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Understanding
Gobbledygook
Sam Aurelius Milam III A common practice among scientifically inclined people is to mistake nomenclature for understanding. What makes a motor turn? Electricity. What's electricity? Moving electrons. What are electrons? Well.... If you ask how the Earth and the moon reach out to one another through space, the answer might be gravitons or a warp in "space-time". There's a lot of nomenclature available but the fact is that giving something a name doesn't mean that we understand it. Nobody really understands how the Earth and the moon stay in orbit. That term "space-time" is one of my favorite pieces of nomenclatorial nonsense, prime gobbledygook. A good way to explain why is the old standby, analogy. Anybody who's studied Statics and Dynamics will be familiar with vectors. A vector has two components, magnitude and direction. Velocity is a good example in which speed is the magnitude. As with all vectors, it's possible in the velocity vector to change the magnitude (speed) without changing the direction. It's possible to change the direction without changing the magnitude. It's possible to change them both. Any one of the three changes will change the velocity vector but that isn't my point. Part of my point is that the components of a vector are totally independent of one another. Either one can be changed without changing the other. Another part of my point is that the components of a vector are utterly dependent upon one another. That is, if there isn't any speed then there can't be any direction. If there isn't any direction, then there isn't any speed. Thus, either of the two fundamentally different components of a vector, each independently variable, will instantly vanish upon the disappearance of the other component. The removal of either component will also result in the entire removal of the vector. Now, consider the term "space-time". If my analogy holds, then space and time are not the universe. They are the components of the universe. Space corresponds to the magnitude of the universe. Time corresponds to the direction of the universe. Saying "space-time" instead of saying universe is like saying magnitude-direction instead of saying vector. Magnitude and direction are not the vector. They are the components of the vector. Interestingly, if the universe works like a vector, then it might be possible to manipulate space without changing time. It might be possible to manipulate time without changing space. It might be possible to manipulate them both. Any one of the three manipulations would change the universe. The removal of either space or time would destroy the universe. However, the agenda of this article isn't cosmology but nomenclature. The lesson of the article is that the correct nomenclature isn't "space-time". The correct nomenclature is universe Like any analogy, the vector-universe analogy might not work perfectly in every case but it's a good explanation of why the term "space-time" is gobbledygook. It's a little unsophisticated to substitute gobbledygook for nomenclature. Gobbledygook impedes understanding. Let's try to get it right. Stray Thoughts Sam Aurelius Milam III Zero-Brainer I'm really annoyed when computer nerds start counting physical objects at zero. That's a stupid way to count. Zero is when you don't have any, before you start counting. The first one that you have and the first one that you count is number one. Just What You'd Expect If I don't put sufficient postage on a letter, then the Post Office sends it back for more postage. If I put excess postage on a letter, then they keep the extra. Imponderable Why do Christians glorify suffering but condemn torture? Enemy The worst offenders, with regard to violations of the doctrine of the separation of church and state, are the evangelistic Christians. They insist upon using the legislative powers of government to prohibit sin. They insist upon using the executive and the judicial powers of government to punish what should be in Gods jurisdiction. Crime should never be confused with sin. For PayPal payments, use frontiersman@pharos.websiteallies.com.
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The Door Is Opening
Jim Sullivan Millions of people across America were thrilled recently to learn that "Intelligent Design" (ID) is going to be taught in some science courses as an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution, which has had a lock on the biology curriculum for years. The ID concept argues that all things found in the world, indeed the globe itself, do not come from natural causes alone, as biologists claim, but from God, the Intelligent Designer. A public school district in Louisiana, one in Ohio, and perhaps others, will soon be instructing students on ID. Justice finally prevails for fundamentalist Christians. Over the decades, the Big Bang Theory, too, was the only creation concept allowed to be taught in public schools. The Almighty had been completely removed from the story of the beginning. Now the idea that God created the land, sea, animals, and mankind, as spelled out in the book of Genesis, will be presented to public school children. And why not? Evolution and the Big Bang are not completely proven theories anyway. Intelligent Design is actually an old belief that has been resurrected by the "Creationist" movement or certain of its followers. Creationists are a well-meaning group of Christians who want only to have God recognized in science classes as the Creator. However, those people were forever running headlong into hard-to-refute arguments emanating from biology teachers who wouldn't budge an inch from their atheistic and agnostic beliefs. Those same biologists will now have to face the Intelligent Design crowd who, with merely a foothold in two American public school districts, are already facing opponents who are urging boards of education to relegate ID to religion classes only. On the other hand, ID supporters probably hope that one day not far off their beliefs will be more broadly accepted and taught in additional science classrooms. Some supporters may even harbor the wish that Evolution and the Big Bang Theory will be proven erroneous and, hence, removed from public school teaching. All that aside, what makes so many individuals happy about this ID breakthrough is that from now on other topics, formerly kept out of public classrooms, will have to be allowed. They are alternative theories, also. To begin with, there's astrology, your future based on stars and their relationship to each other, that can be taught as a reliable alternative to astronomy, which doesn't give stars any predictive credit. Numerology, a science based on digits that can tell what will happen next in your life can be offered in conjunction with arithmetic and math classes, where things don't always add up. Let's not forget phrenology, the study of bumps on and shapes of people's heads, that indicates the kind of person he or she really is. That study could be taught along with anatomy, which isn't in the prediction business. After all, those studies about people and their futures are often eerily accurate and they're about as scientific as are biology, chemistry, and physics. Other unfairly marginalized but authentic studies, like what happens in, around, or under the Bermuda Triangle, Crystals, Pyramids, and other phenomena, may be presented to school students, too. The Intelligent Designer, after all, started all of it, didn't He? Of course, once the curriculum door opens wider to let in the aforementioned, then such undeniably interesting topics as UFO sightings, alien appearances (like E.T. and ALF), the Mystery of Area 54 or is it Area 91 or maybe Area 76? well, whatever and the like will get their noses into the classroom tent, also. Such studies deserve to be there. For far too long they've been arbitrarily kept away from school children who could benefit greatly from such knowledge. Not far off, even the Loch Ness Monster (AKA Nessie) and the Abominable Snowman (AKA Bigfoot and Yeti) will be a big part of every school child's education. Tarot Cards, Palmistry, and reading Chicken Entrails are still nebulous subjects awaiting a bit of additional proof of their validity before children are exposed to them in the classroom. But already those subjects have more reason for being taught than does that current, vile course known as Sex Education. For PayPal payments, use frontiersman@pharos.websiteallies.com.
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Therefore,
those who hold family values and who have been, over time, shunted to the
side for their beliefs will get their day. They now have a chance
to let their offspring and the children of many others learn the concepts
that have been passed on, like the family Bible, from generation to generation.
Parents who truly believe will at long last get to put forward their worthy
ideas.
He didn't even mention tea leaves, Ouija boards, or the chupacabra. Amazing! editor
Tax Forms Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by Don G. The difference between the short tax form and the long tax form is simple. If you use the short tax form, then the government gets your money. If you use the long tax form, then the accountant gets your money. Letters to the Editor
Joseph: Northridge, California
Dear Sam, Thanks for another very good Frontiersman, and for publishing my modest piece. If interested (I know you're busy), you can authenticate the Lucius Beebe (San Fran. Chronicle Editor) that you ran, by contacting my friend [interested readers can contact me for this information editor] .... ... The reptile thugs here have changed policy again. Right after I notified about 250 or so correspondents that they can't put labels on my incoming mail, the prison reptiles changed the policy, and said now it is ok to use them again .... an inmate
It's unnecessarily insulting to snakes and lizards to compare them to prison guards. editor
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Acknowledgments My thanks to the following: Sir James the Bold, SantaClara Bob, Lady Jan the Voluptuous, Sir Donald the Elusive, Sir John the Generous, Joseph, of Northridge, California, Eric, of Soledad, California, and Lady Nancy the Enchanting. editor
Sanctified Faithful
You know you're in California when ....
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