NationStates Jolt Archive

Every time period has had an "absolute truth" that everyone belived to be true and then one day someone proved other wise. i.e. the earth is flat. or the sun revolves around the earth. or demons cause illness.

What is our "absolute truth?" What do you think will be the next thing to be figured out?

That we are not alone in the universe.

The next big revelation: We are not IN the Universe.

There is NO spoon!

There is NO spoon!

nice

There is NO spoon!

Nope, its a fork.

*holds up the universal fork for all humanity to gaze upon in wonder*

Time is an illusion

*grabs the universal fork and uses it to eat mashed potatoes*

There is NO spoon!

nice

yeah well...I thought "MATRIX" when I entered this topic

I'm Matrix malnourished...I must SEE that 3rd movie!

your mom.

*grabs fork and procedes to eat a steak with it*

*grabs fork and sticks it on someone's eye*

That was worth it. Despite it being a universal power...

your mom.

That wasn't very nice. Want some mashed potatoes?

Democracy is the apex of humanities societal achievements

*grabs the universal fork and uses it to eat mashed potatoes*


<voice of homer simpson>mmmmm...sacrelicious</voice>

There is NO spoon!

nice

yeah well...I thought "MATRIX" when I entered this topic

I'm Matrix malnourished...I must SEE that 3rd movie!

it ends terribly. only good parts are the fight scenes.
i want one of the APU deals.

I think we'll eventually figure out that responsible eugenics is not a bad thing. Hitlerian or even early-1900's American eugenics were not responsible.

Responsible human eugenics have never been tried, and eugenics as a whole has gotten a bad name because of the gross misapplication of eugenics based on phenotypes and non-detrimental genetic variability. Were the human race as a whole to back truly responsible eugenics, we could look forward to a brighter future. I think, eventually, we as a species will realize this.

That we are not alone in the universe.
Nothing new or big about that. We already know we are not alone.

your mom.

That wasn't very nice. Want some mashed potatoes? yes, of course. I love mashed potatoes.

How humously sad :P

This is a topic about humanity's revalations and we're talking about mashed potatoes and the Matrix

such is life man. movies and food.

such is life man. movies and food.

amen!
but you forgot the booze and women

such is life man. movies and food.

amen!
but you forgot the booze and women

The four food groups: Tobacco, alcohol, red meat, and women.

i like how you included women in the "food groups" :wink:

That we're all doomed to die by terrorists.

Of course women, booze, food, and the matrix are all well and good I still want to know what some people think about "what is wrong in our current views of the...uhhh...cosmos"

I think its gravity again...I got this from a Dilbert book but it kinda makes sense.

Gravity is not proportional to the mass of an object like physics contends. You know the theory that all matter is constantly growing in size? Yea, thats gravity. Imagine a planet where all that exists are you and the large sphere you are standing on. When you jump you distance yourself from the ground. then as both you and the planet grow you come back together. Everything is growing so fast that it all happens very fast.

hahaha. (im not sure that i really believe that, but its kinda cool to think about.)

Of course women, booze, food, and the matrix are all well and good, but I still want to know what some people think about "what is wrong in our current views of the...uhhh...cosmos"

I think its gravity again...I got this from a Dilbert book, but it kinda makes sense.

Gravity is not proportional to the mass of an object like physics contends. You know the theory that all matter is constantly growing in size? Yea, thats gravity. Imagine a planet where all that exists are you and the large sphere you are standing on. When you jump you distance yourself from the ground. then as both you and the planet grow you come back together. Everything is growing so fast that it all happens pretty quick like.

hahaha. (im not sure that i really believe that, but its kinda cool to think about.)

the fountain of youth is in Iceland

Every time period has had an "absolute truth" that everyone belived to be true and then one day someone proved other wise. i.e. the earth is flat.

When did everyone believe that the earth was flat?

How humously sad :P

This is a topic about humanity's revalations and we're talking about mashed potatoes and the Matrix

Sad, but not really surprising. :wink:

There is NO spoon!

And yet we have sporks...wtf are you supposed to do with those??

There is NO spoon!

And yet we have sporks...wtf are you supposed to do with those??

Chop sticks...

When did people think the earth was flat? dude, take a history class. way back in the day when people had to sail around they thought that the earth was flat cause no one had come back from thier attempts to go around the world. they thought everyone dropped of the edge of the earth...literaly.

When did people think the earth was flat? dude, take a history class. way back in the day when people had to sail around they thought that the earth was flat cause no one had come back from thier attempts to go around the world. they thought everyone dropped of the edge of the earth...literaly.

Dude, take a history class. Eratosthenes (276-194 BC) was able to calculate the diameter of the planet to within an accuracy of 50 miles. The idea that the Earth was not proved to be spheroid until it was circumnavigated is absolute nonsense.

When did people think the earth was flat? dude, take a history class. way back in the day when people had to sail around they thought that the earth was flat cause no one had come back from thier attempts to go around the world. they thought everyone dropped of the edge of the earth...literaly.

Dude, take a history class. Eratosthenes (276-194 BC) was able to calculate the diameter of the planet to within an accuracy of 50 miles. The idea that the Earth was not proved to be spheroid until it was circumnavigated is absolute nonsense.

Yep. That's pretty impressive too. Considering the size of the earth and the time in which he lived, 50 miles is a very good margin of error for old Eratosthenes. Err...dude. Just for reference, the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 mi) in diameter around the equator.

Usually I don't use the term dude, but since they seemed so intent on it...

I think we'll eventually figure out that responsible eugenics is not a bad thing. Hitlerian or even early-1900's American eugenics were not responsible.

Responsible human eugenics have never been tried, and eugenics as a whole has gotten a bad name because of the gross misapplication of eugenics based on phenotypes and non-detrimental genetic variability. Were the human race as a whole to back truly responsible eugenics, we could look forward to a brighter future. I think, eventually, we as a species will realize this.

I'm more important than some stupid collective species. I will not be sterilized to benefit the collective.

The fact that anarcho-communism is the best system will be the next revelation.

-----------------------------------------
"But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality."
Free your mind! (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/berkman/comanarchism/whatis_toc.html)
I like big butts!

http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/terrapvlchra/images/steatopygia.jpg

Err...dude. Just for reference, the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 mi) in diameter.

Only around the equator: because its an oblate spheroid it should be noted that it is 'only' 12,714 km in diameter around the poles... dude.

Err...dude. Just for reference, the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 mi) in diameter.

Only around the equator: because its an oblate spheroid it should be noted that it is 'only' 12,714 km in diameter around the poles... dude.

Thanks dude. :wink: I forgot to mention that.

The next big revelation: the earth doesn't revolve around humans! Life on earth obeys nothing, except perhaps an asteroid.

Hmmm....sorry about that, shows how much i know right? But i still thought even though it may have been shown on paper that the earth was a sphere that the general consensus of the population thought that it was flat. o well.

Hmmm....sorry about that, shows how much i know right?

'sokay.

When did people think the earth was flat? dude, take a history class. way back in the day when people had to sail around they thought that the earth was flat cause no one had come back from thier attempts to go around the world. they thought everyone dropped of the edge of the earth...literaly.

Actually, this is not true. I've posted it in another thread, but I think it bears repeating.

The idea that man prior to Columbus thought the world was flat is one of the most pervasive urban legends of our time. At no point in history did people think the world was flat. Not church folk, not lay folk and certainly not the sailors and navigators who made their livings on it every day.

The modern idea of "Flat Earth" came from a biography of Christopher Columbus written by Washington Irving (the same author who brought us The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) around 1828. In it, Irving created a whole fictional scene between church elders and Columbus where the church elders advocated for a flat Earth while Columbus fought for a round one.

Complete fiction.

The Church never held the opinion that the earth was flat. Indeed, one Benedicting monk who's name escapes me at the present wrote a treatise on this, saying it is obvious that the Earth must be round as you can see it's curvature from high elevations and you can also see farther from higher elevations. I'll try and find this name.

Throughout the Middle Ages, anyone of any learning or in any travelling profession was well aware of the curvature of the Earth. There was vast disagreement on the size of the Earth's sphere, but never was the disagreement on the sphere shape itself. Thanks to Irving for saddleing us with that unfortunate fallacy.

But what about the flat aspect maps of the time? Well, most church maps were less physical representations of topology and more an illustrated church history lesson for a largely illiterate public. These maps showed the past and present of the church as were more about ecclesiastical lessons for the populace, showing them their place in church heirarchy and the divine structure, than finding the safest overland route between Constantinople and Jerusalem. Actual navigational maps existed, but were the province of people who actually used them (namely, those same, sailors, navigators and overland traders) and were not publically spread.

So, just to put a period on it, no one ever thought the Earth was flat and Washington Irving made it all up because he needed to boost sales of his Columbus biography after his sequel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow II: Electric Boogaloo failed to fly off the shelves.

The Church never held the opinion that the earth was flat.

One christian scholar did however claim that it was a flat plane, but one inclined from the North-West at the top and the South-East at the bottom: this was Cosmas in the sixth century in his Topographica Christiana. The slant along the plane is so that the passages of the Bible which refer to the sun going down are not contradicted.


Indeed, one Benedicting monk who's name escapes me at the present wrote a treatise on this, saying it is obvious that the Earth must be round as you can see it's curvature from high elevations and you can also see farther from higher elevations. I'll try and find this name.

Would that be the Venomous Bead?

It is also obvious that either the earth is not flat, or something else very strange is going on, if one sights along a straight canal: one can only see the tops of vessels in the distance, but they become visible right down to the waterline as they come closer.




But what about the flat aspect maps of the time? Well, most church maps were less physical representations of topology and more an illustrated church history lesson for a largely illiterate public. These maps showed the past and present of the church as were more about ecclesiastical lessons for the populace, showing them their place in church heirarchy and the divine structure, than finding the safest overland route between Constantinople and Jerusalem. Actual navigational maps existed, but were the province of people who actually used them (namely, those same, sailors, navigators and overland traders) and were not publically spread.

I'll just note that the tradition of putting Jerusalem at the centre of Christian maps places it at the very centre of the cosmos: it is the centre of the earth, around which the sun and the stars revolve.

So, just to put a period on it, no one ever thought the Earth was flat and Washington Irving made it all up because he needed to boost sales of his Columbus biography after his sequel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow II: Electric Boogaloo failed to fly off the shelves.

Sleepy Hollow II: Electric Boogaloo did, however do much better at the booksellers than his experimental pop-up book - Sleepy Hollow III in III-D.

That the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles was the root cause for much of the conflict of the world today. If Germany had not been held financially responsible for WWI, WWII and all the sh*tty alliances and conflicts that developed after it may have been avoided.

The hyperinflation in Germany because of their "culpability" was the indirect cause of the rise of Hitler...which led to other strange alliances and events afterward.

The next big revelation will be that the US economy is mostly smoke and mirrors. People will find no value in paper money, stock, and bonds. Even gold and diamonds will become useless commodities. Get some good land and become farmers. The meek shall inherit the Earth.

*goes to check ammo supply*

One christian scholar did however claim that it was a flat plane, but one inclined from the North-West at the top and the South-East at the bottom: this was Cosmas in the sixth century in his Topographica Christiana. The slant along the plane is so that the passages of the Bible which refer to the sun going down are not contradicted.

Quite true, and, according to Jeffery Burton Russell, Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barabara, as many as 5 of the early Christian fathers may have held a belief in a flat Earth by literally interpreting biblical passages as geographic comments rather than metaphorical ones. However, after the 3rd century B.C., almost no one with any level of education in Western Civilization thought the earth was flat. It's such a widespread inaccuracy, though, that the Historical Society of Britain listed it as number one on it's short list of historical illusions.

Another reason that after 1830s everyone thought Christians of the middle ages believed in a flat earth is the works of Antoine-Jean Letronne, who published his On the Cosmographical Ideas of the Church Fathers in 1834. He was a noted anti-religious zealot and used his own knowledge of geography and patristics to misrepresent the general beliefs of the church fathers and their successors. So both an American and a Frenchmen were to blame for this most nefarious of historical slanders.

It is interesting to note that this whole affair became factual inaccuracy through the hostility between science and religion. While the two have worked to subvert each other over the centuries, this is one clear example where the proponets of science as good and truthful used an outright lie and mistatement of fact to further the notion that religion was false. See, no one's very innocent and many people are willing to sacrifice their principles in order to win.


Would that be the Venomous Bead?

I don't believe so, but I could be wrong.


It is also obvious that either the earth is not flat, or something else very strange is going on, if one sights along a straight canal: one can only see the tops of vessels in the distance, but they become visible right down to the waterline as they come closer.

Exactly so.


I'll just note that the tradition of putting Jerusalem at the centre of Christian maps places it at the very centre of the cosmos: it is the centre of the earth, around which the sun and the stars revolve.

This is also true. I never said they got everything right, just that they didn't believe this. :D

So, just to put a period on it, no one ever thought the Earth was flat and Washington Irving made it all up because he needed to boost sales of his Columbus biography after his sequel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow II: Electric Boogaloo failed to fly off the shelves.

Sleepy Hollow II: Electric Boogaloo did, however do much better at the booksellers than his experimental pop-up book - Sleepy Hollow III in III-D.[/quote]

True. Personally, though, I think the whole Sleepy Hollow franchise jumped the shark with Sleepy Hollow 13: The Final Cut.

The next big revelation will be that the US economy is mostly smoke and mirrors. People will find no value in paper money, stock, and bonds. Even gold and diamonds will become useless commodities. Get some good land and become farmers. The meek shall inherit the Earth.

*goes to check ammo supply*

Ok...but a fiat currency is representative of wealth stored in a convienient format. You can grow all the food you want on a farm but how are you going to exchange your crop surpluses for medical care, electricity, automobile maintenance, the brass and powder to load your ammo, television cable service, the ISP that you're using right now to get on the Internet, etc?

Would that be the Venomous Bead?

I don't believe so, but I could be wrong.

AKA The venerable Bede (Just in case you are unfamiliar with 1066, and all that)

It will soon be revealed that radiation from radios, TVs, cell phones and microwave relays has been cooking our insides and causing a series of painful and deadly diseases.

You heard it here first.

No, I believe it was before Bede. Again, though, this is a tidbit I picked up from some show on the History channel, so who knows.

Perhaps the next revelation will then be that people never really thought the earth was flat...

Hey. Dont be mean just because im an ignorant a$$ holl.



j/k. I hope the next revelation has to do with a refridgerator that always has tones of the food you want in it. hmmmm, im hungry.

The next big revelation will be that the US economy is mostly smoke and mirrors. People will find no value in paper money, stock, and bonds. Even gold and diamonds will become useless commodities. Get some good land and become farmers. The meek shall inherit the Earth.

*goes to check ammo supply*

Ok...but a fiat currency is representative of wealth stored in a convienient format. You can grow all the food you want on a farm but how are you going to exchange your crop surpluses for medical care, electricity, automobile maintenance, the brass and powder to load your ammo, television cable service, the ISP that you're using right now to get on the Internet, etc?

Not trying to drag the topic too far off subject, but of the things you've mentioned, how many do you really need? I have a few hundred acres, a fresh water and food supply, generate my own electricity, 3 natural gas wells, and have a well equipped workshop. And, my wife is a doctor. If economic calamity were to strike for only a decade long period, how would you fare with your representative wealth of paper?

Not trying to drag the topic too far off subject, but of the things you've mentioned, how many do you really need? I have a few hundred acres, a fresh water and food supply, generate my own electricity, 3 natural gas wells, and have a well equipped workshop. And, my wife is a doctor. If economic calamity were to strike for only a decade long period, how would you fare with your representative wealth of paper?

No, you're not dragging this too far - it's good discussion. If U.S. Dollar suddenly became worthless, I'd lose some wealth no doubt. But so would the bank who carries the loan of 70 or so % of my property. And chances are my loan is financed primarily with money from Direct Foriegn Investment.

I also know how to make a generator and I could have it run with wind power or I could operate it manually. I'm also not afraid to hunt or fish but I don't know whose land I'd do it on.

I'd survive...possibly even thrive because I could capitalize on my skills and would probably find willing people to trade with.

I don't know if I'd do better than you though, it sounds to me like you'd be doing very well for yourself. One thing is for sure, people would become a hell of a lot smarter about economics, marketing, and consumer behavior in a New York minute.

Air is bad for you...

Air is bad for you...

It causes cancer and impotency in males.

Lab rats wear out their lungs breathing all the time like that

Not trying to drag the topic too far off subject, but of the things you've mentioned, how many do you really need? I have a few hundred acres, a fresh water and food supply, generate my own electricity, 3 natural gas wells, and have a well equipped workshop. And, my wife is a doctor. If economic calamity were to strike for only a decade long period, how would you fare with your representative wealth of paper?

No, you're not dragging this too far - it's good discussion. If U.S. Dollar suddenly became worthless, I'd lose some wealth no doubt. But so would the bank who carries the loan of 70 or so % of my property. And chances are my loan is financed primarily with money from Direct Foriegn Investment.

I also know how to make a generator and I could have it run with wind power or I could operate it manually. I'm also not afraid to hunt or fish but I don't know whose land I'd do it on.

I'd survive...possibly even thrive because I could capitalize on my skills and would probably find willing people to trade with.

I don't know if I'd do better than you though, it sounds to me like you'd be doing very well for yourself. One thing is for sure, people would become a hell of a lot smarter about economics, marketing, and consumer behavior in a New York minute.

And, of the things that we have, and are able to make, the most important is peace with our neighbors. I certainly anticipate my own survival, economic fiasco or not. If I am able to provide for others, I am truly rich. That's a pretty 'great revelation'. Thanks for letting me see it.

maybe we'll discover the world is flat after all...

looks flat from here

looks flat from here
Aren't you up in Alaska or something? I thought that it all looked vertical there, up & down, no flat (except for the muskegs)?

What is our "absolute truth?" What do you think will be the next thing to be figured out?

I'd say travel to Mars. Apparently it's within our reach.

There is NO spoon!

Sporks are crap...