Facts that shocked you
Discussion
mickythefish said:
synchronicity as seen in nature, is unexplainable by known science.
Googling that term leads to a term invented in psychology (not a field renowned for having great adherence to scientific principles). Perhaps you could elaborate on what you are referring to.
There are lots of things not explained by known science. That is why we do science.
eldar said:
mickythefish said:
well the orbital paths of planets in our solar system, the fact the moon is able to block the sun, pretty perfectly. There are so much more things.
Explainable by know science or pure chance.https://www.quora.com/As-the-Moon-is-slowly-drifti...
500 million years is a long time for us but not for the solar system.
rodericb said:
Skeptisk said:
mickythefish said:
The electron is so small nothing can measure it. It could be infinitely small we wouldn't know.
A little learning is a dangerous thing. Perhaps you should actually study something rather than constantly spouting factoids from the internet (and then defend them!) Edited by rodericb on Saturday 23 November 07:15
Edited by rodericb on Saturday 23 November 07:19
He also started an thread about the universe being conscious and most recently a thread including “existentialist” in the title without any link to existentialism.
I suppose the upside is that people did post links to some interesting articles on what we think an electron is (and isn’t) and what can be measured.
NRG1976 said:
Talking about quantum mechanics a fact that shocked me was the results from the double slit experiment.
Agree…as I opened the thread with that example. I understand that QM works but at an intuitive level it makes no sense at all to me. Perhaps it is something that just isn’t comprehensible for beings that live at the macroscopic level. This is less of a shocking fact and more of an interesting one:
“The use of chopsticks (筷子 kuàizi) as an eating utensil has been practised for thousands of years and is deeply rooted in the Chinese heritage. Since ancient times the length of a pair of chopsticks has been 7.6 Chinese inches long, representing our 7 emotions and the 6 senses.
Being joyful, angry, mournful, happy, sad, fearful and worried are the 7 emotions that we experience as human beings and having ears, eyes, nose, tongue, body and feelings represent our 6 senses. It was believed that these were the basic traits that defined us as human beings.
The typical pointed diamond shape at the end of a chopstick is not just for decorative reasons. It symbolises good luck and prosperity. The ancient Chinese believed the sky to be round and the earth to be square. As such, the chopstick is round on one end square the other, depicting the sky and earth, and our hand that holds the chopsticks in the middle, portrays man as the centre of the universe.
With the two chopsticks facing one another, represent the harmony of Yin and Yang.
Our 5 fingers represent the five elements of the universe which are metal, wood, water fire and earth.
The art of using the chopstick is not to be too forceful nor to weak. This serves as a reminder to be moderate and to focus on having a life committed to balance and wholeness.”
Who knew there was so much significance in the length and shape of chopsticks?
“The use of chopsticks (筷子 kuàizi) as an eating utensil has been practised for thousands of years and is deeply rooted in the Chinese heritage. Since ancient times the length of a pair of chopsticks has been 7.6 Chinese inches long, representing our 7 emotions and the 6 senses.
Being joyful, angry, mournful, happy, sad, fearful and worried are the 7 emotions that we experience as human beings and having ears, eyes, nose, tongue, body and feelings represent our 6 senses. It was believed that these were the basic traits that defined us as human beings.
The typical pointed diamond shape at the end of a chopstick is not just for decorative reasons. It symbolises good luck and prosperity. The ancient Chinese believed the sky to be round and the earth to be square. As such, the chopstick is round on one end square the other, depicting the sky and earth, and our hand that holds the chopsticks in the middle, portrays man as the centre of the universe.
With the two chopsticks facing one another, represent the harmony of Yin and Yang.
Our 5 fingers represent the five elements of the universe which are metal, wood, water fire and earth.
The art of using the chopstick is not to be too forceful nor to weak. This serves as a reminder to be moderate and to focus on having a life committed to balance and wholeness.”
Who knew there was so much significance in the length and shape of chopsticks?
thegreenhell said:
Antony Moxey said:
NRG1976 said:
Antony Moxey said:
NRG1976 said:
Turtle Shed said:
As to insignificant, that's an interesting one. Given that we have so far not seen evidence of even a single microbe in the solar system or beyond, there is a possibility that earth contains the only life (as we understand it) in the entire universe. If that is the case then far from being insignificant, life beginning on earth might be the most important event that has ever occured.
The universe and existence thereof is the most important event. Humans being here within such a universe is neither here nor there.It's pretty arrogant, and typically human, to think we're special, and somehow this entire universe exists for our benefit.
There may have been been/may be/ may be in the future other intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe so we may not be unique but we currently have no evidence that any other such beings have or do exist. Therefore the base assumption should be that we are alone, until there is some evidence to think otherwise.
As there is no evidence for intelligent life (in fact any life) elsewhere in the universe then it seems that our existence is fairly unique. Whether you think that is important depends upon a subjective valuation.
S6PNJ said:
I wouldn't normally comment on threads such as these as the comments can be taken out of context (probably as I am also guilty of doing with yours) but I'd suggest there are a large number of animals and vegetation that have the means of communicating with each other - so real language - and I'd also suggest that some of them have a much better understanding of how aspects of the universe works (we don't understand all aspects so why should they? Just a different subset) eg Homing pigeons that can navigate hundreds (or more?) of miles without SatNav, whales that know where to go thousands of miles around the world, fungi that seem to communicate across vast distances compared with their size - I'm sure there are many more effective examples, but you get my drift.
I didn’t say “communicate” because other animals (and even plants to some extent) can communicate. I said “real language” like humans use, which allow the transfer of concepts between people (and through writing and other media between generations). My dog understands some basic words and phrases in English but I can’t discuss metaphysics, chemistry, politics or literature with him. No other animal on earth is even vaguely close to having human like language. Shaoxter said:
I think it's completely incorrect to have that as the base assumption. The scale of the universe compared to the region of space where we have searched for life is almost incomprehensible.
I'm sure this has been posted here before, but the Drake Equation probably yields millions or billions of advanced civilizations throughout the universe. Communicating with any of them is another issue entirely, as highlighted by the observable/entire universe discussion.
As I’ve posted before on other threads, the Drake equation is meaningless because we have no way of estimating the value of some of the key variables. Therefore you can “estimate” no other civilisations of billions of them, depending on what values you chose for the input variables. That isn’t science and it isn’t useful. I'm sure this has been posted here before, but the Drake Equation probably yields millions or billions of advanced civilizations throughout the universe. Communicating with any of them is another issue entirely, as highlighted by the observable/entire universe discussion.
(The only way of estimating the variables would be through observation…but then you wouldn’t need the equation if you could already measure the number of civilisations in the universe!)
thegreenhell said:
Skeptisk said:
I didn’t say “communicate” because other animals (and even plants to some extent) can communicate. I said “real language” like humans use, which allow the transfer of concepts between people (and through writing and other media between generations). My dog understands some basic words and phrases in English but I can’t discuss metaphysics, chemistry, politics or literature with him. No other animal on earth is even vaguely close to having human like language.
I know some people like that.Turtle Shed said:
You can win a set of tennis by only hitting the ball once.
(A question on WWTBAM which they incorrectly gave as a right answer to a contestant, when it wasn't).
Even then, as I understand the correct answer, WWTBAM got it wrong again.
How? Each time you serve you hit the ball. (A question on WWTBAM which they incorrectly gave as a right answer to a contestant, when it wasn't).
Even then, as I understand the correct answer, WWTBAM got it wrong again.
Edited by Turtle Shed on Saturday 1st February 22:53
You could win without hitting the ball at all - if your opponent serves first and is defaulted on the first point - say they double fault then smack the ball in frustration and hit the umpire.
fooman said:
mickythefish said:
Yet price of fish has nearly doubled in a few years yet we are a island. Crazy
I live about 90 miles from the nearest coastline yet fish and chips are alway cheaper here than any seaside town I visit. That definitely shocks me!In the 19th century, when settlers in the US were expanding into California they put bounties up to kill native Americans (paying for scalps), reducing the population with a few decades from 150,000 to 30,000. Whole villages were burnt down and residents slaughtered. Not that long ago (my grandmother’s grandmother would have been born around that time).
hidetheelephants said:
Skeptisk said:
In the 19th century, when settlers in the US were expanding into California they put bounties up to kill native Americans (paying for scalps), reducing the population with a few decades from 150,000 to 30,000. Whole villages were burnt down and residents slaughtered. Not that long ago (my grandmother’s grandmother would have been born around that time).
In 1921 the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma was attacked by a mob of white supremacists, buildings were looted and some were set on fire by molotov cocktails dropped from aeroplanes. at least 39 people were killed and 35 city blocks were burned to the ground, making an estimated 10,000 people homeless.Strangely Brown said:
Skeptisk said:
In the 19th century, when settlers in the US were expanding into California they put bounties up to kill native Americans (paying for scalps), reducing the population with a few decades from 150,000 to 30,000. Whole villages were burnt down and residents slaughtered. Not that long ago (my grandmother’s grandmother would have been born around that time).
On a related note: The US government never signed a treaty with the Indian nations that it did not break.
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff