Since I like Wikipedia, I probably looked at that exact table (showing percentages of values within one to 7 standard deviations) and thought, “the last 4 look good” (4-7 standard deviations) without actually counting the number of 9s after the decimal. While that describes my relationship with accuracy pretty well, I should have been more careful before posting. I did want to account for the fact that the best philosopher/priest figure in history (perhaps Aristotle, Jesus or Muhammad) would have a lasting influence on religion. Yet only about 100 billion humans have ever been born—not that I remotely knew that.
One of these people invented empirical science and formal logic and was, for the purposes of his own time, an atheist and materialist (in comparison to just about everyone else). The other two heard voices and started cults.
I suppose this is trivial but lets try to have pride in past rationalists who fought the good fight before it was popular. We need heroes for rationalist children and philosophers and scientists are all we got. (Not uncritical pride mind you, Aristotle was wrong about a great deal).
Since I like Wikipedia, I probably looked at that exact table (showing percentages of values within one to 7 standard deviations) and thought, “the last 4 look good” (4-7 standard deviations) without actually counting the number of 9s after the decimal. While that describes my relationship with accuracy pretty well, I should have been more careful before posting. I did want to account for the fact that the best philosopher/priest figure in history (perhaps Aristotle, Jesus or Muhammad) would have a lasting influence on religion. Yet only about 100 billion humans have ever been born—not that I remotely knew that.
Aristotle, Jesus or Muhammad…
One of these people invented empirical science and formal logic and was, for the purposes of his own time, an atheist and materialist (in comparison to just about everyone else). The other two heard voices and started cults.
I suppose this is trivial but lets try to have pride in past rationalists who fought the good fight before it was popular. We need heroes for rationalist children and philosophers and scientists are all we got. (Not uncritical pride mind you, Aristotle was wrong about a great deal).