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Zinjanthropos
Nov 2, 2016 03:46 AM
(This post was last modified: Nov 2, 2016 03:47 AM by Zinjanthropos.)
Life on Earth? Unless you have another suggestion we can deal with this first.
I am a life form and in order to survive I must consume other forms for which life has ceased. I eat the dead so I can live. Life forms either do this or their life disappears. Is this not totally bizarre?
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scheherazade
Nov 2, 2016 09:42 PM
When one observes the relationships between other life forms on this planet, then I would say no.
What becomes weird and complicated is when we choose to disassociate ourselves from the cycles of nature.
We contemplate eternity and our place within that framework and then design new strategies to legitimize our
form of life as being of greater value in the big picture.
Now that type of thinking IS weird.
Certainly as we evolve it behooves us to treat each other and all species with greater compassion but it does not change the model
that on this planet, the base elements get recycled through a continuum of life and death.
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Zinjanthropos
Nov 2, 2016 10:18 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 2, 2016 10:19 PM by Zinjanthropos.)
(Nov 2, 2016 09:42 PM)scheherazade Wrote: When one observes the relationships between other life forms on this planet, then I would say no.
What becomes weird and complicated is when we choose to disassociate ourselves from the cycles of nature.
We contemplate eternity and our place within that framework and then design new strategies to legitimize our
form of life as being of greater value in the big picture.
Now that type of thinking IS weird.
Certainly as we evolve it behooves us to treat each other and all species with greater compassion but it does not change the model
that on this planet, the base elements get recycled through a continuum of life and death.
Nicely said. Life seems to be this all encompassing thing that does what it has to do to continue on, even if it means killing other life forms. I just wonder if that is the way it must be everywhere. I was thinking that we may be an anomaly when it comes to how life forms maintain or restore energy. Who knows what other planetary life is like or if we'll even recognize it, assuming we're not alone that is.
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scheherazade
Nov 2, 2016 10:58 PM
(Nov 2, 2016 10:18 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: (Nov 2, 2016 09:42 PM)scheherazade Wrote: When one observes the relationships between other life forms on this planet, then I would say no.
What becomes weird and complicated is when we choose to disassociate ourselves from the cycles of nature.
We contemplate eternity and our place within that framework and then design new strategies to legitimize our
form of life as being of greater value in the big picture.
Now that type of thinking IS weird.
Certainly as we evolve it behooves us to treat each other and all species with greater compassion but it does not change the model
that on this planet, the base elements get recycled through a continuum of life and death.
Nicely said. Life seems to be this all encompassing thing that does what it has to do to continue on, even if it means killing other life forms. I just wonder if that is the way it must be everywhere. I was thinking that we may be an anomaly when it comes to how life forms maintain or restore energy. Who knows what other planetary life is like or if we'll even recognize it, assuming we're not alone that is.
As individual life forms, we see death as a negative because it means the loss of our individualism, our sense of self. To that end much science fiction (and religion) has contrived a means to bridge that which we call death.
Ingesting other life forms is also one of their means of propagation for many plants and parasites. I sometimes ponder that we are merely vehicles by which microscopic organisms get around when you look at how many species we host and are almost entirely unaware of. How else would these minute life forms ever get off the planet without first creating ambulatory and egocentric humans? JK
From a much broader perspective, all death provides the means for new life. Viewed in the positive, death becomes less negative if it is imperative for new life.
Is it the same elsewhere?
I suppose for it to be different, the laws of physics and thermodynamics, among others, would need to be much different. It is a universe beyond our ability to scope so these 'laws' could conceivably be different elsewhere. It is fun to contemplate.
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geordief
Nov 3, 2016 01:12 PM
(Nov 2, 2016 10:58 PM)scheherazade Wrote: (Nov 2, 2016 10:18 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: (Nov 2, 2016 09:42 PM)scheherazade Wrote: When one observes the relationships between other life forms on this planet, then I would say no.
What becomes weird and complicated is when we choose to disassociate ourselves from the cycles of nature.
We contemplate eternity and our place within that framework and then design new strategies to legitimize our
form of life as being of greater value in the big picture.
Now that type of thinking IS weird.
Certainly as we evolve it behooves us to treat each other and all species with greater compassion but it does not change the model
that on this planet, the base elements get recycled through a continuum of life and death.
Nicely said. Life seems to be this all encompassing thing that does what it has to do to continue on, even if it means killing other life forms. I just wonder if that is the way it must be everywhere. I was thinking that we may be an anomaly when it comes to how life forms maintain or restore energy. Who knows what other planetary life is like or if we'll even recognize it, assuming we're not alone that is.
As individual life forms, we see death as a negative because it means the loss of our individualism, our sense of self. To that end much science fiction (and religion) has contrived a means to bridge that which we call death.
Ingesting other life forms is also one of their means of propagation for many plants and parasites. I sometimes ponder that we are merely vehicles by which microscopic organisms get around when you look at how many species we host and are almost entirely unaware of. How else would these minute life forms ever get off the planet without first creating ambulatory and egocentric humans? JK
From a much broader perspective, all death provides the means for new life. Viewed in the positive, death becomes less negative if it is imperative for new life.
Is it the same elsewhere?
I suppose for it to be different, the laws of physics and thermodynamics, among others, would need to be much different. It is a universe beyond our ability to scope so these 'laws' could conceivably be different elsewhere. It is fun to contemplate.
General Relativity is practically built on the observation that the laws have to be the same everywhere.
I would guess that if the laws are the same in other places then that is what allows us to observe those places in the first place.
If the laws are different then the places where these laws prevails would be invisible and unknowable to us.
As to your point as to the interconnectedness of life forms it is interesting how strong the ego centredness of us (esp me ,as I can only really vouch for myself is)
Contrast that with our (my) objective insignificance (not 100% insignificance ,admittedly) and it seems,very unscientifically like 2 worlds that do operate to different rules .
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Zinjanthropos
Nov 3, 2016 06:08 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 3, 2016 06:11 PM by Zinjanthropos.)
One thing I really liked about the movie Avatar was way the inhabitants of the planet could 'plug in' (interconnect) to one another. Thought it was ambitious but who knows what evolution/life is capable of?
I actually hoped that we might see some different perspectives on what is considered weird, excluding the paranormal. I just brought up Life as one example (purely personal). Feel free to inject other things you find weird. (maybe that's a weird request )
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Zinjanthropos
Nov 20, 2016 04:07 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 20, 2016 04:13 PM by Zinjanthropos.)
Anything weirder than...... watching a chicken develop?
Is this video for real? Could it be an elaborate hoax?
Went I went directly to Youtube I was able to get vid with english subtitles. Don't think that will happen once you click on it below. Students apparently hatch an eggshell less chick over 21 days, in a glass, using an incubator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am3iGHDnJHc
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Secular Sanity
Nov 20, 2016 05:08 PM
(Nov 20, 2016 04:07 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: Is this video for real? Could it be an elaborate hoax?
Here's the paper.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jps...30043/_pdf
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Zinjanthropos
Nov 21, 2016 07:42 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 21, 2016 07:43 PM by Zinjanthropos.)
Anything weirder than.....A coincidence?
I've experienced many in my life. One of the most bizarre happened to me while I was living in British Columbia X amount of years ago. Backtracking a bit, I started my schooling at a Canadian Armed Forces base in Germany. One time a news photographer/reporter came to our school and I was selected with another pupil to have a photo taken with teacher that was sent across Canada via Canadian Press. I was in grade 1 at the time.
Move ahead 25 years, I'm at a baseball game in Vancouver (lived there for 3 years once). My wife and I became good friends with another couple our age and we attended the games faithfully. One night the subject of school came up and I of course mentioned how my education started. Amazingly myself and June, the lady half of the other couple, were both in Germany in the same town with the Canadian Army and attended the same school.
However that is not the real coincidence. She brought a photograph with her one night. When I looked at it, I realized it was the same pic my mother had shown me several times in the past. Yep, that's right, June was the other pupil in the photograph with me. Talk about a coincidence. My wife and I still use it as a conversation topic when this subject comes up.
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Secular Sanity
Nov 22, 2016 02:56 AM
(Nov 21, 2016 07:42 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: Anything weirder than.....A coincidence?
I've experienced many in my life. One of the most bizarre happened to me while I was living in British Columbia X amount of years ago. Backtracking a bit, I started my schooling at a Canadian Armed Forces base in Germany. One time a news photographer/reporter came to our school and I was selected with another pupil to have a photo taken with teacher that was sent across Canada via Canadian Press. I was in grade 1 at the time.
Move ahead 25 years, I'm at a baseball game in Vancouver (lived there for 3 years once). My wife and I became good friends with another couple our age and we attended the games faithfully. One night the subject of school came up and I of course mentioned how my education started. Amazingly myself and June, the lady half of the other couple, were both in Germany in the same town with the Canadian Army and attended the same school.
However that is not the real coincidence. She brought a photograph with her one night. When I looked at it, I realized it was the same pic my mother had shown me several times in the past. Yep, that's right, June was the other pupil in the photograph with me. Talk about a coincidence. My wife and I still use it as a conversation topic when this subject comes up.
That’s a great story. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a coincidence.
I think pi is weird.
Quote:For example, if you tie a string around a beach ball, and you want to add enough string to make it one inch away from the ball all the way around, you have to add about 6 inches (pi times the increase in the diameter, two inches) of string.
If you tied a string around the entire earth, and you wanted to add enough string to lift it one inch off the ground everywhere, you would have to add the same amount of string -- about 6 inches!
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