Hofstadter “discussion” thread number seven

[Don Stockbauer]

I’m also finding out that there are days where it looks very clear, no clouds, and it seems like there should be a shadow wedge towards the east at sunset but there isn’t, there have been days where there’s been clouds or slightly hazy and I can understand that but even like last evening it’s been very clear , no shadow wedge, so I don’t know what’s going on with that.

[Don Stockbauer]

Anyone in the future who is wondering what those three white petrified tree stumps are around the house here in Victoria, Texas , they were obtained at a spot some 20 miles northeast of Tilden, Texas by my brother Fred and I , we got them on a rock hounding expedition in the early 60s, they’re low-grade opal.

[Don Stockbauer]

What would be your best plan if someone suddenly gave you everything in the Universe? probably what you’d want to do is just leave everything in place and declare your dominion over it.

[Don Stockbauer]

Shadow wedge measurement April 15, 2018 by Don Stockbauer, the shadow was
1° up at 7:53 CST
2° up at 7:55
3° up at 7:57
4° up at 7:59
5° up at 8:01
6° up at 8:04
Sunset according to heavens-above was at 7:54. This shows that at sunset the wedge was already up 2° in the east . for the wedge to go from 2° up to 6° took nine minutes , the sun set by 2.25° in that length of time. This is what I suspected, the shadow wedge is rising faster than the amount the sun is setting. If you check it out geometrically you can draw a tangent line to a circle through yourself , that represents the horizon, when the sun is down 1° that projects to 1° high wedge opposite the sun and so on for the sun getting lower. In any case any feedback is welcome .I know there is zero feedback to this group , every now and then it gets some spam ,so maybe I’ll run across the explanation someday , have a nice day.

[Don Stockbauer]

So perhaps the shadow wedge being higher in altitude than the sun is below the horizon has to do with atmospheric refraction. That doesn’t make sense because the atmosphere bends the sun’s light concave toward the observer and it would make the shadow wedge have smaller values in altitude than the sun’s distance below the horizon. The mystery deepens. Be the first person to provide feedback to this group and feel proud of yourself.

[Don Stockbauer]

I think I have an answer to the shadow wedge problem. No thanks to anyone out there. what happens is like when the sun is 2° down the observer is in the shadow wedge and he or she is looking up at the edge of it. by looking up it gives a greater angle than the 2° the sun is down.

[Don Stockbauer]

Well thinking about it the observer is not actually in the shadow wedge it goes above his or her head but still the observer is looking up at it increasing the angle.

[Don Stockbauer]

If someone gets a lot of mail should you write to them to discuss the matter? Should they make appeals to the public for ways to reduce their mail load?

[Don Stockbauer]

Well, hurricane Harvey almost destroyed my trailer house left one room I can patch up and can use for storage, the Victoria County Appraisal office said I’ll have to pay six dollars a year property taxes on it so I guess that one room being used for storage would make that worthwhile.

[Don Stockbauer]

Tools are what humans use to instantiate their free will.

[Don Stockbauer]

Is the mind just another tool? If the mind is just another tool, what entity is using it?

[Don Stockbauer]

When a bunch of biological cells undergo metasystem transition to become a human of course you
get emergence and transcendence which is where you get such things as the mind and free will. Ya think?

[Don Stockbauer]

Well, mowing around the house trying to keep the grass purse from going to seed.

Isn’t dictation software wonderful?

[Don Stockbauer]

Is the price of fame an infinite amount of messages one must deal with?

[Don Stockbauer]

Is the price of us having complete knowledge of the universe having to put up with such nuisances as the Epimenides paradox? Kind of like grassburrs in a nice field of bluebonnets.

[Don Stockbauer]

Actually, the observer IS in the shadow wedge. Shadow wedge waffle (SWW) number 13,362.

[Don Stockbauer]

The games played utilizing language are infinitely deep.

[Don Stockbauer]

Thomas Munnecke's, Riverside, Ca., letter to Scientific American,
August, 1981.

Sirs,

I am happy to see that there has been no response to Dr.
Hofstadter's column on self-reference ["Letters," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,
May]. Those who look at self-reference perch themselves precariously
on Ockham's Razor, tottering between hopeless confusion and fantastic
insight. One might as well open a dictionary and find, "recursion:
see recursion." He who is able to see recursion gains fresh insight
into it.

I am reminded of a conversation between an ancient philosopher,
Hee Hoo (whose epitaph reads , "Who is buried in Hoo's tomb?), and W.
V. Hee:

Hoo: What is a question that is also its own answer?

Hee: Why not, "Why not?"?

Hoo: "Why not?"? Why not!

[Don Stockbauer]

“Don’t let me stop your great self-destruction.
Die if you want to, you misguided martyr.
I wash my hands of your demolition.
Die if you want to, you innocent puppet.”

[Don Stockbauer]

One area where one person has infinite power over another person is to deny them communication.

[Don Stockbauer]

Be careful about griping at people, for you’ll very probably have one ten times worse thrown back in your face.

[Don Stockbauer]

All the interaction currently on the Internet was here previously in another form.

[Don Stockbauer]

Is there a decision procedure to determine whether an email is substantive?

[Don Stockbauer]

You know, if you make a tool you ought to use it; who would make a hammer and never use it for anything? That should be the same for nuclear weapons. If you’re going to make them, use them. I mean a lot of time and expense went making them, we need to get some payback for our money invested so maybe the World situation needs to be destabilized somehow and Trump and Putin could have at each other and we can get our money’s worth out of them.

[Don Stockbauer]

If anyone in the future is wondering what all those approximately 8 inch diameter white rocks are around our house near Victoria from what I can remember they were ore being hauled to Alcoa near Pt. Lavaca and there was a train wreck somewhere in the vicinity of Nursery, Texas and Mom and I picked up a bunch of them. Either ore or just white rocks.

[Don Stockbauer]

Why is the shadow wedge 2° high in the east when the sun is just setting in the west? It seems to me it should be zero , just starting to form. I don’t think you can explain it by the horizon being depressed by that much because that isn’t nearly enough.

[Don Stockbauer]

It’s humanity at its lowest when someone decides to never speak to you again.

[Don Stockbauer]

We will have achieved true AI when dictation software reproduces exactly what you said and meant , particularly meant.

[Don Stockbauer]

So a 2° shadow wedge is in the east when the sun is exactly setting in the west when it seems that it should be zero degrees; one idea is when you have the situation of sunlight going from the sun through you to your eastern horizon that is the longest path sunlight can make through the atmosphere . Then as you go up from 0° to 1° and then 2° the sunlight is making progressively a shorter and shorter path through the atmosphere , so when you’re at 2° you’re back to normal sky. Comments are welcome, but let’s not set any dangerous new precedents.

[Don Stockbauer]

Is there any difference between making all these posts to alt.fan.hofstadter or not making them?

[Don Stockbauer]

Isn’t it infuriating when you write to somebody and they don’t write back.

[Don Stockbauer]

Is anything worn under the kilt?

[Don Stockbauer]

It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood,
It’s a wonderful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?

[Don Stockbauer]

If you don’t ever do anything you can never make a mistake. Except one. That of not doing anything.

[Don Stockbauer]

Have you ever wanted to write to someone but you just couldn’t figure out what to say?

[Don Stockbauer]

What prevents us from seeing our civilization advancing at lightning speed? The fact that a rising tide raises all boats.