Code42

Step 1: Get born to English-speaking parents in the United States. Step 2: Get raised in the English-speaking world. Step 3: Done! No, but seriously, I have no advice. My mind can't even fathom the concept of conjugating verbs in Spanish, so I'll stick with English. Learning a new language requires more brain plasticity than I've got.

Forget about income for now. It's by far not the most important thing for me. I'm more worried about how to get from where I'm at now (an average to mediocre community college student) to becoming PhD program material in the next couple of years. I'm also more worried about finding the right field for me. I know it's somewhere in biology/evolution, or in some computer science field relating to biology.

I will be finishing a degree in bioinformatics within the next two years. I have been wanting to pursue a PhD in evolutionary biology for sometime now, but whether or not I felt I was capable of doing so has been suspect. I have a general idea of what a PhD involves, but I'm not very familiar with the process, from trying to get accepted into a PhD program to completing a PhD. I was hoping someone here could enlighten me. I have good grades now, but I had a pretty shaky experience at my first university. I'm not exactly sure that ecology and evolution is the path I want to take. I mean, it is the subject I am most interested in, but I'm not sure if it will lead me to lucrative career paths. I was hoping the people here could help me sort some of this stuff out, and help inform me in making some of these decisions. Currently, I am a computer science major at a really good community college. I will be transferring to a four-year school to get a bachelors in bioinformatics after I graduate this fall. Aspects of both computer science and biology interest me, but I always find myself enjoying learning about evolution in biology more. However, I'm not sure if I would enjoy the careers that a PhD in evolutionary biology would lead to. Is there anywhere in which a PhD in evolution could be applicable to, say, artificial intelligence, or any other aspect of computer science? That's probably a stupid question. I'm just kind of lost.

I guess you could say math is like technology. We use it to help us do science, but it is not itself science. Science is the method itself and nothing more.

http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2017/05/23/7-2-million-year-old-pre-human-remains-found-in-bulgaria-greece-show-first-pre-humans-developed-in-balkans-not-africa/ Sketchy facebook page posted this, but not sure about the legitimacy of the link. Discuss.

The things you think are useful which you don't think have applications actually do have applications. If you do something merely because it brings you joy or pleasure, that's an application. To say something is "useful" is, by definition, to say that it has an application.

What use would there be for mathematics if not for it having applications?

Even many physicists don't understand quantum mechanics on a practical level. They understand it mathematically, and can run the equations. But it's very hard to understand how the quantum world is.

Well, we would be about three centuries behind where we are now in scientific knowledge without mathematics. So I would say that math is unavoidable in science. In most physics, you can only explain concepts so far until you have to get into some serious mathematics.

I will. Thanks. It's going to be more for show than a sophisticated robot. Just want to practice basic programming on an original project. Python will probably do the job. I've never used it, but my C++ knowledge should help me adapt quickly.

Well, I was thinking I'd use lights for effect, and leave the bot sort of crude-looking.

Probably an r2d2 type rover. Not quite, but that's at least what I'm shooting for.I raced r/c cars for years, so I do have some technical/hobby know-how. I'm also about to graduate with a degree in computer science this fall, so I know some coding too.

I'd like to try to build a robot using a raspberry pi. Any help or information with getting started, what to buy, and how to go about this project would be appreciated.

I guess "belief in gods" would be more what I'm addressing here. The end of religion doesn't necessarily entail the end of fantastic beliefs in supernatural entities.

When will religious belief, or belief in gods become a thing of the past? 100 years? 300 years? Never? Do you think most of humanity will ever drop superstition and embrace scientific and secular worldviews?

I don't think so. In fact, I'm pretty damn sure not. I'm not the only liberal individual who notices it. I'm in good company.

And you'll see that I said I'm not accusing anyone of directly expressing it. It just made me think about it.

What grinds my gears might make me unpopular here, but I'll say it anyway. In fact, some semblance of the very sentiments I'm going to address seem have to been tacitly expressed here, but please note before I begin that I'm not accusing anyone here of specifically doing what I'm about to address. It just made me think about it: Some of the guys here were talking about how "annoying" America is because they call football "soccer", and they have their own sport called "football". The sentiment usually boils down to this notion that America is bad and ignorant, and often intolerant or indifferent to other cultures. I get tired of this idea that all other cultures are allowed to have their own traditions and customs, and are allowed to express them freely. But somehow it's "offensive" when Americans have their own ways, and show any pride for their own traditions and their own heritage. I see this sentiment in action every day. My fellow white Americans constantly have to watch the degree to which they express their own pride for their culture and traditions lest they offend someone of a different culture. Meanwhile we must always genuflect upon the "cultural enrichment" of other cultures. Well, guess what, I have absolutely no ambition to suppress other cultures, and am glad to have other cultures freely express themselves, but I'll be damned if I'm going to capitulate this notion that I have to be mildly ashamed of being a white, American, male, and that I need to sort of keep quiet about my culture lest I offend some other culture. Americans have the right to theirs too. If that makes you upset, feel free to go cry about it. That's one thing that grinds my gears.

I like the mass spectrometer idea. People would be dropping acid and riding that one! Lol

Hey, did you know that Albert Einstein was born on March 14? That's 3.14, the approximation of pi! Albert Einstein was a mathematical genius! It's a prophecy I tell you! The date is significant, and the metaphysics of it are undeniable! See, I can take coincidences from history and use them to make bogus claims too.

Nope. You are allowed to hold whatever belief you want as long as you don't actually carry out any of the teachings that could invoke harm. I am fully an advocate of getting rid of religion, but not systemically. You can't legislate religion out of existence. The only hope we have is reasoned-argument and the power of persuasion. Time to hone those debating skills.

Tell me about it. Crying shame. And more plans to build up their creationist park empire in the future. The park I'm advocating would be indifferent to religion, and would support Darwinian evolution and Big Bang cosmology.

I see what you're saying. That wasn't my intention. I know the entire premise of this thread is silly anyway, but I'd like not to get bogged down in arguments. This is supposed to be sort of lighthearted and fun. Like, if you were to build a gigantic theme park that is science themed, what kind of rides and attractions would you put in it?

I was showing that this creationist group is building what is essentially a biblical theme park with plans for large-scale thrill rides. I'd like to see a huge theme park based on actual science and factual information, not creationism. I wasn't advertising these guy's creationist park. I hope it goes out of business to tell you the truth.

what do you mean?