You're my density!
Posted on 07/17/2010 4:54:59 PM PDT by LibWhacker
42 as per Deep Thought.
You're my density!
Not specified in the article, but definitely implied:
In step two of the experiment, you get a RESULT that’s dependent on what you do in step three.
So you get the RESULT first, and then you provide the CAUSE.
But what if you cheat?
What if you get the RESULT in step 2, and then fail to perform the action in step 3 that leads to that result?
What’s the universe going to do about it? Take it back?
If you want to know the past, present and future, go to Miss Cleo’s psychic hot line....same thing...
As Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the Universe"
The old rolling infinity inside out donut trick. That would explain it.
who set those final conditions?
That’s a good point. So if they get the 10,000 amplification during the 2nd step and decide not to proceed with the 3rd step, then what caused the increase? Unless perhaps the experiment was set up in such a way that it could not be stopped once it started. That all three steps occurred automatically in bang bang bang type fashion, one after the other.
No no no. In order for this to be understood the assumed timeline must be abandoned such that all 3 test occur simultaneously. Past, present and future are mutually interdependent and cannot be separated by other than intellectual constructs.
Hmm. Have you been reading Dune lately? Or maybe 'lately' is the wrong word here. So let me try again: have you been reading the Dune series now, then, or in the future? I just finished the 5th Dune book and i'll be darned if what you typed couldn't have easily fit into one of the chapter headings there. Ahh but then again you're Amos the Prophet, so of course you'd view time differently than most mere mortals.
The Revealing Science of God by Yes.
It is a rather Duney construct. These nuclear physicists long ago went well off the deep end. Have not read a Dune novel in about 40 years. I don’t think I have the patience for it.
I can understand that. Dune itself was my least favorite book of the series and one in which i had a hard time getting through even after a couple of false starts. I'm glad i did as the rest of the series has what i consider a staggering amount of depth and has completely captivated me.
Not that this is illustrative of the series, it's just an aside, but here's a little nugget buried within Heretics of Dune (which i just finished yesterday) that many Freepers can probably commiserate with:
There was something almost insulting in Taraza's casual tone and only the habits of long association put down Odrade's immediate resentment. It was partly that word "liberal," she realized. Atreides ancestors rose up in rebellion at the word. It was as though her accumulated female memories lashed out at the unconscious assumptions and unexamined prejudices behind the concept.
"Only liberals really think. Only liberals are intellectual. Only liberals understand the needs of their fellows."
How much viciousness lay concealed in that word! Odrade thought. How much secret ego demanding to feel superior.
I just finished reading “America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution” on another thread. Fits nicely with your quote.
Dune examines a variety of classes: government, social, economic, political and religious.
Do you believe the series is comparable to Atlas Shrugged as political commentary? Furthur, is the series a source of insight into our current history?
I may take them up after all.
I would say "not so much" to the first question. It's there to some extent, especially in the later novels of the original series, but it's there mostly in a subtle way (the above quote from Heretics of Dune was a rare explicit moment in that regard). As to the second question, the Fremen and their rampage shows the Muslim militant mindset that we all know all too well by now. The Sisterhood is of course patterned after the Catholic Church, and is depicted in both a positive and negative light (one character says that "The Bene Gesserit are so close to what they should be, yet so far"). The spice itself is analogous to our dependence on oil.
The overarching theme though is one of freedom for humanity, freedom from any single dominant force controlling (or preventing) its growth.
By the way, a somewhat shorter work by Herbert exploring similar themes is the Voidship series, starting with Destination Void. It is more hard SF than Dune. I've only read the first two books but it helped me understand the Dune series better.
It could take weeks to comment on the logical and factual flaws in this article.
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