Gays and magnets.

[Angus and Alexis]

http://io9.com/nigerian-grad-student-uses-magnets-to-prove-gay-marri-1326215449


Discuss.

[Nam]

Wrong section. This belongs in Religious discussion, or the Bottomless Pit, I can't decide but not here.


-Nam

[Angus and Alexis]

This is about gays, sexuality is about sex, right?

Is gay not a sexual choice? 9_6

[Nam]

This is about gays, sexuality is about sex, right?

Is gay not a sexual choice? 9_6

It's about religious people (islam 50%, Christian 40%l using fake science to be biggotted toward gays in Nigeria, or elsewhere. Therefore: Religious discussion.

-Nam

[jaimehlers]

As far as I'm concerned, it's in the right forum.  If you disagree, Nam, by all means contact a moderator and ask that the topic be moved.

Back onto the actual subject, this is plainly stupid.  Showing that opposite poles of magnets attract each other is at the elementary school science level.  So what is a grad student doing using it to try to prove that gay marriage is wrong?  The only thing this makes me wonder is just what kind of nonsense they're trying to get away with teaching at the University of Lagos.

On top of trying to show that physics 'proves' that homosexuality is wrong, he also claims to have proven it through chemistry, biology, and mathematics.  His chemistry 'proof' is just as bad as his physics one - he's using the fact that an acid is neutralized by a base, but not by another acid, to make his point.  And the biology one is just plain ignorant.  He claims that nobody has ever seen cocks trying to have sex with cocks, or hens trying to have sex with hens, or lions trying to have sex with lions, or lionesses trying to have sex with lionesses, etc - nothing but a bad argument using animals in captivity.  I don't normally use Wikipedia as a primary source, but given just how ignorant this 'proof' is, I feel it's appropriate to point to the article on homosexual behavior in animals^Wiki.

His attempt to mathematically prove it is even worse.  His argument is basically that A + A = A[1], and thus 'proves' that homosexuality is wrong.  Yet somehow since A + B = B + A, the law of commutation 'proves' that heterosexuality is right.  In my opinion, what it actually proves is that this guy is a bigot who has no business trying to twist science to support his anti-homoseuxality agenda.

This so-called "scientific genius" has made lots of other claims, as reported here.  For example, he claimed to have discovered that pi is not actually equal to 22/7.  This has been known since antiquity.  Archimedes proved that pi fell between the values of 223/71 and 22/7 in the third century BCE, for example.  He also claims to have been the first person to use scientific instruments to prove to the whole world that watching TV in the dark hurts the eyes.  It's true that it causes eyestrain, but to be blunt, this has been known for quite a long time - certainly since before he did his own experiments.

Bottom line?  I'm unimpressed by his work.  The most he can claim is that he's come up with things previously known to other people, and his proofs regarding homosexuality are laughably bad.

1.	He tries to claim that this is part of the law of idempotence, which is false.  The only numeric value where A + A can possibly equal A is when you set A = 0.  Any other value and it will be equal to 2A.

[Wasserbuffel]

He claims that nobody has ever seen cocks trying to have sex with cocks, or hens trying to have sex with hens,

I've seen male goats having sex with male goats. I know a gal whose rooster used to furiously have sex with a corn cob. I owned a pair of female ducks who were constantly mounting each other.

[jaimehlers]

^Exactly.  His failure to notice same-sex mating behavior in nature means nothing except that he's not particularly observant.

[Graybeard]

http://io9.com/nigerian-grad-student-uses-magnets-to-prove-gay-marri-1326215449

It says all I need to know about Nigerian degrees.

[Ivellios]

His attempt to mathematically prove it is even worse.  His argument is basically that A + A = A[1], and thus 'proves' that homosexuality is wrong.  Yet somehow since A + B = B + A, the law of commutation 'proves' that heterosexuality is right.  In my opinion, what it actually proves is that this guy is a bigot who has no business trying to twist science to support his anti-homoseuxality agenda.

1.	He tries to claim that this is part of the law of idempotence, which is false.  The only numeric value where A + A can possibly equal A is when you set A = 0.  Any other value and it will be equal to 2A.

If A + B = B + A then A + A = A + A

If in the A+B equation has two integers being added on both sides of the equal sign, then equation 2 with the same integer must be added to each other on both sides of the equal sign otherwise it's disingenuous.

http://io9.com/nigerian-grad-student-uses-magnets-to-prove-gay-marri-1326215449


Discuss.

You started with a link and asked us to discuss... it's customary for the OP to put thier 2¢ in when they make the post.

[Angus and Alexis]

Fair call, i should of have some cents.


Anyway, i find his attempt to be discriminatory against gays futile, as a number of researches have shown that virtually all gays are gay due to biological reasons (please correct me if i am wrong...), not to mention that magnets are obviously a different type of attraction than love.

[jaimehlers]

^^What he's trying to refer to is the idempotence^Wiki property.  However, he did it in a spectacularly stupid manner.  Nobody ever uses A + A = A for the simple reason that the only value you can put to A in that case is 0.  Sure, if you add 0 to 0, you'll end up with 0, but 0 is a cipher and useless for the analogy he was trying to make.  So the standard way to write idempotence is A * A = A, which works if A = 1.  What it really refers to is an operation that you can perform without changing the result.

But multiplication wouldn't have worked for his 'proof', so he needed to use addition, which meant he needed to cheat, and cheat stupidly, to make it work.  As he himself put it, "If you use idempotency, it’s a reaction in mathematics where A + A = A. Actually in abstract algebra, A + A =2A but we are less concerned with the numerical value two. We are more less concerned with the symbols A, you find out that A + A will give you A showing that the whole thing goes unchanged."

Um, no, if A + A becomes 2A, then you did change it.

For an even better example of just how dumb he apparently is:  "It didn’t change unlike commutativity A + B give B + A there is a change. A started the journey in commutativity and A + B gave us B + A and B started the journey after the equality sign."

Um, no, the commutative property simply means that you can change the order of the operations without changing the result.  In other words, commutativity refers to a change that makes no difference.

I so want to smack this stupid moron of a grad student.  Where is Astreja and her Clue-By-Four when you need it?

[magicmiles]

http://io9.com/nigerian-grad-student-uses-magnets-to-prove-gay-marri-1326215449

It says all I need to know about Nigerian degrees.

I once thought I knew all I needed to know about Philippine dentistry...

[Mr. Blackwell]

The only thing of substance I took away from this article.

Suddenly feeling very stabby.

[Ivellios]

Fair call, i should of have some cents.


Anyway, i find his attempt to be discriminatory against gays futile, as a number of researches have shown that virtually all gays are gay due to biological reasons (please correct me if i am wrong...), not to mention that magnets are obviously a different type of attraction than love.

(Religious) bigots want to claim that homosexuality is a choice. Having been around a few, I'd have to disagree with that. Even as a hetero and attracted to women, doesn't mean that I'm attracted to every woman.  I have a friend that prefers 'featureless' women while I prefer a few curves. If I was in a room with 100 women without curves, they would think I was gay. Switch to curvey women, and I change like night and day. It would be just the opposite with this particular friend.

 Why? It's not something I chose. I didn't like girls growing up. Girls wanted thier barbies and play 'house.' I wanted my cars and play 'soldier.' One day I just started acting differently around girls and my emotions began to vary wildly around/concerning them. What I can do is: how I act out the attraction. The cause of the attraction though, I had no choice in the matter. The definition of one's sexuality is the attraction towards, and not how one chooses to act (or not) upon it. Meaning those pubescent, "Have to have sex with 5 different new girls every day/week to prove you're not gay." Is futile and meaningless. There is no "proving," only answering a simple yes/no question.

You are correct: attraction, emotions, dependence, familiarity, love, desire, culture, and other factors are different than the flux fields of a magnet. This is like comparing apples to table saws.

[Aaron123]

Prior to this, I was not aware that we should be looking towards magnets to guide us in our everyday lives.  You learn some new stupid everyday.

Fuckin' magnets, how do they work?

[Angus and Alexis]

Magic *snort snort*

[Mrjason]

http://io9.com/nigerian-grad-student-uses-magnets-to-prove-gay-marri-1326215449

It says all I need to know about Nigerian degrees.

I once thought I knew all I needed to know about Philippine dentistry...

Nigerian degrees are actually pretty good.

UKNARIC rates them as of similar quality to UK or US degrees.

UNILAG is also one of the more respected nigerian institutions.

It's a shame when a crackpot like Mr Amalaha comes along and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise respectable education system and HEI

[magicmiles]

Philippine dentistry is also pretty good. GB will know what I'm talking about

[Angus and Alexis]

Come to think of it.

Why the heck would someone relate magnets to love?

[Jonny-UK]

^^the old saying "opposites attract"?
True for magnetic poles but utter nonsense to apply that to sexuality.
I thought it was actually meaning personalities when talking about people.

[Graybeard]

Nigerian degrees are actually pretty good.

UKNARIC rates them as of similar quality to UK or US degrees.

UNILAG is also one of the more respected nigerian institutions.

It's a shame when a crackpot like Mr Amalaha comes along and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise respectable education system and HEI

Well, I looked here, http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search= and, as far as I can tell, there is no Nigerian institution in the first 750 places of World Rank learning.

[Mrjason]

Nigerian degrees are actually pretty good.

UKNARIC rates them as of similar quality to UK or US degrees.

UNILAG is also one of the more respected nigerian institutions.

It's a shame when a crackpot like Mr Amalaha comes along and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise respectable education system and HEI

Well, I looked here, http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search= and, as far as I can tell, there is no Nigerian institution in the first 750 places of World Rank learning.

The problem with websites that give HEI rankings is how they are compiled and who they are compiled by.[1][2]

Just because an institution doesn't make a list doesn't mean that it is not an  institution of quality.
In my view a better indicator of the quality of a degree is how widely it is accepted.

With this in mind I checked the entry requirements to study a masters at Cambridge (as it was on the QS list as the top UK university)
A first class degree from a Nigerian institution meets the entry requirements for PG study at Cambridge[3]

At UCL (#2 on the OS list) you need a 2:1 from a nigerian institution to study a taught PG programme[4]

These are just the top 2 examples but I'm certain that most, if not all HEI's in the UK will have similar entry requirements for Nigerian degree holders. These entry requirements mirror UK degree holders entry requirements. To me, even without the NARIC info, this would indicate that Nigerian degrees are on a par with UK degrees.

1.	http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/sep/10/university-rankings-influence-government-policy
2.	http://theconversation.com/dont-fall-into-the-rankings-trap-when-assessing-a-university-17124
3.	http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/gradadmissions/prospec/international/qualifications/nigeria.html
4.	http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/international/countries/africa/nigeria

[Mrjason]

^^^ follow on from above as I can't do post all of this in 1 go

I realise that UK HEI's are increasingly recruiting international students because they are exempt from SNC[1] however these institutions also need to protect their reputation in the UK market, so basically they cant let poor quality students in or the institution will suffer.

In addition to this the home office also consider the credibility of the student and whether they are genuine and able to pursue the course of study in the UK before granting them a visa. The immigration statistics from 2011[2] shows that Nigeria is in the top 5 countries where tier 4 student visas are granted.
This in my oppinion is further testament to the quality of the nigerian education system. Yes, other factors need to be taken into consideration when viewing this data, i.e. wealth and population, however if the education system was weak nigerian degree holders would simply not have the opportunity to make a student visa application regardless of any other factors.

I'm sticking to my guns on this one

Nigerian degrees are actually pretty good.
...
It's a shame when a crackpot like Mr Amalaha comes along and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise respectable education system and HEI

1.	https://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/howfund/snc201314/
2.	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/71/7108.htm

[nogodsforme]

Soooo, by this Nigerian guy's logic, everyone should hook up with someone as different as possible in terms of not only gender, but also race, nationality, height, weight, IQ, political persuasion, income bracket, musical tastes, sexual appetite, family size preference, blood type and shoe size.

Nobody should be with anyone similar to themselves in any way. Because magnets.

[magicmiles]

^^^ follow on from above as I can't do post all of this in 1 go

I realise that UK HEI's are increasingly recruiting international students because they are exempt from SNC[1] however these institutions also need to protect their reputation in the UK market, so basically they cant let poor quality students in or the institution will suffer.

In addition to this the home office also consider the credibility of the student and whether they are genuine and able to pursue the course of study in the UK before granting them a visa. The immigration statistics from 2011[2] shows that Nigeria is in the top 5 countries where tier 4 student visas are granted.
This in my oppinion is further testament to the quality of the nigerian education system. Yes, other factors need to be taken into consideration when viewing this data, i.e. wealth and population, however if the education system was weak nigerian degree holders would simply not have the opportunity to make a student visa application regardless of any other factors.

I'm sticking to my guns on this one

Nigerian degrees are actually pretty good.
...
It's a shame when a crackpot like Mr Amalaha comes along and tarnishes the reputation of an otherwise respectable education system and HEI

1.	https://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/howfund/snc201314/
2.	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/71/7108.htm

Further to this, I did some research and it is possible (I would say likely) that this person is not a grad student. The University apparently wrote to the newspaper which featured the story to correct mis-information as it was concerned for its reputation.

[Betelnut]

After seeing the guy's picture...man, is he setting off my gaydar.  I know that isn't science either but HAS proven to be fairly accurate in the past....

[Nam]

After seeing the guy's picture...man, is he setting off my gaydar.  I know that isn't science either but HAS proven to be fairly accurate in the past....

A guy staring at your crotch works, too.



-Nam

[magicmiles]

After seeing the guy's picture...man, is he setting off my gaydar.  I know that isn't science either but HAS proven to be fairly accurate in the past....

A guy staring at your crotch works, too.



-Nam

Well, if you choose to be naked in public its bound to happen. I know its warm in Florida but put some damn clothes on

[Nam]

After seeing the guy's picture...man, is he setting off my gaydar.  I know that isn't science either but HAS proven to be fairly accurate in the past....

A guy staring at your crotch works, too.



-Nam

Well, if you choose to be naked in public its bound to happen. I know its warm in Florida but put some damn clothes on

It's December 5th, and it was a high of 82 today. And to 85 for the rest of the week. That's not "warm", that's mildly hot.

I'll go bare.



-Nam