The way I see it, the universe is so large and time so great, that even if there is only the one universe and only the one time, it will never be possible for man to fully understand it. That problem multiplies with each additional universe that is "real." If there is an infinity of universes, well then, we have an infinity of undefinability, whatever that means. I am reminded of Tom Hank's character in "Joe vs the Volcano," hallucinating while looking at the sky and saying, "I didn't know it was so big."

At the same time, I believe that it is possible to understand any given aspect of it. For example, we may gain a GUT understanding, but that is hardly the last word in complexity. Rather, it is the first step in understanding the universe from it's most fundamental processes. Maybe what I am saying is some sort of corollary of the Uncertainty Principle, in which it is possible to understand some process or other in its entirety or grasp the complexity of the whole problem, but never both at once.

Finally, if the universe is too complex to ever be understood by the mind of man, how is that different from theology?

I defer to our doctor of divinity in regard to your question, who is infinitely more qualified than I to provide a thoughtful response.

[lysergicism]Would the acquisition of all knowledge mean the death of science? Would the acquisition of all knowledge mean the death of theology? Does the answer to each question depend on the nature of that knowledge? [/lysergicism]

Do you mean 'photon' rather than 'electron'?

De Broglie Waves.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/debrog.html

One day Rene Descartes was eating lunch in a small cafe at the side of the road. After he had finished the waiter approached and asked, "Msr. Descartes, have you had enough today? Would you like anything else?".

Descartes replied, "Thank you, I think not."


And promptly dissappeared.

**

There's a quote from someone, can't remember who or exactly how it goes. The gist is that "when science finally crests the hill of exploration and finds the ultimate truth it will meet face to face with religion". Anyone able to ID that quote? Source/text?

__________________
-livin' in the terminally flippant zone

Don't know the source of that quotation, but got a good laugh over the Descartes story. Thanks.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Like the guy who preferred philosophy to Latin: Put Descartes before the Horace.

Or the veterinarian who tried to teach philosophy to a horse. Didn't work. Can't put Descartes before the horse.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Government grant?

__________________
-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831799-post13.html
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831807-post14.html

I prefer mnemonics to help me remember my philosophers...

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.

Plato, they say, could stick it away--
Half a crate of whisky every day.

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle.
Hobbes was fond of his dram,

And René Descartes was a drunken fart.
'I drink, therefore I am.'

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker,
But a bugger when he's pissed.

__________________
-livin' in the terminally flippant zone

With thanks to Monty Python.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Golly, I don't remember that skit. Kerry, can you name it? I'd like to see it.

B

http://www.geocities.com/pythoninsanity/songs.html

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Excellent, thanks!

I remember it from Live at the Hollywood Bowl, sung by "Bruce" the Aussie with the cork hat.

__________________
-livin' in the terminally flippant zone