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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | {{w|Russell's teapot|Russell's Teapot}} is a philosophical argument that reflects on the difficulty of trying to prove a negative. It involves a hypothetical teapot orbiting a heavenly body, whose existence hasn't been proven, and states that it cannot be disproven ( | + | {{incomplete|How big and how reflective must the teapot be in order to be seen by telescopes on earth?}} |
+ | {{w|Russell's teapot|Russell's Teapot}} is a philosophical argument that reflects on the difficulty of trying to prove a negative. It involves a hypothetical teapot orbiting a heavenly body, whose existence hasn't been proven, and states that it cannot be disproven (Somebody put it there secretly?). It is very often used in atheistic arguments. Russell's Teapot is an analogy which {{w|Bertrand Russell}} devised "to illustrate that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making unfalsifiable claims, rather than shifting the burden of disproof to others." | ||
− | + | <blockquote>"He wrote that if he were to assert, without offering proof, that a teapot orbits the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars, he could not expect anyone to believe him solely because his assertion could not be proven wrong." (Wikipedia)</blockquote> | |
− | + | [[Cueball]] is trying to settle the teapot argument by actually launching a teapot into space via a {{w|crowdfunding}} campaign. | |
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− | [[Cueball]] is trying to settle the teapot argument by actually launching a teapot into space via a {{w|crowdfunding}} campaign | ||
"{{w|CubeSat}}-based design" refers to a type of miniaturized satellites that is made up of 10-centimeter cube units (here seemingly consisting of 3 units) and enables cost-effective means for getting a payload into orbit. | "{{w|CubeSat}}-based design" refers to a type of miniaturized satellites that is made up of 10-centimeter cube units (here seemingly consisting of 3 units) and enables cost-effective means for getting a payload into orbit. | ||
− | The title-text refers to {{w|Russell's paradox}}, also formulated by Bertrand Russell. Russell's paradox was a flaw found in {{w|naïve set theory}} where one could consider "the set of all sets that do not contain themselves" (a "set" is a mathematical term for a "group of things" | + | The title-text refers to {{w|Russell's paradox}}, also formulated by Bertrand Russell. Russell's paradox was a flaw found in {{w|naïve set theory}} where one could consider "the set of all sets that do not contain themselves" (a "set" is a mathematical term for a "group of things"). The paradox arises with whether this set, in turn, contains itself: if it does, then it cannot; if it doesn't, then it must. Similarly, like in the {{w|barber paradox}}, the vehicle which launches only vehicles which do not launch themselves is impossible: if the vehicle takes off, it must launch itself as well as the teapot, and thus can never be launched (without violating alleged NASA regulations, at least). |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== |