that the mindset is self-fulfilling. In contrast, realists (often viewed by optimists as pessimists) tend to believe that the optimists' wishful thinking leads to broken expectations and bad consequences.
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Lisa
on 01 Feb 2010
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Benja
on 25 Jan 2010
added the opinion of:
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Is self-deception a fault?
Many philosophers and psychologists embrace self-knowledge as a life quest, recommending its benefits to others. In popular culture, it is epitomized by Dr Phil's famous self-help catch phrase: "Get Real!". However, the belief that lying to ourselves is detrimental to our well being is far from ubiquitous. In fact, some experts believe that self-deception is necessary for a healthy mind.
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Benja
on 10 Jan 2010
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Are successful entrepreneurs big risk takers?
There is a popular conception that successful entrepreneurs are risk takers. However, the opposing view is that entrepreneurs actually succeed by minimizing risk.
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Benja
on 30 Jan 2010
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Is the quality of the idea a key factor in entrepreneurial success?
Many people believe that a good idea can lie at the heart of a new business. However, many successful entrepreneurs believe that there's no shortage of creative ideas, and that a good idea is of little value in comparison to the execution required to commercialize that idea. Furthermore, they view the overemphasis on good ideas as a factor in the failure of making good ideas a reality.
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Benja
on 30 Jan 2010
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Would the typical entrepreneur be better off as an employee?
The success rates for entrepreneurs are notoriously low. Furthermore, the reasons for their failure often seem quite predictable. This would seem to indicate that the typical entrepreneur, if they rationally assessed their business endeavor, would be better off being an employee.
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Benja
on 29 Jan 2010
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Are prediction markets the most accurate way to aggregate expert predictions?
Prediction markets allow people to bet money on predictions, with the purpose of providing more accurate predictions for policy and business analysts. Prediction markets are often contrasted with alternative methods used to tap collective intelligence, such as expert committees. Advocates of prediction markets claim that prediction markets are more accurate than their alternatives, but are underutilized due to irrational concerns regarding their accuracy, as well as susceptibility to subversion.
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Benja
on 27 Jan 2010
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Does minimum wage help the poor?
A government can set a minimum wage to legally prevent an employee accepting what is declared to be unfair income from an employer. The strategy is one of many cases of contentious economic regulation, where advocates of free markets may claim its distortionary effects neutralize its supposed benefits.
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Benja
on 22 Jan 2010
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Is efficient market theory the best approximation of the truth for the average investor?
It is notoriously difficult to outperform the market. This concept is best formalized by the Efficient Market Hypothesis which is based on the insight that the price of a stock continually incorporates all the information that rational investors have access to. The theory is used to explain why actively managed funds over the long run typically fail to outperform an index.
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Matarael
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Should marijuana be decriminalized?
Decriminalizing marijuana means reducing criminal charges associated with the possession of marijuana, and for smaller offenses, replacing criminal charges with fines. Decriminalization is not equivalent to legalization.
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Steve
on 25 Jan 2010
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Should marijuana be legal?
Marijuana (or cannabis) refers to either the plant or byproduct of the plant containing the psychoactive compound THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) that is illegal in most countries. The arguments for its illegality are based on its negative health effects and associated social costs. The arguments for its legality are typically based on respecting individual liberty, being scientific about the health risks, and the cost, failure, and injustices of enforcement.
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Steve
on 25 Jan 2010
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Have aliens from outer space visited Earth?
The belief that aliens have visited Earth is based on countless sightings of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects), reports of alien abductions, and other mysterious phenomena such as crop circles. Skeptics believe the evidence for these claims is weak.
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Benja
on 11 Jan 2010
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Summer
on 08 Jan 2010
added the opinion of:
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Does evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics?
The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy increases over time, or that a closed system moves from an ordered state to a random state. Critics of evolution suggest that life itself is prima facie proof that evolution is flawed, since the opposite appears to be happening - life has evolved from primordial soup to sophisticated creatures like ourselves. Defenders of evolution say that this objection is based on a misunderstanding of entropy.
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Packbat
on 09 Jan 2010
added the opinion of:
and
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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