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Cadmus

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Everything posted by Cadmus

  1. I think that all matter is composed of energy as a necessary ingredient. Can you provide a name of some unit of matter where the name implies matter that can be considered in a context where it is completely devoid of any form of energy?
  2. OK Once "we" die, the "we" part ceases. The various atoms that make up our bodies go their separate ways after death. This is another topic entirely. I don't see any relationship between this statement and your prior one. Perhaps someone else does.
  3. I think that the speed of time is not fixed. The perception of time certainly is subject to change, such as in the manner that you suggested.
  4. Do you think that rocks exist in the same 4 dimensions that people do? If so, then it is possible to exist in dimensions without awareness of such. If so, then humans might exist in more dimensions that the 4 that we are aware of. I take it that you do not agree with this. Please describe why not.
  5. A mark language, also called a tag language, is a method of marking text so that a parser can understand some meaning to the text in the context of the tag. XML is a very powerful meta markup language. XML provides a method whereby anybody, any company, or any industry can create its own markup language, complete with optional rules of "grammar", for sharing and giving meaning to data within the group. HTML is a specific markup language, with a specific and clearly defined set of tags, which is primarily used for pages to be passed over the web. Note that HTML is not a subset of XML. HTML tags are not used to provide meaning to text, but instead are used as a guide by the parser as to how to display the text.
  6. You suggest that we can only live in 4 dimensions because we are only aware of 4 dimensions. How might you know that this is true? Perhaps you only believe so, just as others of us might belive differently. I think that it is fair to say (at least in my opinion) that dogs and trees and rocks exist in as many dimensions as we do, although they are not aware of them. Our life form has attained a much greater degree of awareness of our environment that these others. However, I don't think that the only existence in the universe is necessarily limited to what our still evolving life form has already attained awareness of.
  7. It's perfectly OK to divide any finite number by infinity; the quotient is 0, since as the denominator of a fraction gets bigger, the fraction itself gets closer to 0. From http://www.imao.us/cgi-bin/deaconman.cgi?entry_id=1132.
  8. I think that private companies currently do discriminate. As long as they do not tell the applicant that in direct terms, they can get away with it pretty easily I think. As much as I am against discrimination, I don't see why a private company must pretend for the sake of the law (if indeed it is illegal, which I am not sure of). I think that people should be able to hire those people that they think will contribute to the atmosphere that they want to create in their private company. If customers don't like that atmostphere, then they can shop elsewhere. Does anybody think that a person who wants to hire 5 employees and who doesn't like xyz people cannot find a way to end up only hiring non xyz people? I have nothing against it. If I were to hire employees, I would only want to hire people that I feel would improve my work environment for me and the other employees.
  9. How do you know that we live in only 4 dimensions? Is it because we are only aware of 4 dimensions that there can be no more for us? Are you suggesting that we might live in less that the total number of dimensions that exist? If so, then we disagree. We can discuss this if you would like.
  10. I guess that I know it only as certainly as you know how you can say that we exist in only 4 dimensions. I think that dimensions are not where things exist. I think that everything exists in all dimensions. How many dimensions are there? Who knows. Our species is aware of a few. Is that all? Who really knows? If there are more, then I think that everything that exists exists in all of them. We do not exist in 4 dimensions if the universe exists in 10 or more, whatever that might mean. However, 2 dimensions is not a place where things live. 2 dimensions is a partial description of our reality. It is incomplete. I believe that it is meaningless to suggest that something can exist in 0 dimensions, or in 1, 2, or even 3 dimensions. Nothing cannot exist without time as well. In math, we can claim to draw a 2 dimensional circle. This is a fabrication, however, as what we have drawn is only a representation of a 2 dimensional circle. The dimensions are descriptions of aspects of our awareness. Each alone is incomplete to describe existence. Everything that exists exists in all dimensions of which we are aware. Do you disagree?
  11. If by "for as long as the universe has existed" you mean since the Big Bang, then I would say yes.
  12. Interesting article. I also found on the Internet 2 articles about a comet striking the earth at that time. I wonder if either of these theories is well-accepted. Anyway, I was not aware of the major climate change at that time as being a factor in history. Interesting post.
  13. I do not recall hearing of this. A search on the internet makes this point clear. As well, I see a couple of references to people who suggest that perhaps a comet hit the earth as the cause. If this is so, then the dark ages must have been much earlier than I understood. Do you know when the dark ages were supposed to have started and ended?
  14. I agree that it is about time for this question to be raised.
  15. Your link to the page did not come through. I have never heard of this as a factor in the dark ages. Anyway, I have always been under the impression that the dark ages came about with the rise of Islam. Islam surrounded Christiandom, causing an economic stranglehold. The result led to religious confrontations and an evnironment where science, art, literature, and other forms of creativity were highly discouraged.
  16. The word that I used is sophisticated. I do think that societies are far more sophisticated now than before. I did not use the word civilized. Before I would use such a word, we would have to discuss what we mean by civilized. Your defintion is as good as mine, although they are most likely different. I did not use the word civilized. War has been around for a major part of mankind's history. Warfare has also become much more sophisticated, which would most likely be considered by many to imply less civilized.
  17. All empires fall, that is a fact. Yet, I think that if you look at what replaced each of the fallen empires you will in most cases find not that their technological advances disappeared but that the subsequent power structures were even more sophisticated.
  18. I don't think so. It is conceivable that a rapidly occuring disaster, such as nuclear war or an asteroid striking the earth, might lead to what you are suggesting. However, we are still evolving forward extremely rapidly. And yet more people know much more about science than ever before. However, poor the general state of scientific knowledge in the world today, I think that we are not near to losing technology to make television sets. Technology is still increasing in its rate of increase. I don't think that anything other than a major and sudden disaster could do this.
  19. You say that many people are disillusioned with the Chinese government. I agree, however I noted that many people have long been disillusioned with the Chinese government. I know many people who suffered greatly during the cultural revolution, for example. Disillusionment with the Chinese government and changing the Chinese government in major ways are two separate animals. I pointed out that there was a major "pro democracy" movement in Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing in the June 1 incident. How many thousands of students did the army kill? What changed? There are certain changes that the Chinese government is eager to adopt, particulary economic policies that are benefical to the country. There are certain changes that the Chinese government just will not accept in the near term, particularly political power sharing, freedom of the press and the Internet, and others.
  20. It depends on what you mean. If you are referring only to dimensions of space, as many people do, then we live in a 3 D world. If you are referring to dimensions of space and dimensions of time, as many people do, then there are 3 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time, which makes a total of 4 dimensions. Current theory is that our species is aware of 4 dimensions, 3 of space and 1 of time. By aware, I mean that we have the sensory tools to detect 4 dimensions. Theorists postulate any number of extra dimensions, which cannot be detected by the senses (including through the use of tools). Therefore, everything that exists in our world exists in (at least) 4 dimensions. As some people have noted, light can be an exception to this (such as shadows), but then light is not a thing but rather the enabler of awareness of things.
  21. Computer displays, like shadows, are displays of light. There is no such "thing" that exists.
  22. There is no such thing as existence in 2d. Any image that is drawn exists in all dimensions, of which most scientists now count 4, including time. When something is drawn, it must have thickness.
  23. Even more relevant than math is human nature. Infinity is a red herring, since he mentioned that he will select a number. If he were to choose a number between one and infinity, I think that we can recognize that for all practical purposes there is a finite limit to a number than he might select. Given that finite limit, there would indeed be twice as many numbers.
  24. I think that your post is pretty accurate.
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