Questions! Without Answers?
Mar 6, 2008 at 11:09 PM Post #46 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Akathisia /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Do you mean wormholes (not trying to be a jerk), becuase I thought no matter could pass through the event horizon of a black hole intact?

I can't remember, it's been a long time since I read all about black boles


I thought the event horizon - simplified immensely here - was just the proverbial point of no return. The invisible boundary around a black hole where nothing - not even light, can escape?

What happens beyond it is, of course, the interesting part and, so far, a complete mystery.
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 12:05 AM Post #47 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper
Instances of odd behavior as seen in the video above illustrate just how unpredictable the animal kingdom can be. If we are to believe in animal sentience (which I do), then it might just suggest that there's more to the natural order of things than meets the eye.


The video above isn't odd behavior for African Buffalo. Rather, it's part of their survival of the fittest strategy. For them, their size precludes evasion from being a viable survival tactic and large predator sizes make every individual in the herd vulnerable to attack. Their physical construction and low herd movement range also make them better able to survive and heal up from injuries.

Due to these factors, learning to fight predators is a must for species survival. Toss in some extra evolutionary pressures and you get the mutual defense (the more the merrier) and protection of young (huge energy/time investments) characteristics that are displayed in the video. The same strategy can be seen in other large land animals as rhinos, hippos, elephants, musk oxen, and even down to domesticated cows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al4x
we are very selfish really, like animals, which is what we are


As far as the "we're just selfish animals" part, I would strongly disagree. Animals are effectively fixed constructs. They have a certain physical capability envelope determined strictly by their genes and available nutrition. They have fixed behavioral patterns primarily determined by genetics.

Humans have long transcended those restrictions. Tool use and training greatly expands our physical capability envelope. Differences in cultural programming can give vastly different behavioral patterns. Yes there are certain physical limits (e.g. reaction speed, g-force resistance) that cannot be exceeded, but technology keeps pushing those boundaries farther out. There are also base behavioral elements (e.g. self preservation, sex drive) programmed into our genetics, but even those are routinely overridden by cultural programming.
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:20 AM Post #48 of 65
So what of the Otters, then?
wink.gif


I'm with you for the most part, Marvin, but you seem to be dodging the sentience aspect - that's the part I'm interested in. Every animal is a product of their own environment/genes/physical limitations, including us, but it seems fairly apparent to me that there's some brain work involved here. Morphology is one thing, but this kind of behavioural adaptation is fascinating and it's something we are not currently equipped to fully measure, beyond making statements like a dolphin is more intellectually advanced than a goat.
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:27 AM Post #50 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Al4x /img/forum/go_quote.gif
will computers get complex enough to have true free thought? i say yes,


By some accounts, much sooner than you might think.
eek.gif
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:55 AM Post #52 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Akathisia /img/forum/go_quote.gif
my 2 :

1. What will happen to my consciousness after I die?

2. Why do I always have fuzzies in my belly button, even after I pull them out every night???


1. You know that when you dream, you are doing this, going there, talking with your friends, interacting with your environment, but in the dream you NEVER stop to think WHERE YOU REALLY ARE. Of course! You're snug in your bed.

Then at some point, the Law of Dreaming lets go of you, you wake up, and think that was some crazy dream you had last night, but you forget that you found it quite reasonable at the time, because you were operating according to the rules of the Law of Dreaming.

You then proceed with your normal life under the Law of Waking, and you NEVER stop to think WHERE YOU REALLY ARE...I posit that Mind is beyond time and space, and that the brain is just a transducer. The theories that consciousness is caused by chemical reactions or electrical activity in the brain have failed. We are just waiting to wake up again, to say, "Oh, that was just a dream too!" Knowing this, you are now on the path to lucid dreaming...

2. It's a fiber world, dude.

Laz
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:55 AM Post #53 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Computerpro3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
What REALLY happens at absolute zero?


Absolute Zero is just a theoretical point - it's impossible for it to actually occur, mainly due to what's called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal, which basically states you can either know a particle's velocity, or it's position: never both. And as such, if a particle is at absolute zero, we know it's velocity (0) and it's position.

Quote:

Will I ever get to shoot a phaser?


Doubtful, simply because of the energies involved.
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:57 AM Post #54 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I posit that Mind is beyond time and space, and that the brain is just a transducer. The theories that consciousness is caused by chemical reactions or electrical activity in the brain have failed.


Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Happen to have any? Because those are some big, big statements you're making.
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 3:10 AM Post #56 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Rock&Roll Ninja /img/forum/go_quote.gif
As the Aztecs who supplanted the Mayans 1000 years later abandoned the island countries for a insular continental civilization.


I wish you had given your sources, as I must question the implication that the Aztecs came from the islands of the west indies. Their language was of the Uto-Aztecian group, and I always assumed that they are part of the Ute peoples, and came down from the Great Basin area. In like manner, the Navajo speak an Athabascan language, and sure enough, the Hopi legends mention the arrival of the Navajo from the far North. I am aware of those who posit Atlantis in the Caribbean, so please elaborate.

Graham Hancock mentioned that the search for Atlantis could easily lead to madness, but the search has yielded evidence of a great precursor civilization which predates any of those of antiquity. The hard part is finding the one with a border marker which reads, "Now Entering Atlantis".
wink.gif


Laz
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 3:13 AM Post #57 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Marados /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Happen to have any? Because those are some big, big statements you're making.


I am philosophizing here, not scientificating. In time, it may be a theory, but now just a hunch. As Lazarus Long said, "Soon enough, we will know for sure."

Laz
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 3:27 AM Post #58 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Dippin' Dot utopia? Hell if I know, but did you see this:

NOVA | Absolute Zero | Watch the Program | PBS


Ugh, one of the very few things I miss about having TV.
redface.gif


[EDIT] Laz, just because it came up earlier (maybe in this thread? Can't remember.), you would probably get a real kick out of Richard Linklater's "Waking Life".
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 4:00 AM Post #59 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I am philosophizing here, not scientificating. In time, it may be a theory, but now just a hunch. As Lazarus Long said, "Soon enough, we will know for sure."

Laz


That may be so, but what about your statement that a chemical reaction-based model of consciousness has been disproved?
 
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