Phi for All

Sorry, but I think this is just wishful thinking and sacred perspective. "More in tune with nature" can also mean, "not very technically advanced". They had to "live with the elements" because their technology was crude (comparatively) and they couldn't harness those elements as well as we can today. It's not like they had a choice and chose to live "more in tune with nature". Sure, the Egyptians had a long history of animal imagery and studied natural phenomena. So do we in modern times. Our civilizations, particularly our larger cities, makes us seem like we're not "in tune with nature", but that's just the perception our technology has. We're part of nature, and actually the only thing we're doing that is unnatural (or at least not done by other species) is our effort to minimize our impact on other species as we grow our civilization. No other animal makes a conscious effort to save other species the way we do, which is good because we have a greater potential for harm than other species as well.

I was NOT prepared for flying squirrels! Call them off! My Darwin poster is on fire!

I think many adults still like games and cartoons. As you get older, your responsibilities grow and change. You have less time available for entertainment overall, so you may choose more intellectually stimulating material. But games and cartoons are still fun. They're like dessert, more special if you don't have it all the time.

When you say "hopped", do you mean it hopped into the weeds on its hind legs like a little kangaroo or that it hopped up on its hind legs and then ran into the weeds, still on its hind legs? It could be one of Moontanman's genetically enhanced minions. Did it breathe fire?

Your FOX is showing. And everything you've mentioned here can be traced back to wages shifting from middle-class workers to C-level management. That's not the government's fault, it's the fault of your biggest backers, the Kochs and their circle, although they certainly have influenced legislation most when Reagan and the Bush's were in office. I'll never understand why anyone who isn't part of the 1% would ever support the TP extremists. They may have started out with good intentions but were quickly taken over by people who want the 99% to pay for everything the 1% use most, like highways and airports, while denying the 99% what they need the most, like public works, well-regulated business practices and affordable healthcare.

I think it's an explanation for why people developed the religions they did, not an attempt to shift godlike powers onto a celestial object. At least that's not the way I read the OP.

I would never make an insulting comment about your intelligence. I don't know you, and personal attacks are against our rules. We're all here to learn, and I just want you to learn this right away: NEVER SAY "It's just a theory" EVER AGAIN ON THIS SITE. We discuss science here, and in science, a theory is the strongest, most developed, most studied and tested explanation possible for us. Science doesn't deal in "proof" or "truth". It deals in theory, which isn't the same as "this idea I've worked on quite a bit". We use theory because we can't test every idea in every situation in every place in the universe. So we experiment and test and discuss and gather evidence that either supports or refutes our ideas. These start out as hypotheses, and only after a great deal of effort and evidence and collaboration and testing and re-testing can these hypotheses start to be called "theory". The words you use are important in science, and I wanted you to know that you unintentionally used the wrong one. It's a common mistake these days, but it really bothers scientists to hear people claim "theory" without doing all the hard work. It's a bit like asking for the ashtray you made in elementary school art class to be put on display at the fine arts museum. The other artists would rise from their graves to haunt you. I meant no disrespect. I wasn't even commenting on your hypothesis. Just a technical correction, but an important one. Didn't they have some functional steam devices around the time of Ptolemy in Alexandria? A bit late for the Giza pyramids, I realize, but I remember reading about steam-powered doors or some such. It's been a while since I've read that and quite possibly am mistaken.

People in the Middle East don't have your view of the Southern Cross. And that near the winter solstice the Cross would be visible to fewer places in the northern hemisphere. But I like the idea, really. Reality-based explanations for "supernatural" phenomena is a favorite pursuit.

It's your first post so we'll forgive the "just a theory" line. Once.

I'm sure your tune would change if the idea was yours. Would you claim you deserve more for YOUR good idea because you define "privileged" differently? How would you feel about your world-changing idea if you only got your $50K for it and next year you have to start all over again?

Still last week's poll, man! jduff will NEVER accept a premise based on such out-of-date intel. Btw, I think jduff has coined the new phrase for middle-class TP supporters. If Ryan and Cruz get all Koched-up and somehow get their agenda pushed through, this could be our future: A SORRY MAN Who is Not going to work

Sorry man, not going to work. Unless you promise think something's changed in the last four days since THIS poll was published.

The more I think about it (lol), the more I wonder if high intelligence and imagination aren't inseparable.

Being able to imagine something that isn't visible or hasn't already happened is a very important part of our evolution. It allows us to predict what may occur in various situations and prepare accordingly. It allows us to see tigers in the shadows, and while we might often be wrong, being right on those few occasions there really is a tiger in the dark let imagination be passed on to future generations. Imagination might well go hand in hand with higher intelligence. It's hard to imaging how being smart without it would be as successful.

Absolutely wrong for at least two reasons. First, the majority of people who claim allegiance to these Koch-heads don't know what their agenda really represents. They think the Kochs want to lower their taxes or give them liberty or actually represent their will, but that's not going to happen unless they're rich already. Anyone who is below the upper crust is going to be forced to bear more of the revenue burden, just like under W. Second, look at the numbers. People as a whole may be dumb, but individuals, when polled, are telling us they realize the Teabags aren't representative of their will. Support for them is at a record low as the People see beneath the sheep's clothing to the wolf beneath. Strong opposition now exceeds strong support. "The populace" is realizing that TP promises are only good for wiping their asses.

You know you're a geek when you realize having a pen AND a mechanical pencil in your shirt pocket doesn't give you enough mobile writing options.

But surely you aren't describing the US. Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, corporations are allowed to own media as well as other concerns (prior to that, if you were in media that's all you could be into, to avoid the obvious conflicts of interest). Now you'd be hard-pressed to find a story that isn't being spun the way the owners of the outlet want it spun. You're never going to hear about lawsuits over Domino's Pizza drivers or bad meat at Burger King or flammable children's coats at Burlington Coat Factory from any of the 800+ Clear Channel radio stations, because they're all owned by the same company. Bain Capital owns the companies, and also owns the ability to control public perception of those companies. Informing the public is now a much more sinister business. I find little to trust.

It seems obvious you came here with an axe to grind. You haven't bothered to look up any data that would tell you why parallax has been accounted for. You tell us things we know aren't right and then insult people when they correct you. I'm recommending you be banned. We don't need dark minds here, we're all about illumination.

! Moderator Note OK, just a bit off the mainstream for the Relativity section, so we'll move this discussion to Speculations. Please be sure to read the rules governing that section.

OK. Is this supposed to be like seeing an airplane way up in the sky but it's really an insect in the air a few feet above you? We're making a depth perception error, is that right?

OK. According to your calculations, when should we expect to see this brown dwarf star with the naked eye?

I'd prefer it if all the personal attacks stopped, aimed at individuals or groups. It doesn't help the discussion at all to be so imprecise in characterization.

I get it. "Throw physic to the dogs; [you]’ll none of it." Just more sound and fury. But the evidence in that link supports the measurements that show the planet is 80 LY away. And your other "evidence" is clearly suspect. Why do you keep waving your hands around and insisting your argument is "FACT" and "truth" when you can't show anything more concrete than general hysteria?

Ignorance is poverty, in this case. We're lucky, you and I, to have made some money in the last few decades. I sure don't envy those who never have had access to decent wages and aren't likely to in any foreseeable future where "the rich" get to make the laws. The middle class does matter, it's always been the driver of both economy and revenue; ignoring the rich will only make the rich happy. We've been ignoring what they've been doing for far too long. And you ignored my burning question. What don't you like about Dwight Eisenhower? Popcorn's wants the government to repeal freedom of speech and he wants everyone to earn the same amount of money. That's not liberalism, that's communism.

Happy to be covered in Koch pocket lint?