The dumb questions thread

[Thomas II]

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Thanks, Your sentence within the tags looks the same as mine, but yours shows up and mine doesn't.

 

[Thomas II]

Thanks, Your sentence within the tags looks the same as mine, but yours shows up and mine doesn't.

Did you "ask" nicely?

 

[Kharakov]

Those rocks feel sedimental.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

You're right, I think. The have a softish, slatey feel, but then I suspect enough pressure to make them metamorphic, rather than true sedimentary.

I could understand the colours in layers, I don't understand the "wrapping" aspect.

There are no large pieces, but I found one that was white on three sides and while I understand that could have settled from above, I'm not sure that's what I'm looking at.

Because it's been broken up to give traction on the road, I doubt that I'll have success, but I'm searching for a single white ball, which I can break open and if I find a purple core THAT'S what I will want explained. They all look like bits of white "eggs" with purple "yolks", and I don't understand the 360 degree coating mechanism.

 

[Mageth]

Looks like chert nodules to me. (Also see flint and chalcedony). Chert can be found in different colors depending on impurities.

Sample:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureplus/thread/8521

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Yes, thank you, that looks like it, and the Wiki page makes all clear.

Now I just have to feel all sad that a material that once was prized for arrowheads 'n' stuff is being used to "grit the path".

 

[barbos]

I once saw a bunch of stones prepared for construction or something, a lot of them had pretty prints of ancient water plants.
The only thing which was suspicious was that there were so many of them. Turned out it was not plants at all, prints were result of stuff sipping through the stones which produced fractal-like images of plants.

 

[fromderinside]

Now I just have to feel all sad that a material that once was prized for arrowheads 'n' stuff is being used to "grit the path".

Naw. You've just cleared the slate.

 

[DBT]

Infinity (meh). If you just happen to find an infinitely long straight line in space, a line that stretches without limitation or an end in both directions, is it possible to add a bit of extra length to the line and thereby make it a larger infinity, aka, Cantor?

 

[Wiploc]

Infinity (meh). If you just happen to find an infinitely long straight line in space, a line that stretches without limitation or an end in both directions, is it possible to add a bit of extra length to the line and thereby make it a larger infinity, aka, Cantor?

Transfinite math baffles me, but I can still parrot the answer:

Adding just a bit wouldn't make it larger. To make it larger, you have to add so much that you get a whole 'nother degree of infinity. For instance, if your infinite line comprised one point for every integer, and you added enough to it to comprise one point for every real number, then the line would be longer.

 

[Kharakov]

Infinity (meh). If you just happen to find an infinitely long straight line in space, a line that stretches without limitation or an end in both directions, is it possible to add a bit of extra length to the line and thereby make it a larger infinity, aka, Cantor?

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

 

[DBT]

Infinity (meh). If you just happen to find an infinitely long straight line in space, a line that stretches without limitation or an end in both directions, is it possible to add a bit of extra length to the line and thereby make it a larger infinity, aka, Cantor?

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

The problem of my little mind exercise is; the line, being infinite, it has no end in either direction, stretching forever in both directions (rather than being potentially infinite, a so called Cantor's 'infinity'), I can't imagine such a line expanding. Where would any particular section expand into? Nor are there loose ends at either end to expand, or grow. There are no 'ends' Apparently, its size (length) cannot be increased.

 

[beero1000]

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

The problem of my little mind exercise is; the line, being infinite, it has no end in either direction, stretching forever in both directions (rather than being potentially infinite, a so called Cantor's 'infinity'), I can't imagine such a line expanding. Where would any particular section expand into? Nor are there loose ends at either end to expand, or grow. There are no 'ends' Apparently, its size (length) cannot be increased.

Your (and most peoples') main issue is that you're using colloquial terms to describe something that is subtle, and doesn't lend itself well to description in colloquial terms.

For example. there are no endpoints to the interval (0,1), but you probably won't complain too much if I make that interval longer. It also isn't too hard to find a map from (0,1) to (0,1) where every point gets farther apart from every other point. The resulting interval is the same, but it has arguably been 'expanded'.

 

[Kharakov]

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

The problem of my little mind exercise is; the line, being infinite, it has no end in either direction, stretching forever in both directions (rather than being potentially infinite, a so called Cantor's 'infinity'), I can't imagine such a line expanding. Where would any particular section expand into? Nor are there loose ends at either end to expand, or grow. There are no 'ends' Apparently, its size (length) cannot be increased.

It would be a stretching operation performed on finite portions marked out on the line with a standard rule (1 meter), so a segment with finite length 1 meter would end up being 2 meters. This doesn't increase the total size of the line, it instead modifies it compared to a standard measurement.


We can imagine being a line segment that begins to expand, that feels other line segments of its original size beginning to expand within it, that feels pressure from line segments it expanded out of. You, as the line segment, would have the perspective of the bigger line segment you expanded from within, and those that expand from within you, and perspective on what a similar line segment besides you feels like.

And this seems to lead to the perception of a reality that consciousness expands into, while gaining skills to relate with those above, below, before, after, besides. It transcends, ciscends, descends, ascends, metascends.

Completely coincidentally, , when looking up the etymological roots of transcend (because this seems what a consciousness does in this situation), to form metascend, ametascend, ciscend (cis scendare) out of its roots, the root term scandare said "see scan", which originally meant "mark off verse in metric feet" in the 14th century. Not like we mark off the universe by metric feet, ehh?

Here are links to the etymology of the words from etymonline:
expand
transcend
scan
pace

 

[Kharakov]

Your (and most peoples') main issue is that you're using colloquial terms to describe something that is subtle, and doesn't lend itself well to description in colloquial terms.

What is colloquial is determined by the locution location.

 

[DBT]

The problem of my little mind exercise is; the line, being infinite, it has no end in either direction, stretching forever in both directions (rather than being potentially infinite, a so called Cantor's 'infinity'), I can't imagine such a line expanding. Where would any particular section expand into? Nor are there loose ends at either end to expand, or grow. There are no 'ends' Apparently, its size (length) cannot be increased.

Your (and most peoples') main issue is that you're using colloquial terms to describe something that is subtle, and doesn't lend itself well to description in colloquial terms.

I'm not sure why the standard definition of ''Infinite'' is problematic, or why it should be called a colloquial term. Something is either Infinite or it's not. By the given definition of Infinite, it doesn't appear that you can place a limitation of size or scope upon something Infinite.

1: extending indefinitely : endless <infinite space>
2: immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive : inexhaustible <infinite patience>
3: subject to no limitation or external determination
4a:extending beyond, lying beyond, or being greater than any preassigned finite value however large <infinite number of positive numbers>
b: extending to infinity <infinite plane surface> [/url]

For example. there are no endpoints to the interval (0,1), but you probably won't complain too much if I make that interval longer. It also isn't too hard to find a map from (0,1) to (0,1) where every point gets farther apart from every other point. The resulting interval is the same, but it has arguably been 'expanded'.

But 'no endpoint' in line of numbers does not actually make the thing Infinite. Even the presence of a starting point eliminates the possibility.

It seems to me that these mathematical examples of 'infinities' appear to come under a different definition of 'Infinite,'' which is probably useful for Mathematicians, but not examples of something that is Infinite.

 

[Bomb#20]

It also isn't too hard to find a map from (0,1) to (0,1) where every point gets farther apart from every other point.

Yeah, sure, everything isn't too hard once you know how it's done. I can't take the torture any more. I give up. Give me the spoiler.

 

[4321lynx]

Infinity (meh). If you just happen to find an infinitely long straight line in space, a line that stretches without limitation or an end in both directions, is it possible to add a bit of extra length to the line and thereby make it a larger infinity, aka, Cantor?

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

You might get a thread like this, liable to go everywhichway at any infinitesimal moment.

 

[skepticalbip]

There isn't an end to the line to add onto.

What you can do is have every infinitesimal segment of the line grow at all times (becoming non infinitesimal) and then have the now finite segment's infinitesimal segments grow finite, etc. etc. with a steady expansion of the infinitely long line, at a steadily increasing pace.

Now, if you had a multidimensional, infinite object, expanding in all directions from all points at all times, with a bit of randomness thrown into the expansion, and various interference patterns created by varying rates of expansion (perhaps expansion along certain paths), with a bit of conscious awareness and desire thrown into it... who knows what you'd get.

You might get a thread like this, liable to go everywhichway at any infinitesimal moment.

Or you might get our universe.