This comment by Goblinono originally appeared in response to "What Does Beethovens Ninth Symphony Mean?" published at - http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/09/what-does-beethovens-ninth-symphony-mean/62556/
"The little deaf fella' who pumped out this masterpiece on a piano with no legs had long admired the overtures of Scottish songsters. Beethoven was never comfortable with the resonance of the human voice and wrote this to be presented so near the top of the vocal range that it tends to outwit the performers. His inspiration was from poetry by Friedrich Schiller and he was probably trying to depict scenes of rapturous romance attuned to chaos and arousal. Unfortunately he died whilst working on his tenth symphony, which may have surpassed all his previous works because by now he was determined to overcome the restrictions of popular tonal laws. In considering his musical development he may well have topped himself trying to depict orgasm as his crowning achievement"
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A Mathematical Twist
This is Goblinono's response to an article "A Mathematical twist on the Fermi Paradox" from Discovery News at this address - http://news.discovery.com/space/a-mathematical-twist-on-the-fermi-paradox.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
"Considering that our existence on this planet is probably the result of a random event that was a legacy of all the evolving forces of the universe, mathematically our existance should not exist in the realm of probability but in the realm of improbability. If we consider the size of the universe, its age and the direction of light travel (that depends of course on whether the universe is expanding or contracting!) and then factor in all the information about the universe that we are not yet privy to because of our young age and limited technology we may find that we are in fact THE ONLY incidence of a chance occurence in this great cosmological melting pot. The odds of this happening are incedibly high - and it seems to me that if the odds are so against this chance event, then we probably are THE ONLY civilization to have occured as a random event.
The essence of probability theory was developed in the 1600's from a partnership between a gambler (de Mere) and 2 mathematicians (Pascal and de Fermat) and it was postulated that if an event had a lesser chance than one in a hundred, then it probably would not happen.
There is also a mathematical problem presented by the 'inspection paradox' - the probability distribution of a quantity that has already started its life is shifted, leading to a larger average than would otherwise be expected. For example : when you wait for a bus, the distribution of bus interarrival times has already started.
In other words - if you were an apple in a bunch of apples inside a spinning bag hung from the ceiling it would be hard to be objective about your position unless you removed yourself from the bag - and then you would no longer be included in the sample you were studying - so the odds have changed yet again!"
"Considering that our existence on this planet is probably the result of a random event that was a legacy of all the evolving forces of the universe, mathematically our existance should not exist in the realm of probability but in the realm of improbability. If we consider the size of the universe, its age and the direction of light travel (that depends of course on whether the universe is expanding or contracting!) and then factor in all the information about the universe that we are not yet privy to because of our young age and limited technology we may find that we are in fact THE ONLY incidence of a chance occurence in this great cosmological melting pot. The odds of this happening are incedibly high - and it seems to me that if the odds are so against this chance event, then we probably are THE ONLY civilization to have occured as a random event.
The essence of probability theory was developed in the 1600's from a partnership between a gambler (de Mere) and 2 mathematicians (Pascal and de Fermat) and it was postulated that if an event had a lesser chance than one in a hundred, then it probably would not happen.
There is also a mathematical problem presented by the 'inspection paradox' - the probability distribution of a quantity that has already started its life is shifted, leading to a larger average than would otherwise be expected. For example : when you wait for a bus, the distribution of bus interarrival times has already started.
In other words - if you were an apple in a bunch of apples inside a spinning bag hung from the ceiling it would be hard to be objective about your position unless you removed yourself from the bag - and then you would no longer be included in the sample you were studying - so the odds have changed yet again!"
Monday, October 11, 2010
Launch their Hearts
This is a comment posted by Goblinono in response to an article "Brain Freezer claims secret of Eternal Life' at -http://news.discovery.com/tech/cryonics-brain-life-death.html#view-comments
"Sure sounds like a high-tech facility - rusting warehouse, a table as steps! If you freeze a body today and then defrost it, all you will have is an unfrozen body - there is not necessarily any signs of life because the body is much like a machine that transports the brain and houses the soul. There are theories that the human body weighs around 20 grams less after death - some say that is the weight of the soul, though I would suggest that is the weight of moisture leaving the body. Does anyone really want to be re-born in the future without a soul or spirit - do you really want to take the chance of living in a man made hell and exhibiting the mindlessness of a clone or a zombie? You can't just "launch their hearts", there is more to human life than just a beating heart!"
"Sure sounds like a high-tech facility - rusting warehouse, a table as steps! If you freeze a body today and then defrost it, all you will have is an unfrozen body - there is not necessarily any signs of life because the body is much like a machine that transports the brain and houses the soul. There are theories that the human body weighs around 20 grams less after death - some say that is the weight of the soul, though I would suggest that is the weight of moisture leaving the body. Does anyone really want to be re-born in the future without a soul or spirit - do you really want to take the chance of living in a man made hell and exhibiting the mindlessness of a clone or a zombie? You can't just "launch their hearts", there is more to human life than just a beating heart!"
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