TakeOnIt
Compare opinions of world leading experts and influencers.
Welcome to TakeOnIt, a website for comparing opinions of experts, leaders and organizations. All opinions here are expressed in the form of answering a yes-no question, creating a virtual debate. You can contribute by quoting an expert opinion or adding your own opinion.

Top Experts & Influencers

Barack Obama
The Economist
The Catholic Church
John McCain
George W. Bush
Robin Hanson
US Department of Health & Human Services
Sarah Palin
Hillary Clinton
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Richard Dawkins
Wikipedia
Robert Todd Carroll
Kevin Rudd
Osama Bin Laden
American Civil Liberties Union
S. Fred Singer
Albert Einstein
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Ron Paul

See All Experts

Top Comparisons

Obama vs. McCain
Obama vs. The Church
Obama vs. The Economist

Top Topics

Top Contributors

Benja    2499
Steve    398
Lisa    155
adr    104
Clive    58
Summer    32
Joe    20
Miri    16
Elwood    15
Jack    15

Blog

Latest Contributions

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.
Benja 12 hours ago added the opinion of:
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Cryogenic Society of America
Ben Best
Invisible Flan
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Andrew Stark
Bryan Caplan
Benjamin Franklin
Robin Hanson

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?
Benja 17 hours ago added the opinion of:
Bryan Caplan
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Leon Kass
Ben Best
Robert Todd Carroll

Artificial Intelligence

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.
Benja 18 hours ago added the opinion of:
Robert Todd Carroll
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Bryan Caplan
Ralph Merkle

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?
Benja 2 days ago added the opinion of:
Bryan Caplan
John Searle
Packbat on 09 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.

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.
Benja on 06 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
John Searle
Susan Blackmore
Todd Moody
Daniel Dennett
David Chalmers
Eliezer Yudkowsky

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.
Peace, Hope, Love on 29 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.

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.
Steve on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
RealClimate
The Economist

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.
Benja on 28 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Hamid Karzai

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?
Lisa on 27 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Oprah Winfrey

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.
Benja on 27 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Robin Hanson

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.
Benja on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Hu Jintao
Adolf Hitler
Osama Bin Laden
George W. Bush
Winston Churchill
Robin Hanson

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.
Steve on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Ann Coulter

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?
porter2010 on 20 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.
HoustonSEOExpert on 14 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.

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.
Steve on 11 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Peter Woit
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Roger Penrose
Max Tegmark
Steven Weinberg

God

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.
Matarael on 09 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.
Packbat on 09 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Paul Z. Myers
and on 09 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.

Cryonics

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.
Benja 13 hours ago added the opinion of:
João Pedro de Magalhães
Ralph Merkle
Ben Best

Is cryonic restoration technically feasible in the future?
Cryonic researchers speculate that scientific advances, particularly in nanotechnology, will make it possible to reanimate a cryonically suspended human being.
Benja 17 hours ago added the opinion of:
K. Eric Drexler
Ben Best
Michael Shermer
Robert Todd Carroll
John Bischof
Ralph Merkle

Happiness

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.
Lisa on 01 Feb 2010 added the opinion of:
Roger Federer
Oprah Winfrey
Joseph Forgas
Barbara Ehrenreich
Benja on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Robin Hanson
Susan Webber
Michael Shermer
Winston Churchill
Conan O' Brien

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.
Benja on 10 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Tyler Cowen
Eliezer Yudkowsky

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.
Benja on 30 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Forbes Magazine
Malcolm Gladwell
Nicholas Carroll

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.
Benja on 30 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Dennis Fong
Steve Ballmer
Jeff Atwood

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.
Benja on 29 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Malcolm Gladwell
Donald Trump
Robert Kiyosaki
Scott Shane
Robin Hanson

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.
Benja on 27 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Justin Wolfers
Paul Hewitt
Science
Matthew Yglesias
Willy Aspinall
Robin Hanson

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.
Benja on 22 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Robin Hanson

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.
Matarael on 09 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.

Marijuana

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.
Steve on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Ron Paul

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.
Steve on 25 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Carl Sagan
Glenn Beck
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Milton Friedman

Extraterrestrial Life

Is intelligent extraterrestrial life common in our galaxy?
Currently, Earth is the only planet in the universe known to have life. The ongoing SETI program monitors electromagnetic radiation from outer space in the hope of detecting an intelligent signal.
jeetender on 18 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.
Steve on 04 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Max Tegmark

Conspiracy Theories

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.
Benja on 11 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Robin Hanson
Summer on 08 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Edgar Mitchell

Evolution

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.
Packbat on 09 Jan 2010 added the opinion of:
Paul Z. Myers
and on 09 Jan 2010 gave their opinion.