"The exception tests the rule" -- Richard Feynman, the last true physicist
"If a man in a long white coat tells you that something is true, it probably is. But if he tells you that something is false, then he is absolutely wrong." -- Sir Arthur C. Clarke, one guy well worthy of his Knighhood.
"SHUT UP!" he explained. -- Stephen Leacock
Do you know what it is to be a Discordian studying sciences ? Can you imagine the sheer pain, the feeling of absolute repulsion that the permeating dogmatism the current scientific establishment exsudes can give to the genuinely free-wheeling mind ? Has any one of you ever tasted the ostrichizing attitude of self-importance conveyed by some of the most mediocre rational minds found in colleges and research labs ?
Fortunately, mediocrity is truth-invariant. That is, it does not matter in the bigger picture of theories, explanations, experiments, data collections and facts. But Goddess, can it be annoying. "Save the Holey Kludge ! Believe my words as that of God itself even though I have no clue !" even though there is always one better explanation. Hence my new sig. But I di-gress (or do I con-gress ?).
So I was walking along the road that links the House of the Crazy Drunk Monkeys in which I have found a place to live in peace, and the place that connects our world to the Railroad world (a parallel dimension in which time slows down to a crawl while brain stops functioning almost entirely, in which air is impure and headaches abound, and where Greyness incarnates into a dark blue suit, to ask for your ticket). I was lost in my own thoughts, as is too often the case, rambling about how everyone had been brainwashed so as not to believe, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, in any theory (be it alien presence on Earth or Illuminati's world domination plans) that menaces their kludged reality assessment map. This naturally drove me to think about the incarnation of utmost ugliness that is the Standard Model taught in every Approved,Ñ¢ school of science, and of its many short-comings and flaws. That so many minds can be fooled into chasing the shadow instead of the prey saddens me. And accordingly rose in my heart the terrible feeling of inadequacy of All This, which made me mourn on the immense waste of efforts and reasoning it represents.
See for example the 15 years it took just for accepting that maybe, perhaps, something special could indeed sometimes happen in certain weird conditions of electrolysis. What tragedy, what outrage, that so many reasonable people with long beards would rather fling their excrements, in the manner of irritated simians, in order to save the theory and sweep the reality under the rug ! Unfortunately for them, so many things have been sweeped there, that the rug now resembles an elephant. The Emperor has no clothes, I thought.
This is about the moment that Eris chose to sway a lightpole in my footsteps. And thus was I enlightened.
Everything is false. Even true things are false. Maybe. And I should watch my steps instead of worrying about it all.
Cheer up, friend.
Just realize that Science, just like everything else in this life, requires an act of faith at some point, be it Newton's Infinitesimal, or Planck's Constant.
And, while not perfect, Science tends to be quicker at self-correction than other faiths. 15 years regarding electrolysis, sure, but it took the Catholic Church hundreds of years to recognize that the earth revolved around the sun.
Give science a couple of generations, and they'll tend to get it right.
You remind me of the modern day Charles Fort.
Feynman was one reason I chose Physics as a major. Anyone read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?" Packed with mindfucks. I loved how he was a safecracker at Los Alamos.
QuoteBut I di-gress (or do I con-gress ?).
Actually, Pro-gress is the opposite of Con-gress. Just look at Congress....
:twisted:
Thanks :)
And Bob, if you like Feynman and Dirac, go read this (http://www.zeitlin.net/OpenSETI/Docs/HotsonPart1.pdf) (and its follow-up here (http://www.zeitlin.net/OpenSETI/Docs/HotsonPart2.pdf)). Not completely satisfying, but very very promising.
The Theory of Everything, as shown in my sig, says that everything is electromagnetic waves. Even people. In fact, people's minds are waves as well. Their thoughts and words and acts are signals on the waves of the Universe. But with the advent of the DUMB, ever since we lived in the Fuck-All civilization, most of it turned to noise.
Behold, for there lies the Greater Paradox of the Greyfaces, and the Holy Realization of the Law of Chaos: that the cabbages claim Order, but are nothing more than random non-signals in the course of events, senseless rambling, delivered encased in little packages of meat.
My fellow Discordians or not, the signal-to-noise ratio has been degrading ever since the Curse of Greyface has been cast on mankind. Remember: an open mind makes a better antenna for receiving the broadcasts of Eris.
So go rub'em rusty pineal glands till they shine !
Quote from: namuThe Theory of Everything, as shown in my sig, says that everything is electromagnetic waves. Even people. In fact, people's minds are waves as well. Their thoughts and words and acts are signals on the waves of the Universe. But with the advent of the DUMB, ever since we lived in the Fuck-All civilization, most of it turned to noise.
Behold, for there lies the Greater Paradox of the Greyfaces, and the Holy Realization of the Law of Chaos: that the cabbages claim Order, but are nothing more than random non-signals in the course of events, senseless rambling, delivered encased in little packages of meat.
My fellow Discordians or not, the signal-to-noise ratio has been degrading ever since the Curse of Greyface has been cast on mankind. Remember: an open mind makes a better antenna for receiving the broadcasts of Eris.
So go rub'em rusty pineal glands till they shine !
you'd be surprisedd how obvious all fo that becomes on five hits of acid and a five gram blunbt sealed with nutella. waves of blood indeed.
Quote from: Bob the MediocreFeynman was one reason I chose Physics as a major. Anyone read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?" Packed with mindfucks. I loved how he was a safecracker at Los Alamos.
Yup good book.
*puts it on tp-read list again*
Old truth about science:
New theories are accepted only insofar as the defenders of the old dogma die out.
If everything is a wave, then does that mean we can project our own waves into other minds, given the correct frequency?
EDIT: or is that the simple basis of magic?
magic is a bit differnt, and is based mroe on behavioural stuff.
i'd imagine with the appropriate technology you coudl do that sort of thing.
i lived in los alamos, but i never met any safe crackers, only soda crackers and pilot crackers. actually many members of my family worked at the lab. (i wonder if xxx.lanl.gov is still an active site.)
if science bothers you, you coud always study something like marketing or germ warfare.