bladan 293 Posted March 3, 2017 43 minutes ago, drol said: Schrodinger's original formulation is incorrect: the cat is not alive and dead, it has a mixed state in which it's alive or dead, because the superposition of physical states (decay/not decay) applies to the system, not to the cat! That means it regards the probabiity of the cat's death/life, which is superpositioned, but that does not mean life and death are present at the same time in the cat. Like many others, it's a paradox whose fame is due to an incorrect formulation. My question is another. You know the infinite monkey theorem. Well, if we take the atoms in the universe as casual letters of a computer and time as infinite, why won't we come back to life if there is a finite number of atoms? (finite number of atoms in an infinite time will clearly be put together in every possible way, which also means there will be identical configurations at some point). It's either: 1)Time will finish. Don't know when, but it progresses till an end (like Zsa Zsa). 2)Atoms are infinite. Or both. "Deathlist Forums - come for the dead celebs, stay for the philosophy discussions... " at the risk of a forever ban, I find the philosophy discussions more interesting. Perhaps we could continue some philosophy discussions in this thread, especially since celebs seem to stay alive right now? About drol's questions. Schrodinger's original formulation is NOT incorrect. The cat is indeed living and dead at the same time. Roger Penrose says so and this is a real paradox and NOT an incorrect formulation. Read my lips: this is a real paradox. About the infinite monkey theorem and what if we take the atoms in the universe as casual letters of a computer and time as infinite? What atoms? What universe? Neuroscientists agree that both time and the universe are brain constructs. In fact we all should know this. We have been brainwashed that there are atoms, not unlike tiny table tennis balls, and the universe is really "out there". However, physicists know that this is not so. For example, top neuroscientist Gerhard Roth says that the universe is a brain construct. What is more, top neuroscientist David Eagleman says that time is a brain construct. Einstein said that time is an illusion. Top physicist Paul Davies says that energy is a brain construct. Physicists say that energy cannot be spatiotemporally located. Einstein's formula says that energy is matter. Thus matter is not spatiotemporally located. In fact the brain is a brain construct (see e.g. Dr Ian McChilchrtist's excellent book named the Master and Emissary). What is space and time? Are they real? Are you real? Here's something nice for you drol, written by a top physicist. http://wwwp.fc.unesp.br/~malvezzi/downloads/Ensino/Disciplinas/IntrodMecQuant/textos/What's bad about this habit - David Mermin.pdf My understanding is that the top physicist Aharanov says that the universe has a final state that is pulling us and that no one can avoid his/hers destiny. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,595 Posted March 3, 2017 Quote David Eagleman says that time is a brain construct. Einstein said that time is an illusion They're both wrong ETA I joined for the humour! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,438 Posted March 3, 2017 Err, to be honest, I only joined because I used to post as a guest and one of the regulars suggested guests should sign up or else! A search suggests it was The Man in Black, and that my first post wasn't a list! I know, I must have been under the weather... Also don't take my snark as a put down - as a fan of the Adams, I appreciate that this forum can contain life, the universe and everything... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drol 11,927 Posted March 3, 2017 32 minutes ago, time said: An interesting question, the answer to which is 42. Uhm, Douglas Adams was a scumbag dying at 49 and not at 42. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,220 Posted March 3, 2017 6 minutes ago, msc said: Err, to be honest, I only joined because I used to post as a guest and one of the regulars suggested guests should sign up or else! A search suggests it was The Man in Black, and that my first post wasn't a list! I know, I must have been under the weather... Also don't take my snark as a put down - as a fan of the Adams, I appreciate that this forum can contain life, the universe and everything... It's always funny to read posts where guests were proven wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Dead Cow 620 Posted March 3, 2017 27 minutes ago, bladan said: "Deathlist Forums - come for the dead celebs, stay for the philosophy discussions... " at the risk of a forever ban, I find the philosophy discussions more interesting. Perhaps we could continue some philosophy discussions in this thread, especially since celebs seem to stay alive right now? Alternatively, we could always revive the Philosophy thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rockhopper penguin 2,265 Posted March 3, 2017 6 minutes ago, The Dead Cow said: Alternatively, we could always revive the Philosophy thread. Doesn't exist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bladan 293 Posted March 3, 2017 1 hour ago, rockhopper penguin said: Doesn't exist. "a path which nevertheless leads to death" But life and death are not well defined. What is life? And what is death? Who are you? Is life just some electrochemical activity in brain tissue? As William James wrote, "the whole philosophy of perception from Democritus’s time downwards has been just one long wrangle over the paradox that what is evidently one reality should be in two places at once, both in outer space and in a person’s mind", However, the reality in a person's mind is supposed to cease to exist at the moment of death. Meanwhile, the reality in outer space is supposed to continue its existence, although the celeb appears to cease to exist. But that objective reality, in which Einstein believed, has been decades ago proved to be unreal. To sum up, as William James wrote (google him), there is evidently one reality. Thus, when death comes, it is impossible that the reality in outer physical space continues its existence while the reality in inner mental space ceases to exist for good. In other words, it is impossible that the Schrodinger's cat becomes "dead" while the cat at the same time continues its "life".'' Drol, why don't you show off. In other words, your immortal subjective existence and your mortal objective existence must be the same, and these two simultaneous existences must be outside of space and time, as quantum mechanics has been telling us since the 1920s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thatcher 2,386 Posted March 9, 2017 George Andrew Olah, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (1994), has died aged 89. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CastAway 488 Posted March 9, 2017 3 hours ago, Thatcher said: George Andrew Olah, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (1994), has died aged 89. Pretty sure Olah's a DDP pick, right? There's a WashPo obit out as well, but no QO yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungWillz 21,033 Posted March 10, 2017 9 hours ago, RishCast said: 13 hours ago, Thatcher said: George Andrew Olah, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (1994), has died aged 89. Pretty sure Olah's a DDP pick, right? There's a WashPo obit out as well, but no QO yet. Daily Mail have come through: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-4299296/Hungarian-American-Nobel-winner-George-A-Olah-dies-aged-89.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thatcher 2,386 Posted March 15, 2017 Hans Georg Dehmelt, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics (1989), died on the 7th of March aged 94. Edit: Here is a NYT obituary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungWillz 21,033 Posted March 17, 2017 1992 Literature Laureate Derek Walcott has reportedly died. http://stluciastar.com/derek-walcott-dead/ Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Walcott 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thatcher 2,386 Posted March 17, 2017 1 hour ago, YoungWillz said: 1992 Literature Laureate Derek Walcott has reportedly died. http://stluciastar.com/derek-walcott-dead/ Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Walcott Here is a BBC obituary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 9,571 Posted March 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Thatcher said: Here is a BBC obituary. Good pick for next week's Last Word Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drol 11,927 Posted March 18, 2017 On 28/9/2016 at 09:41, Mercarte said: I updated the listNobel Prize laureates who will reach, maybe, 85 years old before the end of 2016: (Age calculated at the beginning of 2016)Physics:1957: Tsung-Dao Lee, 891957: Chen Ning Yang, 931969: Murray Gell-Mann, 861972: Leon Cooper, 851972: Robert Schrieffer, 841973: Leo Esaki, 901973: Ivar Giaever, 861974: Antony Hewish, 911975: Ben Mottelson, 891976: Burton Richter, 841977: Philip Warren Anderson, 921980: James Cronin, 841981: Nicolaas Bloembergen, 951987: Karl Alexander Müller, 881988: Leon Lederman, 931988: Jack Steinberger, 941989: Hans Dehmelt, 931990: Richard Edward Taylor, 861990: Jerome Isaac Friedman, 851996: David M. Lee, 841999: Martinus Veltman, 842000: Herbert Kroemer, 872000: Žores Ivanovič Alfërov, 852002: Masatoshi Koshiba, 892002: Riccardo Giacconi, 842003: Aleksej Alekseevič Abrikosov, 872005: Roy Glauber, 882009: George Elwood Smith, 852013: Peter Higgs, 862014: George Elwood Smith, 86Chemistry: 1967: Manfred Eigen, 881980: Paul Berg, 891982: Aaron Klug, 891986: John Charles Polanyi, 861990: Elias James Corey, 871992: Rudolph Marcus, 921994: George Andrew Olah, 881997: Paul Delos Boyer, 971997: Jens Christian Skou, 971998: Walter Kohn, 922008: Osamu Shimomura, 872010: Akira Suzuki, 852013: Martin Karplus, 85Literature:1992: Derek Walcott, 851993: Toni Morrison, 841997: Dario Fo, 892002: Imre Kertész, 862013: Alice Munro, 84Peace: RIP? 1973: Henry Kissinger, 921980: Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 841984: Desmond Tutu, 841986: Elie Wiesel, 871990: Michail Gorbačëv, 841994: Shimon Peres, 922002: Jimmy Carter, 91Medicine:1962: James Dewey Watson, 871977: Roger Guillemin, 911977: Andrew Viktor Schally, 891978: Werner Arber, 861978: Hamilton Smith, 841981: Torsten Wiesel, 911986: Stanley Cohen, 931992: Edmond Fischer, 952000: Arvid Carlsson, 922000: Paul Greengard, 902000: Eric Kandel, 862002: Sydney Brenner, 882007: Oliver Smithies, 902015: William C. Campbell, 852015: Tu Youyou, 85Economics:1972: Kenneth Arrow, 941987: Robert Solow, 911990: Harry Markowitz, 881994: Reinhard Selten, 852002: Vernon Smith, 882005: Thomas Schelling, 942005: Robert Aumann, 852012: Lloyd Stowell Shapley, 92 I cancelled dead names. Literature Prize winners are not known for their longevity, it seems. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thatcher 2,386 Posted March 30, 2017 Aleksei Abrikosov, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics (2003), has died aged 88. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guylevesque 18 Posted June 26, 2017 Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been granted medical parole after he has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Liu is 61 years old ; worth keeping an eye on him because the Chinese authorities won't anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,314 Posted June 26, 2017 42 minutes ago, guylevesque said: Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been granted medical parole after he has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Liu is 61 years old ; worth keeping an eye on him because the Chinese authorities won't anymore. Famous enough for own thread? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spade_Cooley 9,515 Posted June 26, 2017 Famous yes, interesting no. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Creep 7,070 Posted June 26, 2017 2 hours ago, Spade_Cooley said: Famous yes, interesting no. I always thought you infallible, Spade, but now I see even you can be half right on occasion. SC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sean 6,314 Posted June 26, 2017 Odds on him making 2018? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,966 Posted June 26, 2017 Good, in my opinion. It takes a long time until the liver ceases functioning. If it hasn't spread yet he might still live for a while. Then again, who knows how long he's had it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,220 Posted June 26, 2017 Bowie lasted 2 months once his liver cancer was declared terminal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,966 Posted June 26, 2017 Yes, I thought of him as well. He had a return of cancer though. And his heart problems might have weakened him additionally. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites