Comments

  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Okay. Space. You say it's caused by vibrating strings. What makes them vibrate?Hillary

    The existence of other dimensions I expect but perhaps you should ask a string theorist.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    You repeatedly have made the mistake to see fields as disturbances of spaceHillary

    Not what I suggested. Space IS one big field of potential. disturbances/excitations occur in space rather than space being separate from the excitations/perturbations which happen within it.

    Creation means turning a virtual particle real and annihilation means turning real to virtual.Hillary
    Virtual particles are also a mathematical tool. It is mere projection to suggest that that which is virtual become real. I think I will call that 'the Pinocchio fallacy.' Explain the detail of how something 'virtual' can become 'real.' Energy turning into mass for example is not virtual becoming real as the energy involved was already real.

    Two electrons interact by coupling to omnipresent virtual photons. There is no emission, no absorption. All particles are conserved.Hillary
    There is a great deal of info on quora and physics stack exchange regarding electron repulsion/collision/interaction. I was tempted to copy and paste some of it but it would have taken up too much space. Almost none of the examples agree with your claim that no emission or absorption of photons is involved. I have much more confidence in the experimental physicists who comment on such sites than I have in you.

    Are you serious hereHillary

    Yes I am. Don't spout polytheism and expect everyone to not take account of that when you try to challenge currently established physics. Are YOU serious? :lol:
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    I dont think it is. But most youngsters doHillary

    I do and I am no youngster, not physically or mentally!

    Aint it great!?Hillary

    :lol: NO! it's a waste imo.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Here's something to cheer you up.

    Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish.
    — Lao Tzu

    Fractals might come in handy
    Agent Smith

    I felt the windy woosh as that one flew right over my head? :lol:
    'like cooking a small fish???????'
    Fractals????
    Are you referencing chaos theory? As in out of fractal chaos, order can naturally arise?
    is frying the small fish some reference to the idea that 'I have bigger fish to fry?'
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Is there one youngster with a diploma that shows a good performance in christianity? Com on brother Uni!Hillary

    Did those who become priests, ministers, bishops, imams etc not attend school? Were they not taught science? You were taught science and look what happened to you! :rofl:
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    science is dull and boringHillary

    Just because you and Tom feel this way about Science does not make it so.
    I find Science wonderful and exciting.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    We need to work on 2 is what I'm saying. This is an uphill task for sure. Why? For the simple reason that to attempt amendment to the ethics of a religion is to accuse God, no less, of error. Lamentable, we've painted ourselves into a corner.Agent Smith

    We should never accept that the label on the tin, accurately identifies the tin contents.
    From 'The right honorable gentleman/lady' through to priest/minister/pope/queen/king/president/Prime mininster/beloved leader and on to honest/wise/good/decent/man/woman.
    The decent, honest, reliable, trustworthy individual must DEMONSTRATE that he/she is such.
    That demonstration must be continuous and consistent.
    We need strong, powerful, reliable checks and balances to stop nefarious b******* from gaining and maintaining power and influence.
    All I need to do now is work out exactly how to achieve that on a global scale! :worry:
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    No. Australians seem pretty apathetic and we largely lost interest in the republic idea some years backTom Storm

    I do agree with your comment in a general, global sense right now that there is a great deal of apathy in the human global population. I think its a combination of 'we have no power to or are too scared to try to change things for the better of all' OR 'well, I know there is a whole lot of unfair shit going on in the world but I just wanna be able to pay my biils, look after my loved ones and enjoy my life.'
    I think such apathy is present in all villages, town, cities, including the ones in Australia BUT I also think that below this surface, most Australians think that Monarchy is backward, immature and even ridiculous.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Isn't it mandated religion should be kept out of school?Hillary

    So how do you account for the subject of RE (Religious Education) taught in all Scottish secondary schools and the fact that Scottish catholic schools are still very much allowed in the British system?
    Half the schools here have the word 'Saint' in their names!
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    "You live in a Christian nation, just suck it up." On the other hand, I believe the separation is important.T Clark

    I support democracy and majority rule but I certainly would never suggest dissenters just 'suck it up.'
    Organise, protest, campaign, even engage in civil disobedience but I would also emphasise the importance of a non-violent strategy. Otherwise, you are not being true to yourself and agree to be like a carpet for those you don't agree with to freely walk all over.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's

    This is one of the dumbest, most obvious pieces of made-up Roman propaganda ever put into the mouth of the invented Jesus character. Caesar was a dictator, a despot, a butcher, evil through and through. He and the Roman system stole the vast majority of what they acquired.
    Why would Jesus tell the Jews to pay their taxes to a tyrannical system such as Rome?
    Unless it was just Roman propaganda to get the rebellious Jews to do just that. Behave, accept Roman rule and pay the taxes Rome demanded.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Not significant enough..Possibility

    I think Australians are moving inexorably in the direction of a 'monarchy-free zone.'
    I hope Scotland becomes independent eventually, then gets rid of the monarchy and joins Europe again and Unites with every other country it can, including England but not as something as colonial and empire soiled as Great ( :rofl: ) Britain. I have never felt British in any way at all. British means nothing to me. I don't think many Australians still feel allegiance to something as outdated as the British
    monarchy. Surely they see how such was rewarded in the inept and criminal way Churchhill used the Anzacs as fodder at Gallipoli
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Nice analysis! You, sir/ma'am, are on the right trackAgent Smith

    Thanks but I don't know which analysis you are referring to? But thanks! :smile:
    Btw. I can confirm I am male so no need for the sir/madam.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Personally I quite like Krishnamurti - I still own a few of his books. As mystics go, he is one of the better ones. And I say this as a heathen.Tom Storm

    I have a sister that would agree with you. We often argue about Jiddu. I think he was a flim-flam man who was clever enough to earn an easy living.
    From wiki:
    In his early life, he was groomed to be the new World Teacher, an advanced spiritual position in the theosophical tradition, but later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the organization behind it

    I am not so sure he left his 'theosophy' behind him. I use the theosophist label for characters from such as Rasputin to Aleister Crowley, the Maharishi, Elijah Mohamed etc. All flim-flam artists.
    Imo, Jiddu made so many inane quotes that were dressed up in contrived wording but were actually more like 'no shit Sherlock.' observations.
    Examples from the internet (again, I stress this is just my opinion) are:
    "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
    "Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay."
    "Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they build temples."
    "Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem."
    "One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end."
    "The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear."
    "With increasing age, dullness of mind and heart sets in."
    "When I understand myself, I understand you, and out of that understanding comes love."
    "Truth is a pathless land."
    "This is love: the flowering of love is meditation."


    Jiddu was a BS artist in pursuit of a free lunch in my opinion, sorry Tom, sorry sis!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Ah! I thought you had joined the mystics! Thank godHillary

    At least your interpretative skills are consistent in this area. Unfortunately, they are consistently wrong.

    All subatomic events!
    — universeness

    Which are?
    Hillary

    Are you trying to get me, who regularly confirms that my qualifications in physics (1st year Uni) + my own reading since) is limited. You are so obvious. Anyway, how about pair production.

    Brother Uni! We're over that now. We talk science now.Hillary
    Noooooooooooo! You will never be allowed to do that. Your scientific musing will always be related to your dalliances with theism. To me, it makes your rationality as suspicious as a socialist who accepts a place in the house of lords and uses the title that comes with it. Such a person is no socialist imo!

    But particles are exactly what stuff is made of. How can you ignore them?Hillary

    If QFT is correct and space itself consists of properties (which are currently being presented as 'fields,' scalar fields, vector fields, spinor fields etc) then all particles are disturbances/excitations of the fields.
    I see this as a universe that in its entirety, is like a liquid. Nothing can separate from the liquid ln the way that happens during a 'splash' in water. There is no 'outside' of the universe. But space is internally dynamic and individual particles/concentrations/excitations/ripples/perturbations etc can 'interact,' and that is what creates the content of the Universe. A very simplistic overview of reality I know, but then, I am not a physicist. I also still am currently most convinced by the idea that our Macro 3D space could be due to something akin to or exactly like string vibrations in > 3 dimensions. Phenomena like Gravity and time etc would result purely as a consequence of subatomic interactions in a similar way to wind or weather phenomena being a consequence of interactions rather than a separate fundamental force, which perhaps relates to the bootstrap philosophy.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.

    Well, thanks for your opinion of the description of 'bootstrap philosophy,' I inlcuded in the OP.

    I take it that you also read my words:
    I am not personally a strong advocate of 'bootstrap philosophy' as it is described aboveuniverseness

    So I have no intention of defending the description in the OP.
    A point particle was always a purely mathematical construct as it has 0 dimensional extensions. It only has coordinates in 3D space. 0 dim point particles were therefore not an important concept in the bootstrap approach.
    As the quote about Chew in the OP suggested:
    S-matrix theorists sought to understand the strong interaction by using the analytic properties of the scattering matrix to calculate the interactions of bound-states without assuming that there is a point-particle field theory underneath.

    We go on.

    " and is now in harmony with Eastern thought, both in its general philosophy and in its specific picture of matter."

    Complete woowoo
    Hillary

    I think they are referring to the 'universal harmonious interactions' suggested in Eastern thought as being evidenced by the harmonious interactions which occur in subatomic reality, nothing more.
    I wouldn't call that woo woo, certainly not when compared to your woo woo about dino gods etc.

    Which events?Hillary

    All subatomic events!

    But by leaving out the particles this can magically be done. Which we call: WOOWOO!Hillary

    Well , you the polytheist, calls it woo woo! :rofl: You who suggest heaven exists and is full of gods of extinct animals, who must vastly outnumber your humanoid gods around the ratio of 1 humgod to 99 ani/dinogods. :rofl: A Trex god who is entertained by human activities on this single tiny wee planet Earth. :rofl:
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    I thought you might have some idea how to, you know, find the way out of the maze of suffering/agony/angst/pain. I would like that very much, but looks like I'm not getting out of the mess I'm in anytime soon. I hope, I :grin: and bear itAgent Smith

    I would loudly and proudly shout for help and expect it. Why suffer in silence unnecessarily when there is help available and if there is none then I would be camping nearby my local and national politicians and I would be asking them, everyday, why there is no adequate help available. Even if the best I can hope for is to die right next to them and with the knowledge of the local press then I would consider that a victory.
    Maybe an individual cannot stop what's happening to them but they can perhaps help stop it from happening to others.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    ↪universeness I've hit the limits of what I know and my analytical ability. I kinda feel stupid right now. :snicker:Agent Smith

    I kinda feel "stupid" right now.
    — Agent Smith
    And, no doubt, "contagious" ... :smirk:
    180 Proof

    I am still pretty foggy on the message here.
    It could be that Agent Smith is roleplaying me and thinks I should be uttering the words in the quote he typed above and 180 proof is simply suggesting something general like 'yeah there is a lot of 'stupid' being demonstrated on this site!
    When I try to 'decipher' what others truly mean, I oscillate between self-accusation of being overly analytical to a kind of embarrassed feeling of 'no shit Sherlock,' of course, that's what they really mean.
    I suppose, In the final analysis, such analysis is more about me than it is about anyone else.
    All interesting stuff!
    Again I go back to one of my favourite Rabbie Burns Quotes:
    'Oh wad some power, the giftie gie us, tae see oorsels as ithers see us.'
  • Would an “independent” thinker be wiser than an academic/famous philosopher?
    Do you think the method of academic philosophy is the best to reach wisdom?Skalidris

    No, I don't think it is by itself, but it's a contributor. I think you are fundamentally correct in your OP.
    In my teaching career, I found that the teachers who took the time and made the effort to understand the character and personality of the pupils they taught, had the best chance to progress them both academically and socially (perhaps a more important responsibility as it can be abused).

    I met some teachers who were highly qualified in their subject but could not teach for toffee, almost useless. Wisdom needs breadth, depth, experience, emotional balance, etc, etc.
    I don't think anyone who is truly wise knows that they are truly wise.
    If you are labeled such by the vast majority of people you encounter in your life then I think you are quite rare.

    So, the wisest person would have the most knowledge with the least contradiction.Skalidris
    Yes, I agree that being consistent is very important and demonstrating acceptance that you can be wrong and that you have the ability to consider new valid information and be willing to challenge your own deepest held viewpoints, are also attributes I would consider wise.

    to actively explore the world and meet all kinds of people...Skalidris
    Wise words!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    I'm not a sophisticated person, mon ami! I've always had the feeling I have barbarian blood in meAgent Smith

    Barbarian was from a Greek word that just meant foreigner. It was the nasty Romans who used it to refer to hordes of tribal folks that just charged them en masse with manic fervour and in what seemed like complete disregard for their own lives. Especially when the Romans were in strong supportive formations, backed up by the lethal artillery systems that Rome also had.
    There were/are plenty of sophisticated foreigners/barbarians now and in the days of the Romans.
    I think it's a shame that 'barbarian' is such a negatively burdened word, which is not historically fair. Same with Vandal, or Goth.
    I personally think Celtic and Germanic art, jewelry etc is better than Roman.
    If you are not being 'sophisticated' or deliberately cryptic then perhaps you are just trying to be diplomatic. If so, then being considerate is a strength imo.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    I try to stay literal!Agent Smith

    I haven't completely 'sussed' the subtleties of your approach yet agent smith.
    Your typing above would suggest your meaning is easy to follow if you look at the literal meaning of the words you type but it could also be an admission that the exact opposite is true.
    I remain, as I expect you prefer, fogged, concerning your actual opinions on most topics.
    I don't mind the dance! :party:
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    ↪universeness I've hit the limits of what I know and my analytical ability. I kinda feel stupid right now. :snicker:

    Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
    — Ludwig Wittgenstein

    :zip: You shut me up!
    Agent Smith

    mysticism!
    — universeness

    A desperado's escape hatch! Something must give, si
    Agent Smith

    Cryptic! I think you like the fact that I have no idea if you are attacking me or supporting me.
    Perhaps a little of both? :chin:
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.

    I have very little interest in mysticism!
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?

    Believe in da boomboom brozzer, if ya needs to! It elp you in dee nite when da bad veesit your brain!
    I will stay with rationality thanks!
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    So does theism.Hillary

    :rofl:
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    I know what they wrote. MysticsHillary

    You are quite mystical yourself!
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Like in science!Hillary

    No science makes effort to discern between what is plausible and what is not.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    If a cosmology is complete, and mine is, what other reason for it's existence can be given than gods?Hillary

    Anything your unfettered imagination can come up with. Anything goes in your world of woo woo.
    Your universe could have been created by SCIgod from the union of the mathaphys and the orga.
    Or it could have been da boomboom that made everything. Da boomboom was da first cause and did not need any other cause, cause it was da first da only, da original da boomboom!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    So there is a Jewish science?Hillary

    The nation and culture you are nurtured in, will affect your approach to science in many nuanced ways. Some nuances will be strengths and others weaknesses.

    Capra and Chew are the same mystics.Hillary

    Possibly true, I didn't know them personally, did you? Personally, I wouldn't label Chew a mystic, maybe Chew founded the bootstrap philosophy to try to bridge some gaps as well as view the issues of the time and the hot questions in physics at the time from 'new' angles. I don't know, hence the thread to invite the opinions of others.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    Agreed. I like that you brought up the ‘neutral’ position of the UK Royal Family, as head of both church and governmentPossibility

    Is the movement in Australia towards becoming a republic not quite significant now?
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    What's wrong with being irrational.Hillary

    It's not rational!

    The mist irrational thing is a mindless spark!Hillary

    And your alternative offer is god(s) :rofl: Let the people decide!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Exactly! That's why you don't understand the gods or mystics. You're brainwashed by scienceHillary

    Neither am I. Especially not by scienceHillary

    Well, I am not suggesting you are Egyptian or anything but you are certainly in DEniAl.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    Why shouldn't he. Like you think, science will never progress. Pointing at the fact of not being peer-reviewed or published, and being afraid to be banned on Quora when the dogma is challenged...Hillary

    He could have but I think he chose not to waste his time. He was published and peer-reviewed.
    I don't think Einstein was ever concerned about being banned from physics media, even though his ideas were very new and quite revolutionary. They were nonetheless very plausible. I think that's what makes the difference to the established science community.
    They want to focus on the most plausible ideas which is probably why the mobius strip/klein bottle guy can't get a contract with a group like Patreon to do monthly MobiusklineScape podcasts on Youtube.
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    What on Earth has that got to do with his physics?Hillary

    All that you are influences all that you do!

    Because your natural desire for the mystic is suppressed by the ruling powersHillary

    No, I am just not easily duped. I am not immune but I am not lost to woo woo, like someone who is a....oh I dunno?....a polytheist!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    As he is into loop gravity, he aims for quantized time.Hillary

    I think his up-and-coming paper will suggest equations for loop quantum gravity that do not include a time variable. At least, that's my understanding from his most recent interviews on YouTube.
  • Nothing is really secular, is it?
    My dear brother Uni, listen carefully. The north and and south pole of a magnet exist by virtue of each otherHillary

    They are opposites, positive and negative, opposites. The rational people and the irrational people (like you), opposites!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    My idol, David BohmHillary

    Clever man who sadly, was often very ill and depressed. As I have stated before, I will never understand why he associated with a mystic like Jiddu Krishnamurti.
    It's like Einstein taking advice from a woo woo guru!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    EEEE
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    EEE
    E
    EEEE
    Agent Smith

    Little E's can make big E's but what are the little E's made of. A fundamental E?
    E's are also illegal in all night clubs in Glasgow!
  • Bootstrap Philosophy and Goeffrey Chew.
    I think Rovelli likes it.Hillary

    I think he probably does as I think he sees time as not really having fundamental quanta.
    Many including I think Brian Cox consider gravity to be a result of interaction and not made of a fundamental quantum, such as the graviton.
    Maybe a quantum theory of gravity will prove to be unrequired after all in the correct ToE.