The Science - Science Fiction thread

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  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Tell her that meteor in Russia was a punishment from the Heavens to those who don't attend Church enough. ;-)
    I'd rather tell her those rocks from space are the first signs of the upcoming apocalypse, and the safest place to survive the end of time is my bed. That has so many inconsistencies in one sentence, it's like the bible, so she must fall for it :-D

    Yeah but the trouble youve got is if shes a proper Christian nutter you will have to marry her to get anywhere. Its a mortal sin after all to dabble in sins of the flesh (which I assume is your plan for her!) outside the sanctity of wedlock.

    You're certainly going to burn in the eternal fires of hell for such impure thoughs CommanerRoss. I'll probably see you there.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Tell her that meteor in Russia was a punishment from the Heavens to those who don't attend Church enough. ;-)

    I'd rather tell her those rocks from space are the first signs of the upcoming apocalypse, and the safest place to survive the end of time is my bed. That has so many inconsistencies in one sentence, it's like the bible, so she must fall for it :-D

    Yeah but the trouble youve got is if shes a proper Christian nutter you will have to marry her to get anywhere. Its a mortal sin after all to dabble in sins of the flesh (which I assume is your plan for her!) outside the sanctity of wedlock.

    You're certainly going to burn in the eternal fires of hell for such impure thoughs CommanerRoss. I'll probably see you there.

    Well, as it is the end of time, we'd have to hide in my bed naked, as we'd have to be as much as Adam and Eve as possible. Then I'd ask her to close her eyes and feel the goodness of the lord. She'll know it's him.. ;-)

    And yes, let's party in hell! Tat's where all the fun girls go to too! :-D

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Orgasming your way through the Apocalypse, aren't you? :D Well done, @CommanderRoss. ;-)

    Guys, I'm angry. No, livid is a better word. I've had a terrible day at work, you see, and it's caused by a dispute with a colleague. She told me this very morning that I should be more careful during my lessons about the things I say concerning the correctness of science because - quote - "science is not the only one way to look at the universe" - unquote. [Translated from Dutch.] And she teaches French! If that's the kind of stuff she force-feeds our pupils, I'm henceforth in perennial WTF mode. Turns out she visits the esoteric section in book stores quite a lot... Look, if absorbing non-existing moon beams and auras from deceased people works for her, fine, but putting that insane, borderline dangerous practice on the exact same intellectual level with science and preaching that one actually has a choice about which 'lifestyle' to follow, she needs to be removed from any school system! Science isn't a lifestyle; it's a collection of facts, trustworthy theories and promising hypotheses. Denouncing it would be like saying 1 + 1 doesn't equal 2.

    When will people learn? Religion and spiritualism are a choice. Science, by vast contrast, is beyond us. It's one of our most modesty inducing endeavours ever for it shows we may at best learn to understand how to universe works, but we won't be around forever and the universe doesn't need us in the least.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    @Darth well they said it would be a Big Bang... or am I now entering DAD-terretory?

    I'm really sorry your collegue says daft things like that. I always say to people: 'look at this rock. Science tells me your nerve system is going to give ample signals to your brain when I throw it in your face. If you "don't believe" in science, you don't have to worry at all.' She'll soon enough notice the correctness of science there. Truth in a matter of seconds. Eat your hart out organised religion and whatnot!

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Alright, I just have to say thank you to @DarthDimi, @CommanderRoss and @TheWizardOfIce for making my day with these last few posts. Many smiles were brought to my face and many laughs had! :))
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    @Darth well they said it would be a Big Bang... or am I now entering DAD-terretory?

    I'm really sorry your collegue says daft things like that. I always say to people: 'look at this rock. Science tells me your nerve system is going to give ample signals to your brain when I throw it in your face. If you "don't believe" in science, you don't have to worry at all.' She'll soon enough notice the correctness of science there. Truth in a matter of seconds. Eat your hart out organised religion and whatnot!

    Thats brilliant Commander.

    You stand them opposite you and say

    'I'm going to throw this rock in your face and I know it will hit you and splatter your teeth everywhere because those are the laws of physics.
    If you move from that spot you are giving in and saying the laws of science are correct. But there is a way out of this - why dont you pray to God and ask him to stop such senseless suffering.'

    Give them 5 minutes to say their prayer and then its time to see that rock fly. Watch how many believe enough to stay standing there.

    I know what your saying about your colleague Darth.

    Thats the whole argument creationists have in America. They say evolution is just a theory so people should be told that there are other theories out there ie creationism. Except one theory has been held up to the rigours of scientific investigation and the other has been held up to the rigours of indoctrinated morons so its hardly a fair comparison.

    If you register as a creationist then next time you go to hospital with a broken leg they should say; 'X Rays and pain killers are just one theory. A few of us here think that covering your leg in Heinz tomato ketchup and then sitting you on a roller coaster is a much better way to set the bone so you'll be getting that as youre so keen on alternative theories with no basis in fact whatsoever. I assume thats OK with you?'

    Once again see how many are happy to ignore their bullshit and back science at that point.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    So true, @TheWizardOfIce! The problem is often how false perceptions are fed by the media. Some ambitious scientist publishes a little paper in which he postulates an untested hypothesis which tends to excite people, the media run away with that into the realm of SciFi and then it all ends with "but it's only a theory of course". Happens all the time. (Just watch discovery channel occasionally. [Additional note: I'm not bashing discovery channel.])

    So much is wrong with this.

    A) Any scientist who feels like putting questionable but exciting ideas up for publication, hoping to enter the science equivalent of showbizz with that and being well payed for his lectures and books before having his ideas unmasked as bogus, should be outcast. You are not a true scientist at heart, sir, but instead an ambitious prick going for the quick buck. Unfortunately, more and more of these seem to find their way to the media nowadays. They are the telescientists, the fraudulent equivalent of the televangelists. And they give science a bad name.

    B) The media should learn to be patient. It’s okay to inform us about the type of research that gets currently performed but preliminary findings and immature ‘theoroids’ (a word I made up to describe theories that aren’t theories just yet but remain educated guesses at best until the process of falsification or even verification has progressed far enough) should not be reported with the aura of absolute truth around them. That way you create hoaxes, no better than the end-of-the-world plots supposedly derived from ancient Inca wisdom. And again, they give science a bad name. “Oh look! Scientists were wrong! You see, they’re not perfect either!” Dude, we never claimed we were right about this thing; you're the one who molded it into absolute, dogmatic truth.

    C) “Just a theory…” Again, I can’t stress enough how ridiculous this sounds. When Matlock or Sherlock Holmes (a terrible chemist by the way, despite Doyle’s pretenses ;-) ) walk onto a crime scene, they propose something that is “just a theory”, a wild guess at best. Scientists don’t do that! A theory has passed the stage of a hypothesis long ago and has been subjected to exhaustive testing, often performed by many independent research teams over a span of several years, possibly even decades, before it is acknowledged as a theory. The specifics about black holes, for example, aren’t theory at all at this point; they’re still highly speculative. Scientists are much more careful about calling something a theory to the point that when they do, they do so with a reason. Thus, they attempt to avoid to fall into the same traps as religion.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    Thanks guys. It's called physics after all, so what better way to underline science then to get fysical?
    What always gets me is people asking me 'but don't you think there's more between heaven and earth?' (I'll take heaven as the whole universe). Of course I do! That's why we have science! to find out! If we'd found everything there is, science wouldn't be any fun at all. 'Look, we found a new dimention''oh, no, we already knew'. Boring. And talking about dimentions: with so many theories about more then 4, we're bound to be affected by the ones we don't knowingly perceave. But again, wait till we find out!

    Yes, @Darth, those scientists are no good for science, but that's just becouse they're human beeings, suseptible to emotions, status, etc. You should cut them some slack. It's only in the last few thousand years we learned to use our brains properly, there's always a couple going to be about whom fail to discard basic instincts..
    Especially Christians should understand their religion has been overtaken on all sides by science. Jesus turned water in to wine? Scientists use grapes. Jesus walked on water? Science gave us bridges. So we ALL could walk on water. Jesus went to heaven? Science takes millions of people up to the heavens every day! And brings them back too!!!
    God destroyed Sodom and Gomorra? Science levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And can do it again, and again.
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21701641


    Look to skies on the 8th of March 2013.

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21701641


    Look to skies on the 8th of March 2013.

    Interesting link, this. Thank you! :-)

    And don't worry: I'll watch the skies. I'll keep watching the skies.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Do you know the website, skeptoid? And please forgive me if it is mentioned in an earlier post.

    I think you might really enjoy, DarthDimi.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited March 2013 Posts: 23,448
    Do you know the website, skeptoid? And please forgive me if it is mentioned in an earlier post.

    I think you might really enjoy, DarthDimi.

    I will check it out. ;-)

    Now, here's an interesting thing:
    gravity+is+only+a+theory+%2528Humor%2529.gif

  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Do you know the website, skeptoid? And please forgive me if it is mentioned in an earlier post.

    I think you might really enjoy, DarthDimi.

    I will check it out. ;-)

    Now, here's an interesting thing:
    gravity+is+only+a+theory+%2528Humor%2529.gif
    Reminds me of The Hitchhiker's Guide...
  • edited March 2013 Posts: 2,782
    http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013

    Once in a lifetime event, if you can do it tonight before it disappears.

    Comet here I come baby.

    Best just after sun set as you can see it next to the sun....get your geek on...

    This is a bb free zone
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,948
    http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013

    Once in a lifetime event, if you can do it tonight before it disappears.

    Comet here I come baby.

    Best just after sun set as you can see it next to the sun....get your geek on...

    This is a bb free zone
    Cool pictures in that link! I'm afraid the typically Dutch weather is preventing me from seeing anything other then clouds in the sky... Well, and some hail, of course.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013

    Once in a lifetime event, if you can do it tonight before it disappears.

    Comet here I come baby.

    Best just after sun set as you can see it next to the sun....get your geek on...

    This is a bb free zone
    Cool pictures in that link! I'm afraid the typically Dutch weather is preventing me from seeing anything other then clouds in the sky... Well, and some hail, of course.

    Same here. Too bad. I love observing rare astronomical phenomena.

  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    And I also enjoy the regular, every day beauty of sunrises. Which I have a lovely view of across the Seto Inland Sea.

    I can't see the comet, but I wish I could.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Just been in the new pope discussion and pissed a load of people off - but what can you do?

    Its nice to come here and see people who can appreciate the splendour of our amazing universe without putting it all down to an old bloke with a beard sat on a cloud.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    And yet it appears to trouble many people that science is advancing so prolifically in uncovering more and more logic behind the way the universe is built. The only progression we seem to be making, sometimes, is a progression into a sad form of intellectual regression. What's even worse is that mad men with medieval thoughts about the universe and the purpose of science are often found in control of science's most powerful contributions to our society, 'powerful' to be taken literally.
  • Posts: 246
    DarthDimi wrote:
    And yet it appears to trouble many people that science is advancing so prolifically in uncovering more and more logic behind the way the universe is built. The only progression we seem to be making, sometimes, is a progression into a sad form of intellectual regression. What's even worse is that mad men with medieval thoughts about the universe and the purpose of science are often found in control of science's most powerful contributions to our society, 'powerful' to be taken literally.

    Depressing as it is to see so many people around the world in thrall to politicised, hate-filled superstition, I find it slightly more depressing when I see supposedly educated and enlightened leaders in the free world spouting religious rhetoric (which I suspect to be mostly insincere) to the masses.

    If leaders in the free world still can't embrace and promote reason over superstition, where can we hope for progress to come from?
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Any hope for progress is lost as long as governments refuse to spend tens of billions of dollars on our exodus into space while they seem hardly troubled at spending hundreds of billions of dollars on expanding their war machines which can only serve global suicide.
  • Posts: 246
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Any hope for progress is lost as long as governments refuse to spend tens of billions of dollars on our exodus into space while they seem hardly troubled at spending hundreds of billions of dollars on expanding their war machines which can only serve global suicide.

    It'll be hard sell even if they found the money I think. I'd find my inner-parent saying, "you can't go to a new planet until you've shown me you know how to look after the one you've already got."
  • Posts: 194
    Anon wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    And yet it appears to trouble many people that science is advancing so prolifically in uncovering more and more logic behind the way the universe is built. The only progression we seem to be making, sometimes, is a progression into a sad form of intellectual regression. What's even worse is that mad men with medieval thoughts about the universe and the purpose of science are often found in control of science's most powerful contributions to our society, 'powerful' to be taken literally.

    Depressing as it is to see so many people around the world in thrall to politicised, hate-filled superstition, I find it slightly more depressing when I see supposedly educated and enlightened leaders in the free world spouting religious rhetoric (which I suspect to be mostly insincere) to the masses.

    If leaders in the free world still can't embrace and promote reason over superstition, where can we hope for progress to come from?

    This. I have nothing against religion, but I do have a problem with how much weight people put on it, and how that's perfectly acceptable in society.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    This is where I would start selecting the right people. Religious fanatics stay home. ;-)
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    DarthDimi wrote:
    This is where I would start selecting the right people. Religious fanatics stay home. ;-)
    I've recently realised that I am a Star Trek/James Bond addict... will God be of help to me here? I... I can't stop watching YOLT or Doomsday Machine...
  • chrisisall wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    This is where I would start selecting the right people. Religious fanatics stay home. ;-)
    I've recently realised that I am a Star Trek/James Bond addict... will God be of help to me here? I... I can't stop watching YOLT or Doomsday Machine...

    I have mixed feelings about JJAbs - he, like the reboot that his CR, rebooted Star Trek and now only cherry picks the best bits and characters for his Star Trek universe and has dismissed generations of Star Trek history.

    And now he's gone over to the Dark Side, leaving Star Trek high and dry after his latest Star Trek reboot with a Khan like character.

    I'm sounding too nerdy now, I'll just stop.



  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited March 2013 Posts: 9,117
    chrisisall wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    This is where I would start selecting the right people. Religious fanatics stay home. ;-)
    I've recently realised that I am a Star Trek/James Bond addict... will God be of help to me here? I... I can't stop watching YOLT or Doomsday Machine...

    I have mixed feelings about JJAbs - he, like the reboot that his CR, rebooted Star Trek and now only cherry picks the best bits and characters for his Star Trek universe and has dismissed generations of Star Trek history.

    And now he's gone over to the Dark Side, leaving Star Trek high and dry after his latest Star Trek reboot with a Khan like character.

    I'm sounding too nerdy now, I'll just stop.




    Christ thats almost as sad as the religious but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt as I'm hoping, unlike them, you understand its all made up?

    Now Star Wars of course......
  • Before there was Star Wars there was Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Enterprise...Star Trek...lol
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    What... you guys never went to Jedi Academy or what? :(
    Man! I feel sick! X(

    Just joking. ;-)

    So anyway, today was a marvellous day in my career. MARVELLOUS I tell you. Nothing special though. But, I was given two hours to fill in a classroom full of pupils interested in science and I decided to explain - in full detail - the scientific method, its relevance and its criticism. We spent a long time going through arguments against Creationism and arguments against Creationists' arguments against Evolution. :D I felt quite at home amongst these wonderful pupils who were not only very interested and most co-operative, but above everything else, agreeing with the whole package of anti-Creationist banter I kept going. I swear that if a book full of Creationist teachings had been present - quod non - some of my pupils would have spontaneously defecated all over it. :P Anyway, next time someone tries to convince any of them that Evolution is 'just a theory', a corpse will be dragged away five minutes later...
  • Posts: 498
    DarthDimi wrote:
    What... you guys never went to Jedi Academy or what? :(
    Man! I feel sick! X(

    Just joking. ;-)

    So anyway, today was a marvellous day in my career. MARVELLOUS I tell you. Nothing special though. But, I was given two hours to fill in a classroom full of pupils interested in science and I decided to explain - in full detail - the scientific method, its relevance and its criticism. We spent a long time going through arguments against Creationism and arguments against Creationists' arguments against Evolution. :D I felt quite at home amongst these wonderful pupils who were not only very interested and most co-operative, but above everything else, agreeing with the whole package of anti-Creationist banter I kept going. I swear that if a book full of Creationist teachings had been present - quod non - some of my pupils would have spontaneously defecated all over it. :P Anyway, next time someone tries to convince any of them that Evolution is 'just a theory', a corpse will be dragged away five minutes later...

    It would be extremely cool if I would have a huge Bond fan as a Science Professor ;)
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