This may be the most shocking story of numeric abuse The Math Skeptic has heard of to date. Numbers quite literally tried to rob Malverne High School senior Aalique Grahame of his richly-deserved valedictorial honors.
Despite having the highest grade-point average in his class, a so-called "calculation error" resulted in Grahame being named salutatorian. The top honor instead went to his classmate Sarah St. John. When the "error" was discovered, the Board of Education attempted to add insult to insult by naming both Grahame and St. John co-valedictorians.
Any Math Skeptic can see what really happened here. This is nothing less than a vendetta by mathematics against an innocent young man. Mr. Grahame would have been haunted by the co-valedictorial title for life, like Roger Maris was haunted by his asterisk. Years and years of explaining his tarnished valedictory status at job interviews and award acceptance speeches, and would ultimately have left poor Aalique Grahame a bitter, broken shell of a man.
Happily, this story has a happy ending. The humans ultimately triumphed over the numbers, as the Board of Education reversed its decision and awarded Mr. Grahame his sole title.
Congratulations, Mr. Grahame - on your academic achievement AND your triumph over the arithmetocracy.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, June 03, 2011
Mad Astronomer Elenin Threatens Global Annihilation!
In a chilling posting on his blog, the Russian Astronomer/Supervillain Leonid Elenin is threatening to transform his "comet" C/2010 X1 (Elenin) from a small chunk of rock and ice hurtling toward us at tens of thousands of miles an hour into a Jupiter-sized brown dwarf.
A terrifying video posted on the blog shows exactly what will happen to our if his demands are not met, and the consequences are grave indeed. Starting with Saturn, the new super-sized Elenin will perturb the orbits of all the planets in the solar system, putting our Earth on a collision course with Jupiter and wiping out all life on our fair planet. As the name ELE-NIN suggests, this would truly be an Extinction Level Event, with a soundtrack
provided by Nine Inch Nails.
There are a few frightening details about this story, besides the whole impending doom thing.
First, the Mad Astronomer has yet to publicly issue his demands, so we do not yet know how to comply in order to save our planet.
Second, we do not know how an Astronomer has acquired the power to control the motion of celestial objects, a power normally reserved for Astrologers.
The only logical conclusion is that Leonid Elenin is some sort of combined Astrologer/Astronomer, which would give him celestial abilities beyond all human comprehension. Together with his henchman/sidekick Trent Reznor
, global domination and/or destruction may indeed be at hand this October.
Be. Very. Afraid.
A terrifying video posted on the blog shows exactly what will happen to our if his demands are not met, and the consequences are grave indeed. Starting with Saturn, the new super-sized Elenin will perturb the orbits of all the planets in the solar system, putting our Earth on a collision course with Jupiter and wiping out all life on our fair planet. As the name ELE-NIN suggests, this would truly be an Extinction Level Event, with a soundtrack provided by Nine Inch Nails. There are a few frightening details about this story, besides the whole impending doom thing.
First, the Mad Astronomer has yet to publicly issue his demands, so we do not yet know how to comply in order to save our planet.
Second, we do not know how an Astronomer has acquired the power to control the motion of celestial objects, a power normally reserved for Astrologers.
The only logical conclusion is that Leonid Elenin is some sort of combined Astrologer/Astronomer, which would give him celestial abilities beyond all human comprehension. Together with his henchman/sidekick Trent Reznor
, global domination and/or destruction may indeed be at hand this October. Be. Very. Afraid.
Darwin's Lost World: Best Left Un-Found!
I find myself once again in the uncomfortable position of thanking the National Center for Science Indoctrination for pointing out to me yet another book to NOT read.
Martin Brasier's evolutionist propaganda tome, Darwin's Lost World
, explores the "mysterious" Cambrian era, 550 "million" years ago, in which the earliest proto-animals - according to evolutionist biological theory as I understand it - underwent simultaneous spontaneous combustion, after which all their limbs and organs regenerated and reassembled into the precursor kinds of the animals we all know today.
Hogwash, I know, but that's evolutionaical theoreticality for you!
The book is titled Darwin's Lost World because in 1859 the wayward "naturalist" was allegedly "puzzled" by the lack of fossils found in rocks older than the Cambrian era. Of course, this theory-killing mystery didn't stop him from publishing On The Origin of Species by Means of Whatever and Yadda Yadda
, which is an obvious sign of the unproven theory's flawditude.
The most infuriating feature of Brasier's book is his recklessness with the fabric of spacetime, which he makes abundantly clear in his first chapter:
and irrevocably alter the present?
Very irresponsible, Mr. Brasier. I would think an evolutionist would have more respect for the past.
Martin Brasier's evolutionist propaganda tome, Darwin's Lost World
, explores the "mysterious" Cambrian era, 550 "million" years ago, in which the earliest proto-animals - according to evolutionist biological theory as I understand it - underwent simultaneous spontaneous combustion, after which all their limbs and organs regenerated and reassembled into the precursor kinds of the animals we all know today.Hogwash, I know, but that's evolutionaical theoreticality for you!
, which is an obvious sign of the unproven theory's flawditude. The most infuriating feature of Brasier's book is his recklessness with the fabric of spacetime, which he makes abundantly clear in his first chapter:
Good science is, after all, not just about facts. It should be a form of play. If a thing is not playful, it is probably not good science.I'd like to know under what authority Mr. Brasier thinks he can issue chronological transit visas! And inviting his readers to literally travel to the distant past and "be playful" is simply playing with fire. What if they accidentally step on a Precambrian butterfly
...
Here, then, is your passport to becoming a Time Traveller, and to making your own exciting discoveries about the world in which we really live.
and irrevocably alter the present? Very irresponsible, Mr. Brasier. I would think an evolutionist would have more respect for the past.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Seismologists Indicted For Not Predicting Earthquake
I hate to say "I told you so." I really do. There are few things that pain me more than a vigorous finger-wag and a scolding reminder of my prior fortellsions.
But in this case it is richly deserved.
The wonderful news out of Italy is that the families of the 309 people killed in the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake may finally receive justice. Six Italian seismologists
and one government official have been charged with manslaughter for failing to predict the April 6, 2009 quake.
Typically, the global numero-scientific cabal is circling the wagons to defend the allegedly-homicidal seismologists. And as to be expected, they're throwing around the standard set of excuses: that earthquakes
can't be predicted
, that the purpose of seismology is to quantify earthquake
hazard for a given region, and that people in earthquake zones
should retrofit buildings or something - I don't know. I didn't read the whole thing.
The problem, of course, is that the seismologers were trying to use an inexact science like science to make their earthquake hazard shakey maps or whatever they do. Whereas the most effective techniques for earthquake prediction are currently in the domain of pseudoscience
.
Legitimate seismologists summarily dismissed the radon-based predictions of pseudoscientist Giampaolo "Rudy" Giuliani, who predicted the earthquake nearly a week before it hit. Also summarily dismissed was my own successful earthquake prediction, using the pseudoscience of looking for alignments of various celestial bodies with the then-undiscovered Comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin).
So, scientists... although it hurts me to say it, I told you so!
But in this case it is richly deserved.
and one government official have been charged with manslaughter for failing to predict the April 6, 2009 quake. Typically, the global numero-scientific cabal is circling the wagons to defend the allegedly-homicidal seismologists. And as to be expected, they're throwing around the standard set of excuses: that earthquakes
can't be predicted, that the purpose of seismology is to quantify earthquake hazard for a given region, and that people in earthquake zones should retrofit buildings or something - I don't know. I didn't read the whole thing. The problem, of course, is that the seismologers were trying to use an inexact science like science to make their earthquake hazard shakey maps or whatever they do. Whereas the most effective techniques for earthquake prediction are currently in the domain of pseudoscience
.Legitimate seismologists summarily dismissed the radon-based predictions of pseudoscientist Giampaolo "Rudy" Giuliani, who predicted the earthquake nearly a week before it hit. Also summarily dismissed was my own successful earthquake prediction, using the pseudoscience of looking for alignments of various celestial bodies with the then-undiscovered Comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin).
So, scientists... although it hurts me to say it, I told you so!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Camping's Folly: When Numbers Go Bad
As you may have noticed, the world didn't end yesterday. 
There have been a number of explanations for why Family Radio nonogenarian Harold Camping's Judgement Day prediction
did not come true, ranging from a last minute change of heart by Our Lord and Savior
to the fact that God doesn't exist and that all religions are merely societal constructs enabled by neurotransmitters in the brain. Camping himself has an alternate explanation - that Judgement Day happened, but was invisible.
While all of these are possible, I have an alternate theory. Camping's prediction was based on a very careful calculation of the accumulated ages of biblical figures, along with a rounding-down of the age of the Earth from 4.57 billion years to just over 6,000. What did Camping use to make this calculation? Numbers. Numerology. A study of the purported mystical relationship between numbers and life
.
Since life proved to be correct by continuing to exist today, it is painfully obvious that numbers are wrong. This may be a harsh lesson for Camping's followers, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cases destroyed their families over this prediction, but a lesson learned.
There have been a number of explanations for why Family Radio nonogenarian Harold Camping's Judgement Day prediction did not come true, ranging from a last minute change of heart by Our Lord and Savior to the fact that God doesn't exist and that all religions are merely societal constructs enabled by neurotransmitters in the brain. Camping himself has an alternate explanation - that Judgement Day happened, but was invisible.While all of these are possible, I have an alternate theory. Camping's prediction was based on a very careful calculation of the accumulated ages of biblical figures, along with a rounding-down of the age of the Earth from 4.57 billion years to just over 6,000. What did Camping use to make this calculation? Numbers. Numerology. A study of the purported mystical relationship between numbers and life
. Since life proved to be correct by continuing to exist today, it is painfully obvious that numbers are wrong. This may be a harsh lesson for Camping's followers, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and in some cases destroyed their families over this prediction, but a lesson learned.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
NASA Proves Einstein Right, Numeratocracy Wrong
NASA today announced the successful results of the Gravity Probe B mission, which validated Einstein's theory of General Relativity
by showing that space and time are indeed warped by gravity. This result confirms what The Math Skeptic has been saying for years - that all time and distance measurements - and by extension the numbers used to make them, are inherently distorted and thus invalid.
Einstein's theory goes thusly: the Earth, like all celestial bodies, sits on a giant invisible rubber trampoline. This theory was quite revolutionary in 1916, as it displaced the previous Infinite Turtles theory
from its spacetime pedestal, and has been under constant scrutiny in the century hence by IT proponents. According to General Relativity, the surface of this trampoline is distorted so much by the planet's immense mass that time and space themselves are bent into curves.
General Relativity also predicted that the rotation of the planet would also drag the frame of the trampoline around with it as it turned, much as a fat guy doing a back spin will drag the cardboard around with him as he breakdances, presumably to Herbie Hancock's "Rockit
." This is known among IT2 proponents (Invisible Trampoline, not to be confused with Infinite Turtle proponents) as frame-dragging.
The Gravity Probe B mission, using the most accurate gyroscopes ever made, proved both trampoline curvature and frame-dragging to be true, and that gravity distorts spacetime by 0.00183383 of a degree per year.
By extension, this means that all numbers vary by 0.00183383 per year as well, throwing all of arithmetic in doubt. That math homework you did 20 years ago is now off by 0.03667 per digit. However, if you go back to your grade school and appeal to have your grades changed (grades which also are now off by 0.03667 of a letter, incidentally), you will be mocked and ridiculed. Such is the pervasity of the arithmetic cabal.
by showing that space and time are indeed warped by gravity. This result confirms what The Math Skeptic has been saying for years - that all time and distance measurements - and by extension the numbers used to make them, are inherently distorted and thus invalid.
Einstein's theory goes thusly: the Earth, like all celestial bodies, sits on a giant invisible rubber trampoline. This theory was quite revolutionary in 1916, as it displaced the previous Infinite Turtles theory
from its spacetime pedestal, and has been under constant scrutiny in the century hence by IT proponents. According to General Relativity, the surface of this trampoline is distorted so much by the planet's immense mass that time and space themselves are bent into curves. General Relativity also predicted that the rotation of the planet would also drag the frame of the trampoline around with it as it turned, much as a fat guy doing a back spin will drag the cardboard around with him as he breakdances, presumably to Herbie Hancock's "Rockit
." This is known among IT2 proponents (Invisible Trampoline, not to be confused with Infinite Turtle proponents) as frame-dragging.The Gravity Probe B mission, using the most accurate gyroscopes ever made, proved both trampoline curvature and frame-dragging to be true, and that gravity distorts spacetime by 0.00183383 of a degree per year.
By extension, this means that all numbers vary by 0.00183383 per year as well, throwing all of arithmetic in doubt. That math homework you did 20 years ago is now off by 0.03667 per digit. However, if you go back to your grade school and appeal to have your grades changed (grades which also are now off by 0.03667 of a letter, incidentally), you will be mocked and ridiculed. Such is the pervasity of the arithmetic cabal.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Math Skepticism Delayed is Math Skepticism Denied in Tennessee
A bill that could have opened the door for Math Skepticism in the Tennessee classroom is on hold until next year. The so-called "monkey bill," Senate Bill 893, would require state and local education authorities to inject some much-needed skepticism in the teaching of science.
Instead of merely learning one side of controversial theories such as evolution
, abiogenesis, and climate change
that have been subject to decades of experimental testing, evidence gathering, and peer review, students in the Nashville State would also have to learn competing theories such as Young-Earth Creationism
, Intelligent Design
, and Hollow-Earth Expansion
. Presumably, this would also apply to competing theories of mathematics, allowing teachers to also inject some much-needed skepticism into controversial theories such as multiplication, geometry, and algebra.
Unsurprisingly, math and science promoters such as the National Center for Science Indoctrination and the ACLU are hailing this as a victory. "It's taken eighty-six years," said Hedy "Hedley" Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, "but perhaps at last the Tennessee legislature is learning the lesson of the Scopes trial."
This lesson, I presume, is that in order to win, the bill's proponents need to bring in a populist firebrand lawyer from the North portrayed by Fredric March
.
Instead of merely learning one side of controversial theories such as evolution
, abiogenesis, and climate change that have been subject to decades of experimental testing, evidence gathering, and peer review, students in the Nashville State would also have to learn competing theories such as Young-Earth Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Hollow-Earth Expansion. Presumably, this would also apply to competing theories of mathematics, allowing teachers to also inject some much-needed skepticism into controversial theories such as multiplication, geometry, and algebra. Unsurprisingly, math and science promoters such as the National Center for Science Indoctrination and the ACLU are hailing this as a victory. "It's taken eighty-six years," said Hedy "Hedley" Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, "but perhaps at last the Tennessee legislature is learning the lesson of the Scopes trial."
This lesson, I presume, is that in order to win, the bill's proponents need to bring in a populist firebrand lawyer from the North portrayed by Fredric March
.
Monday, March 14, 2011
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