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Freeman Dyson Has Died

nytimes.com

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Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#151

Post by arionhardison »

wiggles_md wrote: post #99

Why does Freeman Dyson earn a black bar, and Katherine Johnson not?

I believe it is rude to ask this question, mainly because you already know the answer and there is no value to be derived from the discussion; therefore it is best to simply allow people to focus on Dyson. A great scientist has died and people should be able to reflect and pay their respect to the life that he lived. It is not fair to ask people to feel the way you feel and the black bar denotes a feeling of mourning. My friends and I had a math games night to honor Katherine Johnson and it was amazing but we would never ask those of another culture to feel the same way or have the same connection with her that we did.

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#152

Post by [deleted] »

morphle wrote: post #124

Freeman Dyson exposed and explained Richard Feynmans genius to the world, but he had better blue thoughts (see my other links in this discussion) than Feynman had ("Plenty Of Room At The Bottom"), on a par with Alan Kay's blue thoughts. He imagined the Dyson Sphere that set me on my path to Science, Carl Sagan just gave the last push. He imagined the space chicken and the Kuiper belt/Oort cloud plants. His carbon cyc…

[deleted]

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#153

Post by fancyfredbot »

jeremyjh wrote: post #115
fancyfredbot wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this argument. If your mind deterministically makes a given decision in a given circumstance then that's what your mind decided to do. Another mind would make a different decision. That seems like your mind determined the outcome and that sounds like free will?

The decision is the result of mechanical interactions of the atoms your brain is made of. Unless the mind controls the atoms it’s simply a projection of them. A lot of people are uncomfortable with that idea, but this discomfort is also only a projection and the atoms don’t give a damn about it. Where is the freedom exactly?

I guess I think the atoms are the mind so if the atoms make the decision the mind makes the decision.

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#154

Post by asdkjh345 »

b0sk wrote: post #34
hirundo wrote: post #17

"When I listen to the public debates about climate change, I am impressed by the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the sparseness of our observations and the superficiality of our theories" "We have no reason to think that climate change is harmful if you look at the world as a whole. Most places, in fact, are better off being warmer than being colder. And historically, the really bad times for the environment and for…

the ridiculously hot summers in Australasia resulting in bushfires, famine and drought... seas taking over the cities are all demonstrable effects of climate change. Did he live in UK? Yea the winter was milder I guess.

>the ridiculously hot summers in Australasia

Are no hotter than many other years, decades ago.

>resulting in bushfires, famine and drought

There is no evidence linking the fires to "climate change". And I can find no evidence of any such famine even existing. Droughts are caused by depleting the water supply, not by warm weather. Warm weather increases rain.

>seas taking over the cities

Has not happened. The rate of sea level rise has been stable for the 120 years we have good data. It has not accelerated.

>are all demonstrable effects of climate change

None of them are. They are things people insist MUST be caused by "climate change", but do so only using "common sense", rather than any actual evidence. Demonstrable requires evidence, not "common sense".

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#155

Post by rtsil »

djsumdog wrote: post #69
m0zg wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Excess carbon in the air is good for plants, and global warming might forestall another ice age. How is it not "rooted in science" that excess carbon is good for plants? We're already seeing significant global greening, and yields are up. Excess CO2 also reduces the amount of water the plants need.

He's gone, so this isn't really the place for this discussion at all. However, I'm glad this is mentioned and how it shows that there are a lot of intelligent people who have concerns with the current science debate. Consensus isn't science, it's politics, and challenging ones ideas is how we both reinforce the truth as well as dispel myths.

He was a genius and an inspiration for many people, why can't we just admit that he was wrong in one accessory domain (relative to his work and legacy) and not turn him into a romantic Don Quixote fighting against the "bad politics-based consensus" of climate change?

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#156

Post by virtue3 »

astrophysician wrote: post #5

About 4 years ago, I was a grad student in astrophysics at Princeton. Dyson worked at the Institute for Advanced Study which, while not officially part of the university was essentially an extension of the various departments (shared colloquiums, any researcher there was a valid thesis adviser, etc.). The grad students have a tradition (or used to) called “Thunch” (Thursday Lunch) where they invite someone to come ha…

Not the worst idea ever... tbh

Project Orion: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist3.php...

Given what we have available to us. It gives us the most propulsive force. Lots of hard problems to solve :)

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#157

Post by [deleted] »

aeorgnoieang wrote: post #133
cowboysauce wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's akin to saying "Why is everyone concerned about this Volcano erupting? Plants will flourish in the resulting rich, volcanic soil" The statement is completely true, but it misses the point as to why people are concerned and glosses over a lot of negatives.

I interpret his point being less about denying that some people will be harmed by global warming but that most (or 'all') people will be. I agree with what I think Dyson believed: that it's NOT obvious that global warming is net-negative (long term). Another ice age would be pretty terrible too.

[deleted]

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#158

Post by skosch »

Causality1 wrote: post #77
samatman wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conway (yep, that Conway) and Kochen elaborate on this in the Strong Free Will Theorem: https://www.ams.org/notices/200902/rtx090200226p.pdf

Isn't that a fundamental misunderstanding of the definition of "observer" in quantum physics? To "observe" is to cause a quantum system to interact in such a way that collapses probabilities. Whether there is a living observer is totally irrelevant.

Unless ... there is no observer at all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdeterminism

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#159

Post by blacksmith_tb »

jey wrote: post #48
blacksmith_tb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure how long it'd take to become socially acceptable, but I would bet we could make robotic tails for the elderly to help with balancing... accelerometer, motors and a few counterweights, controller and battery.

A lot of people have psychological hurdles to even using a cane. Something like "I raised N children, I powered through my career, I have been a strong independent human being as far as I can remember, why should I use a cane?"

For sure, something like a wearable airbag (if you couldn't tell someone was wearing it) would be an easier sell. In either case people would have to actually remember to put them on and keep them on. Of course, it's sad to think that not wanting to accept you're aging would prevent us from taking steps to live longer, but we humans are a stubborn bunch.

Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died

#160

Post by osrec »

josephpmay wrote: post #62
rtrunck wrote: post #2

“It is remarkable that mind enters into our awareness of nature on two separate levels. At the highest level, the level of human consciousness, our minds are somehow directly aware of the complicated flow of electrical and chemical patterns in our brains. At the lowest level, the level of single atoms and electrons, the mind of an observer is again involved in the description of events. Between lies the level of mole…

That quote is mindblowing. I don't think I've ever heard an argument for free will on a sub-atomic level. It never crossed my mind that that was a position someone could conceivably hold. But it's weirdly comforting- it almost feels religious- and I'm now thinking about how that would affect emergence.

It feels especially religious to me as a Hindu. A lot of Hinduism talks about a so called "sense of existence" - a vitalising, fundamental "thing" that permeates inanimate and animate beings. The quote reminded me a bit of that.
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