[Vogelzang]

A glass half full
A pessimist may see a half a glass of water as half empty and an optimist may see a half a glass of water as half full. When I took P. Chem. I remember that most people taking it just learn how to do the word problems without really understanding it. Later on, I started thinking about these things in a philosophical way. Entropy is a confusing concept. Its often looked at as a measure of disorder (increasing disorder). There is no absolute entropy level or reference point that you can compare other entropy levels to. You can only measure changes in entropy. I remember when my P. Chem. teacher mixed some chemicals in class, went around the room and let us touch the beaker to feel the cold produced by the reaction. This was supposed to demonstrate that not all spontaneous reactions are exothermic. This reaction was endothermic. So what made the reaction go? After some explanation and writing some equations on the board we discovered that it was Gibbs free energy (calculated from entropy, temperature in degrees Kelvin and enthalpy (change in heat)) that made it work. Chemical potential is Gibbs free energy per mole, useful to a chemist to find which way a reaction is going to go and where the equilibrium point is.

OK, entropy always increases in spontaneous (naturally occuring) reactions. Every process contributes to the increase in the entropy level of the universe. If entropy is decreased in one system, this can only be done by increasing the entropy in another system with a net effect of contributing to an increase in entropy of the universe. It was theorized that one day the entire universe would even out completely because of this and would enter a condition known as heat death where no more processes were possible. It would be the end of the universe. This is also based on the belief that our universe is finite and all matter and energy in it came from the Big Bang explosion that created our universe.

This may seem like a depressing idea, but if you consider the fact that without entropy no processes can occur then it is essential that there is entropy for us to be here. If it wasn't for entropy, you wouldn't be here.

I thought of this years ago. Recently, I thought of the idea that if it wasn't for the drive to reproduce we wouldn't be here. Many people are even conceived and born by accident. If you follow what economists and investors say in the media, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, etc. you can see they accept the boom and bust cycles of the economy. They often refer to a significant drop in the indices as a correction as if it was needed to shake out the excesses in the market. They talk about the greed and fear in the market and how it shifts over time. They are familiar with Malthusian principles, but no one knows for sure what's going to happen in the future.

link and link and link

[Vogelzang]

One possibility discussed by cosmologists is that we live in an oscillating universe, ie. our universe will stop expanding one day and start contracting until everything ends up back together again, a singularity, massive black hole or what? And then the whole process starts over again.

[Concerned]

Of course in real life the glass is BOTH half full and half empty at the same time.

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'O')f course in real life the glass is BOTH half full and half empty at the same time.

[Heineken]

Of course, the true situation is that the glass is no longer half full and half empty. It's less than half full. Probably much less than half full. Now optimists can proclaim, "Hey, the glass is a tenth full! Look on the bright side!"

[MathMurderer]

Not only is the glass 40% full and 60% empty (numbers invented ), the glass is also 2.5 times as large as it should be...
So if the remaining content of the glass is the amount of energy left, the empty space is the energy already consumed and the glass itself is the world population, finding a smaller glass would be advantageous.

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jlw61', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'O')f course in real life the glass is BOTH half full and half empty at the same time.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Vogelzang', 'O')ne possibility discussed by cosmologists is that we live in an oscillating universe, ie. our universe will stop expanding one day and start contracting until everything ends up back together again, a singularity, massive black hole or what? And then the whole process starts over again.

[Vogelzang]

For the open minded see link. Einstein and all of his followers are charlatans.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Vogelzang', 'E')instein and all of his followers are charlatans.

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Vogelzang', 'E')instein and all of his followers are charlatans.

[Vogelzang]

See: link1 and link2 and link3

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ews: Einstein — Genius or Plagiarist? - 5 Dec 04
Professor Friedwardt Winterberg has recently published a paper in German scientific journal Z. Naturforsch showing that Einstein may well have plagiarized David Hilbert's work in the development of General Relativity. A 1997 paper published by Corry, Renn and Stachel in Science had argued that Hilbert had amended his paper on seeing Einstein's finished work, but this has now been disproved. In fact, Einstein continued to put forward his incorrect derivation of General Relativity after Hilbert had derived the correct equations. But Einstein may have had some underhanded allies: Hibert's original proofs for his paper preceding Einstein's have been deliberately mutilated, with key sections cut out that have helped obscure this issue. Science is almost invariably a collaborative venture with each person building on another person's work. Einstein's name has been synonymous with genius because he had the knack of deriving highly original theories out of thin-air, with thought experiments. Now we may know where his "genius" came from. (For more information, read Christopher J. Bjerknes's book, Albert Einstein: The Incorrigible Plagiarist or visit his website.)

[eXpat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('GASMON', 'A')n electron, a proton, and neutron walk into a bar and order a couple of drinks. They finish their drinks and the bartender as them to pay their tab. He says to the electron "you owe me 10," to the proton "15" and he says to the neutron "for you no charge."