Category Archives: News

Cosmologist Luke Barnes answers 11 objections to the fine-tuning argument

This is from the blog Common Sense Atheism.

Atheist Luke Muehlhauser interviews well-respect cosmologist Luke Barnes about the fine-tuning argument, and the naturalistic response to it.

Luke M. did a good job explaining the outline of the podcast.

Details:

In one of my funniest and most useful episodes yet, I interview astronomer Luke Barnes about the plausibility of 11 responses to the fine-tuning of the universe. Frankly, once you listen to this episode you will be better equipped to discuss fine-tuning than 90% of the people who discuss it on the internet. This episode will help clarify the thinking of anyone – including and perhaps especially professional philosophers – about the fine-tuning of the universe.

The 11 responses to fine-tuning we discuss are:

  1. “It’s just a coincidence.”
  2. “We’ve only observed one universe, and it’s got life. So as far as we know, the probability that a universe will support life is one out of one!”
  3. “However the universe was configured, evolution would have eventually found a way.”
  4. “There could be other forms of life.”
  5. “It’s impossible for life to observe a universe not fine-tuned for life.”
  6. “Maybe there are deeper laws; the universe must be this way, even though it looks like it could be other ways.”
  7. “Maybe there are bajillions of universes, and we happen to be in one of the few that supports life.”
  8. “Maybe a physics student in another universe created our universe in an attempt to design a universe that would evolve intelligent life.”
  9. “This universe with intelligent life is just as unlikely as any other universe, so what’s the big deal?”
  10. “The universe doesn’t look like it was designed for life, but rather for empty space or maybe black holes.”
  11. “Fine-tuning shows there must be an intelligent designer beyond physical reality that tuned the universe so it would produce intelligent life.”

Download CPBD episode 040 with Luke Barnes. Total time is 1:16:31.

There is a very good explanation of some of the cases of fine-tuning that I talk about most on this blog – the force of gravity, the strong force, etc. as well as many other examples. Dr. Barnes is an expert, but he is also very very easy to listen to even when talking about difficult issues. Luke M. is very likeable as the interviewer.

Poll: Florida governor Ron DeSantis at -3 among independent voters, while Trump is at -39

Who should Republicans nominate for President in 2024? Well, it depends on what Republicans want. If Republicans want to win, then they should nominate DeSantis. In order to win the election, the Republican candidate will need to win independents. And DeSantis is doing better with independents than Trump. A LOT BETTER. Let’s take a look at the latest poll data.

This is from Daily Wire:

The poll from WPA Intelligence — a conservative firm that has been used by top Republican U.S. Senators and top conservative organizations like the Family Research Council — surveyed 1,160 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of +/-2.9% at the 95% confidence level.

Here are the interesting numbers, with respect to winning in 2024:

  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ net favorability ratings surpass Trump among Republicans (+66 vs. +44), Fox News viewers (+58 vs. +27), and Trump’s own 2020 voters (+69 vs. +54).

  • DeSantis is also well liked by a broad coalition of Republicans with a 68%/0% favorable/unfavorable rating among self-described “Trump Republicans”; 71%/9% among “Traditional Republicans”; and 82%/5% among “Reagan Republicans.”

  • DeSantis has more crossover appeal than both Trump and Biden with a net -3 favorability rating among Independent voters compared to -27 for Biden and -39 for Trump.

  • Additionally, 66% of Independents view Trump unfavorably, including 52% who view him “very unfavorably.”

This is scary for Trump:

  • Sixty-four percent of all voters — including 60% of Republicans, 63% of Independents, and 65% of split-ticket voters — say Donald Trump was a major reason for the Republican Party’s poor performance in the midterm elections.

I think Trump did a fine job as president, the most conservative president in my lifetime. However, he was elected to drain the swamp, and he wasn’t willing or able to do that.

I’m carefully monitoring the actions of Ron DeSantis in Florida. I have no interest in what he says. And what I’m most interested in is how he is handling Disney and Blackrock, two big secular left companies.

Here is the action on Disney, reported in the New York Post:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday nixing the Walt Disney Company’s sweet tax deal with the state — after the entertainment giant opposed its so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Asserting that the company was aiming to “inject sexuality” into its content, DeSantis said he was not “comfortable having that type of agenda getting special treatment in my state.”

Enacted in 1967 to attract Disney to Florida, the so-called Reedy Creek Improvement District gives the company near autonomy — including control over police and fire units as well as infrastructure management — at its properties.

The abrupt nixing of the 55-year-old pact came after Disney objected to legislation DeSantis initiated that banned instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for kids in kindergarten through the third grade.

Here is the action on Blackrock, reported by Daily Wire:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a fierce foe of the woke agenda permeating major corporations, has yanked a huge $2 billion worth of Florida’s assets from BlackRock, Inc., whose CEO, Larry Fink, has championed “stakeholder capitalism” to use shareholders’ money to finance his woke agenda.

In a harsh condemnation of BlackRock, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis made the announcement for the state on Thursday that $1.43 billion of Florida’s Long Duration Portfolio and of its $600 million Short Term Investment Fund (STIF) managed by BlackRock would be pulled. By the start of 2023, Florida’s Treasury will have divested from BlackRock’s management of all short and long-term investments.

I understand the secular left. They like to talk their way out of problems. They think that they can trample over the Constitution and human rights with their virtue signaling talk. That’s why I am watching to see whether DeSantis wants to talk to them, or whether he just wants to rip money out of their bank accounts. So far, he seems to be interested in actions. And that’s why he’s my pick in 2024. We have to elect someone who will take action against the the pedophiles and the groomers. Someone who understands how to communicate to them in a language that they understand.

Progressive white women report high levels of mental illness in 2020 Pew survey

I have the most amazing video for you to see. It’s a crazy left-wing activist doxing a libertarian lesbian woman wearing a breathe-through mask. First, let’s take a look at the video. Then, we’ll look at a recent survey reported by Pew Research in 2020, which assesses how mentally stable far-left feminist women are (self-reported). Then, I’ll make some comments for unmarried men.

OK, so here is the video, which was shared by the woman who was doxed. So it’s OK for me to share it, since the doxed woman didn’t care about it.

So, is this crazy woman rare? Or is she common?

Progressive white women and mental illness

Feminist web site Evie Magazine reported on the some 2020 findings by Pew Research (left-wing pollster):

A 2020 Pew Research study reveals that over half of white, liberal women have been diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point.

[T]he study, which is titled Pew American Trends Panel: Wave 64, was dated March 2020 — over a year ago.

The study, which examined white liberals, moderates, and conservatives, both male and female, found that conservatives were far less likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues than those who identified as either liberal or even “very liberal.”

[…]White women, ages 18-29, who identified as liberal were given a mental health diagnosis from medical professionals at a rate of 56.3%, as compared to 28.4% in moderates and 27.3% in conservatives.

Here’s the part of the data I thought was most interesting:

White Liberal Women

Who would marry a crazy person?

So, the point about this that I want to make is… who is going to marry these mentally ill progressive white women? Being a good wife and mother takes a certain amount of connection to reality. It takes a certain amount of empathy, compassion, and rationality. These progressive white women don’t have any of that. So, who is going to marry them? I know that there are thirsty progressive men (and thirsty conservative men who fake being progressive), who will go ahead and hit it and quit it. Pump it and dump it. But how many men would commit to someone who’s mentally ill?

And in fact, that’s exactly what we’re seeing with the marriage rates:

Marriage rates in the United States over time

That’s for America, but things are even worse in countries that have slid further toward the secular left edge of the political spectrum.

When you look at marriage rates in Canada and Europe, you understand that men are even LESS likely to choose marriage when they have to pay over 50% of what they earn in taxes. And so the marriage rate is declining. I think young, unmarried women in Canada and Europe are want to raise taxes in order to get free stuff from government. Single mother welfare, food stamps, abortions, contraceptives, IVF, breast enlargements, etc. Some feminists are even asking for free cosmetic surgery. With a big enough government, they don’t have to marry at all. Big government leaves them free to play the field, without having to care about finding a good man. But what if taxes get so high that the few good men those women passed over for 40 years simply can’t afford to take on a wife and support multiple children he didn’t father? Paying for things like a stay-at-home wife and homeschooling, etc. is expensive. Men can’t afford a wife, and also pay for goodies for all the single progressive women with mental illnesses.

Conservative men want nothing to do with daycare and public schools – we know that those facilities are dominated by progressive women. And we don’t want trouble from feminist lawyers and feminist judges in the divorce courts. Divorce is very expensive for men. And we may never see our children again. Then there are the progressive white women in the workplace, who get very bitter with men as a result of getting wrecked by bad boys. Even if we find a good wife, we still have to deal with all these progressive white women with mental illnesses in positions of power. Is it worth it to take risks like this? It depends on the reward, I guess. There comes a point where the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.