“It’s impossible.”
It’s bad enough we can’t know everything about the physical universe, even with more advanced technology.[1] Surely we can escape any such limits in the realm of logic and math, can’t we? Surprisingly, no, we still have unknowable things in logic, at least related to math and computation. Continue reading “The Logically Unknowable (Part 1)”
“The universe is keeping secrets from us….”
People say that no one has all the answers. In fact, no one can have all the answers, even if they have some place to store all that information. Some things are simply unknowable. This isn’t just my opinion – this is according to accepted theory. Strangely, some unknowable information occurs in physics, which is contrary to the idea that we can learn as much as we want about something, as long as we have adequate technology. Continue reading “The Physically Unknowable”
“…it’s interesting to see a connection between something so old and something as modern as computer technology.”
While in school (years ago), I heard mythology described as an attempt by some cultures to explain various natural phenomena. That gave me the impression that a member of such a culture would believe in what a myth from his culture told him. I thought this made cultures with myths seem naive. Did people really believe that the sky is carried on the shoulders of a giant god named Atlas?[1] Continue reading “Mythology And Data Compression”
“Can a forest really behave as a whole in a way that seems intelligent and also protect itself and its contents?”
I rarely get to visit a large forest, but I have noticed even a small forest of a few acres seems to have a “presence” about it, like a hint of consciousness. Being in a forest can even give me the feeling of being watched. I don’t think this watchful presence feeling is from specific plants or animals in the forest, but maybe all of them together, possibly in combination with the land features as well. Or maybe it’s something else in the forest, something not visible.
“Is there by chance an agenda?”
Rewards and penalties have guided individuals and society throughout human history. As generalizations of pleasure and pain, rewards and penalties can be very strong motivators. In fact, rewards alone are enough to help teach dogs some sophisticated tricks. Rewards and penalties together are of course useful for raising children as well as shaping commerce and other dealings in human society. After all, most people like rewards such as ice cream or money, and few people like punishment such as being grounded or spending time in jail.
But there can be too much of a good thing. Continue reading “Conspiracy and More”
“Nomenclature aside, how much energy is required to get every living human off the Earth and relocated elsewhere?”
When we Americans talk about “the Pilgrims,” we usually are talking about the group of English settlers who came to North America in 1620 in search of religious freedom. They celebrated a good fall harvest the following year, which became the first Thanksgiving.[1] In general, a pilgrim is someone who makes a journey for religious purposes.
What then is a space pilgrim? Suppose the entire population of the Earth needed to evacuate the planet and relocate elsewhere. Continue reading “Space Pilgrims”
“Nature can of course surprise us.”
We find stories of people coming back from the dead in fiction as well as legends, myths, and religions. Coming back from the dead tends to mean becoming alive again, after being dead long enough to remove doubt about being dead. At the more real end of the spectrum, common sense suggests it’s not a safe bet if we’re talking about being dead for a long time, at least outside of religious contexts. Fiction, on the other hand, has no problem with having people walking and talking again after being dead for years or even decades or centuries. How possible is it for someone to come back from being dead for years, without preparation like cryogenics? Continue reading “Coming Back From the Dead”
“While alive, we all have effects on our environment that have varying degrees of permanence.”
Yes, I’m discussing ghosts, luck, and curses – and just in time for Halloween. Utter nonsense, you say? We’ll see. These things are more related – and possible – than you think. What exactly is a ghost? The Merriam-Webster web site defines a ghost as a disembodied soul.[1] I’m going to use the term spirit instead of soul and focus on the consciousness aspect of it in this discussion. So I would expect a spirit to contain a person’s thoughts, feelings, and memories but without physical sensations or requirements such as hunger or tiredness. In my opinion, a spirit is what we generally interact with when we interact with someone on a psychological or intellectual level. Continue reading “Ghosts, Luck, And Curses”
“Yes, there is definitely a circle there.”
When I was in college, it didn’t make sense to me that the position of an object on the end of a spring should be described by a function like sine or cosine, as in:
It’s just a simple harmonic oscillator. All the thing does is move back and forth. Why is there a function from trigonometry when I don’t see any circles or angles involved? Continue reading “The Hidden Circle in a Simple Harmonic Oscillator”
“The results are telling….”
Suppose it’s raining outside and you need to go some short distance on foot, maybe to a building 50 feet away. Should you run or should you walk, in order to stay drier? Opinions can vary and may include “always run,” “always walk,” “it doesn’t matter,” or “it depends.” Of course the choice of the better approach always depends at least a little on the specific situation, but maybe we can arrive at some kind of general answer for the question.
Odd STEM 