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Bushman
climber
The state of quantum flux
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Apr 28, 2016 - 02:00pm PT
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Changing the subject I heard this quote on NPR today and thought it was humorous, although it has also been attributed to Albert Einstein as well;
Somebody once asked Niels Bohr why he had a horseshoe hanging above the front door of his house.
"Surely you, a world famous physicist, can't really believe that hanging a horseshoe above your door brings you luck?".
"Of course not," Bohr replied, "but I have been reliably informed that it will bring me luck whether I believe in it or not."
-Neils Bohr
It reminds me of how when I go to my massage therapist, she has these bowls she gongs which I guess are a Buddhist thing and she gongs them over me at the end of the massage to release my chakras. I have no clue as to the effect or the results but, being as open-minded as I possibly can I try to believe that it is beneficial and to go along with it.
I always keep my eyes closed and relaxed throughout the massage. The other day while the bowl was ringing, I visualized myself as this dark stack of things on a golden horizon, the top of which was a strange tarantula flower that opened from my center. It was automatic and visceral with no prompting or forethought. Apparently this chakra opening thing works, whether I believe it or not.
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MikeL
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 28, 2016 - 02:54pm PT
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^^^^^^^^^
Ha-ha. Good one. And good for you, too.
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MikeL
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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Believers in religion believe in belief, science believes in science, and the collision between the two is an unmoderated pillow fight without the unreasonable demands of reason. It could be more interesting to see a fight between logic and science to expose science’s baseless assumptions. We never look at them because we never doubt--because we accept all appearances. We ride the tide of consensus. One would think that philosophy should reign over science and religion, but it doesn’t because it shies away from extreme skepticism. Actually living philosophy (what Allan Bloom called “the theoretical life”) is a journey of extreme proportions. It’s a personal inferno, a prolonged and bitter conflict. Instead, almost every philosopher today is a non-participant and ideologue. They suit-up like players, talk a good game, but never take the field.
Life is a whole lot more comfortable if we just relax and play along.
A serious participant will come to find the library of human knowledge eerily empty and quiet.
God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through. (Paul Valery)
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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"Life is a whole lot more comfortable if we just relax and play along."
There will be plenty of time for that when I'm 85 plus. (Golf too.)
Better....
"Life is a whole lot more exciting when we roll up our sleeves, jump into our passions and bust a move."
When you "relax" you rust.
What problem did you solve today?
.....
I've often looked for the common ground... science included...
Frankly I don't see all that many
Says the guy who proudly touts he's got no beliefs.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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Messenger of science, sure.
You want to call that Preacher man, it's a free world,
have at it.
Pretending to knowledge you don't have is no virtue.
How pathetic, I'm posting to a guy who
prides himself on having no beliefs. lol.
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Mark Force
Trad climber
Ashland, Oregon
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Some really lucid thinking and writing by Jeffrey Taylor. Thanks for the share HFCS.
We need to dump the concept of “Islamophobia” in the waste bin of history (and drop our reluctance to criticize other religions, too), return to Enlightenment principles (which include unfettered speech about religion), and start working for the common good, free from superstition and metaphysical dogma.
~ Jeffrey Talor, Free Speech and Islam — The Left Betrays the Most Vulnerable
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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So true, Mark.
.....
I don't like salon but I do like sean carroll, U.S. physicist...
“The evidence is pretty incontrovertible that he doesn’t exist”
Stephen Colbert’s favorite scientist on the universe, naturalism and finding meaning without God...
http://tinyurl.com/j87gnos
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MikeL
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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HFCS: When you "relax" you rust. What problem did you solve today?
The problem of having problems.
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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May 10, 2016 - 09:54am PT
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Request for Dr. Ed to intervene.
Please go to the Netanyahu's Iran speech thread and put to rest some crazy talk about Israel using tactical nukes
one story reports that there is no nuclear fallout after a nuclear explosion, so they can't say they didn't use nukes!!!
I call it all BS, but we need an expert.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=2588916&tn=200
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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May 10, 2016 - 10:11am PT
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I know this much. A nuke exploding on the ground causes horrible fallout. Airbursts cause much less. Just look at the Sedan Test.
No fallout? Never heard that one.
Ed probably can't discuss nuclear weapons. I think he works at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and they designed most of our nuclear weapons after the Manhattan Project. He probably has a security clearance and can't discuss nuclear weapons, or at least in detail.
They do all kinds of cool stuff there. Maintaining our nuclear stockpile is only one of their missions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Livermore_National_Laboratory
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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May 10, 2016 - 10:16am PT
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I would say that our brain has limited storage capacity and memory recall such that the written word was necessary for our species to accumulate knowledge. I personally don't believe that's the case with a number of cetacean species who have an oral tradition ranging back tens of millions of years. I suspect, but certainly can't prove, that their brains evolved to accumulate knowledge by that mechanism and it has shaped their brains for that purpose.
Well said. I always disagree with the word purpose, though. Evolution has no purpose or agenda. It is just flipping coins and seeing what survives to reproduce and what doesn't. Some adaptations are neutral. Some are advantageous. Some are fatal without medical intervention.
You could certainly argue that with modern medicine, our own evolution is stalled. We need to look at how we choose mates and who is having the most children. Not really a pretty picture unless you are a Mormon. The most intelligent or physically fit no longer have the most kids.
Ever see the film "Idiocracy"? That is what is happening to the human race.
Today, all you need to reproduce a ton of kids is a penis and a vagina. There is no direct competition. No natural selection.
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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May 10, 2016 - 10:25am PT
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Ed does work on maintaining the stockpile
I'm sure there is much that is classified, but the after effects of an explosion should be acceptable for an open discussion
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WBraun
climber
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May 10, 2016 - 10:27am PT
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you must kill your father before you can seize the throne
100% percent correct.
But the fools will never ever be able to, nor has it ever been done nor will it ever be done .......
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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May 10, 2016 - 10:31am PT
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I don't know what put a burr under your saddle, but I stand by that statement. With modern medicine, people born with traits that would have been fatal at worst can be cured and reproduce.
If we were all stripped naked and tossed into the jungle with no medicine and a competition for food and resources, then you would see evolution at work.
How in hell do you think I am even in the neighborhood of Paul's opinions? I try to correct them whenever I can. I don't live here all day, so I don't get to read 100 posts to catch up, so I just jump in and try to contribute.
I will give you an example. I have a nephew that was born with a birth defect in his heart. He had a hole in the wall between two chambers. At the earliest opportunity, he had surgery to correct it, a genetic defect. Now he can grow old and have 20 kids if he joins the Mormon Church. Without medicine, he would have died before reaching puberty.
I'm not saying that I'm not happy that he is OK, because I am. But natural selection would have tossed him out of the gene pool before he was able to reproduce without the intervention of modern medicine.
It remains to be seen whether his defect is inheritable. Not all genetic defects are. But it is an example.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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May 10, 2016 - 10:49am PT
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"I just don't get how yall can espouse science and evolution and then..." -dmt
you know, in your own way you're as reckless as wb.
And just as proud of it too, it seems.
Reckless. Proud.
The key fact here is YOU don't get a lot of things. Esp
those that are science-related and require a little deeper
thinking, deeper parsing.
So be it.
PS
Come to think of it, after all your years of posting, I don't know if in fact you've had even one year
of a college level science course. In anything. Let alone 30 or 50 or more. Yet you have... oh never mind.
Carry on, smartasses.
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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May 10, 2016 - 11:34am PT
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yaawn, just another testosterone tuesday
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