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25 of the most provocative questions facing science
NY Times (Science Times) ^
| Nov. 11, 2003
| Anon.
Posted on 11/11/2003 2:55:42 AM PST by Pharmboy
(1) Does Science Matter?
(2) Is War Our Biological Destiny?
(3) Will Humans Ever Visit Mars?
(4) How Does the Brain Work?
(5) What Is Gravity, Really?
(6) Will We Ever Find Atlantis?
(8) What Should We Eat?
(9) When Will the Next Ice Age Begin?
(10) What Happened Before the Big Bang?
(11) Could We Live Forever?
(12) Are Men Necessary? ...
... Are Women Necessary?
(13) What Is the Next Plague?
(14) Can Robots Become Conscious?
(15) Why Do We Sleep?
(16) Are Animals Smarter Than We Think?
(17) Can Science Prove the Existence of God?
(18) Is Evolution Truly Random?
(19) How Did Life Begin?
(20) Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Smarter?
(21) Should We Improve Our Genome?
(22) How Much Nature Is Enough?
(23) What Is the Most Important Problem in Math Today?
(24) Where Are Those Aliens?
(25) Do Paranormal Phenomena Exist?
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: crevolist; questions; science; thefuture
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To: Junior
Doh, that's right. Stupid morning-brain of mine reverses images in my head.
61
posted on
11/11/2003 7:23:42 AM PST
by
Shryke
To: Ichneumon
I wonder if your memory model is the same as the one that tortoise trots out, the one that somply has to be right, but can't (yet) be implemented in silicon.
Insects have only a few hundred brain cells. I'll know we are on the right path to AI when we can model insect behavior with a similar number of components. A flying machine would be a good turing test for insect intellect.
62
posted on
11/11/2003 7:23:56 AM PST
by
js1138
To: Pharmboy
(5) What Is Gravity, Really?It is the combining of geogen, pyrogen, aerogen, and fluogen in the process of forming chemical elements, using causal, portal, form, and structure units to build the forces of nature. And maybe not.
63
posted on
11/11/2003 7:29:58 AM PST
by
Consort
To: js1138
Hey, it's no more weird than that stuff Desmond Morris invents. It's evolutionary ;)
64
posted on
11/11/2003 7:31:46 AM PST
by
general_re
("I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.")
To: Pharmboy
(1) Does Science Matter?Not to the majority of life-forms.
65
posted on
11/11/2003 7:32:56 AM PST
by
Consort
To: Pharmboy
(27) Who will Batboy support in the next presidential election?
To: Ichneumon
Does Kanerva's model explain why smells can trigger memories that are at once so vivid, so detailed, and so obscure?
Sequential memories are apparently more efficiently stored than non-sequential memories. I can't tell you what I had for supper a week ago today. But recently I astonished Mrs. P. by singing, off the top of my head, an entire verse of a song I heard once, in a concert of other unfamiliar songs, almost a year and a half ago ("Like She Was a Hammer" by Joe Henry).
To: Pharmboy
What a nonsensical list.
I thought this would actually be something interesting.
To: Pharmboy
(9) When Will the Next Ice Age Begin?As soon as the Solar System finishes passing through this warm spot in the Aether.
69
posted on
11/11/2003 7:50:57 AM PST
by
Consort
To: leadhead
Maybe the answer is in how you were taught. :)
Teaching Math in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1970: A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M." The set "C", the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M." Represent the set "C" as the subset of set M and answer this question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?
Teaching Math in 1980: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
Teaching Math in 1990: By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels "feel" as the logger cut down the trees? There are no wrong answers.
Teaching Math in 2000: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60?
70
posted on
11/11/2003 7:52:27 AM PST
by
lupie
To: Pharmboy
(10) What Happened Before the Big Bang?The preceding Big Bang, if you go back far enough.
71
posted on
11/11/2003 7:54:00 AM PST
by
Consort
To: Pharmboy
(15) Why Do We Sleep?It is the only dignified way to be in a senseless state.
72
posted on
11/11/2003 7:56:17 AM PST
by
Consort
To: Pharmboy
Will people ever learn to leave other people alone?
73
posted on
11/11/2003 7:56:30 AM PST
by
Protagoras
(Hating Democrats doesn't make you a conservative.)
To: Pharmboy
"(17) Can Science Prove the Existence of God?"
Can Science prove the existence of science?
and another question...
Why do we listen to scientist when we know that one of the dirty little secrets of science is that the whole scientific method (inductive reasoning) is logically dubious?
74
posted on
11/11/2003 7:59:32 AM PST
by
Busywhiskers
(Non entia multiplicandia sunt prater necessetatum. William Occam)
To: PatrickHenry
provocative placemarker
To: Radioactive
If a woman discovered HElium, would it then be called HERlium?It's already HERium - in Japan...
76
posted on
11/11/2003 8:00:55 AM PST
by
null and void
(SORRY Sorry sorry)
To: Pharmboy
(21) Should We Improve Our Genome?We won't be sure either way until it's too late.
77
posted on
11/11/2003 8:01:06 AM PST
by
Consort
To: Busywhiskers
Can Science prove the existence of science?Yes. Read The Cognitive Basis of Science (ed. Brian Carruthers; Oxford Press, 2002)
Why do we listen to scientist when we know that one of the dirty little secrets of science is that the whole scientific method (inductive reasoning) is logically dubious?
Science is much more than just "inductive reasoning." Again, read the book.
To: Pharmboy
In the end, the answer is either "just because" or "for God made it so." Take your pick. These are not the same answer. Fact doesn't yield value. The "science" debaters pride themselves on logic, they are horrible at ethics and political science.
79
posted on
11/11/2003 8:06:06 AM PST
by
cornelis
To: RightWingAtheist
"Yes. Read The Cognitive Basis of Science (ed. Brian Carruthers; Oxford Press, 2002)"
Thank you. I will.
80
posted on
11/11/2003 8:06:35 AM PST
by
Busywhiskers
(Non entia multiplicandia sunt prater necessetatum. William Occam)
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