Yes, scientists trot out, "This could cure cancer..." the way politicians trot out, "Support our troops..." the way legislators trot out, "Think of the children..."
It almost becomes a topological problem at this point. Consider:
You are hiking up a narrow trail up a big mountain. You start out at 8 am and arrive at the top at 8 pm. You camp out on the top overnight, and head down at 8 am, arriving at the bottom at 8 pm.
What are the chances that you were at the same exact spot on the trail, at the same exact time of day, to the second, coming down as going up?
Although it seems very unlikely, it's actually 100%. Think of it this way:
You start coming down at 8 am, and some friends start heading up at 8 am, of the same day. You have to meet somewhere along the trail! And, at the same moment you will be at the same point.
This can be done with two sheets of paper in two dimensions as well.
"A film producer describes facing an upset older character actor who learned that a new hire — a hot young leading man — would be making 30 percent more than him."
Religion answers questions for us that Science cannot.
Really? Like, "How do I cure Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Bubonic Plauge, etc.?" that religion answered.
Or, "Is the earth flat?" or "Does the sun go around the earth?" that religion answered. Or, "Does witchcraft cause the crops to fail?"
Yeah, those were great answers.
"I once heard the survivors of a colony of ants that had been partially obliterated by a cow's foot seriously debating the intention of the gods towards their civilization"
Don Marquis
Just saying the original question hasn't been answered because you can always ask another 'why' question is just a semantics game.
As Shadow stated: "The grass is green because that pigment (chlorophyll) made the grass's ancestors marginally more likely to reproduce and/or have more surviving offspring."
There. That question was answered. If you have ANOTHER question, I'm sure Shadow can give you another answer.
Now, let's try that crap on you:
Why did god make the grass green?
What? That answer's not in the book? I guess you'll never know. Too bad.
Agreed!
It's natural to imagine that we are the end product of some grand plan, but if you stand back a little, it's hard to believe this whole thing was constructed for our 'benefit'.
After all, we live in the 30 per-cent dry part of the crust of a small planet, going around a medium-small star in the suburbs of our galaxy, which is just one of billions.
We breath the corrosive waste gas of plants and can only live in a narrow range of temperatures. We can't even drink the salt water that covers most of our planet.
While the fact that we are here is a 100% probability (since we're here) we're an afterthought of a fluke.
Well put...
Or as Feynman said it so succinctly in one lecture:
"I had the most remarkable experience this evening. While coming in here I saw license plate ANZ912. Calculate for me, please, the odds that of all the license plates in the state of Washington I should happen to see ANZ912."
I remember the old floppy scheme. As I recall it there were "soft sectors" that you could write 1/0s to, but would always read back as some random value.
This could work to verify a certain machine (or user.)
If there is a master table of which bits on a chip are 'soft' and which are OK for a certain machine, and this chip is in each machine; an interrogator could write and read some memory locations. Only the real machine would have the right bits giving changing data. And each interrogator would be limited to a certain area to test, so in the case of a 'rogue' interrogator, they might learn one area of good and bad bit, but they could not be allowed to learn every one.
Then they would check with the master table which could tell them if they are talking to the real machine.
Game show..?
I'm thinking more like something on the E! channel: "Keeping Up With The Kaczynski's" chronicling the wacky exploits of a dysfunctional family of misfit sociopath bombers.
Many years before the fossil and DNA discoveries that might have helped him, he conjectured that human life evolved on the continent of Africa and spread outward.
Well, these theories are good if you can time travel. For those of us here in reality, your grandfather was working all day for that $12. So the real measure of money's 'worth' might be gauged by:
"How many hours of labor does it take to buy that exact same wool suit?"
They have nuclear weapons. I'd say that's a pretty big threat.
It's only a threat if they can deliver them. Having them inside your country is unsettling to other countries; being able to launch them into a country halfway around the globe is a threat.
Slashdot Mirror
Wait...
You mean going to junior high school doesn't cause puberty...?!
Yes, scientists trot out, "This could cure cancer..." the way politicians trot out, "Support our troops..." the way legislators trot out, "Think of the children..."
Good point.
Plus, he gets no tax break on money he gives away to crew members.
Feynman was quite the thinker.
It almost becomes a topological problem at this point. Consider:
You are hiking up a narrow trail up a big mountain. You start out at 8 am and arrive at the top at 8 pm. You camp out on the top overnight, and head down at 8 am, arriving at the bottom at 8 pm.
What are the chances that you were at the same exact spot on the trail, at the same exact time of day, to the second, coming down as going up?
Although it seems very unlikely, it's actually 100%. Think of it this way:
You start coming down at 8 am, and some friends start heading up at 8 am, of the same day. You have to meet somewhere along the trail! And, at the same moment you will be at the same point.
This can be done with two sheets of paper in two dimensions as well.
If this was Hollywood, this would be a non-story:
"A film producer describes facing an upset older character actor who learned that a new hire — a hot young leading man — would be making 30 percent more than him."
Religion answers questions for us that Science cannot.
Really? Like, "How do I cure Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Bubonic Plauge, etc.?" that religion answered.
Or, "Is the earth flat?" or "Does the sun go around the earth?" that religion answered. Or, "Does witchcraft cause the crops to fail?"
Yeah, those were great answers.
...you would eventually lose all the planet's water.
But earth is going to lose all it's (surface) water in a billion years.
"I once heard the survivors of a colony of ants that had been partially obliterated by a cow's foot seriously debating the intention of the gods towards their civilization"
Don Marquis
Just saying the original question hasn't been answered because you can always ask another 'why' question is just a semantics game.
As Shadow stated: "The grass is green because that pigment (chlorophyll) made the grass's ancestors marginally more likely to reproduce and/or have more surviving offspring."
There. That question was answered. If you have ANOTHER question, I'm sure Shadow can give you another answer.
Now, let's try that crap on you:
Why did god make the grass green? What? That answer's not in the book? I guess you'll never know. Too bad.
Wait.
I thought this discussion was about intelligent life on earth.
How did Charlie Sheen get into it?
Agreed!
It's natural to imagine that we are the end product of some grand plan, but if you stand back a little, it's hard to believe this whole thing was constructed for our 'benefit'.
After all, we live in the 30 per-cent dry part of the crust of a small planet, going around a medium-small star in the suburbs of our galaxy, which is just one of billions.
We're made of a type of matter which only constitutes 4.6 per-cent of the matter/energy in the universe; the rest of which we can't understand or even see.
We breath the corrosive waste gas of plants and can only live in a narrow range of temperatures. We can't even drink the salt water that covers most of our planet.
While the fact that we are here is a 100% probability (since we're here) we're an afterthought of a fluke.
Well put...
Or as Feynman said it so succinctly in one lecture:
"I had the most remarkable experience this evening. While coming in here I saw license plate ANZ912. Calculate for me, please, the odds that of all the license plates in the state of Washington I should happen to see ANZ912."
I think this whole thing is a scam cooked up by the tattoo removal industry.
BTW: I used to be Scorpio with ruling planet Pluto, so I'm in double trouble!
some vaccines contain a mercury-based preservative called Thimerosol (though this is now being phased out in the US
Actually... there hasn't been Thimerosol used in vaccines in the U.S. since 2001.
...You meant to say "turkeys" right?
As in:
"As God is my witness, I thought lawyers were turkeys."
Perhaps he should have taken it to the Greek Squad. :)
I don't think Congress will ever be able to solve Sudoku.
I believe that is called an HMD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EmaginZ800.jpg
...and these are the same countries that have no idea how to properly use 'inches' or 'ounces!'
In fact, some of them have NO IDEA how to speak proper English! They just stare at you blankly...
Great question!
If they taste good I'm marketing them as a new product.
Sealed in a special pressurized container, you pop it open and...
Blam!!
INSTANT SUSHI! (tm)
[Protective bib sold separately]
...I was thinking of the same thing!
I remember the old floppy scheme. As I recall it there were "soft sectors" that you could write 1/0s to, but would always read back as some random value.
This could work to verify a certain machine (or user.)
If there is a master table of which bits on a chip are 'soft' and which are OK for a certain machine, and this chip is in each machine; an interrogator could write and read some memory locations. Only the real machine would have the right bits giving changing data. And each interrogator would be limited to a certain area to test, so in the case of a 'rogue' interrogator, they might learn one area of good and bad bit, but they could not be allowed to learn every one.
Then they would check with the master table which could tell them if they are talking to the real machine.
Game show..?
I'm thinking more like something on the E! channel: "Keeping Up With The Kaczynski's" chronicling the wacky exploits of a dysfunctional family of misfit sociopath bombers.
Darwin was also a genius in many other ways...
Many years before the fossil and DNA discoveries that might have helped him, he conjectured that human life evolved on the continent of Africa and spread outward.
Well, these theories are good if you can time travel. For those of us here in reality, your grandfather was working all day for that $12. So the real measure of money's 'worth' might be gauged by:
"How many hours of labor does it take to buy that exact same wool suit?"
They have nuclear weapons. I'd say that's a pretty big threat.
It's only a threat if they can deliver them. Having them inside your country is unsettling to other countries; being able to launch them into a country halfway around the globe is a threat.