Indeed, we cannot completely remove the subjective part of knowledge, because all our knowledge are in the end sensed through our individual senses. Even the seemingly objective results: a thermometer can show 10 degrees, but I have to read it right; if I have a vision disorder that makes me see 0 as 8, my subjective observation of the evidence would disrupt it. In a way all evidence is corrupted by our limited senses, but the point is to minimize the corruption, which is why multiple tests are tried.

When it all comes down to it, I'm not sure there is such a thing as consciousness; it could be that we think we have a consciousness, but it's actually an illusion. As far as I know, there have only been theories about this and no real "hard" evidence of it. That doesn't mean that there can't be evidence of it ever, though. There is no strong evidence for a consciousness apart from the subjective introspective view we all have. I can assume that there is a consciousness, and this is what I believe. Do note that belief and faith are not the same thing.

Whether we accept the evidence (believe in it) or not doesn't really change its validity. I can say I don't believe in gravity, but that won't make me fly all of a sudden. The very fact that we don't fly is continually supporting evidence of the theory of gravity.*

Emergence can be discussed far more (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence) but my (ahem) belief is that consciousness is an example of strong emergence, which is sort of like a synergy effect where we are more than the sum of our parts. A virtual machine running on our biological hardware, if you will.

*That gravity is a much more strange force than Newtonian physics is another matter.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Buckminster-Fuller-World-Game-Synergy
go go Bucky....

This time I wasn't so lazy.

There is still a debate in the scientific community regarding low level exposure to mercury and mercury compounds.

Research indicating low level mercury exposure is toxic:

Chronic low-level mercury exposure, BDNF polymorphism, and associations with cognitive and motor function.

Low Level Mercury Exposure Accelerates Lupus in Mice

Low level methylmercury exposure affects neuropsychological function in adults

Research promoting low level mercury exposure as non-toxic:

Neurobehavioral effects of dental amalgam in children: a randomized clinical trial.

Low-level chronic mercury exposure in children and adolescents: Meta-analysis

My point in linking these few references was to show that there still is a debate within the SCIENTIFIC community about the health effects of low level mercury exposure. This video was produced by scientists, who showed their methods to reach their conclusions. To say this falls outside of science is to say that the Science channel shall show NO scientific debate.

This video wasn't produced by some herbalist or holistic practitioner, but by the University of Calgary's medical faculty. I bet they'd be surprised to find that their video doesn't meet the scientific standards of a video web site.

Question for rembar: If one of the researchers who produced this video called you and asked why this doesn't belong in the Science channel, what would you say? That because the majority of scientists currently think that low level mercury exposure is safe, the debate is over? That no further research into the safety of mercury is necessary? If that's the case, are all the researchers currently investigating low level mercury exposure wasting their time?

I'm a motorcyclist, and I've spent the last 5 weeks at home recovering from a shunt with a hit-and-run driver. Motorcycling is, in my opinion, the absolute best way to travel. Being out in the open air, becoming one with a powerful machine-it's a beautiful feeling of control and synergy, seeing things that you'll never see while surrounded by a steel cage, smelling your surroundings- fantastic. When you ride a motorcycle you belong to an elite secret society. All motorcyclists belong, and like all secret societies, there are rules: you help any stranded motorcyclist-no matter what he's riding, you also have recognition codes (a friendly wave). It's nice to belong.

As exciting as this may seem, he's not doing our club any favors, and in fact is doing the motorcycling fraternity a disservice by endangering himself and others. He's freaking the shit out of the people he's passing at those outrageous speeds thereby making us all look like morons, and he's encouraging other jackasses like himself to take up doing the same thing on our public roads- jackasses who won't have the same obvious skill that he has.

Anyhow, the point of this diatribe is to explain the downvote.

Wow..that is geeky. Good on ya!
I have an Xbox running XBMC, it's great if a little underpowered.
Have you checked out Synergy for sharing mouse/keyboard between adjacent machines? It works great.

In reply to your comment:
“Why don't you find a better quality source instead of complaining in my profile that one of the ten Frantics videos you spammed with today might not get to the front page because I downvoted it? ”

I'll ignore this part for now. I'd like to return to it in a moment.

“I understand the math behind your point. That's why I downvoted your post. I don't think it's worthy of the front page. I think the anime version of boot to the head is not good either. I don't see the connection or synergy behind overlapping anime and the Frantics. If you think it's worth posting because of the audio, I'd remind you this is VideoSift. I didn't downvote it though because I understand some people like that type of thing and I don't object to it the same way I object to a video that looks like it's from a Real Player demo in 1996. ”

OK, fair enough. If you feel that strongly about the quality of video, then by all means- you are definitely entitled to your downvote. I am sorry that I assumed that you didn't realise the consequences or potential consequences of that downvote. I'm sure that you can understand why I felt that way.

I take it that you are not quite as big a Frantics fan as you make yourself out to be in your original post. That is fine, too. I'm not a big fan of plenty of the content on this site.

Back to the first sentence of your reply, I don't think it's fair for you to characterise my sifts as "spamming". I'm really excited to have found some clips from 4 on the Floor on YouTube. I had searched for them ages ago, but to no avail. Four on the Floor is a show that I barely remember from my early childhood, and I am delighted to find that the sketches are still hilarious.

I posted them in full earnest, with complete sincerity. I'd like an apology please. Not for the downvote, but for calling me a spammer. I apologized for attacking you, now let's make nice, ok?

Why don't you find a better quality source instead of complaining in my profile that one of the ten Frantics videos you spammed with today might not get to the front page because I downvoted it? I understand the math behind your point. That's why I downvoted your post. I don't think it's worthy of the front page. I think the anime version of boot to the head is not good either. I don't see the connection or synergy behind overlapping anime and the Frantics. If you think it's worth posting because of the audio, I'd remind you this is VideoSift. I didn't downvote it though because I understand some people like that type of thing and I don't object to it the same way I object to a video that looks like it's from a Real Player demo in 1996.

wow, thanks youdiejoe.....shall be remembering that.....thanks cheesemoo- ....but Buckminster was not a chemist, he is most famous for his balls......oh and planet synergy,.... if the model(s) he proposed would have been followed....the planet would be in great shape.....

What are you talking about theo? The, over-the-top "republicans can do no wrong." overtones, and news scroll at the bottom. The "cutting your remarks short by insulting your intelligence" statements. It think they did satire the fox network.

That's not satire, that's what's actually on Fox News every day.

They do it all the time, aside from the fact that Fox TV is completely separate from Fox News

No, it ain't.
Aside from the fact that both are owned by News Corp, the FOX network has broadcast O'Reilly's "news" specials in the past.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Fox News also aired ads for the "If I Did It" O.J. Simpson TV special which was to air on FOX, before good taste finally stepped in and yanked the special and the book -- which, by the way, was to be published by a subsidiary of News Corp. (Of course.)

And political ideology and corporate synergy aside, this clip just ain't funny or terribly satirical.
Both/either would be required to qualify this as "comedy".

ROFL.. OMG THAT R0X0RS!!

That video is the definition of synergy. The Angry German Kid is a million times better in this context. If you don't laugh at this then I hope you don't procreate. (I was hoping for Hampster Dance at the end..)

Check out the mp3 that almost achieves this video's greatness. http://www.studiohunty.com/interweb/

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Great vid milohoss, I'm really happy that hybrids are getting traction. I was reading also that Detroit auto makers are licensing the hybrid synergy drive from toyota, rather than continue their own R&D.

I also read that the next version of the Prius is supposed to break the 100MPG barrier.

Time Magazine reported last week that the dropout rate is 30%; the statistic is masked by schoolboards that essentially lie about the # of dropouts; auditors come in after the fact to correct the errors. Insane.

The video/interview isn't a coincidence - they were advertising the Oprah thing alongside the Time article. Bizarre synergy.

Oddly enough I wouldn't have known about the Time article unless I had visited the yesterday(!), where I saw the American edition of Time. Up in Canada we have a custom edition where articles are re-sorted. A "ten questions for Prince Phillip" was our cover story. The grades article didn't make it into our Canadian version, though.

And yeah, they can cherry pick kids, but it probably wasn't too tough to come up with the sample. Reminds me to post another video I saw recently... about Women's Suffrage. http://www.break.com/index/suffrage.html

Suddenly wish we could embed break.com videos.