You are asking all the questions backwards.

Off Topic » in reply to Good examples. Thx. :)

You are asking all the questions backwards.

ER — 10/4/2006 4:18:29 AM (archived)

Science does not ask "Why?". It asks "How?". We know from observation, from experience, from experiment, that matter if left alone does not want to move. You have to exert a force to make it move. The more matter you have, the more force it takes. The "amount" of matter we call mass. We measure the mass by measuring the amount of force we need to move it. That's how a scale works, it measures the amount of force a gravitational field imparts to a mass. We call this the "weight".

We need science to figure out how to build things and predict natural events, "why" is for philosophers and religion. We're very good at physics but we've made absolutely no progress in philosophy or religion in the last few thousand years. Personally, and this is just my own opinion, I don't believe there is a "why" to anything. There is a reason for everything but nothing has a purpose.

The whole thread (68 posts)

E=M*(C^2) question? - Michael Gmirkin - 9/23/2006 8:30:21 PM
- re: E=M*(C^2) question? - Johannes - 9/27/2006 4:11:05 AM
  - Are you SURE you're not the Techmeister incognito? (n/t) - ER - 9/27/2006 11:30:38 PM
    - re: Was my explanation incomprehensible? (n/t) - Johannes - 10/1/2006 3:26:52 AM
      - Incomprehensible? No, it was impenetrable! (n/t) - ER - 10/1/2006 1:03:32 PM
        
        re: Sorry about that, - Johannes - 10/2/2006 3:37:59 AM
        
        To restate a bit... - Michael Gmirkin - 10/2/2006 11:01:47 PM
        
        re: Like a time bubble? - Johannes - 10/5/2006 3:19:03 AM
        
        re: Like a time bubble? - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 5:02:01 PM
- re: E=M*(C^2) question? - ER - 9/24/2006 1:10:56 AM
  - An example problem - ER - 9/24/2006 3:13:54 PM
    - re: An example problem - Michael Gmirkin - 9/25/2006 4:17:19 AM
      - mass and matter - ER - 9/25/2006 10:27:00 AM
        
        Interesting... I think I get what I was trying to articulate now... ;o] - Michael Gmirkin - 9/28/2006 12:25:40 AM
        
        Mass & Energy, Planet size, etc. - SDAI-Tech1 - 9/28/2006 1:29:28 AM
        
        re: Mass & Energy, Planet size, etc. - Michael Gmirkin - 9/28/2006 5:59:46 AM
        
        Fields, waves, mass, acceleration, etc. - SDAI-Tech1 - 10/5/2006 8:59:23 PM
        
        re: Fields, waves, mass, acceleration, etc. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 11:35:39 PM
        
        Minor clarification... - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 11:48:18 PM
        
        Thank you. :) - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 10:50:43 PM
        
        Score one for Wikipedia... - Michael Gmirkin - 9/28/2006 6:55:30 AM
        
        re: Mass & Energy, Planet size, etc. - Michael Gmirkin - 9/28/2006 5:46:53 AM
        
        You've lost me. - ER - 9/28/2006 1:26:41 AM
        
        Like car keys, you're always in the last place I look... =o] - Michael Gmirkin - 9/28/2006 8:08:36 AM
        
        Of course they are... - Lee - 9/30/2006 5:27:54 AM
        
        Exactly... - Michael Gmirkin - 9/30/2006 3:13:51 PM
        
        This is not the place... - ER - 9/28/2006 2:27:30 PM
        
        This is as good a place as any. ;o] - Michael Gmirkin - 9/30/2006 11:37:09 PM
        
        re: This is as good a place as any. ;o] - ER - 10/1/2006 2:40:43 PM
        
        Thanks for the comments. :) - Michael Gmirkin - 10/2/2006 8:41:22 PM
        
        re: Good explanations and questions, thank you Michael. - Johannes - 10/1/2006 1:58:33 AM
        
        The answer is, you can't. - ER - 10/1/2006 8:21:08 PM
        
        Ohh, sure you can... You just have to be creative. =o] (I think I get it now, BTW; read on) - Michael Gmirkin - 10/2/2006 5:55:00 PM
        
        Probably going to regret this.... for Johannes, Gmirkin, SDAI etc etc: Math, Science, Reality and Language - DL - 10/5/2006 6:37:03 AM
        
        Well done, but probably a waste of time. (n/t) - ER - 10/7/2006 3:22:30 AM
        
        hehehe - YetiKnight - 10/9/2006 1:01:01 AM
        
        Reality. - SDAI-Tech1 - 10/5/2006 9:45:36 PM
        
        re: God in science? - Johannes - 10/6/2006 9:34:36 PM
        
        Happy endings... - Michael Gmirkin - 10/6/2006 12:48:14 AM
        
        re: It's been real. It's been fun - Johannes - 10/6/2006 9:21:16 PM
        
        No need for regrets. Just defintion. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 5:46:57 PM
        
        To clarify... - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 6:14:52 PM
        
        Then you need to study the quantum world - alcaray - 10/5/2006 6:50:18 PM
        
        re: Then you need to study the quantum world - Michael Gmirkin - 10/6/2006 12:55:15 AM
        
        I don't believe that this disputes what you say. - alcaray - 10/5/2006 3:56:00 PM
        
        No, it doesn't- it perfectly illustrates it! - DL - 10/5/2006 7:07:20 PM
        
        re: I don't believe that this disputes what you say. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 5:08:26 PM
        
        I know I'm not qualified - alcaray - 10/5/2006 6:12:58 PM
        
        I won't dispute that. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 7:43:36 PM
        
        You know, - alcaray - 10/5/2006 8:59:09 PM
        
        Heh. Yeah, I know. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 10:00:58 PM
        
        Read DL's post again, sleep with it under your pillow for a few weeks. - Tony - 10/5/2006 5:31:51 PM
        
        I've read it. - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 7:37:28 PM
        
        I've printed this, and saved it elsewhere. Thank you, Davin. (n/t) - Mary Anne - 10/5/2006 3:34:16 PM
        
        Archived here, too (n/t) - Fox - 10/8/2006 5:08:58 PM
        
        and thank you, MA (n/t) - YetiMaster - 10/5/2006 8:54:00 PM
        
        mass is that which resists accelleration - alcaray - 10/3/2006 10:30:27 PM
        
        re: mass is that which resists accelleration - Michael Gmirkin - 10/3/2006 10:53:30 PM
        
        re: mass is that which resists accelleration - alcaray - 10/4/2006 9:15:27 PM
        
        re: mass is that which resists accelleration - Michael Gmirkin - 10/5/2006 9:10:16 PM
        
        The same body can do many things at once - alcaray - 10/5/2006 9:55:57 PM
        
        Fair enough... - Michael Gmirkin - 10/6/2006 12:42:56 AM
        
        You are certainly allowed to divide by zero. - alcaray - 10/6/2006 2:30:18 PM
        
        Thick as a brick - ER - 10/2/2006 9:29:32 PM
        
        Good examples. Thx. :) - Michael Gmirkin - 10/4/2006 12:31:21 AM
        
        You are asking all the questions backwards. - ER - 10/4/2006 4:18:29 AM
    - Well done, but probably a waste of time.... - Boo! - 9/24/2006 10:59:30 PM
    - re: An example problem - Bowser - 9/24/2006 6:22:10 PM

Recent posts

On this day in Off Topic

The whole thread (68 posts)