Re: Interesting...

["Larry Tremblay" <ltct@concentric.net>]

>
> LOL. Yep, sure does. That was the point. I'm not *totally*
> insulated from the irony of my own statements, you know.
>
>
> ** okay. i guess the problem is that you come off that way . . . while
> possibly not allowing others that latitude.

I'm lightening up a bit. The slack it out.

> True, there's no definitive "proof" per se, only shades of understanding,
> given the complexity of the subject under study - the human brain. ;)
>
> ** or the universe? i think that it may be easier to understand the human
> brain that it is the universe around us . . .

Hard to say really. The brain is a 3-pound universe all its own.
At least the universe is 'out there' for us to study, whereas the
study of the brain is a seriously recursive [like looping] and
unimaginably complex endeavor. Not uncrackable, but difficult, to
say the least.

> by the way, have you noticed how string theory seems to be approaching
some
> of the mystical traditions? i also seem to recall that many physicists
have
> been ardently religious . . . (not that i am, mind you)

Yes, I've read and studied most of the literature on the subject of
Super-string theory (or so-called 'theory of everything'), and it
appears to approximate (at times) the mystical speculations of a
'hidden reality' or 'other planes of existence'-type stuff.

The jury is most definitely out on that one. The magnitude of the
gulf between matter at the sub-atomic particle level versus what
we experience our own macro-atomic (i.e., molecular) level is vast
indeed. It's almost like two different worlds - and for all practical
purposes, they are.

As I understand it, quantum events have no "real" effect at the macro
level due to the strong forces of the molecules that make up our bodies
and the 'hard matter' world around us. Otherwise, things would be flying
apart all over the place. (Given there was a place to begin with.)

True, *some* scientists are religious, but most are either agnostic or
devote atheists like Carl Sagan and Einstein (despite his protests about
not believing that "God plays dice", in regards to Quantum Mechanics).

The great thing about science versus religion is that the future is
always open, and that all theories must continually hold up under
intense scrutinity. On the otherhand, religion is a closed book,
it's dogma rarely (if ever) open to questioning and revision.

- Larry