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Need a list of any unique substance you can think of....


MWresearch

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Prove it.

 

Which I already answered, in the simplest and foremost response, it is a pre-made brainstorm.

but rather scientifically established substances and physical phenomena that exist in a repeatedly measurable way, which, without me specifying could be used for scientific research

 

Simply put, this list is meant to act as a pre-made brainstorm, saving people time and organizing items in one place if they want a list of more commonly known substances and phenomena and possibly exposing people to new substances and phenomena they somehow never heard of, allowing them to learn if they choose to research further.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming

says "

  1. Focus on quantity: This rule is a means of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem solving through the maxim quantity breeds quality. The assumption is that the greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.
  2. Withhold criticism: In brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put 'on hold'. Instead, participants should focus on extending or adding to ideas, reserving criticism for a later 'critical stage' of the process. By suspending judgment, participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas.
  3. Welcome unusual ideas: To get a good and long list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed. They can be generated by looking from new perspectives and suspending assumptions. These new ways of thinking may provide better solutions.
  4. Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be combined to form a single better good idea, as suggested by the slogan "1+1=3". It is believed to stimulate the building of ideas by a process of association.[3]

 

I'm not sure you are doing most of those.

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I focus on accumulating as many ideas as possible with the goal that someone will use the list to pick specific items from for purposes of deciding what substances to test, commercial applications (which can include science) or artistic applications, or, if it so happens, allowing people to learn about what others know as common.

 

I do not openly ask for people to debate whether items should be on the list. They may do so, but I do not specifically ask them to, I decide based on if I think they fit the parameters.

 

I welcome a variety of ideas, including unusual substances like bile and dark matter

 

I combine ideas with categorization, such as combining "obsidian" and "fulgurite" into a single "glass" category.

Edited by MWresearch
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I focus on accumulating as many ideas as possible with the goal that someone will use the list to pick specific items from for purposes of deciding what substances to test, commercial applications (which can include science) or artistic applications, or, if it so happens, allowing people to learn about what others know as common.

 

...

 

There are something like 100 million different chemical compounds known, and they are all uniquely identifiable.

It's going to be a long list.

Something doesn't have to be anywhere near interesting to merely be documented, it just has to be different in the slightest possible way from something else that is already discovered. Interesting would be anything that has captured the public's interest, has been used in commonly known manufacturing, had science fiction or fantasy stories written about it, so versatile throughout history it is taught in middle and high schools, those sorts of things. Glass, water, wood, rock, dark matter, "are there magnets with only one pole (magnetic monopoles)?" "what is a neutron star made of (neutronium)?" "does Jupiter have a surface (metallic hydrogen)?" all fall under those conditions. But the thousands of compounds you're talking about (for instance any molybdenum compounds) usually don't meet those conditions.

Edited by John Cuthber
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I focus on accumulating as many ideas as possible with the goal that someone will use the list to pick specific items from for purposes of deciding what substances to test, commercial applications (which can include science) or artistic applications, or, if it so happens, allowing people to learn about what others know as common.

 

...

 

There are something like 100 million different chemical compounds known, and they are all uniquely identifiable.

It's going to be a long list.

Something doesn't have to be anywhere near interesting to merely be documented, it just has to be different in the slightest possible way from something else that is already discovered. Interesting would be anything that has captured the public's interest, has been used in commonly known manufacturing, had science fiction or fantasy stories written about it, so versatile throughout history it is taught in middle and high schools, those sorts of things. Glass, water, wood, rock, dark matter, "are there magnets with only one pole (magnetic monopoles)?" "what is a neutron star made of (neutronium)?" "does Jupiter have a surface (metallic hydrogen)?" all fall under those conditions. But the thousands of compounds you're talking about (for instance any molybdenum compounds) usually don't meet those conditions.

 

Which does not ignore the other parameters I set. Neutronium is well within the realm of science, as is glass, wood, water, rock, dark matter and so on. You only focus on one parameter at a time, that leads to issues. The term "interesting" as a term I was hoping you'd understand more sociably, which again is not mutually exclusive with science. But as I said, I will have to revise the explanation of the list with the next edit.

Edited by MWresearch
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Since the thread is not about the project but rather scientifically established substances and physical phenomena that exist in a repeatedly measurable way, which, without me specifying could be used for scientific research

 

So basically everything. Every element and every possible compound. That is not just stupid but futile.

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So basically everything. Every element and every possible compound. That is not just stupid but futile.

Except for the small part where you purposely ignored the fact that I set parameters to for the list to prevent every single compound from being mentioned. In addition to that, not only would a list containing every known compound be possible to create, it would be one of the most helpful lists ever created in science which is probably why there are multiple books that already exist with exactly that information, a list of every known element and compound known.

Not coincidentally, it's called "Chemistry."

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Except for the small part where you purposely ignored the fact that I set parameters to for the list to prevent every single compound from being mentioned.

 

You keep referring to these "parameters". They seem to be things like "you find them interesting" and "unique" (used in a uniquely meaningless way). None of your "parameters" have any value as they are vague and subjective.

 

Perhaps you are 14 and this sort of nonsense is a lot of fun. In which case, I will leave you to it.

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You keep referring to these "parameters". They seem to be things like "you find them interesting" and "unique" (used in a uniquely meaningless way). None of your "parameters" have any value as they are vague and subjective.

 

Perhaps you are 14 and this sort of nonsense is a lot of fun. In which case, I will leave you to it.

Considering you purposely ignored my multiple efforts to describe in detail what the words "interesting" and unique represent as well as not only admitting that they would be harder to interpret for the less socially inclined but that I am planning on changing it, I have much more grounds to think you are 14.

 

Besides, now that I think about it, the project and purpose of the list is rather scientific, especially considering I was brought on just to compute statistics and other data. The project involves creating planets in a space environment and my job is to calculate as many relevant statistics as I can for different planets, orbital radius, acceleration due to gravity at the surface, volume, orbital tilt, likely temperature at its distance from its parent star, orbital period, distance from parent star, average velocity, etc. But moreover, as someone scientific, I am suppose to keep track of specific properties of commonly known substances as to determine what unique physical phenomena would occur as a result of a planet being composed in large of a particular type of substance or that has a specific inherent phenomena so that it can be graphically created if it is interesting enough. For gaseous wolds containing hydrogen, simply refer to Jupiter with its storms and identify its slushy surface under enough compression which eventually turns into metallic hydrogen, hence why metallic hydrogen is on the list. Of course, the planets also get creative. Since obsidian is made from cooled lava flows, a planet with a stable crust of almost pure obsidian would be said to result from a planet in its primordial state after cooling with its primal lava surface being composed almost entirely of silicon dioxide. A planet made of foam at least in its crust, however improbable that seems, would still have specific properties. It would have properties such as a very low density, very deep but localized surface deformations due to asteroid impacts, cavernous, much more surface area than average Earth ground which would allow for very large scale chemical reactions to take place quickly if the foam was to be made out of a particularly reactive substance, the surface may periodically undergo massive collapse in different crustal shelves due to the cavernous nature from the large amounts of erosive or corrosive fluid on its surface to penetrate deep within the crust in numerous locations. A world somehow composed if actinides, which, is improbable though I suppose not impossible if there happens to be multiple supernovas in one location wherein an excessive amount of heavy elements coincidentally gathered. It would have properties such as patches of crust undergoing both supercritical and sub-critical chain reactions, producing large glows almost visible from large distances in space. It's fate would ultimately be to shrink. A radioactive planet with most of its composition being actinides would shrink, assuming its gravity was not powerful enough to trap all the decay particles, and the fundamental composition of the planet would change over time and turn into different substances like technitium from the fission reactions, helium, xenon and samarium from decay and so on. But, actinides are also extremely dense and heavy, so the density of the planet would be considerably larger than Earth which in tun would create enormous amounts of compression which regularly creates massive tectonic events that makes the crust unstable, as predicted to occur with very large rocky planets.

So, this list does actually have scientific value to me, in that I want to know, historically and presently, what are common substances and phenomena that occur so that I can compute statistics and properties of things that average people can relate to or understand. If I was a classical physicist I would use this list to see what things I should compute coefficients of friction for and probably sell the data to some company that makes commercial products. If I was a chemist I would want to know what substances are common so that when I'm finished making my new and improved sulfuric acid ultra kill-anything cleaner, I'd know what byproducts a person could easily encounter, and I could go on to make up more scenarios.

Edited by MWresearch
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  • 2 weeks later...

MWresearch,

 

I lost track of what you have accepted and added to the list, and what you have rejected as already on the list, or not valuable to have on the list.

 

Can we have a current list with the so far thought of and vetted substances?

 

Do you have;

 

DNA?

Dopamine?

 

Jelly fish have a substance that seems to act like a fountain of youth. Is that substance a candidate for the list?

 

You have rock and paper already, but you forgot scissors. :o

 

Regards, TAR


I think Peanut Butter Cups should make the list. (But I just ate three, so there might be some favoritism at work.)

Edited by tar
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MWresearch,

 

 

Since this is marketing related, it might be useful to take a consumer, or person centric view of substances in general, to establish the categories in which you should find additional substances of value to the project. Kant critiqued Aristotle's categories as things Aristotle put down, as they occurred to him, whereas Kant's categories where arrived at with purposeful reasoning and adherence to a logical scheme, that included every angle.

 

My starting points here then, would be to consider what substances a person needs to get survival things done, and what substances a person needs for enjoyment.

 

An interesting help in this is the game Civilization. They have stategic resources on the map like horses, coal, iron, rubber, oil, saltpeter, aluminum and uranium, without these there are weapons troops, ships and vehicals you cannot build. They also have luxury resources. Eight luxuries. These make people happy, and allow for larger cities and production in the game, but might interest you. Gems, wine, spices, dyes, incense, silks, furs and ivory. Bonus resources that provide food and wealth are cattle, fish,game, gold, whales and wheat.

 

Inorder to think of substance you might have missed, think of the consumer. What substances does she/he need to survive What substances are needed to build tools and quality of life improvements. What substances are needed for pleasure. And in each of these general areas think of some categories into which a substance might fall. If you have an area and a category without a member...well then think of a substance that fills the bill.

 

For instance, if you look at the luxury resource list you have items that please the senses. And what are the senses. Sight (dyes), Hearing ( ), Taste (spices), Smell (incense), Touch (silk).

 

The empty parenthesis gives you a place to look for a substance you might not yet have thought of. And just having the categories might help you think of more substances for your list.

 

So look at substances in terms of what they mean to a person. Perhaps use Maslov's Hierarchy of Needs, as a framework.

 

Regards, TAR

Edited by tar
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