Saturday, September 23, 2023

Can Physics explain the Purpose of Everything?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgTiMEfWkHE

Science describes how things happen and not why.

There is a joke in an Isaac Asimov robot novel where the students in a class troll their robot teacher by asking the 'why' of something.  When the robot gives an answer they ask 'why' again, and keep repeating the request making the robot go into more and more detail.

Over 20 years ago I was struggling with the meaning of life, and I came to the conclusion that the meaning of life was to find meaning.  The beauty of this is that it will be different for everyone.  For many, it would be family, but for others, it would be something else.  I like the idea of working toward some goal.

Emptiness of space

Our minds do not comprehend the emptiness of space. Huge distances separate the planets, yet this is tiny compared to the distance to the nearest star. These are further dwarfed by the size of the galaxy which in turn is dwarfed by the incredible vastness of the Observable Universe. And what lies between these celestial bodies is a great void. Immense emptiness that we will likely never cross.

Planet Earth is our lifeboat in a nearly infinite ocean of almost nothing.

Thursday, July 6, 2023

10 Taboo Questions About History and Society

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESD2XHeTxjA

I'm not endorsing everything he says here.

It seems very flawed to say that war is a force for good because of the scientific and medical advancements that happened during war.  Those advancements would have happened anyway, perhaps more slowly, but maybe more quickly because we wouldn't be spending most of our wealth trying to destroy each other.  Nobody thinks that we should go to war to advance science.  What creates innovation is a free market.

World War 1 is responsible for the spread of the Spanish Flu that killed at least 50 million people.

Sometimes war is necessary to stop aggression.

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Friday, June 16, 2023

Sunday, April 2, 2023

WonderCon 2023 Cosplay Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFxikNSs8IM

I don't know how I came across this video, but it makes me think that people need to reevaluate their priorites in life.  Are we going to be a nation of adult childern who dress up as their favorite fictional characters?

Costume parties go back hundreds of years, and there are times when it is appropriate for people to gather and make merry, but people tend to worship their favorite fictional franchise.  When people dress up as superheroes, then it seems a bit much.