trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Bill Ayers

[[File:Professor_William_Ayers_cropped.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Ayers]]{{communism|1}}{{Sources needed}}
'''Bill Ayers''' (1944–) is a former domestic [[terrorist]] and [[Vietnam War]] protester-turned college professor who was one of the founders and leaders of the "[[Weather Underground]]" movement in 1969. He describes himself as a "radical, leftist, and small 'c' [[communist]]." He is married to fellow terrorist Bernardine Dohrn, with whom he formed a romantic attachment when they were on the run from the [[FBI]].

During the 2008 presidential elections [[Sarah Palin]], [[John McCain]], and the rest of the right-wing [[echo chamber]] started squawking about how [[Barack Obama]] was a [[Red-baiting|communist]] and palling about with terrorists, ''viz.'', that he had shaken Ayers's hand once in 1995 (and had maybe, possibly, incredibly ghostwritten Obama's autobiography),<ref>[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/who_wrote_dreams_from_my_fathe_1.html Some fucking idiots reckon so]</ref> and later served with him on the board of a non-profit; it being, [[Jonanism|of course, a given that any two co-workers agree in all particulars on political matters.]]

==Terrorism: a force for good==
Ayers freely admitted his role in the Pentagon bombing of May 19, 1972, and attempted to justify it:

{{cquote|[[Red_herring|The operation cost just under $500, and no one was killed, or even hurt.]] [[Whataboutism|In that same time the Pentagon spent tens of millions of dollars and dropped tens of thousands of pounds of explosives on Viet Nam, killing or wounding thousands of human beings, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage.]] [[Two_wrongs_make_a_right|Because nothing justified their actions in our calculus, nothing could contradict the merit of ours.]]}}

Ayers has defended his bombings on the basis that they were acts of protest against the Vietnam War and they didn't kill anybody.  Both claims are disingenuous.  The bombings were not part of any strategy for protesting the war.  They were part of the Weather Underground's then-public strategy of drawing the government into a civil crackdown that would cause a cycle of escalating violence that was somehow supposed to lead to a revolution.  Bloodshed was at the core of that strategy.  Of course, being a remote destruction kind of guy he wouldn't be directly involved in the bloodshed, and if the strategy failed his rich parents could bail him out (they eventually did).
==See also==
*[[Ward Churchill]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub|history}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, Bill}}
[[Category:Anti-war activists]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:Left-wing activists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Left]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Categories: Anti-war activists, Feminists, Left-wing activists, Living people, New Left, Terrorists
Billy James Hargis

[[File:Evangelist Billy James Hargis.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Hargis]]
{{christianity|1}}
'''Billy James Hargis''' {{lived|1925|2004}} was a radio preacher, [[Christian]] college founder, and head of a pressure group called the "Christian Crusade" (sort of an early precursor to the [[Moral Majority]] and [[Christian Coalition]]) who railed against the evils of [[communism]], [[sex education]], and [[Rock music|rock & roll]] corrupting the [[moral]]s of America's youth. His empire collapsed in 1974 after (why oh why is this so predictable?) a sex scandal, when students from his Christian college came forward to reveal that they had both lost their [[virginity]] to Billy James Hargis. Even more bizarre, the two students who came forward were a married couple who had admitted this to each other on their honeymoon.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090923183006/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918027,00.html Religion: The Sins of Billy James] (Feb. 16, 1976) ''Time'' (archived from September 23, 2009).</ref>

Hargis was closely associated with the [[John Birch Society]], going on evangelism tours in coordination with the JBS.<ref>''Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right'' by Matthew Dallek (2023) Basic Books. ISBN 1541673565.</ref>{{rp|100,144,157,201,213}}

One of his associates ([[David Noebel]]) was the author of two books published by the Christian Crusade claiming the [[Beatles]] were a communist plot to [[brainwash]] America's youth into placidly accepting [[Soviet]] rule using [[hypnotism]] and demonic [[racism|jungle rhythms]].

Radio host Don Imus has often included a televangelist character named "Billy Sol Hargis" in some of his material.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aty3LiGxgAE WNBC 66 New York - Billy Sol Hargis - Don Imus - November 1972] (Mar 26, 2018) ''YouTube''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Haggard's Law]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargis, Billy James}}
[[Category:Fundamentalists]]
[[Category:John Birch Society]]
[[Category:Ministers]]
[[Category:Paedophilia]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Radio]]
[[Category:Rape]]

Categories: Fundamentalists, John Birch Society, Ministers, Paedophilia, Purity culture, Radio, Rape
Bilocation

{{pseudosciencenav}}
{{cquote|''How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All?''|||[[Firesign Theatre]] album}}
'''Bilocation''' is a term used to describe the alleged ability of an individual to be present in two different places at the same time. 

Some [[fraud]]sters even boldly claim that they can be present in more than two places at a given time. The term ''multilocation'' is used to describe this alleged feat of endurance. To date, no evidence has been found to support the existence of bilocation or multilocation, except, of course, a great wad of useless [[anecdote]]s&nbsp; some of which, to be fair, may just be [[hallucination]]s.

Bilocation is a power that is commonly associated with many would-be [[Saint|saints]] and is an easily-enough accomplished [[miracle]] requiring only a body double or a few credible witnesses to fake.

==In reality==
Bilocation is possible in [[quantum mechanics]] but this pertains primarily to [[Quantum entanglement|entangled]] [[atoms]] or [[subatomic particles]].<ref>[http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29110 Entangled photons show interference and bilocation] Jul 28, 2004 ''CERN Courier''.</ref>

==In fiction==
In the fertile period of [[German]] pre-[[World War II]] cinema, historian Lotte Eisner described the use of the '''''Doppelgänger''''' (literally: "double walker", sometimes translated as "mirror double") in as a plot device, particularly in three different versions of the film ''The Student of Prague'' (1913, 1926, 1935).<ref>''The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt'' by Lotte H. Eisner (1973) University of California Press. ISBN 0520024796.</ref>{{rp|109-113}}

==In psychology==
[[Freud]]ian psychologist {{wpl|Otto Rank}} published a psychological analysis of the first version of this film in his 1914 book ''Der Doppelgänger'', including an analysis of the the ''Doppelgänger' theme in the published works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffman, Fyodor Dostoevsky and [[Oscar Wilde]]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/Rank_1925_Doppelgaenger_k/mode/2up ''Der Doppelgänger: Eine psychoanalytische Studier''] by Otto Rank (1914) Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag.</ref><ref>''The Double: A Psychoanalytic Study'' by Otto Rank (1989) Karnac Books. ISBN Karnac Books.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|pseudoscience}}
[[Category:Deceit]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

Categories: Deceit, Pseudoscience, Psychology
Binomial theorem

{{mathematics}}
The '''binomial theorem''' is an important statement in [[mathematics]], of value in [[probability]] theory and calculus. It states that the expansion of a binomial, ''x''+''y'', raised to the power ''n'' is given by:

<math>(x+y)^n = \sum_{k=0}^n {n \choose k}x^{n-k}y^k</math> where <math>{n \choose k} = \frac{n!}{k!}</math><ref>https://mathworld.wolfram.com/BinomialTheorem.html</ref>

A familiar example of this is the expansion

<math>(x+y)^2 = x^2 + 2xy + y^2</math>

==Importance to probability==
The binomial theorem allows calculation of the probability of an event with probability ''p'' happening ''k'' times given ''n'' chances. In this instance, the formula is

<math>P(E) = {n \choose k}p^k(1-p)^{n}</math>

This can be very handy in demonstrating how [[improbable things happen]]. For instance, assume the probability of a particular [[mutation]] is about 10<sup>-3</sup>. "Impossible," you might say, "such a mutation could never occur!" However, another key aspect is the number of opportunities for that mutation to develop. Assume that, in a particular timeframe, 500 (a remarkably small number) offspring are produced. In this situation, the chance of the mutation occurring ''at least'' once is given by

<math>1 - (1-10^{-3})^{500} = 1-0.999^{500} = 0.3936</math>

Despite the low chance, the probability of the mutation arising with only 500 new members in the population is almost 2 in 5, or 40%.

What if we say that the number of new members added to the population is 1000, but require the mutation to occur at least twice?

<math>\begin{align}
P(E) &= \sum_{k=2}^{1000} {1000 \choose k} (10^{-3})^k (1-10^{-3})^{1000-k} \\
&= 0.2642 \end{align}</math>

As you can see, the chance of the mutation occurring is still greater than 1 in 4, despite the chance of any individual member receiving it being 1 in 1000. Given more time or a larger population, the mutation will almost definitely occur, even if its chance is decreased.

In practice, when calculating the probability of a given number of occurrences of a rare event in a large population, the {{wpl|Poisson distribution}} is often used to get an approximate result, rather than using the binomial theorem directly.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/poisson-distribution</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{mathnav}}

[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Evolution]]

Categories: Mathematics, Evolution
Biodiversity

[[File:Phanerozoic Biodiversity.svg|thumb|right|165px|Since the start of the Phanerozoic, biodiversity has apparently showed an overall but not monotonic increase from near zero to several thousands of genera.]]
{{biology}}{{hatnote|Not to be confused with human biodiversity, a euphemism for [[racialism]].}}
'''Biodiversity''' is the somewhat hard-to-define quality of variation among living things in a specific ecosystem, in agriculture, within a certain [[taxonomic]] group, or in the entire biosphere.

Biodiversity is seen as important to the [[sustainability]] of life in general and as an all-round Good Thing.<ref>{{wpa | 1066 and All That}}</ref> Having various options of "life support systems" often means that, when conditions change, they are unlikely to all fail at once.<ref>http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/61/3/183.full</ref>

[[environmentalism | Environmentalist]]s regard human-caused ("anthropogenic") loss of biodiversity as a serious problem. Some branches of environmental philosophy give intrinsic value to biodiversity, and consider its conservation important beyond ecological services for humans.<ref>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biodiversity/#SpeValBioVal</ref>

It is difficult to measure biodiversity, but with closer observation, one can simply see how diverse even a single ecosystem is. A single drop of pond water has several species of microscopic animals (from copepods to water fleas to rotifers), and other microorganisms (amoebas, paramecium, diatoms, and euglena). More complex information-based methods must decide when to describe [[genetic]] diversity versus diversity based on [[phenotype]]s and genotypes, which require more definitions of measurements themselves. Meaningful diversity-indices also take into take into account the total number of individuals of each species, and apply [[statistical]] measures.<ref>
''Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement'' by Anne E. Magurran (1988). Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691084912.
</ref><ref>
''Measuring Biological Diversity'' by Anne E. Magurran (2003). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0632056339.
</ref><ref>
{{wpa|Measurement of biodiversity}}
</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Stub|environmentalism}}

[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Categories: Environmentalism, Biology
Biofeedback

{{Needs sources}}
{{Altmed}}
[[File:Biofeedback en.svg|thumb|left|165px|Principle of biofeedback]]
'''Biofeedback''' is an [[alternative medicine]] with the intent to give the patient greater awareness of their physiological functions, which will supposedly help the patient control these processes. With this premise, it is 
un
suprising that some claims are utter [[bullshit]]. 

==The promising==
There is some evidence that shows that biofeedback could potentially help with stress.<ref>[https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/biofeedback/about/pac-20384664 Biofeedback.] ''Mayo Clinic''.</ref>

==The woo==
Some take biofeedback one step further and claim unsubstantiated and embarassing crap that would make anyone with any dignity ashamed, and that's why many of these claims are made by [[quackery|quacks]], [[crank|cranks]], and [[new age|new agers]]. These include claims of more desirable brainwaves, being able to reach [[spiritual]] or higher [[consciousness]], and stuff that is just plain impossible for the [[human]] body to do. 

==See also==
*[[Brainwave woo]]
*[[Quantum biofeedback]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Woo]]
{{stub|alternative medicine}}

Categories: Alternative medicine, Woo
Biology Revisioned

{{newage}}{{title-italics}}
'''''Biology Revisioned''''' ({{Isbn|9781556432675}}) is a controversial science book by American [[engineers and woo|engineer]] Willis Harman and Greek-American evolutionary biologist [[Elisabet Sahtouris]]. It was published by North Atlantic Books in 1998.

==Overview==

The book advocates a form of "holistic biology" which the authors wish to replace what they call reductionistic science. Harman and Sahtouris take influence from the work of [[Mae-Wan Ho]], James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, and [[Rupert Sheldrake]].

According to Harman and Sahtouris, the [[universe]] and everything in it should be seen as [[life|living]] systems, and they criticise western science for ignoring this view. The book takes the [[Gaia hypothesis]] to the extreme by promoting the holistic view that not only is Gaia itself conscious, but [[consciousness]] is an underlying layer of physical reality found at all levels of nature from particles to atoms, [[cells]], and organisms. The book argues to look at wholes (organisms and ecological systems) prior to parts (fundamental particles).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090717080847/http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/reviews/reviews_13_4_hamilton.pdf Book Review]</ref> (Contrast with [[emergence]].)

{{cquote|A Biology that sees all nature as co-evolving holons (living entities) in holarchies (interdependent embeddedness{{sic}}) will quickly reveal much about humanity itself as one such holon-containing its own holarchy of individuals, families, organizations, communities, nations and world.  Through this understanding of ourselves, we will gain profound insights on where we succeed and where we fail as a living system...|||Elisabet Sahtouris in Biology Revisioned}}

Harman and Sahtouris argue that organisms are self-organizing intelligent systems, rather than mechanical Darwinian accidents.<ref>[https://sahtouris.com/#2_1,0,1 Book Description]</ref> They strongly criticise [[neo-Darwinism]] for being reductionistic and for reducing nature to nothing but "[[gene]] machines". The book advocates [[non-Darwinian evolution]] and discusses how organisms in some cases can direct their own [[evolution]]. The book endorses self-organization, and autopoiesis (self-creation) as the definition of [[life]] and replaces certain scientific principles with new holistic terminology such as "holons" and "holarchies". 

The book also endorses elements of eastern [[spirituality]] and research from consciousness studies in [[parapsychology]].

==Reception==

The book has been criticized for resorting to [[mysticism]] and [[spirituality]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150314033436/http://mjvande.nfshost.com/wildlf19.htm Book Review by Michael J. Vandeman]</ref> Whilst the book does contain some science, it is generally seen as a [[new age]] book.

==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:New Age]]

Categories: Books, New Age
Birth order

{{psychology}}
'''Birth order''' refers to a person's ordinal ranking among siblings &mdash; firstborn, second born, and so on. In [[pop psychology]] and the [[self-help]] movement, birth order is often said to have a profound, [[determinist]]ic influence on personality, akin to the influence of the stars in [[astrology]].

Some studies have found a correlation between birth order and [[IQ]], but this is subject to debate, and the effect described is very small — 3 IQ points lower for the second born, and 1 point lower still for the third.<ref>Kristensen, Petter and Tor Bjerkedal. (22 June 2007). [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/316/5832/1717 Explaining the Relation Between Birth Order and Intelligence]. ''Science'' 316 (5832): 1717. DOI: 10.1126/science.1141493</ref> (The standard deviation on most IQ tests is around 15 points.) Among brothers, birth order is known to have a significant correlation with [[homosexuality]], with every additional older brother increasing the incidence by 33%.<ref>[[Ray Blanchard|Blanchard, Ray]]. (September 2001). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11534970?dopt=Abstract Fraternal birth order and the maternal immune hypothesis of male homosexuality.] ''Hormones and Behavior'' 40 (2):105-14. PMID: 11534970</ref> 

Frank Sulloway of the University of California, Berkeley, who argues that birth order's effects on personality are significant, has found that openness to new ideas is strongly correlated with a higher order. Later-borns, he argues, accepted the theories of [[evolution]] and [[heliocentrism]] much more rapidly than firstborns, as well as discredited ideas like [[phrenology]].<ref>Sulloway, Frank. (2001). [http://www.sulloway.org/Holcomb.pdf Birth Order, Sibling Competition, and Human Behavior.] In Harmon R. Holcomb, (Ed.), ''Conceptual Challenges in Evolutionary Psychology: Innovative Research Strategies''. Dordrecht: Springer<br/>See also Shermer, Michael (2001). ''The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense.'' New York: Oxford University Press USA</ref> These findings have not been without controversy.<ref>Harris, Judith R. (2006) ''No Two Alike: Human Nature And Human Individuality.'' New York: W.W. Norton</ref>

While popular claims about birth order and personality often devolve into [[pseudoscience]], the topic is also the subject of ongoing legitimate research.
{{stub|psychology}}

==External links==
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1673284,00.html "The Power of Birth Order"], by Jeffrey Kluger; cover story from the 17 October 2007 issue of ''Time''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Birth]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Woo]]

Categories: Birth, Culture, Homosexuality, Pseudoscience, Science, Sociology, Woo
Bismacine

{{altmed}}
'''Bismacine''', occasionally known as '''Chromacine'''<ref name="mayo">[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116/DSECTION=treatments%2Dand%2Ddrugs Mayo Clinic: Lyme Disease]</ref> (though '''Chromocine''' might be a different drug),<ref name="townsendFeb">[http://www.townsendletter.com/FebMar2006/lyme0206.htm Biochemistry of Lyme Disease.] ''Townsend Letter''</ref> is an [[alternative medicine]] sold to treat [[Lyme disease]] that involves the injection of the metal bismuth.  Bismacine was invented by Robert Bradford, who is not a medical doctor,<ref name="chicago">[http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-12-08/health/ct-met-chronic-lyme-disease-20101207_1_lyme-disease-chronic-lyme-raxlen A Dubious Diagnosis.] ''Chicago Tribune''</ref> in 2004.<ref name="townsendJan" />  In 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against Bismacine,<ref name="quackwatch">[http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/lyme.html Quackwatch: Lyme disease]</ref> as bismuth is ineffective and dangerous neither approved for injection and can lead to heart and kidney problems.<ref name="mayo" /> Bradford pled guilty in 2010 to charges that Bismacine caused the death of a woman in [[Kansas]].<ref name="casewatch">[http://www.casewatch.org/doj/bradford/plea.shtml Casewatch: Robert W. Bradford Pleads Guilty (2010)]</ref> Bradford and business partners also admitted that they inflated fears of Lyme disease as part of a marketing campaign to increase sales of Bismacine,<ref>[http://cjonline.com/news/state/2010-10-26/ex_physician_convicted_of_fraud Ex-Physician Convicted of Fraud] ''Topeka Capital-Journal''</ref> calling Lyme disease a "potential plague of the 21<sup>st</sup> century."<ref name="townsendJan">[http://www.townsendletter.com/Jan2005/lyme0105.htm Lyme disease, potential plague of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.] ''Townsend Letter''</ref>

In an article for the ''Townsend Letter'', an alternative health magazine, Bradford claimed that when using Bismacine, all patients had little-to-no adverse effects known as Herxheimer reactions.<ref name="townsendFeb" /> This is not surprising, as Herxheimer reactions occur in at most 15% of all Lyme disease patients,<ref name="IDSA">[http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/43/9/1089.full IDSA Lyme disease guidelines]</ref> and would occur in even fewer if Bismacine was failing to kill the Lyme-causing spirochetes.

==See also==
*[[Hydrogen Peroxide therapy]]
*[[Lyme disease]]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121128090436/https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm150503.htm FDA safety alert]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[category:Alternative medicine]]
{{stub|alternative medicine}}

Categories: Alternative medicine
Bit

{{technav}}{{logicnav}}
A '''bit''' (''bi''nary digi''t'') is the smallest piece of [[information]] conceivable. Apart from ''[[The Sun]].''

==Relation to computers==
Bits are heavily used in the [[computer]] industry. Each bit in a traditional computer architecture has a determinate value of either 0 or 1.{{efn|In contrast, [[quantum computer]]s use qubits.}} The 0-or-1 value can be then interpreted either numerically for constructing larger numbers (using the base-2 numeral system), or as false or true (respectively). The latter interpretation can then be used for logical (or conditional) computations. A modern computer can contain many billions bits in memory alone, and the [[Moore's Law|demand is skyrocketing]]. Luckily, bits seem to be a [[Renewable energy|renewable]] resource.

==Relation to creationism==
The concept of a bit is unique in that it is the only truly [[Irreducible complexity|irreducibly complex]] object known. In most cases, when [[creationist]]s are asked how much they actually know about [[evolution]], a truthful yet diplomatic answer would be "a bit". In real life that doesn't happen, possibly because they believe bits of information can be [[Complex Specified Information|complex and/or specified]]. 

In many cases, creationists believe that they possess this [[myth]]ical [[kind]] of information, resulting in their hallmark state of being perpetually [[not even wrong]].

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==See also==
*[[Bitcoin]]
*[[Boolean algebra]]

{{stub|logic}}
[[Category:Computer science]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Categories: Computer science, Logic, Mathematics, Technology