Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Let us not forget the witch scene in Monty Python & the Holy Grail!

Yes, let us knot.....squeeeeeek......

[WT Sharpe]

Since I got no response from the Mark Twain quote, I'll go ahead and post what I was going to post for today. Here's something else to keep us awake nights!


.....Relaxing on an idyllic beach on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean, Anthony Aguirre vividly describes the worst natural disaster he can imagine. It is, in fact, probably the worst natural disaster that anyone could imagine. An asteroid impact would be small potatoes compared with this kind of event: a catastrophic encounter with an entire other universe.
.....As an alien cosmos came crashing into ours, its outer boundary would look like a wall racing forward at nearly the speed of light; behind that wall would lie a set of physical laws totally different from ours that would wreck everything they touched in our universe. "If we could see things in ultraslow motion, we'd see a big mirror in the sky rushing toward us because light would be reflected by the wall," says Aguirre, a youthful physicist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. "After that we wouldn't see anything—because we'd all be dead."
..........— Zeeya Merali, freelance writer in London who has written articles for Scientific American, Nature, New Scientist, Discover and published two textbooks in collaboration with National Geographic. "Will Our Universe Collide With a Neighboring One?", Discover Magazine, October 2009.

.....There are tantalizing hints that our universe has already survived such a collision—and bears the scars to prove it.
..........— Ibid.



Goodnight, everyone!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Since I got no response from the Mark Twain quote, I'll go ahead and post what I was going to post for today. Here's something else to keep us awake nights!


.....Relaxing on an idyllic beach on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean, Anthony Aguirre vividly describes the worst natural disaster he can imagine. It is, in fact, probably the worst natural disaster that anyone could imagine. An asteroid impact would be small potatoes compared with this kind of event: a catastrophic encounter with an entire other universe.
.....As an alien cosmos came crashing into ours, its outer boundary would look like a wall racing forward at nearly the speed of light; behind that wall would lie a set of physical laws totally different from ours that would wreck everything they touched in our universe. "If we could see things in ultraslow motion, we'd see a big mirror in the sky rushing toward us because light would be reflected by the wall," says Aguirre, a youthful physicist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. "After that we wouldn't see anything—because we'd all be dead."
..........— Zeeya Merali, freelance writer in London who has written articles for Scientific American, Nature, New Scientist, Discover and published two textbooks in collaboration with National Geographic. "Will Our Universe Collide With a Neighboring One?", Discover Magazine, October 2009.

.....There are tantalizing hints that our universe has already survived such a collision—and bears the scars to prove it.
..........— Ibid.



Goodnight, everyone!

I don't know. I was watching "The Universe" and they were discussing colliding galaxies and basically said it would not have a big affect on the Earth/Solar system....but I guess the Universe might be different....I don't know that there are actually legitimate theories that speculate additional Universes.....isn't the Universe everything?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kennyc

.isn't the Universe everything?

It's everything that exists in our four-dimensional spacetime, which is all that we can perceive. However, many modern theories postulate high-dimensional spaces within which our universe is merely one of many, and each of which could have very different physical laws. Eg, a minor change in Planck's constant, or the gravitational constant, or the charge on the electron would make life as it exists in our universe impossible. But that, of course, is merely a restatement of the "anthropic principle" which answers the question "why is our universe the way it is" with the answer "because if it were different we wouldn't be here to observe it".

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's everything that exists in our four-dimensional spacetime, which is all that we can perceive. However, many modern theories postulate high-dimensional spaces within which our universe is merely one of many, and each of which could have very different physical laws. Eg, a minor change in Planck's constant, or the gravitational constant, or the charge on the electron would make life as it exists in our universe impossible. But that, of course, is merely a restatement of the "anthropic principle" which answers the question "why is our universe the way it is" with the answer "because if it were different we wouldn't be here to observe it".

I understand that, but that's talking about other possible ways this universe could have turned out. That doesn't mean there ARE other universes...

and no it's NOT limited to 4 dimensions as a definition of the universe. That is another unknown speculation at the moment, certainly String theory requires up to 12 dimensions, but is still a theory of the (i.e. this) universe.

[Sparrow]

Is the thinking that there is no reason why the Big Bang that gave rise to our Universe should be a unique event?
There could be other Big Bangs and hence other Universes. I just watched the 'Stephen Hawking's Universe' programmes, and he pointed out that the long-term survival of humanity would depend on navigating to other universes when this one dies (although there are a lot of other hurdles to overcome before working on that problem).

[kennyc]

Sparrow, it gets pretty speculative ... a bit like religion ... at some of the edges.

[WT Sharpe]

I would think that the same processes that gave rise to our universe could give rise to others. Sure, it's all speculation, but speculation is all we have. In addition, there's always the possibility that black holes are giving birth to other "bubble" universes. I remember hearing Carl Sagan in Cosmos saying, "If you want to know what it's like inside a black hole, look around."

[WT Sharpe]

.....Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
..........— Herman Melville (1819-1891), American novelist. From his short story, "Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's crumbs."

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

.....Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
..........— Herman Melville (1819-1891), American novelist. From his short story, "Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's crumbs."

hey that fits right in with this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1063206

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by kennyc

hey that fits right in with this thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1063206

Oh no it doesn't.
(Unless you spotted criticisms of the poor in the article that I missed. )

[WT Sharpe]

I also don't see how folks who voluntarily choose a minimalist lifestyle that includes sponging off their friends fit that quote.

[FlorenceArt]

Well, there is a connection in so far as they are both about people who have no idea what it means to be poor. But it's a bit thin

Edit: the people in the article could be thought of as "playing at being poor". That's what it feels like to me anyway, so I do see a connection.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

.....Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
..........— Herman Melville (1819-1891), American novelist. From his short story, "Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's crumbs."

This quote makes me think of all the descriptions in Dickens' novels of the wealthy matrons going out on duty calls inflicting soup upon the poor!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Well, there is a connection in so far as they are both about people who have no idea what it means to be poor. But it's a bit thin

Edit: the people in the article could be thought of as "playing at being poor". That's what it feels like to me anyway, so I do see a connection.

Exactly. As someone said in that other thread, it's disrespectful of the truly homeless in the same manner as the quote above is.