I can't help but wonder, though: even at that depth, the biomass will decay and still release the CO2, won't it ? If it didn't, the oceans should be filled to the brim with dead creatures by now.
Not quite. Too many lions per zebra leads not to the zebra's extinction per se, as some will always escape, but to the lion population getting cut down to appropriate levels through famine deaths.
The remaining zebra population will then slowly repopulate because there's now a *shortage* of predators, and the repopulation of zebras will in turn kindle a repopulation of lions again.
> I have similar questions about the 'curvature of space-time',
In as far as I actually understand the stuff myself, there is indeed a curvature, but as you point out, in a very mathematical, n-dimensional sense. Think of explaining what a three-dimensional tree is, to a stick figure who can only really see stick figure trees. The additional dimensions, and especially imagining what those would 'look' like, are way beyond our poor monkey brains, except for those select few who are fucked up sufficiently to think in weird mathematical constructs.
I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course:-)
You're quite right, on both counts, but if you don't use the kind of analogy that stops questions, you'll never get anything done when teaching people. Terry Pratchett calls this lies-to-children, because the principle is well-used throughout the educational system. You can't really explain to a six-year old that the Sun is a exothermic nuclear fission reaction that pretty much started itself due to the gravity of an increasingly large accumulation of helium, so you tell them it's a big ball of fire in the sky.
The point of this analogy, is to give you an extremely simplified idea of how gravity works by using what you already know, namely that stuff goes down by itself and that a marble on a sheet of rubber will make an indentation, so any other marble close enough to it, will roll down the indentation and get closer to the first one.
If you're at the point where you try to apply the ruleset to the analogy yourself, the analogy has basically become useless for you, and you need to move on to more authoritative sources on the subject for further understanding. And yes, eventually you'll hit the limit of current knowledge, or maybe become the next Einstein - we can only hope:-)
This is what's commonly referred to as "overthinking it".
You're given an analogy so you don't have to understand the entire ruleset. If you then attempt to apply the ruleset that the analogy was trying to keep you away from, well...
Slashdot Mirror
Had I modpoints, you'd get some.
:-)
Finally someone makes an actual tech joke, and whaddayanow, no-one gets it.
Oh well, have a cookie
You haven't, yet ? By Jove, they've gotten it stabl
of course not. The lights are brighter at night, so they can be used to power the solar panels.
What? That's the same type of reasoning they use all through the bible, and it's worked for them so far.
I call fake. No real cop should be able to spot that.
> sends the beam to say, Tucson by mistake?
You shouldn't believe all the marketing hype. There's bound to be a downside to this, too.
Apparently, Jet Blue is an ISAM database, dixit WikiPedia.
Maybe they should try MySQL as Exchange backend.
I'm sure you mean "compared to the competition on wintel" ?
It would, however, fix the problem of idiots who shouldn't be allowed within a mile of a computer leaving their machines open for all to rape.
> many of those users started trading with the nonexistent money
If I was to suddenly find a million bucks in my account, I'd go and find out where it came from and if it's really mine, before I start spending it.
+5 Funny ? I wish I had modpoints to give you Insightful, dammit.
I just imagined a new Transformer, now. And sure as hell, rule 34 is going to apply.
Thanks a lot.
I can't help but wonder, though: even at that depth, the biomass will decay and still release the CO2, won't it ? If it didn't, the oceans should be filled to the brim with dead creatures by now.
Not quite. Too many lions per zebra leads not to the zebra's extinction per se, as some will always escape, but to the lion population getting cut down to appropriate levels through famine deaths.
The remaining zebra population will then slowly repopulate because there's now a *shortage* of predators, and the repopulation of zebras will in turn kindle a repopulation of lions again.
Yep. Men, on the other hand, I have distinctly different uses for *grin*
> Thank you for that excellent answer.
Glad to be of service :-)
> I have similar questions about the 'curvature of space-time',
In as far as I actually understand the stuff myself, there is indeed a curvature, but as you point out, in a very mathematical, n-dimensional sense. Think of explaining what a three-dimensional tree is, to a stick figure who can only really see stick figure trees. The additional dimensions, and especially imagining what those would 'look' like, are way beyond our poor monkey brains, except for those select few who are fucked up sufficiently to think in weird mathematical constructs.
I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course :-)
Neh, you're pretty good for doing the dishes, too.
arghl :-)
You're quite right, on both counts, but if you don't use the kind of analogy that stops questions, you'll never get anything done when teaching people. Terry Pratchett calls this lies-to-children, because the principle is well-used throughout the educational system. You can't really explain to a six-year old that the Sun is a exothermic nuclear fission reaction that pretty much started itself due to the gravity of an increasingly large accumulation of helium, so you tell them it's a big ball of fire in the sky.
The point of this analogy, is to give you an extremely simplified idea of how gravity works by using what you already know, namely that stuff goes down by itself and that a marble on a sheet of rubber will make an indentation, so any other marble close enough to it, will roll down the indentation and get closer to the first one.
If you're at the point where you try to apply the ruleset to the analogy yourself, the analogy has basically become useless for you, and you need to move on to more authoritative sources on the subject for further understanding. And yes, eventually you'll hit the limit of current knowledge, or maybe become the next Einstein - we can only hope :-)
This is what's commonly referred to as "overthinking it".
You're given an analogy so you don't have to understand the entire ruleset. If you then attempt to apply the ruleset that the analogy was trying to keep you away from, well...
A lot of people happen to like ass.
> No half hour installations, needles restarts, patches that take several hours to download and install...
Don't worry, the PS3 fixed all that.
Ok, granted, not hours at a time, but games install stuff on your harddisk, refuse to start until you downloaded the latest patch, ...
I know I wouldn't trust the Breen if my life depended on it.
> they're once again branded as the most Evil Corporation
I wasn't aware the designation had been revoked ?
ummm...
When you're a student, you pay for the time you spend there.
When you're an employee, you GET PAID for the time you spend there.
Dunno about you, but I most certainly do see the difference.
No, I rather think he was working on the assumption that your friends are also nerds, and better-informed than you :-)