Q. I mean, I don't believe in the 2012 end of the world, but I've seen internet sites saying that the web bot thinks that 2012 IS the end of the world. I'm just curious on why the web bot is wrong in saying this.
Answer
The web bot or any such algorithm follow the trends of the web. As we know, most things posted anywhere whether is news, radio and even the net is mostly opinionated. Very little is posted to be fact because it only takes one scientifically proven thing to disprove something. Well, thats not exactly true but, once you disproff something then thats mostly the end of it. Wether you choose to keep believing is a different story. Also, determining what is fact and what isn't takes a lot of work and resources. Is just so much easier to blantantly say whatever than prove it. As such most things posted will be baseles oppinions.
So, where am I going with this. Well, if you have a program that looks for trends and the trends are based purely in opinion then how reliable is the information you are getting. Lets say for example that you send your bot program to find the hottest woman in the world. Lets say that right now Megan Fox (just the first name that came to my mind) is very popular and many people write about how hot she is. Base on the number of hits and what it is being said, the bot will determine that Megan Fox is the hottest girl ever in the history of amn kind. Now, is this statement true. No, is a matter of opinion really. For one there are countries that have more access to computers than others. Or that certain people are more in the media or famous than others. How do we know that in some remote village somewhere there exist a woman who is so beutiful the mere look at her makes your head explode. We don't because she is not famous and there fore not on the web and also out of the reach of the bot. I think you can make some prediction using the web base on the popularity ofthings. For example, if there is alot of talk about the iphone then you can predict that it will sell well and it has. It doesn't mean is the best pone although it could very well be.
Here is the thing about the Mayan calendar which is where the myth of 2012 comes from. Yes, the calendar ends in december 2012 but why? Further more Mayans believe in the begining and ending of cycles and a new cycle wil begin past 2010. This is true more or less but the problem is not that. The problem is that we are giving a Judeo-christian interpretation of a Mayan belief system. You see the Mayans as I understand it believed that the the world is cyclical. A cycle ends but another begins. So, the end of the cycle in 2012 to them means the begining of a new one. The Judeo-christian belief is that there is such a thing as the apocalypse. When the apocalypse come that's it, is the end. Game over if you will. If you are a Christian and believe in the apocalypse and then you see the 2012 stuff then you may incorrectly conclude that the world will end in 2012. What it really is is one group of people morphing or shaping another groups pf peoples beliefs to fit their own.
Things like that cannot be picked up by an internet bot because like I said at the begining, most post on the web will be about 2012 being the end of the world. Only a handful of post will be about debunking 2012. If for every 1 debunking post you get 100 that say is true what are you most likely to conclude? Remember that in science, data collection is a small part of the equation. The easy part. Interpreting the data is a completely different animal.
The web bot or any such algorithm follow the trends of the web. As we know, most things posted anywhere whether is news, radio and even the net is mostly opinionated. Very little is posted to be fact because it only takes one scientifically proven thing to disprove something. Well, thats not exactly true but, once you disproff something then thats mostly the end of it. Wether you choose to keep believing is a different story. Also, determining what is fact and what isn't takes a lot of work and resources. Is just so much easier to blantantly say whatever than prove it. As such most things posted will be baseles oppinions.
So, where am I going with this. Well, if you have a program that looks for trends and the trends are based purely in opinion then how reliable is the information you are getting. Lets say for example that you send your bot program to find the hottest woman in the world. Lets say that right now Megan Fox (just the first name that came to my mind) is very popular and many people write about how hot she is. Base on the number of hits and what it is being said, the bot will determine that Megan Fox is the hottest girl ever in the history of amn kind. Now, is this statement true. No, is a matter of opinion really. For one there are countries that have more access to computers than others. Or that certain people are more in the media or famous than others. How do we know that in some remote village somewhere there exist a woman who is so beutiful the mere look at her makes your head explode. We don't because she is not famous and there fore not on the web and also out of the reach of the bot. I think you can make some prediction using the web base on the popularity ofthings. For example, if there is alot of talk about the iphone then you can predict that it will sell well and it has. It doesn't mean is the best pone although it could very well be.
Here is the thing about the Mayan calendar which is where the myth of 2012 comes from. Yes, the calendar ends in december 2012 but why? Further more Mayans believe in the begining and ending of cycles and a new cycle wil begin past 2010. This is true more or less but the problem is not that. The problem is that we are giving a Judeo-christian interpretation of a Mayan belief system. You see the Mayans as I understand it believed that the the world is cyclical. A cycle ends but another begins. So, the end of the cycle in 2012 to them means the begining of a new one. The Judeo-christian belief is that there is such a thing as the apocalypse. When the apocalypse come that's it, is the end. Game over if you will. If you are a Christian and believe in the apocalypse and then you see the 2012 stuff then you may incorrectly conclude that the world will end in 2012. What it really is is one group of people morphing or shaping another groups pf peoples beliefs to fit their own.
Things like that cannot be picked up by an internet bot because like I said at the begining, most post on the web will be about 2012 being the end of the world. Only a handful of post will be about debunking 2012. If for every 1 debunking post you get 100 that say is true what are you most likely to conclude? Remember that in science, data collection is a small part of the equation. The easy part. Interpreting the data is a completely different animal.
Is this a good computer for gaming?
Mike
I am wanting to get a new laptop. Is this a good laptop for gaming? I want to play games like World Of Warcraft and Minecraft in case you should know.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+2GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/6733454.p?id=1218786214058&skuId=6733454&st=Thanksgiving_Day_Sale_2012_Computers_70568&cp=1&lp=1
Answer
Oh I'm sure it's great at gaming for $187.....
Oh I'm sure it's great at gaming for $187.....
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
