Phi for All

I don't see how the concept of time could be "natural". I think it's more a learned response. The rats in the study most likely gain the pattern over time, and learn that a countdown of 12 measured seconds equals food. I agree that it's probably associated with rhythms, which are a pattern after all.

With 40 years to enjoy it's easy to be so adamant. I would wager that, as you get closer to your target date, you'll easily be able to justify why living a bit longer than 65 is preferable, especially if you're hale of mind and body as others have mentioned. Wouldn't it be a terrible waste if you were in great shape physically and mentally to just turn it all off at a certain arbitrary birthday? Besides, the first 25 years you have little status and power. Now is your time to make the next 25 years so fantastic there's no way you'd want to give it up a mere 15 years later.

Your brain is hardwired to recognize patterns from all your sense receptors. After you've watched and heard enough countdowns (or timed enough breath-holdings, races, etc.), the pattern of "seconds" is well ingrained and you become quite accurate even without the sensory input.

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You guys have really stolen the thunder from the sock-puppet who will be posting shortly about one of the remedies mentioned in the OP. Have you no respect for spammy, intelligence-insulting marketing campaigns? Way to go guys.

Now it seems that a downstream relative is being affected as well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8106323.stm Can the Irrawaddy dolphins be saved after the lessons of the Bajii?

Moved from Suggestions (which is really more for suggestions and comments about this site) to Other Sciences. I always had a fascination with the paranormal as well, but while I found myself open to the possibilities, as I gained a firmer scientific footing I realized that paranormal activity never fits into what science is about. No one ever gets evidence that can pass rigor and review, no one can ever make predictions or form a repeatable experiment, and no theories are ever formed from the massive amount of efforts put into the "research". In short, supernatural and paranormal are classifications that almost automatically remove themselves from true scientific interpretation. While individual pieces of evidence can be analyzed, the bigger pursuit is not measurable by the scientific method.

Who gave you this candy? How much did you eat? How many finger am I holding up?

Also sprach zie ÜberShkeptik.

You need to do the grunt work. It's important. Imagine trying to design a space craft without knowing how systems are affected by zero gravity. Doing the grunt work will also help you understand the difference between logistics and *logic*. The small things really do make a big difference.

Science is about using a rigorous methodology to ensure that "ideas" are tested using models that can be duplicated by other scientists. That's why terminology is important, that's why maths are important, and that's why every step of every hypothesis must be examined before it passes on to the next one. Scientific method insures that we're not just idle speculators basing our work on shaky foundations.

Moved to Modern and Theoretical Physics. Here is a good video on the subject of String Theory, which was not Einstein's, but was based on his pioneering efforts.

I can almost guarantee that if you took a mixed group of 10 five-year-olds with no previous sexual education, and put them in an environment where they could survive without supervision, they would have the reproductive act figured out well before they were capable of reproduction. I've always wondered how much so-called "instinct" was transmitted non-verbally while the fetus is still in the womb. Young animals often are born skittish of bright lights and loud noises, whereas a human infant capable of crawling away would sit in the path of an oncoming truck with its lights and horns blaring. Does the transmission of basic danger senses happen while the fetus is maturing, and its simply a case of humans being less prone to dangerous situations in modern times that leaves us defenseless at very young ages?

Wasn't that the convention with the animated show Gargoyles? They were humanoids with wings but even with supernatural strength, they couldn't get airborne even with a running start. They had to climb up a building and then launch themselves off to glide, and if they couldn't catch an updraft they could only glide so far, losing altitude slowly but inevitably. I always liked the fact that they had that limitation, because it made more sense with those humanoid bodies.

Can you make fries?

Donating art to the museum is a terrific tax write-off. Why should I pay $30 to take my old toilet to the dump, when I can write-off $30,000, AND get to have people pay to see my urine? Btw, the display is not called "Urine in a Toilet". I prefer, "Pee for All".

AHA! So you admit you were at sea....

Again, I don't see each of the three choices in the same light. For #1, there may be no personal risk in your scenario, but how close is this "friend" who gave us the tip? Would we be jeopardizing his job or freedom by acting on his tip? I think many more people would sacrifice their own ethics while backing away if a friend was at risk. #2 is just not illegal or unethical. If there is a loophole or gray area that the IRS will not punish me for using, then it flat doesn't matter where I got the intel from, it's available to everyone who can dig up the information. I think #3 would be exploited most. Many people would just see this as part of the "system" and even be able to justify a campaign contribution as part of this same system, especially when it gains them political favors. This is the worst part, because it means people think this is the way business gets done in this country, and if Average Joe owned a business and could afford the contributions and had the contacts, he would probably expect the considerations. I understand where you're coming from in this, padren. I would have to say that less than 10% of the population would share my exact views in this matter, if actually faced with the situations. For the record, I actually have faced the first two scenarios, and acted as I described.

#1 is flat out illegal, no way would I ethically condone it. #2 sounds like it's using existing laws and doesn't violate anything (since legally the IRS couldn't reprimand it's agent for telling us something we could find out on our own), and has the added advantage of being info I could legally pass along to anyone, so I have no qualms whatsoever ethically or legally. #3 may be legal (questionable) but ethically I don't like it, it's the sort of thing that our system should work harder to prevent, unless the councilman's "favor" has no strings attached and I've done a great job presenting why "favoring" my company in the bid is in the best interests of the city, and not just my own.

What's the latest word on the bajii, have they found any since the 2007 expedition I read about?

You already have a thread about this. I'm closing this one.

What do you need a poll for? It's not to fish for dolphins, is it?

Hi. So, Dolphins. The American football team, or the marine mammals? If you love the team, do you think they'll be able to go 10-6 and get a wild card spot in the playoffs? I mean, they've got a tough schedule next year. If you love the mammal, have you ever been in the water with them? I once had two of them come up under my feet, lift me up and push me about fifty feet through the water. Those two went on to become famous performers. I told them they could make a lot of money doing that for tourists and I would be their agent for 20% but they said they could go it alone. Last I saw, they were getting paid in fish. Dolphins aren't as smart as some people think.

Sure it's accurate. I did half that at my last office job, and that was close, just 7.5 miles from home, and I considered that short commute, 17 minutes one way. One thing that's not being considered is that the Tesla and EVs in general only have a small following at this point. Once electric cars and their infrastructure become more established, the costs are going to come down with competition.

The extreme ends of the spectrum help us balance better. If we didn't see them every once in a while, we might become them out of ignorance.