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π Vasili Arkhipov β Soviet Navy Officer Who Prevented Nuclear Strike in 1962
Vasily Arkhipov (Russian: ΠΠ°ΡΠΈΠ»ΠΈΠΉ ΠΡΡ ΠΈΠΏΠΎΠ²) may refer to:
- Vasily Arkhipov (vice admiral) (1926β1998), Soviet Navy officer credited with casting the single vote that prevented a Soviet nuclear strike
- Vasily Arkhipov (general) (1906β1985), Commander of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade of the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union
Discussed on
- "Vasili Arkhipov β Soviet Navy Officer Who Prevented Nuclear Strike in 1962" | 2016-12-24 | 92 Upvotes 19 Comments
- "Vasili Arkhipov" | 2013-08-24 | 200 Upvotes 53 Comments
π Paradox of tolerance
The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Karl Popper described it as the seemingly paradoxical idea that, "In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance." The paradox of tolerance is an important concept for thinking about which boundaries can or should be set.
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- "Paradox of Tolerance" | 2020-08-07 | 25 Upvotes 21 Comments
- "Paradox of Tolerance" | 2020-06-04 | 14 Upvotes 5 Comments
- "Paradox of tolerance" | 2019-01-21 | 78 Upvotes 99 Comments
π Lojban
Lojban (pronounced [ΛloΚban] (listen)) is a constructed, syntactically unambiguous human language created by the Logical Language Group and succeeding the Loglan project.
The Logical Language Group (LLG) began developing Lojban in 1987. The LLG sought to realize Loglan's purposes, and further improve the language by making it more usable and freely available (as indicated by its official full English title, "Lojban: A Realization of Loglan"). After a long initial period of debating and testing, the baseline was completed in 1997, and published as The Complete Lojban Language. In an interview in 2010 with The New York Times, Arika Okrent, the author of In the Land of Invented Languages, stated: "The constructed language with the most complete grammar is probably Lojbanβa language created to reflect the principles of logic."
Lojban is proposed as a speakable language for communication between people of different language backgrounds, as a potential means of machine translation and to explore the intersection of human language and software.
π GΓΆdel's ontological proof
GΓΆdel's ontological proof is a formal argument by the mathematician Kurt GΓΆdel (1906β1978) for the existence of God. The argument is in a line of development that goes back to Anselm of Canterbury (1033β1109). St. Anselm's ontological argument, in its most succinct form, is as follows: "God, by definition, is that for which no greater can be conceived. God exists in the understanding. If God exists in the understanding, we could imagine Him to be greater by existing in reality. Therefore, God must exist." A more elaborate version was given by Gottfried Leibniz (1646β1716); this is the version that GΓΆdel studied and attempted to clarify with his ontological argument.
GΓΆdel left a fourteen-point outline of his philosophical beliefs in his papers. Points relevant to the ontological proof include
- 4. There are other worlds and rational beings of a different and higher kind.
- 5. The world in which we live is not the only one in which we shall live or have lived.
- 13. There is a scientific (exact) philosophy and theology, which deals with concepts of the highest abstractness; and this is also most highly fruitful for science.
- 14. Religions are, for the most part, badβbut religion is not.
Discussed on
- "GΓΆdel's Ontological Proof" | 2019-07-28 | 125 Upvotes 124 Comments
- "GΓΆdel's ontological proof" | 2014-12-28 | 55 Upvotes 52 Comments
- "GΓΆdel's ontological proof" | 2009-01-03 | 12 Upvotes 9 Comments
π Cyc
Cyc (pronounced SYKE, ) is a long-living artificial intelligence project that aims to assemble a comprehensive ontology and knowledge base that spans the basic concepts and rules about how the world works. Hoping to capture common sense knowledge, Cyc focuses on implicit knowledge that other AI platforms may take for granted. This is contrasted with facts one might find somewhere on the internet or retrieve via a search engine or Wikipedia. Cyc enables AI applications to perform human-like reasoning and be less "brittle" when confronted with novel situations.
Douglas Lenat began the project in July 1984 at MCC, where he was Principal Scientist 1984β1994, and then, since January 1995, has been under active development by the Cycorp company, where he is the CEO.
π Thought-Terminating Cliche
A thought-terminating clichΓ© (also known as a semantic stop-sign, a thought-stopper, bumper sticker logic, or clichΓ© thinking) is a form of loaded language, commonly used to quell cognitive dissonance. Depending on context in which a phrase (or clichΓ©) is used, it may actually be valid and not qualify as thought-terminating; it does qualify as such when its application intends to dismiss dissent or justify fallacious logic. Its only function is to stop an argument from proceeding further, in other words "end the debate with a cliche... not a point." The term was popularized by Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, who called the use of the clichΓ©, along with "loading the language", as "The language of Non-thought".
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- "Thought-Terminating ClichΓ©" | 2023-07-08 | 40 Upvotes 25 Comments
- "Thought-Terminating ClichΓ©" | 2021-08-20 | 138 Upvotes 138 Comments
- "Thought-Terminating Cliche" | 2020-06-14 | 18 Upvotes 10 Comments
π Exploding Head Syndrome
Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is a condition in which a person experiences unreal noises that are loud and of short duration when falling asleep or waking up. The noise may be frightening, typically occurs only occasionally, and is not a serious health concern. People may also experience a flash of light. Pain is typically absent.
The cause is unknown. Potential explanations include ear problems, temporal lobe seizure, nerve dysfunction, or specific genetic changes. Potential risk factors include psychological stress. It is classified as a sleep disorder or headache disorder. People often go undiagnosed.
There is no high quality evidence to support treatment. Reassurance may be sufficient. Clomipramine and calcium channel blockers have been tried. While the frequency of the condition is not well studied, some have estimated that it occurs in about 10% of people. Females are reportedly more commonly affected. The condition was initially described at least as early as 1876. The current name came into use in 1988.
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- "Exploding Head Syndrome" | 2023-11-23 | 67 Upvotes 94 Comments
- "Exploding Head Syndrome" | 2020-03-08 | 87 Upvotes 70 Comments
- "Exploding head syndrome. I kid you not." | 2011-12-27 | 19 Upvotes 25 Comments
π Why Wikipedia cannot claim the earth is not flat
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- "Why Wikipedia cannot claim the Earth is not flat" | 2022-08-25 | 21 Upvotes 1 Comments
- "Why Wikipedia cannot claim the earth is not flat" | 2017-11-20 | 212 Upvotes 121 Comments
π Goodyear Inflatoplane
The Goodyear Inflatoplane was an inflatable experimental aircraft made by the Goodyear Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, well known for the Goodyear blimp. Although it seemed an improbable project, the finished aircraft proved to be capable of meeting its design objectives, although orders were never forthcoming from the military. A total of 12 prototypes were built between 1956 and 1959, and testing continued until 1972, when the project was finally cancelled.
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- "Goodyear Inflatoplane" | 2024-05-02 | 148 Upvotes 71 Comments
- "Goodyear Inflatoplane" | 2019-10-14 | 108 Upvotes 27 Comments