Hofstadter “discussion” thread number eight

Don Stockbauer

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Jun 27, 2018, 5:44:39 PM6/27/18

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and off we go.

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Don Stockbauer

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Jun 28, 2018, 7:25:59 AM6/28/18

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You know I didn’t hijack this group , apparently no one much cares to post here except me , it got down to three people posting : Mudge who died , I guess he did but then again you can’t trust anything that comes over the Internet,Tian who got insulted and quit , and that left me , so maybe it’s my fault , maybe it’s my fault for continuing on with an enterprise which really isn’t very productive , no feedback except for the solution manual guy.

Don Stockbauer

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Jun 30, 2018, 7:52:30 AM6/30/18

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Don’t you get tired of people that complain all the time?

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 4, 2018, 1:51:33 PM7/4/18

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I never did believe in miracles,
But I have a feeling it’s time to try.
I never did believe in the ways of magic,
but I’m beginning to wonder why.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 4, 2018, 1:56:54 PM7/4/18

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When there’s no one left to leave you,
even you don’t quite believe you,
that’s when nothing can deceive you.

When that cold gray wind is blowing,
and there’s nothing left worth knowing,
then it’s time you should be going.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 4, 2018, 2:54:38 PM7/4/18

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Daisy, Daisy, give me you answer, do.
I’m half crazy, falling in love with you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage,
but you’ll look sweet,
upon the seat,
of a bicycle built for two.

- HAL

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 4, 2018, 7:47:24 PM7/4/18

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“And Toto too?”

“Toto too.”

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 7, 2018, 10:00:14 AM7/7/18

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Well, just waiting to see if the grass dries off well enough by 11:00 AM or so to get out there and do some mowing.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 8, 2018, 8:29:40 PM7/8/18

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See beyond the road you’re driving.

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 9, 2018, 9:05:12 AM7/9/18

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For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 10, 2018, 4:57:44 PM7/10/18

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I once heard a radio disk jockey say, “Lesley Gore. Lesley Gore. What a horrible name for a woman! I think she should change it to Herman Gore.”

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 12, 2018, 8:46:25 AM7/12/18

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Analogies don’t prove anything, but they’re sure the way to convince people of your point.

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 12, 2018, 5:51:38 PM7/12/18

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Lunatic fringe,
I know you’re out there.
You’re in hiding,
and you hold your meetings.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 13, 2018, 9:26:11 AM7/13/18

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I’d love to change the world,
But I don’t know what to do.
So I leave it up to you.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 15, 2018, 8:03:39 AM7/15/18

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Does any reader of this group know what a Putersznit is?

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 15, 2018, 8:32:28 AM7/15/18

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here’s the latest speech by President Trump:

Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowMeow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 22, 2018, 9:46:21 PM7/22/18

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I just love physics. The only C’s and D’s I made in college were in physics.

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Don Stockbauer

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Jul 28, 2018, 4:20:39 PM7/28/18

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There’s a Starman waiting in the sky,
He’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 28, 2018, 4:22:57 PM7/28/18

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The strongest system is the synergism of humans and their tools (machines) so machines by themselves or humans by themselves will be weaker.

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 29, 2018, 7:44:32 AM7/29/18

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How many questions are there?

Don Stockbauer

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Jul 30, 2018, 9:00:26 AM7/30/18

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The best way to handle someone you don’t like is to never communicate with them the rest of your life.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 2, 2018, 4:49:55 AM8/2/18

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Life’s a bitch, and then you die.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 5, 2018, 9:04:24 AM8/5/18

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There are a large number of statements which could be instantiated here.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 5, 2018, 9:05:01 AM8/5/18

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Every interaction in the universe has the form of a game.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 6, 2018, 9:58:44 AM8/6/18

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Man, I wish I could sit in one of them drone control centers like in Colorado or somewhere and I could kill people in other nations from the air-conditioned comfort in my office and never wind up on Forensic Files or anywhere like that. Man, that sounds like the ideal job to me for someone with just a BA in astronomy.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 6, 2018, 10:13:29 AM8/6/18

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Why do I just have a bachelor of arts in astronomy from the university of Texas and no higher degree? well I’m a firm believer in not torturing people.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 6, 2018, 10:23:15 AM8/6/18

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Configuration control is just as important structure, isn’t it?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 6, 2018, 10:58:48 AM8/6/18

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An as was left out , I would go back and correct it but I don’t know how.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 7, 2018, 11:26:28 PM8/7/18

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Never write to somebody too much, they’ll hate you forever.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 9, 2018, 12:20:02 AM8/9/18

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The way to ensure that SETI succeeds is for the global brain to make the Earth go off scale high as far as technology is concerned.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 9, 2018, 8:03:00 PM8/9/18

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Do you think that a large amount of complexity in a civilization is a good thing or a bad thing?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 10, 2018, 7:48:37 AM8/10/18

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Stockbauer’s 4th law: never try to communicate with someone that doesn’t want to.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 10, 2018, 7:50:54 AM8/10/18

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If someone’s warmth for you diminishes, won’t your warmth for them diminish too?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 10, 2018, 12:48:00 PM8/10/18

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If HAL considered itself to be infallible, why did it contain within itself the error screen,
“COMPUTER MALFUNCTION”.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 11, 2018, 9:44:01 AM8/11/18

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Isn’t it miserable writing to someone who gets so much mail they discourage you from writing to them?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 12, 2018, 1:55:17 PM8/12/18

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Supposed someone really gets on your nerves and you want to block them. It’s better to not actually block them but just say you will due to the fact that you want to see what they keep sending you in the future. Don’t go with a delete unread, it’s much better to go with an automated block because the delete unread is a manual operation which takes a lot of work; go with the automated block which blocks anything coming from that person. This is the wave of the future , it’s represents the total automation of our civilization which is leading us to super intelligent machines , spiritual machines and finally the Singularity. This is what we all want, right? Even if you get a stronger system having machines work symbiotically with humans? Most people nowadays seem to favor the nothing but machines future. Why not?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 12, 2018, 2:01:12 PM8/12/18

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How do you know if you’re writing to a university professor that you’re not just getting one of his grad students?

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 12, 2018, 2:04:54 PM8/12/18

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If someone tells you that you’re bombarding them with emails, just tell them it worked well for the Allies against Germany in World War II.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 12, 2018, 2:06:55 PM8/12/18

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If someone tells you that their once warm attitude toward you has considerably cooled off, just tell them “Well, that’s entropy for you.”

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 15, 2018, 9:39:00 AM8/15/18

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It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 19, 2018, 5:03:49 PM8/19/18

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Ignore that man behind the curtain.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 24, 2018, 6:56:00 AM8/24/18

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And even though he was Master of the Universe he did not know what to do next.

So he consulted a financial advisor who got him into some safe mutual funds.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 28, 2018, 12:01:34 AM8/28/18

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Then I was inspired,
now I’m sad and tired.

Don Stockbauer

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Aug 31, 2018, 8:13:36 AM8/31/18

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Throwing your conversational opponent into the trashcan is a very powerful act. Use it wisely.

If you wind up in the trashcan take solace in the fact that all that has happened has been one neuron-neuron link has been destroyed. When you look at the 7 billion neurons which are communicating in the global brain your pair shrinks to total insignificance.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 1, 2018, 7:13:49 PM9/1/18

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If the human population of Earth is equal to P (currently around 7 billion), how many distinct two person relationships are possible? The answer is P squared divided by two. That’s
24,500,000,000,000,000,000. (24.5 quadrillion). So don’t bemoan your destroyed relationship, lotsa others to fill in for it.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 2, 2018, 4:39:28 AM9/2/18

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Of course, if you wish to only consider relationships involving yourself, the answer is 6,999,999,998. So you have that many more left to destroy.

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Don Stockbauer

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Sep 3, 2018, 8:44:42 PM9/3/18

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Did you know that complete lack of feedback brings about either explosion or extinction cybernetically kind of like the situation you have here with the messages in this user group? Isn’t it nice to be able to post and be assured no one will write back?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 5, 2018, 12:32:46 PM9/5/18

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Is arguing a good thing or a bad thing?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 6, 2018, 7:48:44 AM9/6/18

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Is sending someone a bunch of crazy emails justification for that person to block you?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 6, 2018, 2:00:05 PM9/6/18

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Do you have a hopeful outlook for the continued survival of humanity , or pessimistic one?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 9, 2018, 9:11:29 AM9/9/18

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Do you think that humans are getting better, or getting worse?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 10, 2018, 1:23:19 PM9/10/18

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“Darlene, you have one of the toughest hymens I’ve ever encountered in my life!”

“Oh, Wilbur, you silly goose, I haven’t taken my pantyhose off yet!”

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 11, 2018, 8:19:46 AM9/11/18

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Doesn’t mean that much to me, to mean that much to you.

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Don Stockbauer

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Sep 12, 2018, 10:52:45 PM9/12/18

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When there’s no one left to leave you
even you don’t quite believe you
that’s when nothing can deceive you.

well maybe no one can deceive you but if you’re alone you can sure harbor all kinds of crazy delusions within yourself.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 13, 2018, 12:52:18 PM9/13/18

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Had a tooth pulled this morning.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 13, 2018, 7:50:16 PM9/13/18

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No problem with having a tooth pulled except that as you go under from the anesthetic you wonder if the next thing you’ll see is an angel playing a harp.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 15, 2018, 8:45:00 AM9/15/18

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5. FEEDBACK GO TO 5

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 15, 2018, 2:24:46 PM9/15/18

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What the hell does it mean to tell a computer to provide feedback? What will it do exactly?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 15, 2018, 2:27:01 PM9/15/18

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probably about the same as giving it the command "go jump off a cliff."

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 15, 2018, 4:12:54 PM9/15/18

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So what do you do with somebody you want to get out of your life completely? Refuse to ever communicate with them again. Since human relationships are determined through communication , that person might as well be dead in relation to you.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 16, 2018, 7:30:42 AM9/16/18

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Ever get the feeling that everything done on the internet is total fluff?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 16, 2018, 7:52:04 AM9/16/18

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Wasn't there a mathematician that worried that all of mathematics is a house of cards that would one day collapse into a single statement such as a = a? Discussion welcome.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 16, 2018, 4:11:58 PM9/16/18

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how much computer memory is available to support babble such as this post?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 17, 2018, 5:31:45 AM9/17/18

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"Just Zen it out."

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 17, 2018, 6:03:01 AM9/17/18

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as you're hiking in Arizona having come from Vermont and you run out of water and you're leaning against a cliff and you're sure you will die take solace in the fact when you look up at the turkey vultures that soon you'll be in their excrement scattered across the country side and you will have done some good with your life: fertilization.

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Don Stockbauer

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Sep 18, 2018, 6:58:19 AM9/18/18

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is the only way to explain the complexity of the Earth by the global brain theory?

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Don Stockbauer

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Sep 20, 2018, 8:43:40 AM9/20/18

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Greater love than this no man has, than to continue living to help his fellow man. Excuse the non-gender free language. not that I'm telling you what to do.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 20, 2018, 3:32:43 PM9/20/18

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Do you think that Lennon's song "Imagine" is about the Global Brain?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 20, 2018, 11:28:16 PM9/20/18

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Doesn't seem like there's something magical about the global brain?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 20, 2018, 11:29:02 PM9/20/18

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Doesn't the global brain seem too good to be true?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 21, 2018, 12:05:49 AM9/21/18

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Captain Picard travels in back time to our era. He's asked the question "What is your salary there in the future?"
Picard answers "We don't have salaries. By birthright, every person is given all the fundamentals of life. In addition to that, everyone has access to all the riches of our society, which are beyond your wildest imagination."

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 21, 2018, 7:17:43 AM9/21/18

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" I have nothing to say, and I am saying it now."

- John Cage

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 21, 2018, 12:40:11 PM9/21/18

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How many unique relationships can you have consisting of two people amongst Earth's 7 billion humans? The answer is 25 quadrillion. (25,000,000,000,000,000).

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 22, 2018, 3:57:26 PM9/22/18

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Why do black holes have to lead to other universes? We have holes in the ground right here on Earth. Do they all lead to other universes?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 23, 2018, 12:17:18 PM9/23/18

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The global brain will form no matter what. However, discussing it will serve as a catalyst.

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 25, 2018, 4:00:27 PM9/25/18

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The global brain is highly dependent on configuration control.

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Don Stockbauer

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Sep 26, 2018, 7:47:40 AM9/26/18

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Someone out there. What do you do for a bad sore throat?

Don Stockbauer

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Sep 27, 2018, 8:49:09 AM9/27/18

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We don't need no education.
We don't need no thought control.