Alan McDougall

This could also be a topic in the maths forum, but I would like to approach the philosopher Zeno and his famous paradoxes in this sub-forum Are Zeno's paradoxes logical fallacies? One paradox is about a race between Achilles and a tortoise, with the tortoise given a half way start to the finish line. According to Zeno's ,logic, Achilles will never catch up and pass the slower tortoise , because the distances between them are just subdivided smaller and smaller infinitely. There have been solutions to this paradox, but my point are his paradoxes really fallacies?

The astronauts did that test on the moon, with a feather and I think a rock , the fell at the exact same rate reaching the ground at the same moment, they used a feather to show that on the moon, unlike earth, there was no atmosphere to hold up the feather . Of course I know you are aware of this, just added it for the interest of those that don't.

OK lets put it another way, can science prove something is false or untrue?

I know you were joking, however, the best answer biologically is neither. I agree, but is mathematics not a very necessary part of science?

I think we all have a profound need for something greater than ourselves to guide us through life, it could be the works of a wise philosopher, or a righteous king, as per Plato's republic or Christ. When little children this is usually their father as was most definitely true in my case. Most of us fear death, we try to put it into the attic of our minds, but every now and again we are forced to recognize the absolute certainty that it will ultimately happen to us in a very personal way. My recent very near approach to actually dying in 2011, due to total AV heart block was a very sobering event, indeed! Below is a poem I wrote some years ago when I was reflecting about death/god etc. Infinity Road As I approach the infinite long dark night I resist and resist it with all my might I try and try to comprehend this end This final end which all men must descend It a sleep that all must take? Or is it an eternal end that all must make? I like to dream of awakening in light not dark In a beautiful place to which all righteous men depart Do we sleep the sleep of forever? Or do we awake some other place Altogether? Does the answer to this ultimate question Remain forever a process of eternal redemption? On one glorious day from timeless sleep I awoke And heard a beautiful and kind voice that sweetly spoke My faithful son at last you have became to understand Exactly your place in this troubled land You my beloved have truly never ceased to seek The infinite destiny that in eternity for you I keep So for you and your family no eternal death awaits Because of your zeal to know your fate Soon I will bring you all to this most Holy Place And there I will you never forsake Very soon, you shall hear a sweet call in the dark of night Come, come into the Holy Glory of the Father Spirit of Mighty Might I walk in the cool of evening along sweet meadows I have never seen I smell the beauty of grasses that have never been Strange golden streams of crystal water flows As blue glory of mighty skies above glows I search the long forgotten memories in the attic of my mind Along the twisted channels the very depth soul that I could not find I see before me things so wonderful I knew from long ago I puzzle over the enigma of knowing what I do not know Out there far beyond the knowledge of any man is revealed Something of such great mystery to it my heart had appealed Why have I on this one thing so many years stalled? Is this infinite knowledge from many man would be appalled? Walking on through the shade of great trees that give eternal life I hear the sweet forgotten voice that comes to free all from everlasting strife High green new grasses in this new do land grow As transparent waters chuckle dance, sparkle, and flow Alan McDougall16/2/2007 © Alan McDougall 2013

The egg because there were egg producing animals before chickens existed on earth, of course this just pushes the answer further back http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_impossibility A proof of impossibility, sometimes called a negative proof or negative result, is a proof demonstrating that a particular problem cannot be solved, or cannot be solved in general. Often proofs of impossibility have put to rest decades or centuries of work attempting to find a solution. Proofs of impossibility are usually expressible as universal propositions in logic (see universal quantification). One of the oldest and most famous proofs of impossibility was the 1882 proof of Ferdinand von Lindemann showing that the ancient problem of squaring the circle cannot be solved, because the number π is transcendental and only algebraic numbers can be constructed by compass and straightedge. Another classical problem was that of creating a general formula using radicals expressing the solution of a polynomial equation of degree 5 or higher. Galois showed this impossible using concepts such as solvable groups from Galois theory, a new subfield of abstract algebra that he conceived.

The Big Bang singularity seems to violate causality?

Below is a link to a BBC program on infinity that I found both enjoyable and informative, hope you like it also? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtMwAUaftSU

Of course imagination, which is a process of consciousness does not always reflect reality, but it can, I am able to imagine the moment I met my wife, so many years ago, almost as vividly as the real event. Imagination is limited, but the question that begs an answer is whether our consciousness is confined to the brain neurons in our head, or can it exists as some sort of an entangled quantum field, hovering outside our physical brains, if this were true then maybe my idea of consciousness embracing a greater reality might be a possibility Below is a little essay I wrote some time ago My faith is that something much greater than myself exists and that I am tiny fragment of that great tree, which gives me hope and joy that that my life could continue into the infinite and eternal. Are we not all a continuum of conscious energy like a keyboard from the slow waves of the electromagnetic spectrum, all the way into the highest frequency waves of localized composite energy fields so maybe I shall continue to play my whole living keyboard with every blessed cell in my body and with my whole heart and mind until it is so until I achieve my goal of everlasting life. The uncertainty in the predictability of the actions of quantum particles like electrons, indicates a seemimngly presence of self awareness/consciousness in them! All matter finally boils down to these quantum particles. So, does this might suggest that universe is self aware, and is this awareness spread across all things, that make up this universe, starting from the quantum particles to the macro universe itself. Thus the universe could be the highest level of awareness? If the universe were self aware, then what is your/my awareness all about? Probably we are a low levels of discrete awarenesses, that becomes complete when they merge finally with the higher level universal awareness? The entire universe might just an infinitesimal fragment, of a much Greater Reality, to whom everything must evolve towards and all existence a process of ongoing evolution from the moment of creation , if such an event really happened..

Can time be cut into smaller and smaller secrete moments much like a string or is the no such reality as a "moment in time"? I also sometimes visualize time as a "sort of elastic string", which can be stretched or shrunk, as you approach the speed of light, in an object, shrinking in the direction in which your are traveling (Your destination) and stretching increasingly as you travel away from your starting point . Time Time >................................................>..............> (As the object approaches the speed of light 186,000miles/second) >......................................................................................>.......> Time could be a localized phenomenon, whereby we measure how things move relative to us and one to another. Time could also be thought of as a river, taking objects flouting on it from the past, to the present and into a finite or even infinite future, Thus time might be a localized illusion and there was never a moment when time emerged out of the Big Bang, relative to the entire universe?

The British physicist Stephen Hawking, speculated at a scientific convention that information, or energy could leak out of the universe via the death or evaporation of a black hole. If this were true then energy could likewise come into our universe in the reverse, maybe in the form of a white hole This does not violate the conservation of mass and energy, it just pushes the question further back. When asked where the information/energy went after the final evaporation of a black hole, he suggested that the energy or information from our universe, did not vanish out of existence but was forced into some other universe via said black holes. http://scepticalprophet.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/hawkings-information-paradox/ However, Hawking’s proof of black hole evaporation violated this most fundamental law. If a black hole disappeared, what happened to all the information it absorbed? It would disappear with the black hole, a clear violation of the conservation of mass/energy. In essence, Hawking described black holes as huge cosmic machines that went around erasing parts of the universe and proclaimed that parts of the universe were missing as a result. Physicists were mind boggled and needed to disprove this theory. Why? Because the implications were that if black holes could violate this law, then the law was no longer a law of the universe. If it was no longer a law, that means that information anywhere in the universe could potentially be erased, and not just inside black holes. Further, at this time more black holes were discovered – there were supermassive black holes and micro black holes. There could even be micro black holes existing in your room as you read this. If black holes have the power to erase information, how can you say anything you know or see or feel or believe is real? Nothing is certain if everything is impermanent. This caused a huge fuss and was known as the Information Paradox.

We know scientifically that energy cannot be created or destroyed only changed into another form. Our mortal bodies are just bundles of composite energy of a particular type and form, we do not know for sure if consciousness is powered by energy or not. However, is it so far fetched to suppose on death of our physical body,that the energy that had sustained its form in life could, dissipates and evolve into a different form of energy and life form that might appear ghostly to us. We know neutrinos hardly interact with solid matter and can go through the entire planet without slowing down. Why then is it so far out to hope that we might continue evolve into other forms of energetic life after we perish, maybe in this hypothetical afterlife, entropy would have a much lesser effect/affect on it, and this gives us hope for existing far beyond the barriers imposed on us by human evolution? There is one thing I would like to mention about consciousness, it has no barriers like the walls of our homes,or the confined of our brains, we can expand our consciousnesses to embrace the whole universe, just by using our imaginations. Was it Albert Einstein who quoted 'The universe is not stranger than you think, it is stranger than you can think"

Well I see myself much like you in that I enjoy being puzzled, I am curious and that is why I am a member of the forum, where I meet people who might satisfy my curiosity with intelligent, interesting dialogue and hopefully some real answers.

EntropyReversal of entropy has long been discussed The laws of thermodynamics state that "Entropy", the measure of order towards disorder, in a closed system, "cannot be reversed". This theory is not in question, even when the nature of closed systems is at issue. The increase in entropy is contained in the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and effectively states that the arrow of time (time theoretically being one-directional) requires everything to proceed toward ever increasing chaos, such that all structures are ultimately doomed and sadly that is one of the reasons that cause our death.. However, in an open system, there can be an influx of energy into the system capable of, in full accord with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Energy input can decrease entropy, and can simultaneously increase order thus there might be "outside energy sources" which somehow blast energy into our universe, maybe a "White Hole" for example etc. The point is do we know for absolute certainty whether our universe, is a closed or an open system?

Good thoughts at that!

I am not sure of the correct place to pose this question, thus I put it here. Is it scientifically possible to prove something is impossible?

I don't get your point, "the universe could have been around forever, but the clock only started 13.7 billion years ago" please explain a little further what you mean? What I am suggesting is that our universe indeed, had a beginning some 14 billion years ago and the "arrow of time" began then leading to the present. However, the universe might not be "everything" it could be part born out of a greater reality, in which there is no real beginning, call that reality 'Existence" if you like. The concept of infinity also extends to the multiverse hypothesis, which, when explained by astrophysicists such as Michio Kaku, posits that there are an infinite number and variety of universes. He links this with Superstring Theory.

Time linear or otherwise have always fascinated and well as baffled me over the years Is infinity impossible in light of the past having a beginning? Without a beginning we could never reach the present? What ever approach to infinity, we take, like our universe not really been the beginning of time, all we do is push the enigma further back. Eternity and time are "impossible facts an oxymoron of sorts" or do you have a better explanation?

It has been a long held belief that brain cells are the only cells in the body that do not re- generate, however, recent studies suggest that this is not always true and this discovery might hold great promise for those who have damaged brains due to trauma.

I really agree with your words above, finding them resonating as true in my inner self, thanks Our legacy should be an important reason for us to live loving, upright moral lives, these attributes require no dogma, but are intrinsic in good people. People who surround us today are part of the present and will also be part of the future. For people who are intellectually enlightened and “tuned in as we suppose we are,” it becomes easy to discount people who have a different perspective from ours as wrong. Yet the future is being created by all of us. If we believe we have a purpose, then so does every butterfly, pocket mouse, and beam of light. We will deposit our legacies into the future> We have all experienced ideas, that we might consider as coming outside of ourselves, such as thoughts that spring from “nowhere,” words that come from our “intuition,” and ideas that persists, why is there evil, do we really have a free will etc. Regardless of our beliefs, the most basic of all questions is., Why does anything exist? I have spent a rather protracted life (73 years in fact) seeking the knowledge of wisdom in action, and the way true to apply what I have learned to my four daughters, who have all turned out exceptional successful human beings. If I could paint a portrait that reflects my life in vivid color, it would contain blotches of dark when I did some things I was not proud of, white of love, red of suffering, grey of indecision, black of depression, rays of rainbow light of hope and joy, blue of peace, green of the beauty of nature. By taking a few steps back to observe my portrait at some distance I think I would see a composite that satisfies me and gives me reason to hope that it will hang on the mental walls of all those who have known me during my life and all also in the hearts of those people that will come long after my passing from this very brief mortal realm. Alan

I think with age we do get wiser and more knowledgeable, but our brains become less plastic and we resist change much more that we did as a child.

Yes if we talk, what we assume to be our subjective truth, we should walk our talk so those who watch us, would not take us as nothing more than another example of a hypocrite. I mean whatever our particular beliefs are, be they religious, atheistic or agnostic, we must abide by them, unless persuaded to change our position on what we believe as truth, by logical argument.

That is exactly what I meant, I did not mean the heroes or idols that people worship or adore have any god-like powers, but take the case of the late Elvis Presley, he is long dead, but people still flock to his mansion every year, as if he were a god- like being they would like to resurrect from the dead. Can I go off topic just this once please? I by the way was a fan of Elvis as a boy , but he was not an idol to me, I just loved his rock and roll music especially the song 'I'm all shook up" He really messed it up by taking part in those pathetic plastic movies during the 1960's.

You are right, one does not have to be religious or follow any religious dogma or believe in a benevolent God or be frightened of a malevolent God, to be an upright moral person, living a loving family and altruistic life, of the highest ethics. Thus God if he exists, I hope his character reflects that of a human being I have just mentioned if he were the god of my expectations, and not the judgmental angry god of fundamentalists. I would like you to read what I am going to send to fundamentalist believers. As far as the existence or non existence of God, benevolent or malevolent, what we believe or do not believe will not alter the truth, whatever that truth is! Before I became religious I was a well built athlete, both very healthy physically and mentally and did not know what depression was. I rode my bike, exercised every day , without fail, and was progressing at work and at home and I was at peace with myself. After religion entered my life I became a judgmental bigot, and could no longer interact, as I should have, with my fellow workers. I have educated myself over my life time and was expected to dismiss it all and accept what I knew as inane nonsense of fundamental creationists. Been the person I am (If you like how God made me) I could not accept all this rubbish and slowly I became pulled apart by what was obvious truth about the universe I knew and accept the mind bending nonsense of fundamentalists. I then began to unhinge mentally, to the dismay of dad and mom, and long years of unspeakable suffering (Bipolar affective disorder) started to rule my life. I was told by someone that I had a weakness in me, a sort lack of back bone. Mental pain is even worse that any physical pain, there were times, that were so bad, that it was difficult for me to continue to survive even one more second or even a minute because of the unspeakable pain and horror of my mental state. And this was all happening, when I was supposedly held up in the arms of an infinitely powerful loving God. What an oxymoron that situation was? Talk about becoming disillusioned with something you took as absolute truth, words cannot describe what I went through to regain my sanity! Some of the religious fundamentalists I mention below, are my best friends, educated people, but blind to logic in this area of their lives! It was then that I began to struggle with obvious nonsense that fundamental believers, who insisted against all logic on believing, such inane nonsense that the universe and the earth been made by God in just six days. I asked them if he were that good why did he need six days, why not just make the whole thing in a single moment? How on earth could Noah put all the animals, even two of each species into his wooden boat? Did he go to Antarctica to get the penguins, to Australia , to fetch all the Marsupials, to the Artic Circle to find polar bears? The bible says the flood covered all the mountains of the world, then it must have covered mount Everest as well, if this were true, more water would have rained out of the sky , than there was water in all the oceans of the earth, how did all this excess water disappear? I gave them simple examples to prove the earth could not possibly be only six thousand years old. Just one example there are fossilized trees, that have more show scientifically that that they lived long before six thousand year ago. Another simple example I gave, was the ice core taken from the Antarctic ice sheets, which show annual rings similar those on trees, going back hundreds of thousand years. The speed of light is another factor, we know by the red shift of remote galaxies etc that the universe must be billions of years old, but all this logic to no avail, these supposedly intelligent people, continue to insist all of creation was done in a mere six literal 24 hour earth days and the earth is only six thousand years old, in spite of the fact that archeology digs have found human settlements, hundreds of thousand years before present day. If you a ask fundamental creationist , what about the fossils of ancient animals , such as dinosaurs or pre-homo-sapient man, they want us to believe God put them there in the rocks of the earth and confuse the issue, so that we accept the Bible literally and without question, this of makes God into a deceptive liar? In other words God wants us to dispense with reason and logic, let our brains fall out of our heads and become unthinking robots. Alan

My reading tells me "much more energy is released" from two hadrons approaching each at .999991 from different ends of the LHC and colliding at that combined velocity, than a hadron colliding with a stationary Hadron..