The Elegant Nature of Science 2.0

[Thingymebob]

I can't wrap my head around the complexities of the universe.
So I eat cake and smoke and put it to the back of my mind.
I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how much or how little we know.
Nothing will change in reality.

You changed, and a great deal has changed in reality. A very very great deal indeed.
Your brain changed, knowing about galaxies, supernovae, quasars, relativity, knowing that complexity, knowing about dark matter and dark energy,
about uncertainty and entanglement, ... knowing that the fundamentals of quantum mechanics do not appear to be intuitive/logical to the human brain, knowing reality does not follow what we think is "logical", (thus destroying ALL the arguments of religious fundies, who claim their gods are "necessary" because their logic demands it, knowing the Pauli Exclusion Principle, knowing that electrons are waves, knowing there is a Higgs boson, and even knowing this : which we heard about yesterday : https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/asia/baby...index.html , knowing about "spooky action at a distance" (entanglement), , knowing that Archaeology and chemistry and physics have debunked virtually all of two (maybe three) of the world's major religious groups' historical claims, knowing there may be other universes and how we might detect them,  We know all kinds of things about medicine, genetics and neuro-science we didn't know, even twenty years ago. If you came in to the ED with a basilar artery stroke, they could pull out the clot, and you would go home (walking out the door), in a couple days, instead of living as a vegie for the rest of your life, in a nursing home. You're 100 % wrong. Everything changes.

You will be 100 % correct when we can either find a way to stop our star from exploding or manage to relocate ourselves to another suitable dot.
Not that it matters much anyway, we'll have wiped ourselves out way before we will have to give it any serious thought.

[Bucky Ball]

I can't wrap my head around the complexities of the universe.
So I eat cake and smoke and put it to the back of my mind.
I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how much or how little we know.
Nothing will change in reality.

You changed, and a great deal has changed in reality. A very very great deal indeed.
Your brain changed, knowing about galaxies, supernovae, quasars, relativity, knowing that complexity, knowing about dark matter and dark energy,
about uncertainty and entanglement, ... knowing that the fundamentals of quantum mechanics do not appear to be intuitive/logical to the human brain, knowing reality does not follow what we think is "logical", (thus destroying ALL the arguments of religious fundies, who claim their gods are "necessary" because their logic demands it, knowing the Pauli Exclusion Principle, knowing that electrons are waves, knowing there is a Higgs boson, and even knowing this : which we heard about yesterday : https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/asia/baby...index.html , knowing about "spooky action at a distance" (entanglement), , knowing that Archaeology and chemistry and physics have debunked virtually all of two (maybe three) of the world's major religious groups' historical claims, knowing there may be other universes and how we might detect them,  We know all kinds of things about medicine, genetics and neuro-science we didn't know, even twenty years ago. If you came in to the ED with a basilar artery stroke, they could pull out the clot, and you would go home (walking out the door), in a couple days, instead of living as a vegie for the rest of your life, in a nursing home. You're 100 % wrong. Everything changes.

You will be 100 % correct when we can either find a way to stop our star from exploding or manage to relocate ourselves to another suitable dot.
Not that it matters much anyway, we'll have wiped ourselves out way before we will have to give it any serious thought.

Our star will explode anyway. There is no way to stop it. Humans may or may not have found a way to escape it, but it is irrelevant.
Your nihilism does not serve you. The importance and meaningful relevance of what occurs between now and then, is not determined by the "then", but by the perfection of the journey.
"The journey is the destination", as someone far more wise than I once said. The destination does not determine the meaningfulness and joy of every single moment of the journey.
You're still 100 % wrong.

[Thingymebob]

You changed, and a great deal has changed in reality. A very very great deal indeed.
Your brain changed, knowing about galaxies, supernovae, quasars, relativity, knowing that complexity, knowing about dark matter and dark energy,
about uncertainty and entanglement, ... knowing that the fundamentals of quantum mechanics do not appear to be intuitive/logical to the human brain, knowing reality does not follow what we think is "logical", (thus destroying ALL the arguments of religious fundies, who claim their gods are "necessary" because their logic demands it, knowing the Pauli Exclusion Principle, knowing that electrons are waves, knowing there is a Higgs boson, and even knowing this : which we heard about yesterday : https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/asia/baby...index.html , knowing about "spooky action at a distance" (entanglement), , knowing that Archaeology and chemistry and physics have debunked virtually all of two (maybe three) of the world's major religious groups' historical claims, knowing there may be other universes and how we might detect them,  We know all kinds of things about medicine, genetics and neuro-science we didn't know, even twenty years ago. If you came in to the ED with a basilar artery stroke, they could pull out the clot, and you would go home (walking out the door), in a couple days, instead of living as a vegie for the rest of your life, in a nursing home. You're 100 % wrong. Everything changes.

You will be 100 % correct when we can either find a way to stop our star from exploding or manage to relocate ourselves to another suitable dot.
Not that it matters much anyway, we'll have wiped ourselves out way before we will have to give it any serious thought.

Our star will explode anyway. There is no way to stop it. Humans may or may not have found a way to escape it, but it is irrelevant.
Your nihilism does not serve you. The importance and meaningful relevance of what occurs between now and then, is not determined by the "then", but by the perfection of the journey.
"The journey is the destination", as someone far more wise than I once said. The destination does not determine the meaningfulness and joy of every single moment of the journey.
You're still 100 % wrong.

Whatever mate. Have a great day.

[Bucky Ball]

You will be 100 % correct when we can either find a way to stop our star from exploding or manage to relocate ourselves to another suitable dot.
Not that it matters much anyway, we'll have wiped ourselves out way before we will have to give it any serious thought.

Our star will explode anyway. There is no way to stop it. Humans may or may not have found a way to escape it, but it is irrelevant.
Your nihilism does not serve you. The importance and meaningful relevance of what occurs between now and then, is not determined by the "then", but by the perfection of the journey.
"The journey is the destination", as someone far more wise than I once said. The destination does not determine the meaningfulness and joy of every single moment of the journey.
You're still 100 % wrong.

Whatever mate. Have a great day.

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

[Thingymebob]

Our star will explode anyway. There is no way to stop it. Humans may or may not have found a way to escape it, but it is irrelevant.
Your nihilism does not serve you. The importance and meaningful relevance of what occurs between now and then, is not determined by the "then", but by the perfection of the journey.
"The journey is the destination", as someone far more wise than I once said. The destination does not determine the meaningfulness and joy of every single moment of the journey.
You're still 100 % wrong.

Whatever mate. Have a great day.

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

Nah! Eternal life would be torture for anyone. I've never been a theist btw.
I know that you have a passion for science and learning, that's great fill your boots.
It won't make a scrap of difference to the cold unforgiving universe.

[Inkubus]

I can't wrap my head around the complexities of the universe.
So I eat cake and smoke and put it to the back of my mind.
I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how much or how little we know.
Nothing will change in reality.

This is nothing more than a perfectly harmless piece of whimsy so why this:

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

You know Bucky you can be every bit an antagonistic arsehole as our yellow cheepy friend.

[Thingymebob]

I can't wrap my head around the complexities of the universe.
So I eat cake and smoke and put it to the back of my mind.
I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how much or how little we know.
Nothing will change in reality.

This is nothing more than a perfectly harmless piece of whimsy so why this:

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

You know Bucky you can be every bit an antagonistic arsehole as our yellow cheepy friend.

There are no buttons here to be pushed.
I'm not arsed, never have been never will be

[Fireball]

What is a "yellow cheepy"? 

[Bucky Ball]

Whatever mate. Have a great day.

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

Nah! Eternal life would be torture for anyone. I've never been a theist btw.
I know that you have a passion for science and learning, that's great fill your boots.
It won't make a scrap of difference to the cold unforgiving universe.

But it will make a whole fucking lot of difference to me.
And that's the point exactly, and the little trap you fell yourself into, yet again.
Why is it you are so obsessed with the "cold unforgiving universe" ?
*As if* that was all that mattered in the end.
You live your life by what matters to the "cold unforgiving universe", and that is your standard and value ?

[Cavebear]

I will live my life as rationally and generally self-satisfyingly as I can. I didn't ask to be born, and I won't be given much choice about when or how I die (though the older I get, the more I consider choices). I was a reasonably good child. I learned what I could about reality. I gave dedicated work to my career and I think it was a useful one. I am enjoying my retirement supported by what I earned in my career. I'm in good health. I have enjoyed a good life. No complaints...

And some future time, my physical and/or mental health will start to fail. Some aging issues I can deal with. My parents refused to use walkers to get around the house; I will gladly. I mean, if I have to get down the deck stairs on my butt one step at a time, I will to garden (I'll have a walker there). I already have tremble-hands (DDT exposure as a teenager), but I continue to cook (carefully). If I need a "salad-slicer", someday, I will get one. Gadgets help.

There are some problems I won't accept. I'm too old to adapt to blindness. And I will not be bedridden. No point to life (for me personally) with those. I support voluntary "end-of-life". I'm not the property of the government. When I decide I've had "enough" I want kind help to go peacefully. But I'll do it the harder way if required if that time comes.

I hope to die in my sleep compos mentis and mobile 20+ years from now, of course. I won't know I'm dead. I don't expect to "wake up" in Heaven or Hell afterwards. I expect to be just as dead and unaware as a swatted fly or a crystal of salt dissolved in water.

[SYZ]

What is a "yellow cheepy"? 

Free...   

[Thingymebob]

Apparently you (still ) need eternal life.
Once a theist always a theist.

Nah! Eternal life would be torture for anyone. I've never been a theist btw.
I know that you have a passion for science and learning, that's great fill your boots.
It won't make a scrap of difference to the cold unforgiving universe.

But it will make a whole fucking lot of difference to me.
And that's the point exactly, and the little trap you fell yourself into, yet again.
Why is it you are so obsessed with the "cold unforgiving universe" ?
*As if* that was all that mattered in the end.
You live your life by what matters to the "cold unforgiving universe", and that is your standard and value ?

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed, I don't go around all depressed telling everyone I meet that we're doomed it's just something that I know to be true.

That doesn't mean that I go around punching old ladies or stealing children's bikes either, I just get on with my life much the same as you do.

It was just a comment on an internet forum, I can't understand why you made such a big deal of it.

[Bucky Ball]

What is a "yellow cheepy"? 

Free...   

I had a very (important) enlightening private discussion with "Yellow Creepy", of late.
Whatever you think of him, it's probably wrong, as was I. I'm perfectly willing to admit that. I was TOTALLY wrong.
He was/is of immense help to me, when I needed his wisdom.
I will never be able to thank him enough.

Wanna know another little secret.
I also think Alan represents the best of us.

[Alan V]

I also think Alan represents the best of us.

Thanks for the compliment, although I find it puzzling and somewhat embarrassing considering our past conflicts.  

[Thingymebob]

I also think Alan represents the best of us.

Thanks for the compliment, although I find it puzzling and somewhat embarrassing considering our past conflicts.  

It could be more embarrassing if he was talking about a different Alan.

[Alan V]

I also think Alan represents the best of us.

Thanks for the compliment, although I find it puzzling and somewhat embarrassing considering our past conflicts.   

It could be more embarrassing if he was talking about a different Alan.

I checked before I responded, since I wasn't sure Bucky was talking about me.  There are no other Alans on the forum.  

I suppose he liked my summaries of books in the Free Will, Consciousness, and Climate Change discussions. I have more coming, but I won't finish my latest efforts until sometime in the new year.

[Machias]

Bucky has once again proved his value - to the forum and as a person.

[Bucky Ball]

I also think Alan represents the best of us.

Thanks for the compliment, although I find it puzzling and somewhat embarrassing considering our past conflicts.  

Yeah, I'm combative in defending my opinions.
In the end, it means nothing other than that.

[Bucky Ball]

I also think Alan represents the best of us.

Thanks for the compliment, although I find it puzzling and somewhat embarrassing considering our past conflicts.  

It could be more embarrassing if he was talking about a different Alan.

You remember him, do you ?
LOL
Girly liked him, .... he was so fucking off the wall.

[Bucky Ball]

Finally some good news about Covid.
The docs have have been saying that they expected a somewhat rapid drop-off of the Omicron cases of Covid, in the next couple weeks.
It looks like the Harvard lab that monitors the wastewater in Boston, has information that supports that.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/01/11/...ses-surge/

[Cavebear]

Finally some good news about Covid.
The docs have have bee saying that they expected a somewhat rapid drop-off of the Omicron cases of Covid, in the next couple weeks.
It looks like the Harvard lab that monitors the waste-water in Boston, has information that supports that.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/01/11/...ses-surge/

The News says we will all get Covid Omicron eventually.  It is THAT transmissible.  At which point it will cease to exist, having no new hosts.  I bet I have already and didn't notice or don't or won't.  

I seem to be genetically immune to viruses.  In spite of carpools full of sick coughing members, sick co-workers, and general exposure to ill people, I haven't had a viral problem in 60 years.  OK, I was 12 and my brother and I caught The Flu.  I was up and about happily in 2 days, he was abed miserably for a week.  And we shared a bedroom.  Never been sick since.  

On the other paw, I could be Typhoid Cavebear.  So I stay at home a lot and wear both an N95 mask and a (cute cat face) cloth mask other it when I go out grocery-shopping once a week.  Really, I would be pretty pissed to die of a virus NOW.  I at least want to outlive my cats!

[mordant]

Finally some good news about Covid.
The docs have have bee saying that they expected a somewhat rapid drop-off of the Omicron cases of Covid, in the next couple weeks.
It looks like the Harvard lab that monitors the waste-water in Boston, has information that supports that.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/01/11/...ses-surge/

The News says we will all get Covid Omicron eventually.  It is THAT transmissible.  At which point it will cease to exist, having no new hosts.

Except that after about 3 months you can get re-infected, so ... no. This nonsense assumes that it's once-and-done, like catching the measles. It's not.

 I bet I have already and didn't notice or don't or won't.

And I bet you'd lose that bet. It's not impossible to be (initially) asymptomatic or very light symptoms. But it's still a very serious vascular disease with chronic sequelae in a significant number of people. Trust, me, you don't want to play Russian Roulette with that.

[Alan V]

NBC News:

For the first time, astronomers have observed the final days and death throes of a red supergiant star before its final collapse and massive explosion into a supernova.

Supernovas are usually only detected after they happen, although a few of a different type have been caught in the act of exploding. In this case, scientists detected the star in its final stages about 130 days before it detonated, and they were able to watch it grow progressively brighter and, at last, blow up.

“It’s like watching a ticking time bomb,” astrophysicist Raffaella Margutti, the senior author of a study of the supernova published last week in the Astrophysical Journal, said in a statement. “We’ve never confirmed such violent activity in a dying red supergiant star where we see it produce such a luminous emission, then collapse and combust, until now.”

Of course, since the red giant was in a galaxy far, far away, the event actually happened 120 million years ago.

[SYZ]

The world's first liquefied hydrogen carrier has arrived here in Victoria as
part of a project to test the viability of a hydrogen export market between
Australia and Japan.  



The carrier, the Suiso Frontier, docked at the Port of Hastings yesterday and
will transport hydrogen produced as part of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain
(HESC) project back to Japan.  The HESC pilot project is testing whether it is
possible to create hydrogen using coal mined at the Loy Yang brown coal mine
in the Latrobe Valley, around 200km from Melbourne.

The Suiso Frontier, which has a gross tonnage of 8000 tonnes, will undertake a
two-week voyage to transport the liquefied hydrogen to Kobe in Japan.  Its key
feature is a 1,250 cubic metres (944,144 cubic feet) storage tank which is able
to carry liquefied hydrogen at 0.125% of its original volume when it was in its
gas state.

But... environmental groups have criticised the HESC project because of the carbon
emissions released by producing hydrogen from coal.    As they fucking would.  

[Bucky Ball]

They smashed, (smashed I tell you) the fusion record in Queen Betty's (AKA Brenda's) rel-um last week or so.
How is it you wait for me to report this ?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fusio...ant-future