Children should wear bicycle helmets.

Tony Raven wrote:
Richard wrote:

Mathematics isn't a man-made construct, though; it exists in the
absence of man.

That Sir, is a statement of faith

Though you said "Science is based on the belief it [the Universe] is
governed by mathematics". So do you think that the Universe would
function differently without Man in it. *That* would be a statement of
faith, somewhat necessarily...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On 2 Dec 2004 11:51:25 GMT, Mark Thompson
wrote in message
:

I was in all seriousness suggesting that a Christian, say, could test
Christianity by dying and seeing what happened next.

Speaking for myself, I am a believer because God told me to be, a bit
like the Lottery advert - the metaphorical pointing finger and "it's
you!". Under the circumstances I had no real choice in the matter.
Your God May Vary.

Before that I was absolutely not a believer, although I had some
sympathy with Pascal's wager.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Peter Clinch wrote:
Tony Raven wrote:

Richard wrote:


Mathematics isn't a man-made construct, though; it exists in the
absence of man.


That Sir, is a statement of faith


Though you said "Science is based on the belief it [the Universe] is
governed by mathematics". So do you think that the Universe would
function differently without Man in it. *That* would be a statement of
faith, somewhat necessarily...


If a tree falls in a forest and there is no-one there to hear it, does
it still make a sound?

Tony ;-)

Tony Raven opined the following...
If a tree falls in a forest and there is no-one there to hear it, does
it still make a sound?

No, but it does cause oscillations in air pressure.

And the sound of one hand clapping is:
















Jon

Tony Raven opined the following...
All of which is the non-understood process of sensate cortical
interpretation of a set of electrical signals. Let alone all the
Descartian philosphy, conditions such as synesthesia and anosognosia
question what observing the real world really means.

Descarte's philosophy involved splitting the world into physical and
metaphysical with no explanations of how the two worked together (Mind
and soul).

What I consider to be "red" is a result of my conditioning and
upbringing. But I can use a machine that can tell me the range of
wavelengths of light that I call red. While it may not look the same to
me as to the next person, it will still be the same wavelength.

Not watertight but an example of the difference between perception and
observation.

Jon

Tony Raven wrote:

If a tree falls in a forest and there is no-one there to hear it, does
it still make a sound?

I think it's a Far Side one... "If a tree falls in a forest and crushes
a mime artist, does anybody care?" ;-)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Tony Raven wrote:
Richard wrote:
Mathematics isn't a man-made construct, though; it exists in the
absence of man.

That Sir, is a statement of faith

I offer as counterevidence the leaves of certain wild plants whose
anchor points (I'm not a botanist, OK? :-) spiral around the stem in the
Fibonacci sequence.

Ahah, a brief google comes up with:
http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_3_99.html

R.

Jon Senior wrote:

And the sound of one hand clapping is:
















Jon

Dunno about that, but a Wiser Man Than I once wrote that Sigue Sigue Sputnik
were the sound of one buttock farting.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

"David Hansen" wrote

[snip]

My point is that the scientific part of society is not quite as it
portrays itself. There is a hierarchy and those at the top of it
have their ideas listened to more than those at the bottom.

[snip]

It's the same on this newsgroup, actually.

Humans are members of a species that likes to group itself into
hierarchies.

Now, I wonder what the origin of the word hierarchy is.

Jeremy Parker

in message , Jon Senior
jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk ('') wrote:

David Hansen opined the following...
Up to a point.

That point being? Please explain the difference between a religion and
a cult other than social acceptance / perception.

The fact that he called his war a crusade does not mean it is a
religious war.

Of three possible understandings of the word "crusade" one refers to
the Christian holy wars of the 11th - 13th centuries, one explicitly
refers to a "holy war" and one refers to a "vigorous movement for a
cause". The third definition having presumably derived from public use
of the word crusade to imply a headlong charge on the basis of belief.

Tsk. What do you imagine the 'Crus' bit of 'crusade' means? Hint: you'll
also find it in cruciform.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Do not sail on uphill water.
- Bill Lee