The Road to Reality
Double-A
you suppose that if I can plow through all 1199 pages (plus 28 pages
of prefaces), that I will then know what reality is?
Double-A
hones...@centurytel.net
"Double-A" <doub...@hush.com> wrote in message
news:57d6c99a-4fb2-4879...@b2g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
CHJ
p.s. Where's Sir Nightbat?
Timberwoof
<57d6c99a-4fb2-4879...@b2g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
Double-A <doub...@hush.com> wrote:
Maybe. My advice is to not skip any chapter. Take notes and take it
easy. Pay attention to the hard stuff. The first few chapters are a
review of the first year of college calculus and it only gets harder
from there. Once you get to the chapter that finishes with Penrose
telling you you now understand Newton, take yourself out to a nice
dinner at Meisterburger or someplace.
I'm of the school that there are some things which cannot be understood
properly except in their mathematical representations. That is, there is
nothing in our experience that provides a correct analogy.
Unfortunately, must of the universe is like that, and that's where the
book comes in. Even if reading the book won't turn you into a leading
theoretical physicist, it will illuminate a lot of things about how the
physical world works.
I also recommend, as a warmup or a review, reading "Six Easy Pieces" and
"Six Not-So-Easy Pieces" by Richard Feynman. Every once in a while, go
back and read them again as break from Penrose. You'll see your
understanding of Penrose reflected in how much insight you have to
what's between the lines of Pieces.
--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
http://www.timberwoof.com
People who can't spell get kicked out of Hogwarts.
Jeff▲Relf
I can sum it up in much less than “ 1,199 + 28 ” pages:
Subjectively:
“ The only lord that matters is the ‘ land Lord ’**;
going up a level, every landlord is a tenant.
** i.e. the payments you make and the rules you follow. ”.
and:
“ After aging has burned me up like a log on the fire,
another ‘ log ’ gets toss on the fire, replacing me ..
besides me ( i.e. the log ), no one cares.
Nothing is going to put me back together ..
unfortunately for me ( yet fortunately for everyone else ),
I'm very replaceable. ”.
But, objectively, intrinsically, no matter what is or isn't known:
“ Nothing is acausal; randomness is always notional, never real.
The cosmos ‘ just is ’, 4-D static, 4-D motionless, choiceless. ”.
Double-A
> "Double-A" <double...@hush.com> wrote in message
>
> news:57d6c99a-4fb2-4879...@b2g2000prf.googlegroups.com...>I just started reading Roger Penrose's book "The Road to Reality". Do
> > you suppose that if I can plow through all 1199 pages (plus 28 pages
> > of prefaces), that I will then know what reality is?
>
> > Double-A
>
> Ya think that you can "squeeze" it into your busy schedule?
Yeah. I've read a lot of books since I've been on this schedule. I
didn't used to find time to read books at all.
> CHJ
>
> p.s. Where's Sir Nightbat?
Abducted?
Double-A
Double-A
wrote:
> In article
> <57d6c99a-4fb2-4879-957c-b41bcb981...@b2g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Double-A <double...@hush.com> wrote:
> > I just started reading Roger Penrose's book "The Road to Reality". Do
> > you suppose that if I can plow through all 1199 pages (plus 28 pages
> > of prefaces), that I will then know what reality is?
>
> Maybe. My advice is to not skip any chapter. Take notes and take it
> easy. Pay attention to the hard stuff. The first few chapters are a
> review of the first year of college calculus and it only gets harder
> from there.
The first chapters do a lot of reviewing of anceint Greek geometry and
their obscure arithmetic techniques. But then, Penrose is a professor
of mathematics.
> Once you get to the chapter that finishes with Penrose
> telling you you now understand Newton, take yourself out to a nice
> dinner at Meisterburger or someplace.
>
> I'm of the school that there are some things which cannot be understood
> properly except in their mathematical representations.
I am of the school that physics is what it is and math is a tool.
> That is, there is
> nothing in our experience that provides a correct analogy.
> Unfortunately, must of the universe is like that, and that's where the
> book comes in. Even if reading the book won't turn you into a leading
> theoretical physicist, it will illuminate a lot of things about how the
> physical world works.
>
> I also recommend, as a warmup or a review, reading "Six Easy Pieces" and
> "Six Not-So-Easy Pieces" by Richard Feynman. Every once in a while, go
> back and read them again as break from Penrose. You'll see your
> understanding of Penrose reflected in how much insight you have to
> what's between the lines of Pieces.
I will consider that since both those books are there at the bookstore
which is so kind as to let me sit there all day and read their books.
I already read Feynman's book on QED.
Double-A
Double-A
I watch all the people moving around everyday, doing thier jobs .
The6 look to me like automatons. Someone pulls their string, and they
do their dance everyday. They don't want to do the dance, but they
have no choice. And eventually they identify with their dance, and
they become what the dance is about. All together they move around in
a forced performance, nobody happy, everyone just enduring, everyone
fearing the consequences if the day comes when they can no longer
dance.
Double-A
G=EMC^2 Glazier
universe. Great minds have paved the road ahead. I have used my mind to
lay some pavement. bert
Double-A
I'm sure you have. Probably laid some pipe too!
Double-A
Painius
news:2be760cc-2755-48ce...@s20g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Could you be projecting? or do you have ESP? How
can you possibly know what "all the people" do and
think all day and all night? How do you know that
people don't like to do the dance? Some dances are
pretty cool! People do have and make choices, AA.
Giving myself something good to look forward to,
something i like to do, that makes me happy. Sitting
around self-proselytizing and rationalizing just brings
me down.
Sorry for the tough-loving rant. If you really like
where you are, then stay there, my friend. But you
have to know that you're capable of change. Even
a lowly amoeba can learn. You make it sound as if
one has to be a zombie to put a roof over his head,
afford to eat all the food groups daily, and have a
loving family to come home to each night. There's a
whole lot more to it than the tip of the iceberg!
Penrose once quipped...
"Consciousness . . . is the phenomenon whereby
the universe's very existence is made known."
And how is this done?... by making the unconscious
conscious. Until you do, the unconscious will direct
your life, and you will call it "fate".
happy days and...
starry starry nights!
--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth
P.S.: Thank *YOU* for reading!
P.P.S.: http://yummycake.secretsgolden.com
Saul Levy
DOOM AND GLOOM FOREVER!
Saul Levy
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 11:49:49 -0700 (PDT), Double-A <doub...@hush.com>
wrote:
Double-A
> "Double-A" <double...@hush.com> wrote in message...
It is only since I have shucked of all the responsibilities that
society had placed on me that I have had the time to persue the only
thing that is really important: the full time study of physics and
math!
Double-A
Painius
> society had placed on me that I have had the time to persue the only
> thing that is really important: the full time study of physics and
> math!
>
> Double-A
And i am honestly happy for you in this. If you ever
feel once again comfortable taking on more things in
your life that will mean increasing responsibilities, i
would bet that you will remember to *make* time for
these studies that you consider really important. No
more excuses like before. You have to m a k e the
time to wake sublime--to become happier.
That just means that you give yourself and your loved
ones... s o m e t h i n g t o l o o k f o r w a r d t o.
If that's not the true meaning of happiness, nothing is.
Jeff▲Relf
like owning real estate, raising kids/grandkids, etc.
Re: “ s o m e t h i n g t o l o o k f o r w a r d t o ”.
I look forward to talking with people like you.
UseNet is hard to master. I've been a UseNet regular since 1991
and I'm still making plenty of mistakes .. it's a game.
As I see it, Double-A and I are “ students of the mind ”, monks.
Raving
> On Sep 3, 3:18 pm, "Painius" <starswirlern...@maol.com> wrote:
[Quoting below ...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080901/sc_livescience/peoplewholosejobsbecomehermits
... Double whammy
The latest findings have considerable ramifications, Brand said.
"Whether citizens participate is important for the effective
functioning of neighborhoods, schools, communities and democracies,"
Brand said.
In addition, such withdrawals from society can cause a vicious cycle
of unemployment. "If workers withdraw socially after being laid off,
then they're experiencing double-jeopardy," Brand said. "They're
losing their jobs, and then they're not participating in society, so
they're not keeping up with social contacts that might help them find
a new job."
[EndQuote]
Jeff▲Relf
there'd be a lot more people on this planet.
Saul Levy
Saul Levy
On 5 Sep 2008 14:03:09 GMT, Jeff?Relf <Jeff...@Seattle.Invalid>
wrote:
Jeff▲Relf
Raving
> And i am honestly happy for you in this. If you ever
> feel once again comfortable taking on more things in
> your life that will mean increasing responsibilities, i
> would bet that you will remember to *make* time for
> these studies that you consider really important. No
> more excuses like before. You have to m a k e the
> time to wake sublime--to become happier.
>
> That just means that you give yourself and your loved
> ones... s o m e t h i n g t o l o o k f o r w a r d t o.
> If that's not the true meaning of happiness, nothing is.
> P.P.S.: http://yummycake.secretsgolden.com
Both Jeff▲Relf and Double-A ought to feel as their younger selves.
I call Double-A and talk with him almost every day. Unfortunately, by
being marginalized myself, I cannot offer Double-A, a part in the
world that I, once knew and existed within.
You can help Jeff▲Relf and Double-A by accepting and and sharing with
them, a part of society that they once belonged to.
Bring 'em and Twittering One back from the disenfranchised, eh. They
are *still* the same people that they once were. ...
... just treat them that way, that's all that is required.
Cordially,
Raving
Jeff▲Relf
I'm not homeless ( yet ), nor am I asking for help.
Basically, I just spend a lot less money than most people do;
I prefer it that way. You'll never meet a man more sober than me.
Back in 1988, Utah, my ex-wife divorced me to marry another man.
She took “ our ” two kids with her, and her new husband ( Rolf )
added two kids from the wife he divorced to marry my ( then ) wife.
My ex and Rolf are rich now, and had two kids together.
Good parents, Mormons, they raised a total of 6 kids.
Since then ( I was 28 years old ), I've been “ retired ”,
leading the life of a “ Einsteinian monk ”, if you will,
instead of burdening the planet with more kids and heavy consumption.
My burden is light, keeping the planet's burden is light.
Better rich counties live more like China than vice versa, I say.
Saul Levy
China's burden is growing at a TREMENDOUS RATE!
Saul Levy
On 6 Sep 2008 00:30:07 GMT, Jeff?Relf <Jeff...@Seattle.Invalid>
wrote:
Painius
news:q4m3c4dbbh22kps2i...@4ax.com...
>
> I guess you missed it then, Jeff! lmao!
>
> China's burden is growing at a TREMENDOUS RATE!
Do the Chinese still kill their kids unless they're boys?
Painius
news:f8ffdb7b-f4df-4932...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
Thank you, RL. That's all very nice and cordial and all.
I think it's simpler than that. I think they have found a
need... and are filling it. And they're asking for little or
nothing in return.
I don't say this to embarrass them, but that's my take.
As Jeff says, "Nothing is acausal."
Painius
Saul Levy
there.
I love Asian women!
Saul Levy
On Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:31:14 GMT, "Painius" <starswi...@maol.com>
wrote:
Jeff▲Relf
But, per person, it's still quite low relative to those in the U.S.
** by making/running more people and/or machines, consuming more.
Those who leave a relatively small footprint, as I do,
leave more to others, including future generations.
Were people more like me, the planet would last longer.
Jeff▲Relf
Saul Levy
Isn't that long enough?
Saul Levy
On 6 Sep 2008 16:23:29 GMT, Jeff?Relf <Jeff...@Seattle.Invalid>
wrote: