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Nassim Taleb said: "The odds of an academic 'researcher' producing anything eventually used by society is of the order of .00001%. That includes scientists. The odds for a baker: 100%" What is your view on this?I seriously doubt those numbers. But let’s accept them at face value for the sake of the argument.Well, yes, a baker’s output is useful basically all of the time. But a baker’s output has zero chances of delivering anything that would advance humanity in any meaningful way. It fills a stomach for a day, yes, but that does not really get us anywhere in the long run. But let’s see what the discovery of one person of the name Alexander Fleming might do for humanity. He discovered penicillin, the first industrially produced antibiotics which, combined with improvements of antibiotics in the decades to come, saved countless millions of lives. Without scientists, we would still die from simple infections.And without scientists that nifty machine you used to ask that question would not exist. Nor would cars, refrigerators, tv or anything else that defines modern, technological society. Technology is applied science. No science, no technology.The problem is, science means discovering things we do not know. We cannot know which discoveries will actually be useful. Therefore we have to keep trying, even if most discoveries are interesting but have no practical application. Not trying will mean that we will keep stagnating. Reality usually punishes stagnation. Hard.

This so difficult to write without crying but I'm going to do it anyway.My husband and I had a great 14 years of marriage until September of 2018. He told me a girl at work was flirting with him and he likes her a lot.He said she has a boyfriend but he thinks she still likes him a lot.She is 25 years old and he is 36 years old. He said she is smart and beautiful. He wants to be with someone who is intelligent and funny.He said I'm too serious, and my body is not perfect. I was born with scoliosis and he knew that before he married me.I can't conceive a child due to my back problem. He said he changed his mind and wants to have a biological child with someone. We were going to adopt a baby from China.We had to take off the waiting list of adopting a baby. He also said I don't pitch in and help to repair the house like the broken water heater or air conditioner, etc.He said my vagina is too small. Sounds funny but I was embarrassed and believed him because he was the first man I ever slept with. I was not the first girl that he had slept with.Therefore, I believed him and I felt it was my fault. I lost my confidence and self-esteem since then.He showed me a picture of what she looks like and said: “See, isn't she beautiful?” I had to hold back my tears.He also said she is not interested in him and was shocked about it. He decided he wants to date others to replace her.So, he shopped on Black Friday to get stuff for his apartment so he can move out. I was in bed all day crying on Thanksgiving. I begged him to stay and I told him I’ll change myself and offered to go to sex therapy.He said it won't work, because he still wants a biological child of his own.I also asked him to stay through Christmas. He said no because I was miserable on Thanksgiving. He wants to go home for Christmas to see his family.A week after Thanksgiving, he was packing to move, he was taking too long.I decided to help him pack and to get the hell out of the house. I had to miss my Christmas work party that day so I could help him pack faster and get the hell out of the house.I am trying to gain my confidence and self-esteem back. I am insecure with my body now. I don't feel attractive at all. I am also going to a counselor right now.Update as of July 2020Wow! Thank you for your kind words. It has been a rough year for me. Here is the last email my ex husband wrote to me in February 2020, I don't know why he wrote to me. I never reply to him. I ignored his letter to me.Alice,I want to explain a few things in the hopes it will bring you peace. The stress of my job and going through the adoption process made me realize that I am not cut out to have children. I am not planning to have children, with anyone, ever. I have a serious problem handling stress and it is causing a lot of problems in my life, including my decision to leave our marriage. The two major panic attack events were very difficult for me to handle, and both were a result of my inability to handle the stress I was under. Leaving you was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, much harder than the choice to drop out of grad school. We had so many wonderful life experiences together. It makes me incredibly sad leaving you. I want you to be happy and I feel like there has not been enough dialogue between us in order for either of us to heal properly. I hope this message helps you in some way.I ultimately don’t think we are compatible to be married, even though we did/do love each other. I am continuing to have a lot of problems with stress, and the most I am able to handle in my life is my job, and at times that seems to be driving me a little crazy. I simply can’t have kids, and I realized this way too late and suddenly. I wish I had realized it sooner, so you had the time to find a more suitable partner who would give you the child/children that you want. The extreme stress of work and going through the adoption process began to make me feel stressed just being married to you and I don’t want to be married anymore. Being with you is now a stress trigger for me, living in our house was a stress trigger, it all was driving me nuts. I am so incredibly sorry for all of this. I need more counseling to figure out how to handle the stresses of life. I wish I would have figured all of this out way sooner, I feel like in some sense I wasted your time, you could have been with somebody else, but I didn’t realize what I wanted until I had the panic attack in Fall of 2018.There were other things in our marriage that were too much for me, but I really don’t want to hurt you but at least mention them so that you might understand. I felt I had to do most things related to the house, taxes, and just figuring stuff out, that also added to my stress. I wanted an equal partner, and I felt like I was not getting that being with you, but rather you relied on me for too much and it did add to my stress (e.g. I handled the adoption paperwork for the most part and it was just too much to do in addition to my job). I couldn’t even imagine having had children, you still wanted to work, wanted me to watch the kid several days a week, and I was pretty sure I would end up having to do most of the help with the schoolwork like math/grammar and I just am always exhausted from my job. I left our marriage also so I could be with someone that I felt a closer connection to in terms of our interests and could talk about more things together than we did (e.g. news, world events, etc.). I also can’t stand seeing reality TV, and you watched it a lot. Not being able to have sexual intercourse with you was also a problem for me (i.e. I could not be on top, could barely even move my hips without causing you extreme pain). I also wanted a lot more sex than you, it felt you like hardly ever wanted to have sex, I would ask and you were too tired most of the times that I asked. You also had issues with my family and were often upset about them. I know my family is difficult to be around, but you were not able to get over things and just let them go (e.g. comments from them about vegetarianism). Yes, their views are pretty extreme. I have very little connection with my dad anymore, he has become a very grumpy person and I just choose to not be around him when I visit. My sister I don’t communicate with anymore, she really is an extremely angry person, and I don’t blame you for feeling hurt by her. She hates people.I am continuing to have serious problems with stress. I have a nightmare disorder and often have extreme and stressful nightmares throughout the night, leaving me exhausted at work and on the weekend. I went to the doctor for this, they gave me medication for it, but it was making me very dizzy and nauseous, so I stopped taking it. I don’t think there is anything they can do, I just have to deal with these nightmares. The nightmares most often involve extremely stressful situations, often having a task to do with not enough time to complete it and me freaking out trying to get it done even though I can’t get it done in time, and I end up getting super angry and feel like I am going to explode with anger (in my dream, not when I am awake). I am trying to work through these stress issues, I have been more assertive at my work, but my work stress is actually increasing right now, so trying to keep it all under control. As an aside, I also got diagnosed with sleep apnea about a half year ago. The sleep apnea was causing me to be extremely sleepy all the time, which was also adding to my stress. I use a CPAP machine now that puts air into my lungs at night. I was waking up on average 25 times an hour when I took the sleep apnea test, so no wonder I was tired all the time.You are an extremely important person in my life and wish there was more I could do to help you.You have shared nothing with me since I moved out. That is your choice. I hope you are healing and doing well.Take care,

If you are referencing Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, then there are other issues at play in that case.Just very quickly on that case: Jack Phillips is an “artist” who makes custom cakes which he considers “works of art.”A gay couple came into the shop and in an exchange that lasted a few seconds asked Jack to make a cake for them.Because of his faith, Jack declined. HOWEVER! He offered any other products in the business, just not a custom made “work of art.” It should also be noted that Jack does not offer custom made cakes for Halloween, divorce parties and other things that he views as against his religion.This is a more serious case than most people realize, which is why the Supreme Court decided to hear it.Back to your question.Businesses survive because they offer a product or service to the public. If they business does not sell its product or service it will go out of business. Therefore, most businesses will accept all customers, with only a very few exceptions.The most common is the “no shirt, no service” sign. As long as the “no shirt, no service” concept is implemented uniformly across the board, it is acceptable. But, the business can’t accept one shirtless customer but decline another.Having said that, within this context a business should be able to refuse a customer for any reason.Whether it’s Muslim, Christian, athiest, agnostic, gay, straight, tall, short, black/white…EDIT:Here are two examples that would more directly relate to the “cake shop” case:(1) A Christian singer being asked to write a song to celebrate atheism. He refuses because of his faith and offers any other song in his catalog. He just doesn’t want to write a song about atheism. But, alas, a court tells him/her there is no choice, he/she must write the song.(2) A gay painter is asked to created a painting to celebrate marriage as described in the bible. The painter refuses based on his belief and offers any other painting in his studio. He just doesn’t want to create a painting that denounces same sex marriage. But, again, a court tells him/her there is no choice, he/she must paint the painting.(3) A black sculptor is asked to create a sculpture for the Grand Wizard of the KKK to be placed into the hall where they hold their meetings. Based on his beliefs, the black sculptor refuses but states the Grand Wizard can purchase any other sculpture in his gallery. But, again, a court tells him/her there is no choice, he/she must create the sculpture.Do you believe the song writer, painter or sculptor should have the freedom to decline the request? Or do you believe all three should have no choice and must create these works of art by law?A competing argument is if the message is the same then you can’t deny service. In other words, weddings are the same, regardless of who is married and therefore the service can’ be denied.So, here are some other examples:(1) A baker is asked to put a red cross on a cake for a celebration for the Red Cross. Another customer comes in and asks for a red cross on a cake to celebration the creation of his his new chapter of the KKK. Should the baker be able to refuse the cake to the KKK?(2) A baker is asked to create a cake with the message, “November 9, the greatest day ever” for an anniversary celebration. Another customer comes in and asks for a cake to be created with the message, “November 9, the greatest day ever” for a celebration of Kristạllnacht (November 9, 1938, was a day when the Nazis rounded up 10x of thousands of Jews and sent them to camps while destroying their property). Should the baker be able to refuse the cake for the Kristạllnacht celebration?Here are some lesser examples that are not on point but do give food for thought.Should a Muslim business be forced to print a banner for an atheist that states, “There is no God!”Should the “Long & Tall Suit Shop” be required to carry smaller suits?Should the “XXL Store” be required to carry children’s clothing?Let’s take it a step further.Should a gay couple be forced to shop from a Christian baker that is anti gay?Should a pacifist be forced to buy guns from the “Revolution Store”As you can see, there is much to consider with this case.There are lots of different ways to look at this, but I don’t believe you should force anyone to buy or sell from anyone. And there should be no court order forcing someone to create a “work of art” for someone else.