assassin_696

I think that's a terrible assumption, and surely you must realise that? Positing that something exists, without proof, then saying since there isn't proof to the contrary it's therefore just as valid is obviously a logical fallacy. It doesn't matter what you're positing.

But I would argue that the difference between dead/alive is fundamentally different from existence/non-existence. Some indetereministic event causes the cat to be in a superposition of states, nothing does the same with God. There is no probabilistic event that smears the wavefunction for whether or not he exists. I'm probably just being pedantic, it's not the worst analogy, I just think there are as many differences as similarities.

I'd like to become a successful theoretical physicist, perhaps by fundamentally changing the way people think about things (a la Einstein) but in reality I'd simply like to know that I made a difference. I hope I can become a good communicator of science, not only to students but also to the public and inspire some future generations. Other, slightly more common goals are to spend the rest of my life with someone I love, learn as much as I can and be a good friend and interesting person to be around.

I don't have a great deal of sympathy with people who let themselves get to that kind of state.

But it's meaningless assinging numerical probabilities to something we have no evidence for. You might as well say it's 50/50 that there are fairies at the bottom of my garden.

Yes, but Schrodinger's cat is easily resolvable: just open the box and observe. There is no equivalent for God. You might as well just say that we can't be sure. Comparing it to a situation described accurately by mathematics is a little misleading. It's not a rush to convert, it's a willingness to engage religious people in questioning their beliefs. I don't go to churches and interrupt sermons, I only debate with people who are willing, like on this thread (which you chose to come onto). Besides, if you thought you knew what was correct, wouldn't you want to share it with someone? I understand why religious people want to proselytise, it's a natural reaction. But if respecting the views of others means tip-toeing around people's beliefs without questioning them then I absolutely refuse. If you're going to claim to have answers to some of the biggest questions then you should expect to have them challenged. This is of course ignoring all the ill-effects of religion and faith.

That kind of homophobia is also the most vain form of self-flattery imaginable.

I live my life by that quote. No exceptions. Ironic, given that he got the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

Just bought Chrome, Smoke & BBQ by ZZ Top off iTunes. 80 tracks for £7.99, and I've been meaning to get this for a while.

The Lightning Strike: (I) What If This Storm Ends? / (II) The Sunlight Through The Flags / (III) Daybreak - Snow Patrol I love the lyrics to What If This Storm Ends? [hide=]What if this storm ends? And I don't see you As you are now Ever again The perfekt halo Of gold hair and lightning Sets you off against The planet's last dance Just for a minute The silver forked sky Lit you up like a star That I will follow Now it's found us Like I have found you I don't want to run Just overwhelm me What if this storm ends? And leaves us nothing Except a memory A distant echo I want pinned down I want unsettled Rattle cage after cage Until my blood boils I want to see you As you are now Every single day That I am living Painted in flames All peeling thunder Be the lightning in me That strikes relentless[/hide]

No. It's a completely different situation. Schrodinger's cat describes placing a cat (that we know exists) inside a box, then letting an event occur with two outcomes with are both equally likely. One kills the cat, one doesn't. The uncertaincy arises simply because we don't know which event has occurred until we open the box. I can't see any analogy between that and God.

Make It Wit Chu - Queens of the Stone Age

And that's fine, it's your personal feeling. I also marvel at the beauty of mathematics, nature and the way the world seems to work. But I don't put it down to there being any deeper underlying meaning, it's just how it is. But your opinion and my opinion don't mean anything if they're not testable. We can debate our philosophies and outlooks on life but if they can't be refuted empirically then there's no reason why one is any better than the other. Spiritual people are wary of putting their deeply held beliefs up to scientific scrutiny, but I can't see any other way how they could be validated.

We assume that everything must have a cause because that's what all our experiences tell us. Again, we also assume that something can't come from nothing because that's what our experiences tell us. But if matter/energy is never destroyed or created, why does it make sense to ask where it came from? Why does it even make sense to assume that the non-existence of something is the necessary prior state before existence? To me, there doesn't seem to be any physical reason why the Universe must have 'come' from something, and why it can't just exist. In fact, according to Victor Stenger the latter is the more preferable physical state which the former would collapse into.

One thing I've found interesting is how quickly many of my Jewish friends have blindly leapt to the defence of Israel seemingly without questioning their actions. The loyalty of many Jewish people to the state of Israel is incredibly fierce. I'm also encouraged by the response of many thoughtul Jews who've questioned the short-sightedness of the Israeli response.Example: It Breaks My Heart To See Israel's Stupidity.

Struttin' Blues - The Black Crowes

I think he was actually talking about the density at the singularity, not the average. I don't see how you seem to think that a black hole the mass of the Earth would be larger than the Earth either, since an object with the same mass as the Earth but larger volume clearly wouldn't collapse. Unless you're considering adding mass to a very small one.

The best reason not to. There's no need to trash religion or waste your time whining about it when you can just simply ignore it. It's our choice to follow religion, it's your choice not to. That's what it boils down to and that's where it should stop, really. I wouldn't consider debating one of the biggest questions in life a waste of time, but I'm sure that's not what you meant. I think religion has to be open to criticism, it's not whining if it has some point to it (i.e. challenging people's beliefs). I'm all for live and let live, but I absolutely think religious people should be willing to debate their beliefs, particularly when it's had and is still having such a big impact on the world.

Use the sticky!

True, but I'm only 18, still in school and still quite dependent on my parents really. I went through the shaky adolescent thing a couple of years ago. My advice applies to anyone of any age really. Although granted, the independence that comes with being able to drive is fantastic. I think of all my achievements, the friends I've made is perhaps the one that I'm most proud of. I work damn hard at school, but I never really notice it because I'm doing it with friends and people I get on with. I know it's not easy, my best friend a couple of years ago wanted to hang around with people who I never really got on with. Naively I thought if I stuck with it I'd be happy, but I knew it wasn't right. Perhaps my best piece of advice to a teenager would be to surround yourself with people who you can make laugh and make you laugh. People with the same sense of humour, aspirations and interests as you are like goldust. It's effortless to get on with them and you love spending time with them. The value of friends can't be overestimated. Girlfriends are overrated during adolescence, good friends are much more reliable and fun. But perhaps I had bad experiences. I'm also very fortunate in having a natural interest in the subjects I study. It makes learning things much easier, and I fully intend to make a career of my interests. I can't think of anything more depressing than a 9-5 middle-management job that you don't really enjoy. Have a career that interests you. If you're mentally stimulated and interested by your work/job then you can't ask for much more. Find something you love doing, and get people to pay you to do it. Exercise is a great stress-reliever, relationship and confidence builder. Solo exercise is a very easy way to achieve something personally, and team sports are great socially. If you do all these things I see no reason why life should seem like a drag. It might well fly by, but at least you're having fun doing it.

Wolves - Phosphorescent Really quite beautiful

Speak for yourself, I love my life. Surround yourself with likeminded individuals and friends, study something you enjoy and secure your mental and physical health.

Most of my subjects are science/maths based, and I tend to learn these best through practicing. If I do enough examples and questions, especially in maths, stuff tends to stick. For things like chemistry I might sit down and read notes but I think I take it in better if I'm working through questions and looking up answers when I get stuck.

John Allyn Smith Sails - Okkervil River

I think the most ironic thing about capitalism is that it preaches about how it's so financially prosperous, even when we're in the midst of a recession. How's that for irony? Capitalism isn't supposed to guarantee constant economic growth, that's unsustainable for a number of reasons. Recessions are a natural part of the trade cycle. The long term trend though is for economic growth to occur.