trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Prediction

{{sources needed}}
{{Philosophyscience}}
{{cquote|It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.|||Karl Kristian Steincke}}
'''Prediction''' in an informal sense means something like "guess" or "idea". If you want to stretch a bit, it can also mean "[[prophecy]]" (in the temporal sense).

In a [[science|scientific]] sense, prediction refers to the ability of a [[hypothesis]] to accurately forecast what will happen under specific conditions. In order to test a hypothesis, a scientist will make a prediction based on the hypothesis. If the result of the experiment is in accordance with the prediction, then the hypothesis [[falsifiability|has not been disproven]]. (It has not been proven either, rather supported.) The [[scientific method]] is built upon repeated iterations of this process.

Hypotheses which are not able to make such testable predictions are frequently [[pseudoscience]]. [[Pseudoscience]] is almost universally characterized by the inability to make meaningful, specific predictions constructed from the core pseudoscientific theory.

Note that scientific prediction is not the same as alleged [[precognition]] or [[divination]].

==See also==
*[[Instrumentalism]]
*[[RationalWiki:Predictions]]
*[[Cyclical theory]]
*[[List of predictions of the end of the world]]

[[category:Science]]
[[category:Philosophy of science]]

{{stub|science}}

Categories: Science, Philosophy of science
Prem Rawat

[[File:Prem_Rawat_2007_cropped.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Releasing his inner light]]{{cults|1}}
'''Prem Rawat''' is a religious teacher from [[India]] who moved to the West in 1971. His "teachings" seem to be some sort of [[new age]] [[woo]] about releasing your "inner light, love, wisdom and clarity" through [[meditation]]. He has run a religious group called, at times, 'The Divine Light Mission', 'Elan Vital', and 'DUO'.<ref>[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537900802630471#.VM-XDslNzJ8 Forget Transmitted Memory: The De-traditionalised ‘Religion’ of Prem Rawat], Ron Greaves, Journal of Contemporary Religion.</ref>

Some people have accused him of being a [[cult]] leader and generally batshit insane.

==External links==
*[http://www.ex-premie.org/index.html Ex-member page, claims it's a cult]
*[http://www.mikefinch.com/mj/babblingBrookPress.htm Book by an ex-member]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|religion}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawat, Prem}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Cult leaders]]

Categories: Living people, Cult leaders
Prescribed Evolutionary Hypothesis

{{Evolution}}
The '''Prescribed Evolutionary Hypothesis''' is a proposal regurgitated by [[John A. Davison]] in 2006.

In simple terms it suggests that [[evolution]] by mutation and natural selection is incorrect, and that although the information for the organism is contained in the genome, parts of it are suppressed in the oldest forms and slowly revealed as the organism evolves. The mechanism for this is the rearrangement of chromosomes within the gene.<ref>[http://www.uncommondescent.com/evolution/a-prescribed-evolutionary-hypothesis/ PEH Paper JA Davison]</ref>

This is not as new an idea as the paper claims.<ref>[[Lev Berg|Lev S. Berg]], 1922, ''Nomogenesis or Evolution According to Law''
"Evolution is in a great measure an unfolding of pre-existing rudiments."</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|evolution}}

[[category:Evolution]]
[[category:Blogs]]

Categories: Evolution, Blogs
Press TV

{{media}}
'''Press TV''' is a 24/7 English-language international news channel based in Tehran and owned by the [[Iran]]ian government that tries to present itself as an independent alternative to other international English-language media (Like [[Al Jazeera]], but perhaps closer to [[RT]]). If you are in [[Iran]] and you would rather avoid floggings or worse, you’d better not criticise Press TV too much.

The channel has a heavily [[antisemitic]] stance, something which has even led its website to run an article by the [[white nationalist]] Mike Stathis. In it, he argues that a Jewish mafia has taken over America and is discouraging whites from feeling pride in their race.<ref>http://presstv.com/detail/2013/01/03/281521/jewish-mafia-tied-to-death-of-america/</ref>

Press TV had a subsidiary owned and operated in [[Britain]], Press TV Limited which produced programming for it.  The channel was investigated by the U.K.'s broadcasting regulatory body Ofcom after airing a staged interview. Press TV responded by conducting a survey: "77.82 percent of participants stated that the primary objective behind the UK government’s intensifying pressure on the Iranian news network was to silence the broadcaster because it sheds light on the dark side of British policies within and outside its borders" claimed Press TV.

The channel also stated that Ofcom "is mostly made up of former Channel 4 and BBC executives, some of whom are well-linked to and influenced by powerful pro-[[Zionist]] politicians" and that Ofcom's chairperson Colette Bowe "enjoyed the exclusive support of Peter Mandelson, the main economic planner of the [[Labour]] party who is a [[Jewish]] politician with an obvious Zionist mindset."
<ref>http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/press-tv-peter-mandelson-is-a-%E2%80%98jewish-politician-with-an-obvious-zionist-mindset%E2%80%99/</ref>

Ofcom later went after the channel on the grounds that its licensed-in-Britain, owned-in-Iran set-up violated the Communications Act. Press TV was given the choice between either transferring editorial control to the UK, or transferring its broadcasting licence to Iran. Press TV did neither, and its license to broadcast in the U.K. was subsequently revoked.<ref>http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforcement/broadcast-licence-conditions/press-tv-revocation.pdf?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=press-tv</ref><ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/20/iran-press-tv-loses-uk-licence?newsfeed=true</ref>

Press TV is still broadcasting 24/7 on satellite and streams over the Internet.

==See also==
*[[Russia Today]]

==External links==
*[http://www.presstv.ir/ Official site]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|media}}

[[Category:Anti-Christian bigotry]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Iran]]
[[Category:Iranian politics]]
[[Category:Media]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Categories: Anti-Christian bigotry, Antisemitism, Fascism, Iran, Iranian politics, Media, Propaganda, Racism
Presumption of innocence

{{Law}}
The '''presumption of innocence''' is the legal version of the [[skeptical]] position that the [[burden of proof]] rests with the person making an accusation — or a claim — rather than the person who must refute it.

In other words the law accepts as a [[null hypothesis]] that everyone is innocent and only compelling [[evidence]] to the contrary can overturn this assumption. It is considered to be a fundamental [[Human rights|human right]] and article 11 of The [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] explicitly states that everyone should have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

In this sense, a criminal trial represents a formalized process during which the evidence is presented, evaluated and publicly tested. Only if the evidence is found to pass the required tests can the accused be regarded as "guilty". Until this process has been gone through the accused is innocent.

Although the presumption of innocence is declared to be a fundamental human right, it is not always practised, even in first-world countries which supposedly base their judicial systems on this concept. For example, suspects detained at [[Guantanamo Bay]] have endured long periods of incarceration without being proven guilty of a crime in a court. Some proposals grounded in [[feminist]] thinking also seek to undermine this principle by setting up inquisitorial trials. According to one such proposal, if the prosecutor could prove that a sexual encounter had occurred and the defendant's identity, the defendant would be forced to (somehow) prove it was consensual or be found guilty of [[rape]].<ref name="Rape accused would have to prove consent under Labour plan">[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11289979 Rape accused would have to prove consent under Labour plan], NZ Herald, retrieved 6.9.2016.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Law]]
{{stub|Law}}

Categories: Human rights, Law
Presupposition

{{sources needed}}
{{logicnav}}
''Presupposition is not directly related to [[Presuppositionalism]], which is a religious belief, although presuppositionalist beliefs are certainly full of presupposition.''

A '''presupposition''' is a linguistic term for an implicit assumption in a phrase, usually a claim or a question.

Presuppositions can be used in a [[logical fallacy|fallacious]] manner by playing on these assumptions, ''e.g.'', by asking a [[loaded language|loaded]] yes-or-no question that will implicate the speaker in something disagreeable no matter which way he answers.

The appropriate answer to a question based upon a false presupposition is "''mu''".<ref>{{wpa|Mu (negative)}}</ref>

==Examples==
* '''Phrase:''' "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
* '''Presupposition:''' 1) You, at some point, have at least one wife. 2) At some point you have beaten your wife (regardless whether that is the same wife as the first presupposition).

* '''Phrase:''' "I have quit [[smoking]]."
* '''Presupposition:''' I used to smoke.

And from ''Alice in Wonderland'' by [[Lewis Carroll]]:

"How am I to get in?" asked Alice again, in a louder tone.

"Are you to get in at all?" said the Footman. "That's the first question, you know."

==No direct relation to==
*[[Presuppositionalism]]

==See also==
*[[Begging the question]]
*[[Loaded language]]
*[[Loaded question]]

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

{{logfal}}

[[category:logic]]
[[Category:Evaluating arguments]]

Categories: logic, Evaluating arguments
Pretender

{{fork|1=}}
Someone who thinks they are the rightful king or queen, or pretends other things (e.g. to be ill).

* For Britain, [[Monarchy#Pretenders]]
* For Medieval France, [[Charlemagne#Pretenders]]
* And for large parts of southeast Europe, [[Mensur Omerbashich]]
* In hospitals, [[Factitious disorder]]
* Various types of [[cultural appropriation]], especially false claims of ancestry:
**[[Ward Churchill]] falsely claimed to be [[Native American]]
Preterism

{{christianity}}
'''Preterism''' is the position in [[eschatology]] that many of the [[prophecies]] of the [[New Testament]] (especially those of [[Matthew]] and [[Revelation]]), which are frequently understood to refer to the [[end times]], actually refer to events in the 1<sup>st</sup> century CE (such as the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE), and as such have already been fulfilled.

There are a range of preterist views. At the most extreme ('''hyperpreterism'''), the [[Bible]] is seen as having almost nothing at all to say about the world to come — some preterists have even claimed that the Second Coming has already happened. Most preterists, however, will admit that the NT does contain some as yet unfulfilled prophecies, concerning the endtimes, even as they believe that many prophecies most Christians believe to refer to the endtimes actually refer to the events of the first century.
{{stub|Christianity|Christianity}}
[[Category:End of the world]]

Categories: End of the world
Preuves scientifiques d'une Terre plate

{{defi}}
Voici une liste de toutes les preuves d'une Terre plate. Bon courage !

==La liste==
{{crickets}}

===Si vous pouvez effectivement trouver quelque chose de scientifiquement valable===
Vous aurez tout gratuitement pour le reste de votre vie.<sup>[''citation NON nécessaire'']</sup>

==Voir aussi==
{{otherlang
|pagelang=fr
|en=Scientific evidence for a flat Earth
|es=Pruebas científicas por el terraplanismo}}

[[Category:Français]]

Categories: Français
Preuves scientifiques de l'existence de Dieu

{{defi}}
Voici une compilation de toutes les preuves ''scientifiques'' de l'existence d'une divinité.

{{crickets}}

==Voir aussi==
{{otherlang
|pagelang=fr
|en=Scientific evidence for God's existence
|es=Pruebas científicas por la existencia de dios
|ni=神の存在にとっての科学的証拠}}

==Liens externes==
* [http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm <S>300</S> 667 preuves de l'existence de Dieu]

[[Category:Français]]

Categories: Français
Priming

{{psychology}}
'''Priming''' is a [[memory]] effect whereby exposure to a certain stimulus changes the speed at which a certain memory is recalled or another stimulus is attended to or recognized. Priming works on an implicit level and is involved in a number of [[cognitive bias]]es such as [[confirmation bias]] and the availability heuristic. A simple example is the familiar "red car" phenomenon where a person who buys a red car suddenly starts seeing red cars everywhere. The familiarity of the red car primes them to spot other red cars faster.

==Positive vs. negative priming==
There are two broad types of priming: Positive and negative. Positive priming involves exposure to a stimulus that speeds up recall or response time, while negative priming slows it down. The most basic form of positive priming is repetition priming, which rather obviously involves the repetition of a stimulus causing recall or recognition of that stimulus to speed up.<ref>Haydn Ellis and Andrew Ellis. [http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_11-editionID_68-ArticleID_284-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5Crepetition.pdf Why We Study Repetition Priming.] ''The Psychologist'', Oct. 1998.</ref> Negative priming can involve the inhibition of selective attention or the stimulus being associated with being ignored in the past.<ref>[http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Negative_priming Negative Priming], Scholarpedia</ref> These priming effects are often modeled on [[Bayesian]] principles.

==Other types of priming==
*Associative priming: Two stimuli are unrelated, but due to their common appearance together, one will prime the other. Think of Pavlov's dog.
*Semantic priming: One stimulus primes another in the same conceptual category. For example, the word "cat" may prime the word "lion."
*Perceptual priming: Priming related to the form of the stimulus. A commonly used task that exemplifies this is word-stem completion, where a stimulus (e.g., "[[goat]]") is given and then a word-stem (e.g., "_oat") is to be completed. "Goat" would be favored over "coat" because it was primed.<ref>Daniel Schacter et al. [http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~rajendra/Schacter'99.pdf Visual word stem completion priming within and across modalities: a PET study.] NeuroReport 10, 2061±2065 (1999)</ref>
*Conceptual priming: Priming related to the meaning of the stimulus. It is similar to (and often enhanced by) semantic priming. For example:
::''What mouse walks on two legs?
::Mickey Mouse!
::''What duck walks on two legs?
::Donald Duck!
::''No, all of them.''

==See also==
*[[Apophenia]]
*[[Hindsight bias]]
*[[Pareidolia]]
*[[Selection bias]]
*[[Stereotype]]

==External links==
*[http://www.experiment-resources.com/priming.html Priming], Experiment Resources
*[http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/were-only-human/life-is-random-get-a-plan.html Life Is One Big Priming Experiment], Association for Psychological Science

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Psychology]]

Categories: Psychology
Principalities and powers

{{biblenav}} 

"'''Principalities and powers'''" are a commonly used [[Holy Bible|biblical]] descriptor for [[demon|demonic forces]] that are infesting the physical plane. The phrase originates from the book of [[Ephesians]] in the [[King James Bible]] (KJV). 

{{cquote|Put on the whole armour of [[God]],<br>that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.|||{{bible|Ephesians|6|11}}}}

{{cquote|For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,<br>but against principalities, against powers,<br>against the rulers of the darkness of this world,<br>against spiritual wickedness in high places.|||{{bible|Ephesians|6|12}}}}''

{{cquote|Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,<br>that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,<br>and having done all, to stand.|||{{bible|Ephesians|6|13}}}}

This is taken by certain [[Christian]] sects (especially [[King James only]] sects) to mean that they are in a literal struggle against a group of actual [[evil]] [[spirits]] who compose the Principalities and Powers.

Principalities can also be defined as a political territory under the jurisdiction of a prince. Therefore some interpret the verses to mean that the world is actually controlled by a cadre of demon princes, each of whom controls a certain region or people.<ref>http://www.battleinchrist.com/principalities_powers_world_rulers_of_darkness_spiritual_wickedness_in_spiritual_warfare.htm</ref>

In at the very least [[Catholicism]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Christianity the Principalities and Powers are also the 7<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> rankings of [[angels]], respectively, just to make things more confusing (since some believe all demons are fallen angels, one might guess that the ones referred to derive from these rankings).

==The inevitable implication==
This verse is a lynchpin in the mindset of many hardcore Christians who are also [[conspiracy theorists]]. The idea that the world is run by powerful people, [[Secret society|secret organizations]], or [[aliens]] pales in comparison to the concept of a world directly ruled by demons who are both all powerful and literally invisible. It also has a nice military flavor to it, with the whole "armor of God" thing going on. It makes people feel like they're war heroes, except instead of dodging bullets, fighting for their lives, and surviving in hostile terrain, [[Spiritual warfare|they fight by believing and praying and their enemies are invisible]]. 

It's a universally applicable ''[[ad hominem]]'' attack that can be applied to any [[government]] personality, branch, or action. Even [[Glenn Beck]] has claimed that his opponents were principalities and powers while he was still pushing his badly researched [[Boston Marathon bombing]] theories.<ref>http://www.examiner.com/article/glenn-beck-vs-satan</ref>

==See also==
*[[Demonization]] (Obvious, really)
*[[Spiritual warfare]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{biblebox}}

[[Category:New Testament]]

Categories: New Testament
Priory of Sion

{{significantly problematic}}{{Sources needed}}{{conspiracynav}}
The main point of the most popular version of the '''Priory of Sion''' [[conspiracy theory]] dating from the 1980s (and having no relation to the original group founded in 1956) is that [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] married [[Mary Magdalene]], and that they had children and moved to France. Their descendants became French kings, while the [[Catholic Church]] sought to suppress the information. Various bodies, groups and persons throughout history were possessors of this secret knowledge - which was never leaked to outsiders, despite the amount of paperwork that would be needed to keep track of who the heirs were and the likelihood of people gossiping or letting slip information on the subject. These include the [[Cathar]]s, Leonardo da Vinci (when not inventing flying machines), Father Bérenger Saunière (of Rennes-le-Château, to whom the [[Vatican]] was allegedly prepared to pay blackmail monies, rather than have sent to the local institution for the heretically delusional), and the Priory of Sion.

==Revelation==
The truth of the tale was, seemingly, revealed in ''[[Holy Blood, Holy Grail]]/The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail''. [[Dan Brown]]'s ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' also tells the story in a fictional form.

==History==
The Priory of Sion was founded in 1956 by Pierre Plantard, in order to claim that Plantard was of Merovingian descent, as well as a grand monarch from one of the prophecies of [[Nostradamus]]. Unfortunately, some people took the man's claims seriously, and started believing the made-up history Plantard spouted.

==Rennes-le-Château==
Rennes-le-Château is a castle village in the Aude département in Languedoc, [[France]], and is the centre of various [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]].

It is claimed that Father Bérenger Saunière, a 19th century [[priest]], who had undertaken an extensive restoration project on the local church, had financed his activities through blackmailing the [[Vatican]] after finding information on the bloodline of [[Jesus|Christ]]. Links were also made to the [[Knights Templar]], Priory of Sion and various other subjects of conspiracy and creative history.

==Marketing pitch==
It appears that the story was a marketing pitch by a local hotelier, Noël Corbu, in the 1950s, further developed by Pierre Plantard and subsequently others, and the actual source of Saunière's money was the selling of masses (at an inappropriate level).

==See also==
*[[Holy Grail]]

==External links==
*[http://www.prieure-de-sion.com Priory of Sion - Ordre de la Rose-Croix Véritas - official website]
__NOTOC__
[[Category:Pseudohistory]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Jesus]]

Categories: Pseudohistory, Conspiracy theories, Jesus
Prisoner of conscience

A '''prisoner of conscience''' is someone who is being held [[prison]]er for their [[political]]/[[religious]] beliefs and/or their advocacy thereof.  As originally defined, that person had to be arrested and held for the non-violent expression of their beliefs, or for reasons of a protected status ([[race]], religion, [[gender|sex]], [[sexual orientation|orientation]], or [[language]].)  The very term was created by [[Amnesty International]]; when used by AI, and in most uses around the world, this is a significant [[human rights]] violation.

To a certain extent, however, it has become a [[loaded language|loaded word]], because it implies that the person is being held ''unjustly'' for the sole reason that they hold certain beliefs.  However, there have been cases of people who have espoused violence against other groups (or even engaged in it) who have then been arrested as a danger to the public.  While technically they do not qualify for "prisoner of conscience" status (as defined by AI), many claim it anyway. This is similar to how [[homophobic]] preachers scream "[[Heterophobia|religious discrimination]]" when others push for [[civil rights]] for [[homosexual]]s.  Many violent [[racist]]s try to claim this status when they are put away for plotting violence.  

{{stub|politics}}

[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Law]]

Categories: Political terms, Law