CarbonCopy

Yes, morals depend on the people around children. That would mean the teachers mainly. So, that is why the teachers should impart more morals in school to children. Because, unlike facts, morals cannot be learned from books but, rather by face-to-face interactions. Then again, as you said, we do not have an 'agreed' set of rules for moral education, so that is a stumbling block. Ideally, we should be teaching both in unison.

Most the differences you listed are political and not social/cultural. I was trying to say in my first post, since, we are more connected and know about other cultures more, it would help to have a united political system. Just saying this on the basis of cultural exchange. Though, it will be difficult to reconcile the political system, as they seem incompatible. And, btw, Mandrin is number 1 because there are many Chinese. It is nowhere near a ubiquitous as English. It may not be spoken by a lot of people but, it is seen as a standard. In fact, in many Asian countries, you are not considered educated unless you know English I am no expert on politics ( yet ! ) so I'm not sure how to organize the global government. I wanted to see your answers. Edit - Thank you ydoaPs, will check that book.

Its like asking where the Earth ends. It doesn't have an edge, yet we know it is not infinite. It is curled back on itself. According to most astronomers this is what the universe is like, a spherical object.

Here you go

Food like french fries are high in carbohydrates and calories, things which give us instant energy necessary to persistent hunt a deer or something. If you look at it that way it seems obvious why our brain prefers these food. It is only recently that these food have become easily accessible and we do not need to persistent hunt any longer. But, our brain has not had time to evolve to stop craving for high calorie food, so, we still like to eats these stuff, even though they are not so good now.

Super glue seems to react with cotton or wool to give smoke and fire. But, why does this happen. Is the -oh groups from cellulose causing the cyanoacrylate to harden or something ?

In education, should we give more importance to learning the facts or teaching morals such as how to behave with others, how to control anger, how find a purpose in life, etc. I feel we should teach morals more, because that gives the child a base to do good to the society.

Different political entities or kingdoms in the past were created because of difference in culture, language and economies. There was trade between different kingdoms but, they all maintained different cultural practices. But, now we have a global economy, an almost common language ( English ) and a global culture based on this global language. So, for me it seems it seems illogical that we have different political systems when we now are moving towards a global culture. A global government would foster better understanding among humans and lead us to greater scientific heights. So, do you think it is time we have a global government ?

If it wasn't for the titles, I would have thought you were talking about the Indian education system ! So, I guess it's a global problem. IMO it's much easier to teach the facts and the 'products of Science' rather that the actual science itself. But, unfortunately, facts are not Science and hence, actual science gets left out in education. Things like critical analysis, scientific temper and scientific method cannot be tested through a written exam, so the system does not go through the trouble to test these things. But, we are seeing a revolution with digital teaching, though it will take some time for youtube, khanacademy, etc to reach school. Though, I see a much greater movement towards this kind of digital education in US than in other parts of the world like India, where I live.

Yes according to the numbers. 2,6,6-trimethyl has more priority.

I may not put my thoughts out properly enough. I had read there that the ( clarified ) butter and the other stuff added to the fire might seed the local air, so may be inducing rains. The problem with these things is that they come with lots of unnecessary spirituality and other mumbo-jumbo.

Immortal, seriously ? I can't believe you said that. That sentence makes no sense at all. Just because it is postulated that agnihotra helps bring rains, you say that we have to believe in Agni God ? You have no concept of science whatsoever. Anyway, agnihotra is supposed to bring rains not to drought effected area, but, to places that experience delayed rains. That's all. It's a bit like geoengineering. The butter added to the fire among other things is supposed to change the chemistry of the local atmosphere ( for awhile at least ). This is what I have read in that newspaper, some time back. I'm not able to find evidence on the internet for this. If you guys find something please post it here, because I'm starting to think this is just theory and not fact. Newspapers do sometimes tend to post not so accurate stuff. If no evidence is found on this it is as good as false.

I read that in a newspaper and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to find it it now. But, I did find this link that describes the poin : http://www.agnihotra.com.au/effects-agnihotra-and-homa-therapy-water-resources

As long as the rituals have some benefits ( based on science ) then it is fine. For eg, agnihotra, if performed outside, is know to cause rains and precipitation ( to my knowledge at least ). But, at the same time Vedic practices are filled with cumbersome and useless rituals also, done without any scientific bases. Those ritals should be thrown away and not performed. Also, in the modern world, it is not feasible to perform some of these rituals. Doing rituals just because religion dictates it is really like asking for trouble from the Scientific Community ! And by the way, Immortal, please check the dictionary for the difference between opinion and facts.

Oh god ! this thread is getting way too long. It's becoming filled with Immortal's ramblings. He is just presenting random thoughts in his head and providing a multitude of link to us, which we will never read anyway. This thread has just become Immortal vs Empirical Science.

Apart from what x(x-y) said, you should also check KhanAcademy. It's really good for math.

Exactly, that's why I add that little line. People should understand that their notions of God cannot conflict with known Scientific facts ( so, supernatural stuff is out ).

Have such tests been done ?

Ha Ha. Pretty much what I expected. Everyone has their own different take on this. It's basically for you to decide. Do you need an all seeing being looking down at you at all times ? I frankly don't. But, you are entitled to believe whatever you want, as long as it doesn't conflict with scientific facts.

This is exactly the reason why Einstein created Special Relativity, so that he could explain this. Oh, and you have to use Lorentz transformation for this, you can't think 'intuitively' at these speeds because our intuition does not work here. It works only for Newtonian Mechanics.

Wait... Doesn't this go against everything that we know of thermodynamics ? We can't possibly go below 0 Kelvin can we ? I'm confused Some explain this ?

The question is in the title. Just want to know.

I highly recommend Biology by Neil A Campbell. It's for the UG level. Nice introductory book.

So, I read somewhere that antimatter can be considered as normal matter but moving in backward time. This might make sense theoretically, but, what does it mean physically ? It is a bit absurd, if you think about it.

I'm pretty sure you are going to get a multitude of answers from the people here. Well here is my take. It is nonsense to think of God as a super being above all of us, controlling us in some way. For me, my God is anyone and anything that helps me to live my life. According to that, my foremost god would be my parents, then would be the trees around me that cool me ( although there not that many in the city ), the water I drink, the plants that I eat ( animals also if you are non veg ). So, you get the idea. Well, this my take out. Personally, I find this a good philosophy, so that we appreciate the important things in life.