User:Duke Ganote

Duke Ganote is a Bayesian philosophically yet believes in objective reality: our "prior beliefs" and ingrained prejudices stabilize our worldview.

For example consider this statement I found of the Skeptical position: "Even if all the evidence ended up supporting whichever scientific theories best fitted Genesis, this would only show how clever the old Hebrews were in their use of common sense, or how lucky. It does not need to be explained by unobservable God." I accept that Skeptics work rationally-- from the presupposition that that there is no God, and merely interpret the evidence accordingly. This is the Bayesian notion that nothing is "objective": that you must have some initial belief. Christian theists like me likewise are also rational-- presupposing that humans are special, and we did not create ourselves. Your presupposition reveals your heart, and your mind follows.

Being thus self-aware, I declare these beliefs. I learned laissez-faire philosophy from my maternal grandfather, learning an early suspicion of government intervention however swaddled in alleged noble intent.

This skepticism was later strongly reinforced by my experience with the 55-mph speed limit. The U.S. 55-mph speed limit was imposed a month before I took my driver's education course. I initially believed the government's assertions about the wonders of 55 -- until I spent a year in Germany in 1981-1982, came back, and researched the actual safety record of the Autobahn. The list of government deceits and conceits, especially in Ohio, is amazing: absolute refusal to publish statistics that show interstates are the safest roads or to acknowledge that interstates are the most fuel efficient roads. Yes, I realized I'd been hoodwinked and bamboozled using my own tax dollars -- and boy was I steamed!

My other interests include dispensational theology (it's more satisfactory than any other attempts at interpreting the Bible). Sometimes the finest details are intriguing, like Bullinger's take on the "Five Crosses". I'm fascinated by history, even the supposedly prosaic suburban history, or controversial, like Susan McDougal in the Whitewater affair.

On the respectable side, I am a retired engineer in the State of Ohio, and hold a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and a master's from the Ohio State University.

My contributions are available for inspection.