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TST Best Bets: October 24, 2026
A full week later, it’s still hard to wrap my head around what we witnessed in college football last week.In unprecedented fashion, five of the top seven nationally ranked teams lost outright, throwing the sport’s balance of power into disarray.A lesser gambler might want to stay away from college football this week until things settle down, but we remain undaunted.For all of your college football betting picks, here are today’s TST Best Bets, brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Click here to join.
John Mina throws political support to Darren Soto in critical CD 9 race
The Orange County Sheriff won re-election in 2024 without opposition.
The Locations of North Carolina’s Industrial Poultry Farms Have Been a Secret—Until Now
A few days before Christmas in 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received a complaint through its National Response Center: “There has been a horrible smell in the air for almost a week,” the caller said, according to state records. “It’s so bad it’s making people throw up.” The caller thought the odor was emanating […]
Analysis-Trump's diesel price relief efforts grow costlier as election nears
By Jarrett Renshaw and Leah Douglas Oct 23 (Reuters) - With the November midterm elections fast approaching, President Donald Trump is throwing an array of costly and politically fraught solutions
Pope hope, that’s entertainment, and getting ahead in the CIA
Happy Friday friends, I want to start by just breathing for all of us a big long collective sigh of relief at the news this week that the pope’s doctors have basically blown the all clear for Leo’s health. Going from knowing nothing to him declaring to the world he needed surgery, to a cancer diagnosis, to bouncing out of the hospital in barely even days, to ringing the bell in less than two weeks is whiplash inducing. But in the best possible way. We are living in a world in which the Roman pontiff, by dint of history, biography and circumstance, is once more at the epicenter of global affairs. Not just conversations about religion, or Christian and post-Christian values, but the bleeding edge of the most pressing issues of human affairs. Think I am exaggerating a touch? Consider the images of the crowds who greeted Leo in Paris just weeks ago, and juxtapose them with the absolute photo negative scenes unfolding there recently. Ask yourself how many world leaders are talking about AI right now and directly citing the pope as they do so. Try to name a country who has had as many top-ranked diplomats in and out of both Russia and Ukraine in the last three years as the Vatican has in the last three months. It has been fascinating to watch Leo XIV emerge as not just a kind of pop culture reference point or totem to be cited (Francis was often name-checked this way) but as a kinetic force in global conversation. Given the state of things, we need global figures of gravitas and values, even better if they have real wisdom behind what they are saying. So news of Leo’s illness was, it seemed to me, a tremor with potentially Richter Scale implications. That not only has the worst not come to pass but instead we’ve had the best of outcomes announced is something to really be grateful for. Humanity, it seems to me, is entering one of its irregular but cyclical phases where the pace of change — technological, social, and geopolitical — outstrips the ability of previously settled norms and received wisdom to cope. Such periods – and I think the first decades of the last century were a similar such time – throw into question the viability of all kinds of institutions. And many of ours have been straining to breaking point for a few years now. The papacy has the power and the potential to be a steadying pole in all of this. That’s my hope, anyway. It’s a lot to freight the office with, though it is arguably its ultimate purpose from its founding, to be a steadying rock on which all that matters can be anchored. It’s also, of course, an intolerable weight of responsibility to place on a single man. But I am encouraged to have hope in – and for – Leo. The apostle whom he succeeds, after all, was famously unequal to some moments, failed some tests of faith, and resiled from taking the road which led ultimately to the circus on Vatican hill. Human frailty and limitations, of health, of character, of temper, can open us to Christ, whose strength is greatest in our weakness, so St. Paul learned. That gives me hope, and I am sure it consoles Leo, too. And so I will continue to pray for him. Because we need apostles of rock right now. Here’s the news. Subscribe The News The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued yesterday a new document “Venite ad me: Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Epochal Change.” It’s not a short document, and it is at pains to stress this isn’t a doctrinal note from the dicastery, either. Rather, it brings together reflections on an important issue from the Church around the world. Some of it I actually found really rather powerful. It is, however, 25,000, which is a lot for a busy reader to get through on a weekday. So, you can read our busy reader’s summary right here. — News broke yesterday of an Oct. 22 meeting of U.S. bishops with President Donald Trump. The meeting was organized by an official at the Heritage Foundation, according to several sources close to the meeting. Video of several U.S. bishops praying in the Oval Office over President Trump was posted on social media Thursday afternoon, first by White House Communications Advisor Margo Martin, and then by the official twitter.com account of the Archdiocese of Denver. The meeting has drawn sharp criticism because of its proximity to the upcoming midterm Congressional elections, in which Democrats are widely expected to win control of the House of Representatives, while control of the Senate remains closely contested. Sources close to the bishops’ conference told The Pillar that some USCCB senior officials were surprised by the existence of the meeting when video of it first emerged online. And a source close to conference president Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City told The Pillar that the archbishop was “deeply frustrated” by the occasion of the meeting. An official conference spokesperson told The Pillar that the meeting was “not organized with or by the USCCB” and was “not affiliated with the conference.” You can read the whole story here. — The next National Eucharistic Congress will be held in Indianapolis in 2029, a return to the city that hosted the last gathering in 2024. You read it here first. By here, I don’t mean this newsletter, I mean at The Pillar. We broke the story this week. It’s a big deal, in as much as the last congress was a roaring success and the next installment has the potential to be a real focal point for evangelizing efforts in the coming years. Read all about it here. — As Pope Leo prepares for the longest trip of his pontificate, Church leaders in Uruguay say the pontiff will encounter a highly secularized culture, in a country with a very different Catholic history than many of its South American neighbors. The nation has not had a papal visit since 1988, and leaders who spoke with The Pillar say it has a dire need for evangelization, even amid the prospect of a small revival in faith. This is real reporting on the Church in the country, and frankly a story you simply are not going to be able to read anywhere else. Read the whole thing. — The Archdiocese of Detroit announced this week a plan that would see the vast majority of its parish priests reassigned next summer, amid a restructuring process expected to dramatically shrink the number of parishes in the archdiocese. Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said this week that the plan “asks much of our priests,” but is a “sacrifice they are making as brothers of one, unified presbyterate.” The thing is, as JD pointed out in an analysis yesterday, pastors of parishes have a legal right to stability in office, so the only way this kind of wholesale reassignment goes ahead is if all of the archdiocesan clergy agree to resign. That creates its own kind of legal issues, though, and re-raises longstanding questions about the effectiveness of canonical due process protections for priests when dealing with coercive exercises in authority. Read the whole thing here. — More than three months after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued its decree declaring the excommunication of the leadership of the Society of St. Pius X, questions remain about the full effects of the society’s schism. Specifically, the DDF’s July claim that marriages witnessed and confessions heard by SSPX priests are now invalid remains contested — and it emerged this week it appears that the Vatican’s own legal experts don’t agree. You can read my whole analysis of the situation and what it means here. All I would add is that the DDF’s undeveloped, some would say unsubstantiated, claim about the invalidity of some SSPX sacraments came in their July Explanatory Note on the schismatic consecrations by the society that month. It touches directly on both papal acts of governance — indeed it purports to nullify them — and the most intimate pastoral encounters possible in a parish setting. If there is one aspect of the Francis-era style of governance I would like the curia to finally cut out, root and branch, it would be these attempts to try to effect extraordinarily sensitive legislative acts via a note. — At least a dozen French bishops have spoken out following an eruption of violence on the country’s streets Oct. 17. Not surprisingly, they unanimously condemned the violence, but the length and content of their interventions varied significantly. Several sought to distinguish between the actions of rioters and what they suggested were the legitimate concerns of peaceful young protesters. Many also evoked Pope Leo XIV’s Sept. 25-28 visit to France, suggesting it offered a powerful counter-image to the scenes of looting and destruction. A number of bishops also stressed their solidarity with law enforcement officials who struggled to contain the disorder, as well as the owners of the roughly 3,000 damaged or looted businesses. What’s the background to the nationwide unrest that the French media calls “les violences du 17 octobre”? And what exactly are the bishops saying? Read all about it here. — A Polish bishop called for the firm defense of unborn children as well as compassion for their mothers this week, as the lower house of Poland’s parliament passed two bills seeking to liberalize the country’s abortion laws. The bill on decriminalizing assistance in an abortion passed by 217 votes to 213, while the abortion in cases of fetal abnormality bill passed by 233 to 203, thanks to the government’s majority in the lower house. Both bills will now move to the Polish Senate, the upper house of parliament, where the ruling coalition has a larger majority. The fetal abnormality bill is symbolically significant because if it became law, it would effectively overturn a 2020 ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that a 1993 law permitting abortion for a severe and irreversible disability or a life-threatening incurable disease was unconstitutional. Read the whole story here. Subscribe **[The St. Paul Center App | Bible Study On-The-Go Read and understand the Bible with St. Paul Center’s new app! With today’s leading Catholic Scripture scholars as your guides, the St. Paul Center app empowers you to read the Bible](https://stpaulcenter.com/app?utm_source=pillar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=applaunch)** from the heart of the Church. Download the app for free at either the Apple or the Google app stores. https://stpaulcenter.com/app That’s entertainment I have written before about my deep and sincere reservations about the celebrity exorcist subculture which has taken root in American Catholicism. And, because I am very ill at ease with the entire thing, I try to keep a weather eye on the phenomenon without being drawn into the kind of online back-and-forth which these figures sometimes generate. Earlier this week, JD noted that one such celebrity exorcist type, Fr. Chad Ripperger, has undertaken, on the request of his bishop, a year’s fast from interviews and public speaking. I’m sure that will be salutary for him, if for no other reason than that receiving with docility requests from one’s rightful ecclesiastical superiors always comes with graces. Then a second thing happened this week which caught my eye. Apparently, another fixture in the celebrity exorcist world, Fr. Carlos Martins, has initiated a lawsuit against two lay men — apparently associates of Rippenger, though I am unclear in what way, exactly — for allegedly defaming him and his ministry on a podcast. It seems the suit was initiated nearly a year ago and is now pending. At issue, I read, is that the two men described Martins on a podcast as “not who he says he is” with regard to his exorcism ministry and that he “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” These statements Martins considers to be false and defamatory and, his suit claims, “directly affected the sale and reception of [his] The Exorcist Files book that was newly released at the time these episodes aired.” I don’t want to get too into the weeds of the details here, but a couple of things struck me about all this.
NBC developing “Coach” reboot with Ty Burrell
“Mr. Throwback” creators Daniel Libman and Matthew Libman are writing the show.
Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex gets into fight at Knicks game
NEW YORK — Funkmaster “Funk” Flex was caught throwing down during the Knicks’ season-opening game at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. Flex, a rapper and the long-running radio host of
Minneapolis mental health crisis response program ‘thrown into chaos’
The program that sends unarmed mental health professionals to some 911 calls is in limbo after the council rejected a new vendor to do the work.
Does opting out of smart TV tracking work? Research finds “suspicious” traffic.
OS operators throwing out that data is "unlikely," research author tells Ars.
AT&T's CEO throws shade at Musk's Starlink mobile ambitions
AT&T CEO John Stankey said he sees potential in satellite-based networks, but that they "cannot and will not match" fiber-connected performance.
Stranger Than Heaven: The Final Preview of the Yakuza Team’s Ambitious, Decades-Spanning Action-Adventure
in a new three-hour demo, I got to play Stranger Than Heaven from the start, see a bit of its decade-spanning story in action, and explore the different towns that represent each time period. That also meant getting real familiar with how to throw hands in the re-tuned combat, and it feels like I've done a complete 180-degree turn on RGG Studio's next game. Meaning, I’m now all-in on the Yakuza team’s latest.
Can James Carville Please Just Be Quietly Wrong Somewhere Else?
The omnipresent consultant-cum-tantrum-thrower has long outlived whatever relevance he once had, but cable producers, podcast hosts, and Democratic campaigns haven’t got the memo.
Joe Burrow leads NFL in key PFF passing category
Joe Burrow’s accuracy on intermediate throws stands out among the NFL’s best through Cincinnati’s first five games.
Costco’s ‘100% agave’ tequila lawsuit thrown out
A judge, deferring to Mexico's authority over tequila regulation, dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming that Costco’s Kirkland tequilas labeled 100% agave" are mixed with low-grade booze. The law firm
CT axe throwing business closes up shop. One customer: ‘we had some amazing date nights here!’
A Connecticut axe throwing business has permanently closed its doors, according to a post on their Facebook page.
Supreme Court backs Pentagon decision to throw out plea deals for 9/11 alleged conspirators
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to cancel plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants accused of plotting the 9/11 terror attack.
Drake Maye throws for another three scores in Week 6
Drake Maye continued to prove the first three weeks of the season are behind him, passing for three scores for a third straight game in Week 6.
Josh Allen throws for 255 yards, two TDs in Week 6
Josh Allen throws for 255 yards, two TDs in Week 6
Patrick Mahomes throws for 272 yards in Week 6
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in Week 6
'SNL UK' slams Shane Gillis, James Austin Johnson's Trump cameos
"SNL UK" is throwing shade at its American counterpart.
Timothy Busfield child sex abuse charges thrown out, judge orders
A New Mexico judge tosses out the multiple child sex abuse charges that actor Timothy Busfield had been facing.
Timothy Busfield's child sex-abuse case dismissed
Timothy Busfield's child sex-abuse case has been thrown out.
Roger Marshall praises Trump's tariff policies after Kansas executive says they hurt his business
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, locked in tight campaign with Democrat Adam Hamilton, throws full support behind President Donald Trump's tariff war.
‘Rocky Horror Show’ time warps into Rivertown Theaters
The original stage musical version of “The Rocky Horror Show” comes to Rivertown Theaters with extra late night shows and prop bags of things to throw.
Luke Combs Storms Into Las Vegas With Category 10
Luke Combs' Category 10 Las Vegas officially throws opens the storm shutters today. The entertainment venue at Flamingo Las Vegas is the second artist
Woman charged with throwing, pushing toddler at Auburn business
Larri Alexis Webb is charged with willful abuse of a child, according to Auburn police.
Science Lab: Mike Pettine hire means what exactly for Christian Parker?
Make no mistake about it, the Dallas Cowboys are throwing as many resources as they can at trying to right the ship in 2026, and Mike Pettine has officially entered the chat.
Guns, F-bombs, fortune cookies. What do wild campaign ads actually say?
A single mom who shot a home intruder. A pet alpaca. Chicago voters throwing around profanities. This cycle's campaign ads are fluffy, funny and profane.
Epic throws shade at Steam, admits to vibe-coding the new Epic Games Launcher with AI "to be faster than the other guy"
Days after pushing an AI-first game development pipeline, Epic has vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher in an effort to outrun Steam.
Archaeologists Found a Lost Roman Oracle—and Decoded the 56 Baffling Messages Inside
The Roman-era “Magic 8 Ball” answered everyday questions with a single throw of knucklebone dice.
Sean McVay reveals Alaric Jackson’s next move after NFL suspends Rams star for throwing punch
Rams coach Sean McVay confirms Alaric Jackson plans to appeal his two-game NFL suspension for punching Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb after Monday's loss.
Perspective | Don't throw out what works: Leveraging cooperative learning as a scaffold for science and engineering practices
With new science standards in North Carolina, the solution might be to incorporate them into old strategies like collaborative learning.
Josh Allen reveals throwing mechanics issue he tried ‘ignoring’
The issues didn't seem to slow down the Bills offense on Monday Night Football.
Fourth straight 300-yard game for Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford topped 300 yards passing for the fourth straight week, throwing for 383 yards and 3 TDs versus Buffalo on Monday Night Football.
Pumpkin festival is Saturday in Pennville
Annual event brings back skillet-throwing and scarecrow contests
3 Players 76ers Must Hold Onto Going Into Regular Season
The rotation is coming into shape for the Philadelphia 76ers, but there may be some players throwing a wrench in the plan.
Table, brick thrown at windows of San Antonio Deco District shops
When MySA visited the site on Monday, October 12, cardboard and tape were found plastered over broken windows at the Woodlawn Shopping Center.
Aaron Judge doesn’t owe the Yankees a public meltdown
I’d rather hear what Aaron Judge expects to change than watch him throw a chair. The Yankees captain can be […]
AsiaOne
Holly Madison has thrown her support behind the controversial Playmates movie.The 46-year-old beauty — who was the late Hugh Hefner's 'number one girlfriend' when they were together for seven years in the early 2000s — has shared her support for the film and its writer, Lorraine Nicholson, after the Playboy founder's third wife Crystal Harris recently called on Jessica Biel...
No touchdowns for Daniel Jones
Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones fails to throw touchdown in Week 5
Aaron Rodgers Reaches Major Steelers Milestone vs. Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has reached another significant milestone. With throwing three touchdown passes against the Indianapolis Colts on […]
Jalen Hurts finishes with 200 yards in Week 5
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts throws for at least 200 yards for third time in 2026
Brewers Name Jacob Misiorowski NLCS Game 1 Starter Vs Dodgers
The Milwaukee Brewers have officially named Jacob Misiorowski their starting pitcher for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hard-throwing right-hander will take the mound Sunday night at American Family Field as Milwaukee looks to get off to a strong start in a rematch of last year’s [...]
Rayo Plastic Balls Protest Forces La Liga Match Suspension
Rayo Vallecano’s long-awaited return to their Vallecas stadium ended in chaos on Saturday. The La Liga match against Athletic Club was suspended after local fans repeatedly interrupted play by throwing hundreds of small plastic balls and paper airplanes onto the pitch, a coordinated protest against club president Raúl Martín Presa, in what should have been […] The post Rayo Plastic Balls Protest Forces La Liga Match Suspension appeared first on HEAVY.
Pieper edges Judson 43-42 behind backup quarterback Lance Reid
Backup quarterback Lance Reid led a 22-point fourth-quarter rally, throwing a late touchdown and winning 2-point pass as Pieper edged Judson 43-42.
Street Fighter Cup Zero Build Reload in NA Central: Session 1
Ready? Fight! Throw down in the Street Fighter Cup and battle for a chance to earn cosmetic rewards. Let’s go, World Warrior!
Contest-Winning Microscope Thrown Out for Using Generative AI
Ning Xu's winning entry to Nikon Instruments' Small World in Motion competition was ineligible due to AI, a spokesperson for the contest told Gizmodo.
Can the Cardinals beat the Lions? Here’s how
Right this weekend, Arizona will rebound or be thrown into the basement
A Closer Call, But Kings Fall in Rematch With Lakers
Despite Precious Achiuwa’s efficient scoring and a late surge, Sacramento’s perimeter struggles and a massive free-throw disparity handed the Lakers a narrow preseason victory in Los Angeles.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr Gives Updated Timeline For Jimmy Butler Return
The Golden State Warriors could be seeing their secondary star outside Stephen Curry return as early as the first two months of next year. According to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Jimmy Butler could be returning to action for the team in February, one year after tearing his ACL. “No idea. I’m just throwing February […] The post Warriors’ Steve Kerr Gives Updated Timeline For Jimmy Butler Return appeared first on HEAVY.
Jonathan Groff gets rave reviews in Royal Shakespeare Theatre debut
A technical glitch with the set may have thrown a wrench into his latest opening night on stage, but that didn’t prevent Jonathan Groff from getting some glowing reviews earlier
Black Democrats are facing a crossroads
Stick with a faltering establishment or throw in with an untested new movement?
What’s Boom Ball? Crazy rules, entertainment on the diamond, headed for NE Ohio
Boom Ball, a zany brand of baseball with some softball thrown in, is coming to Akron as part of a 30-city tour in 2027.
Big Ben Throws Shade at Steelers After Loss to Browns
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a blunt reaction to the team's Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Iconic Kentucky football throwback uniforms go viral with rave reviews
The Wildcats will look great for their primetime test against the Tigers.
Will Ben Affleck Get Join Politics Now? Animals Actor Has Answered
Ben Affleck’s latest movie Animals puts him in an unusual political role. He plays Mark Kimball, a mayoral candidate whose campaign is thrown into chaos when his son is kidnapped. While promoting the ...
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks silence on Portugal exit
Cristiano Ronaldo said he is not retiring from international football in a lengthy social media statement.The 41-year-old’s Portugal future was thrown into doubt after he suddenly left his country��...
‘Hotel Transylvania’ Halloween party headed to Waynesville
This year, the Waynesville Parks & Recreation is throwing it’s biggest Halloween celebration yet. The Hotel Transylvania Halloween Party will be held from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at the
Seahawks’ win over Chargers in Week 4 spawned rare occurrence
The Seahawks’ Week 4 matchup against the Chargers was the first time that interceptions were thrown on the first two plays of a game in decades.
Rapid City man arrested after rock thrown through business window on St. Patrick Street
Rapid City police arrested Dominic High Hawk, 28, on felony vandalism after surveillance video allegedly showed him breaking a business window Oct. 5.
How many innings will Chris Sale throw in Game 3?
What does Full Strength Chris Sale’s usage look like on Tuesday evening?
On Your Side: Better Business Bureau shares tips for winterizing your home and car
The Better Business Bureau has tips to help you winterize your home and vehicle so you’re prepared for anything the season throws at you.
Ted Cruz Says JD Vance’s ‘Political Bomb-Throwing’ Shows He’s ‘Insecure’ Ahead of 2028 Election
While Vice President JD Vance might have been floated as a potential frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2028 election, Senator Ted Cruz is doing his part to keep the party’s...
Barkov Timeline Throws Cold Water on Dylan Larkin Trade
Barkov's 10-to-12-week timeline gives Florida only temporary cap relief, cooling the Dylan Larkin trade talk. #RedWings
Ted Cruz Says JD Vance Is ‘Feeling Insecure’ amid ‘Political Bomb-Throwing’ Ahead of 2028 GOP Primary
“In my experience, people engage in political bomb-throwing when they’re feeling insecure,” the Texas Republican said of the vice president over the weekend
Angels Offer A Blueprint For Bad Spending Decisions
The Los Angeles Angels make bad deals and throw away cash, which is how they lost 100 games this season.
Allen laments not throwing ball away after interception seals Bills loss
In hindsight, Josh Allen knows he and the Buffalo Bills would have been better off if he threw the ball away.
Kyler Murray throws for 247 yards
Minnesota Vikings QB Kyler Murray throws 37 times in win
Trevor Lawrence throws for 227 yards in Week 4
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence posts 227 yards and one TD in Week 4 win
Jacoby Brissett throws game away in Cardinals loss to Giants
The Arizona Cardinals fall to 1-3 after an embarrassing loss to the Giants.
Embarrassment Is A Choice
No need to throw the baby out with the bath water, but that bath water is filthy.
How to watch Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS Game 2
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will turn to Blake Snell in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, throwing another southpaw starter against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium. Snell, like Skubal, has won two Cy Young Awards in his career. But for Snell, his two Cy Young years (2018, 2023) […]
Throwback Dawg Day: Granthan vs. Franklin
Vanderbilt. To a lot of SEC fans, you almost felt bad for them most years. At least as far as football goes, the Commodores have spent many years languishing as a doormat. Being in Tennessee’s shadow does not help, neither does the fact that opposing fans can easily take over a game day over on […]
Cristiano Ronaldo 'betrayal' addressed after Portugal squad exit
The 41-year-old’s international future has been thrown into doubt
Throwback performance from Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers passed for more than 290 yards with three touchdowns for the second consecutive game.
Throwback Threadsday: West Virginia
As the Iowa State Cyclones face off against the West Virginia Mountaineers for the 13th time in series history at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, gridiron rivalry and uniform history collides. Let’s turn back the clock on the visual identity of the Riot Bowl. 2012 – 31-24, West Virginia 2013 – 52-44 (3 OT), Iowa State 2014 […]
UC asks judge to dismiss DOJ's UCLA antisemitism lawsuit
UC asked a federal judge to throw out the DOJ's Title VI lawsuit accusing UCLA of ignoring antisemitism, calling the case political coercion.
Good science requires much more than evidence
Empiricists believe that scientific theories are true only if they make correct empirical predictions: if we can't verify these predictions, then there is no reason to expect that they tell us anything about reality. However, Professor of Philosophy at King's College David Kyle Johnson argues that this is mistaken. In response to Bas van Fraassen, who has written on this subject for the IAI, he argues that we have many reasons for believing a theory to be true, such as it being parsimonious and having large scope — qualities which have been used throughout the history of science as criteria for judging theories. In 2024, Princeton philosopher Bas van Fraassen wrote a short article for IAI News entitled “Science Does not Describe Reality: The Limits and Benefits of Explanation.” At the time, I was working on two projects (a science book and a Great Course) that, when completed, would (among other things) defend science’s ability to describe reality. I wanted to write a response to van Fraassen, but the projects demanded too much of my attention. But now that those projects are complete, I am in a position to explain the objections to van Fraassen’s thesis. Summarizing van Fraassen’s argumentIn a nutshell, his argument is this: What scientists do is make predictions based on theories and then invite others to test to see whether those predictions are borne out. “If theory T is right, result R should happen in experimental condition C.” Many think that running an experiment that shows that R happens in condition C is proof that theory T is true (and should be believed). But, van Fraassen argues, that R happened in condition C is only a reason to think that R happens in condition C. That’s the only observable, or empirical, result we can actually see, so that is all that we are really justified in believing. (The underlying theory that made that prediction still may or may not be true.) That is why he calls those who accept his position “empiricists.”Before I explain what is wrong with this position, let me explain what it gets right. What van Fraassen Gets RightFirst, a theory correctly predicting the results of an experiment is not, strictly speaking, “proof” that the theory is correct. The basic line of reasoning is this:If the theory T is true, result R should happen. Result R did happen. Thus, theory T is true.In other words:“If T then R. R. Thus, T.”This is a deductively invalid, fallacious mode of reasoning, called “affirming the consequent.” Those premises do not guarantee that the conclusion follows. “If I am in Pennsylvania, then I am in the USA. I am in the USA. Thus, I am in Pennsylvania.” Clearly that argument doesn’t guarantee its conclusion; neither does the above argument.However, science is not a deductive method of reasoning; it is an inductive one. And inductive arguments merely try to raise the probability of their conclusion, not “prove” them for certain. Thus, the fact that an experimental result doesn’t prove a theory is true is irrelevant; it’s not supposed to. That is not what scientific reasoning is about.___If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational.___Second, it’s also true that a single experimental result doesn’t provide enough justification to believe that a theory is true. Scientists do not come to a consensus about whether a theory is true by looking at a single experiment; they look at all the evidence to determine where the preponderance of evidence points. The mere fact that I am in the USA raises the probability that I am in Pennsylvania, but not nearly enough to conclude that I am in Pennsylvania. However, if I am also regularly encountering people wearing Eagles and Phillies hats and seeing advertisements for Founding Father tours, I probably am. In the same way, a theory successfully predicting the outcome of one experiment is not enough to conclude that it is true; but if a theory makes a wide variety of predictions that are all vindicated by multiple experiments, performed by many different groups and people, all actively trying to prove the theory false (which is what good scientific experiments are designed to do)—that is a good reason to conclude that the theory is true. In other words, if you repeatedly try to prove something false but can’t, that is a very good indication that it isn’t. The problem of underdeterminationIn reply, those whom van Fraassen calls “empiricists” often point to the “problem of underdetermination.” For any given theory that makes successful predictions about what happens in experimental conditions, there are countless other possible theories that make exactly the same predictions—and since they do, the experimental evidence in question is just as much reason to accept any of those theories as it is to accept our original one. Thus, the argument goes, we have no way of knowing whether our original theory is true, or one of the other “predictively equivalent” theories is true. SUGGESTED VIEWING How Occam's Razor changed the world With Johnjoe McFadden As an example of underdetermination, philosophers often offer this example. The evidence of fossils seems to provide reason to conclude that the universe is quite old; ancient fossils are what the “ancient universe” hypothesis predicts. But it’s also possible that God created an ancient-looking universe 200 years ago, complete with a “fake” fossil record for us to find, to make it look old. The existence of fossils is what that theory predicts too. So, the argument goes, the fossil record can’t be used as evidence that the universe is ancient; the fossil record supports the “200-year-old ancient-looking universe” theory just as much. The problem of underdetermination points out that, for any theory with supporting evidence, we could invent another completely different theory that predicts exactly the same evidence, and thus undermine that evidence’s ability to support the original theory.But this “argument from underdetermination” betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what scientific reasoning is and how it works. To explain, let me use another rather strange (but very real and commonly discussed) philosophical thought experiment called “The Grue Problem.” The “Grue” ProblemSuppose I want to know what color emeralds are, so I observe a few, see that they all appear green, and form the theory that “all emeralds are green.” I thus predict that the next 100 emeralds I find will also appear to be green. And let’s say that happens, and so I thus conclude that my theory that all emeralds are green is true. Now, one might rightly point out that I don’t know for sure that all emeralds are green—I have not seen them all. Maybe some I haven’t found yet are blue. Fair enough. After all, we used to think that all swans were white, until we found some black ones. But let’s say that I go on a quest and collect every emerald in the universe—and, for the sake of the argument, let’s say I can do this, and can even know that I have every one of them. So, I collect them all, look at them all, and verify that they all appear green. Can’t I now rightly conclude that all emeralds are green?Inspired by the problem of underdetermination, a friend might argue that I cannot.Sure, they all appear green now—but there could be another kind of color called “grue.” Something is grue if it is green up to a certain point in time, but then spontaneously turns blue. And there could be an infinite number of “shades” of grue. Something that is one shade of grue will turn blue at noon today, but something that is another shade of grue will turn blue at noon tomorrow, etc. So yes, the emeralds appear green now; and since they haven’t turned blue yet, they are not some “past” shade of grue. But they might be some “future” shade of grue (e.g., they may turn blue at noon tomorrow). And since all future shades of grue are consistent with “being green up to this point in time,” the evidence you have is completely consistent with the notion that all emeralds are some future shade of grue, rather than green. Indeed, that they would appear green until now is what the “some future shade of grue” hypothesis predicts. So, we have just as much reason to conclude that all emeralds are some shade of grue as we do to conclude that they are green.You’re probably thinking “It’s not equally possible that the emeralds are grue; they are obviously green.” You are right! But explaining why your instinctive reaction to my friend’s argument is correct will help inform why van Fraassen’s “empiricist” is wrong and science actually does describe reality.The main mistake my friend makes is in thinking that the “empirical evidence” (of all the emeralds appearing green) is (or even should be) all I am using to draw the conclusion that all emeralds are green. It is not. I am also considering known facts about how colors typically work; things don’t usually change color, and when they do, they don’t do so suddenly, without cause, and all at once. So, even though the simple evidence of the emeralds all appearing green up to this point is consistent with them being some future shade of grue—that is even what the grue hypothesis “predicts”—it is still exceedingly unlikely that they are. The hypothesis that they are green is much more likely. Understanding science refutes the problem of underdetermination The misunderstanding about science that the “empiricist” pointing to “the problem of underdetermination” makes is similar to the one that my friend made. Science is not just about considering experimental evidence; in fact, it’s not even just about considering empirical evidence. As Ernan McMullin and many other philosophers of science have pointed out, the inference that makes science is “inference to the best explanation” (sometimes called “abduction” or “retroduction” by McMullin). While, depending on the circumstances, scientists use many different kinds of reasoning, science as a whole is, simply put, the process of considering multiple competing explanations and comparing them to certain criteria—explanatory criteria (the kinds of things explanations must be and do, by definition, to be a good explanation)—to see which explanation is the best.And these criteria do not deal only with empirical results. Yes, successful predictions raise the probability of a hypothesis, but it’s also the case that the more new assumptions a theory makes, the less likely it is to be true; every new assumption presents an opportunity for the theory to be false. (The fewer assumptions a theory makes, the simpler or “more parsimonious” it is said to be.) Likewise, the more existing evidence a theory contradicts, the less likely it is, because in order for a theory to be true, every piece of evidence it contradicts has to be somehow faulty. (The fewer established theories a new theory contradicts, the more “conservative” it is said to be.) And, obviously, the more something explains, the better explanation it is. (This is called having “scope.”) If a theory raises unanswerable questions, it’s not expanding our understanding, and thus is not wide-scoping. Scientists consider all these things when deciding which theory to accept, because the theory that adheres best to these explanatory criteria is most likely to be true.___the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth.___The reason the grue hypothesis is no good is because it invents an entirely new kind of color—not just a new shade, but an entirely different category of color (a different way colors work)—and thus is not parsimonious. It raises unanswerable questions about how and why emeralds would just spontaneously change from green to blue (and thus does not have wide scope). And it contradicts what is already well established about how color works (and thus is unconservative).The theories that the problem of underdetermination points to do the same thing. Yes, the theory that God created an “ancient-looking universe” (complete with an ancient-looking fossil record) two hundred years ago is also consistent with the empirical evidence (of a fossil record) that presently exists; but that theory is monumentally unparsimonious (it requires many extra assumptions about infinite entities) and not wide-scoping (it raises unanswerable questions about why God would do such a thing). So, I can rationally conclude that it is false.Indeed, the history of science includes many examples of theories that were rejected because they lacked parsimony and/or scope, even before their falsity (and the truth of their competing theory) was confirmed by observation. As I point out in my book, geocentrism was rejected by the scientific community because it lacked parsimony, almost 200 years before the observation of parallax confirmed that the Earth moves around the sun. And the continuum theory of matter was completely rejected by 1860, because it couldn’t explain chemical reactions or organize matter into a periodic table, even though the experiments that eventually confirmed atomic theory weren’t even proposed until the 1870s. Solving the best of a bad lot problemIn response, the “empiricists” are likely to object, this time pointing to the “best of a bad lot” problem. “We have no reason to conclude that an explanation that has been shown to be better than others is true because we have no guarantee that the true theory was among those that we were considering.” If you have a “lot” (a collection) of poor explanations, even the best one is not true.The responses to this problem, however, are numerous. Peter Lipton argues that the set of hypotheses that scientists consider are not just randomly selected and thus unlikely to contain a theory that is true; they use existing knowledge to home in on what is most likely to be true. A doctor trying to explain abdominal pain is not going to bother wondering whether demons are causing it; they are going to stick with things like appendicitis and kidney stones, because they are most likely. Further, despite its name, inference to the best explanation is not just the process of comparing hypotheses and accepting the best one; we also want one that is a good explanation in its own right. If it’s not, we are going to keep looking until we find an explanation that is. And while that process does not guarantee that we will come across the exact truth, it’s very likely that the theory that emerges as the best will be at least approximately true, and thus we will be justified in believing it. And lastly, as I point out in my book, although many theories not based in scientific evidence (like geocentrism and continuum theory) have been completely overturned, science almost always progresses by the refinement of scientifically established theories—not their replacement. (Although our sun is not the center of the universe, heliocentrism was our first step in understanding the Earth’s true place in the universe.) So even if a theory we accept today may not be completely right, accepting it is a step on the journey toward the complete truth. The example of atomic theoryNow, it’s worth pointing out that most empiricists are not skeptical of all scientific theories; they are only skeptical of the ones that hypothesize the existence of “unobservables.” It’s not like they think that round Earth, heliocentrism, and germ theory are just useful (but untrue) “instruments” for making predictions about how to most efficiently navigate the seas, predict planetary motion, and treat diseases. They admit that the Earth actually is round, that the planets revolve around the sun, and that germs exist and cause disease. These facts and entities can be observed; the theories that suggest they exist are true. It’s only when theories start hypothesizing the existence of unobservables—like electrons, or quantum fields—that can’t be observed directly, that we should start doubting the theories’ truth. And to be fair to van Fraassen, in this published work, he doesn’t really say that we should doubt the truth of such theories. Only that scientific reasoning does not rationally force us to accept them as true. Skepticism, or agnosticism, he argues, is warranted. SUGGESTED READING Science is based in metaphor By Andrew Reynolds But the history of atomic theory throws a monkey wrench into that argument. Atoms used to be unobservable; again, scientists first accepted the theory that they exist because it had such grandiose explanatory power. But then atoms were seen with electron microscopes. They thus moved into the category of the observable. But this didn’t substantially change anything about what scientists were justified in believing; it certainly didn’t change any “atomic skeptics’” minds. It just confirmed what everyone already knew! If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational. The fact that the thing itself is not technically observable does not make doubting its existence rational.What’s more, the atoms were seen with an electron microscope. But electrons are themselves unobservable. How can an electron microscope reveal an atom if electrons are not real? This leads us to what is famously known as Hilary Putnam’s “miracle argument.” It’s (not) a miraclePhilosopher Hilary Putnam’s miracle argument is somewhat famous. Basically, he argued that a scientific theory being able to repeatedly make successful predictions—even about unobservables—without being at least approximately true would require a “miracle.” In other words, it would be such an improbable occurrence that it could not rationally be believed—the better explanation for why scientific theories about unobservables make the right predictions is because the unobservable entities and structures they hypothesize exist.Van Fraassen has addressed this argument. Indeed, in his original article, where he references Alison Gopnik’s point about orgasms not being “necessary for procreation” even though the desire for orgasm “drives the creation of progeny,” he is pointing to his own argument about how organisms are not naturally selected by evolution to get true beliefs; to the extent that belief-forming processes are selected for, the ones that are selected are the ones that are useful for survival—not the ones that produce true beliefs. In the same way, van Fraassen argues, scientific theories are accepted, not because they are true, but because they aren’t falsified; they make successful predictions; that’s what makes them “stick around.” So, the fact that they make successful predictions (and thus became accepted) is not a reason to think they are true.This argument is similar to C. S. Lewis’s “argument from reason,” which he used to argue against evolution: “The truth of evolution undercuts our ability to know that it is true.” Lewis’ argument famously failed; Elizabeth Anscombe, by Lewis’s own admission, demolished Lewis in a debate on the topic, and I have explained elsewhere why modified versions of the argument fail as well. In short, it’s because it fails to recognize that a belief-forming process can make an organism more likely to survive because it reliably produces true beliefs. It is therefore not the case that beliefs generated by naturally selected belief-forming processes are automatically false or unjustified.In the same way, the reason a theory “sticks around” could be because it’s not falsified, because it “makes correct predictions.” But the reason it makes correct predictions is most likely because it is true. (In pointing this out, I am echoing the arguments of Musgrave, Lipton, Psillos, and Kitcher, who refuted van Fraassen’s argument and analogy long before his 2024 article.) It would be a huge coincidence that it could do so without being true. And that is the point of Putnam’s miracle argument. Thus, contrary to van Fraassen’s suggestion, the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth. ConclusionLet me close by saying something about the fact that empiricists don’t doubt the truth of all scientific theories, just the ones that hypothesize unobservables. In today’s society, this theory is dangerous to espouse publicly. The nuance between being skeptical about all of science, and just the highly technical theories about unobservables, is guaranteed to be lost to the average reader. And there is so much unjustified skepticism and doubt about the findings of science and experts that a headline like “Science Does Not Describe Reality” could easily fuel the anti-science movement, worsen climate change denial and cause the next pandemic.This is why I believe it was important to still respond to van Fraassen’s article, a full two years after he wrote it. Not only, as I have argued, does it represent a philosophically inaccurate view of how scientific reasoning works and what scientific reasoning can do, but it is a dangerous view to boot. It should thus be rejected.
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