Bruce Allen
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Re: Definitions of God -- Void Filler
HealingZero -- Thank you for your kind words in another place. I very much appreciate your contributions to BigThink, as I'm sure others do. Once again, I believe I can tailor my thinking to fit with your ideas. I don't see God and the Void as one, but there is a very strong relationship. By my definition, the void is simply 'imagination space'. As I've stated many times, this is where God belongs. From the time when we're born, we start to fill this space -- it seems to be an innate human-characteristic that we cannot avoid. Physicists, attempting to model the physical-world, ha… Read More
March 25, 2008
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Early in childhood, in the same year, I lost two much-loved pets -- a turtle and a cat. It is quite unlikely that there was any connection between these deaths. However, I was left with the impression of how tidy the process was. Both opted to quietly disappear to a place of their choosing, a place they would associate with contentment while alive. When found, they were neatly posed and peaceful. Those deaths did not leave any real negatives, besides the fact that I could no longer interact with them. Later in life, I lost several close friends and relatives. Strangley, I judged… Read More
March 8, 2008
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A Mirrored World -- How would we know?
I once attended a lecture where the speaker casually stated the following... "If one was instantly transported to a mirror-image of our universe, in the absence of man-made influences, we would never see the difference," Immediately I figured out a method to determine which world I was in, but never had the chance to debate the issue with the author. Has anyone else come across this 'challenge', and found a solution to it? Read More
March 3, 2008
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Why is Everything in Nature so Beautiful?
We can usually classify each of our fellow humans somewhere on the scale between Ugly and Beautiful. Not so with Nature. It is difficult to find any examples in the natural-world that can be considered ugly. The colors, are perfectly matched and blended; the shapes are perfect, even if non-symmetrical; the composition is perfect. There is some magic at work here. If we try to draw or paint Nature, it can end up a real mess. For example, ask a child to draw a tree without its leaves -- at best, the result will look awkward. If we build something that does not have an exact symm… Read More
February 26, 2008
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Through tertiary training, I learned to measure stuff. Physics taught me to measure to the limits of the measuring-equipment, while Engineering was a little more flippant in its approach to accuracy. I love measuring stuff. This has carried through to everyday-life in surprising ways. When I finish reading the news over breakfast, I make a call, or measurement, on whether this is an 'Up-Day' or a 'Down-Day' [ in terms of World and National events ]. This does require a concerted effort to seek out any good news. At the end of each day, I measure on a personal-level if, on balanc… Read More
February 22, 2008
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Most models of God put him at the top of the pyramid. What if he is just part of a much larger structure? This is not quite as crazy as it might seem at first glance. In physics, there are many theories suggesting that our Big-Bang is just one of many [ including my own theory ]. We are forever excluded from information outside our B-B, but that does not prevent us producing models that would work within our understanding and observation. Similarly, we will probably be prevented from reaching the true creator, and will need to be content with dealing with his intermediary. Disclai… Read More
February 21, 2008
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Back in the days before we called a 'spade' an 'earth-manoeuvring device', it was relatively easy to communicate. Now days, every job-description has been bloated to the most artificial and meaningless extremes. This concept may have had its roots in the German-language, where an entire sentence can be concatenated to form a word. What convoluted descriptions of simple devices or job-descriptions can you suggest to illustrate the absurdity of this trend? [ German-language examples welcomed ] Read More
February 19, 2008
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Why Doesn't God Write Stuff Down?
By his own admission, George gets a helping-hand ruling America when God whispers to him. I'm quite sure Osama Bin Laden also gets messages from the almighty. Question: Is it the same God and is it the same message? Common in western theology is the concept that there is but one god. Let's assume there is. Would he be mischievous enough to whisper different messages to different people. I suspect not. The only conclusion here is that everyone gets the same message, but they interpret it differently; VERY differently. To the best of my knowledge, except for the odd chiselled-comm… Read More
February 2, 2008
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Alternative Thoughts on Alternative Fuels
There is a broad categorisation of energy, that does not seem to be considered in the current discussions about alternative-fuels - STATIONARY-ENERGY and MOBILE-ENERGY. Stationary-energy can come from fossil-fuels, or any of the cleaner methods under consideration. For argument's sake, lets assume that S-E is far more efficient [ and environmentally-friendly ] than M-E. Then, it would be logical to think in terms of converting S-E to M-E. The obvious choice here is to produce hydrogen as a source of M-E. This has been trialled, ver… Read More
February 1, 2008
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Re: How will this age be remembered?
Surely this must go down as "The Age of Spin". Historically, history was rewritten in its future. Not so today. Spin-meisters are furiously rewriting history, sometimes before its even happened. American has developed this into a high-art, but the world follows, depressingly close behind. Sadly, this may be the age that introduced spin -- it might never go away. What ever happened to the good old-fashioned concept of 'saying it like it is'? Read More
January 31, 2008
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Any visitor to the United-States in the last decade or so, would notice that it was impossible to escape an image of the Americam-flag during daylight-hours. I once had the audacity to ask about this flag-waving, and the common-response? - "Because everyone-else does it". Wrong answer! It should have been, "Because I am a patriot".Hence, the next question is, "If patriotism is a natural expression of pride in one's country and its ideals, why is it necessary to sell it so hard?". There now seems to be a real disconnect between the flag-waving and what it really means. The most cyni… Read More
January 28, 2008
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"Will the current database-of-ideas be wiped and the counter reset when BigThink goes Live?", said he, furiously doing backups in anticipation of an affirmative reply.I could not live with the thought that my ideas posted to BigThink thus far, might die with me. Read More
January 27, 2008
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"What topics would you like to see discussed on BigThink?"
OK... this is the first idea I've posted that is not actually my own.Big Thinker has suggested I canvas opinioins, perhaps as a precursor to running some kind of online-poll. The obvious question, regarding the next American election, has already been registered. "God" & "exists" also delivers a huge response from the search-engine. Any other proposals? Read More
January 25, 2008
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Laughter comes in two forms. In its natural form, it is an expression of happiness, or a reaction to something humerous. In our media-driven society, there is another form - that of a trigger to suggest that something might be funny. I would like to share a few thoughts on the latter, and question the value.The use of 'canned-laughter' in the endless array of comedy[?]-sitcoms, is a cover for the fact that the scripts are becoming increasingly unfunny. In the early days of television, live-audiences were used for this laughter, but even then, the 'laugh-lights' told an audience when… Read More
January 25, 2008
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With untold hundreds-of-millions of people who use computer-mice, I can't understand how I could be the only one to figure out which hand to operate it with. I guess blame goes to the guy who wrote the first mouse-manual - he just picked the thing up and, since he was a right-handed person, assumed that the mouse was meant to be a right-handed device. If he spent another few seconds pondering the issue, he probably would have realized that the mouse was designed to be used in the SECONDARY-hand, rather than the primary. Another slip-up in documentation was when authors insisted on cal… Read More
January 25, 2008
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Bounded Freedom - A Real Paradox...
Cracks may be starting to appear in the Freedom-Model being practised by America. 'The Right to Bear Arms' cannot be considerd for the common-good if a large proportion of the population is running scared, or prematurely deceased. 'The Right To Free Speech' is of little value if one needs to spend the life-savings on legal-fees to defend it. The list goes on. The point here is not to demonize freedom, but rather to suggest that limits need to be applied to prevent farcical-scenarios from playing out. And once these limits are applied, the question then becomes one of degree, and wh… Read More
January 24, 2008
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If Intelligence comes knocking, will we have enough energy left to answer the door? Back in my university-years, I spent many extra-curricula hours debating the existence of God over beer and pizza. I thought the issue was all sorted, but judging by the BigThink fourm, apparently not. The subscriber-base seems equally divided between the godders and the non-godders, leading to lots of related traffic. While all forms of mental-exercise can be worthwhile, there could be the danger that overemphasis on this topic could create a background-buzz that totally obscures any sign of intellige… Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: What does the stock plunge mean for our economy?
The current dramatic-dive in world stock-markets is no more than the reality-check we needed to have. Most economies will suffer short-term, including the US. However, the upside is that it is better to confront the inevitable issues now, than stave them off for the years ahead when more-drastic measures would be required to address them. Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: Can computer programs be considered alive?
When dealing with the silicon-based computers in common-use today, the question is relatively clear-cut - computer-programs [ or rather, the devices they drive ] cannot be considered 'alive'. However, as the demarcation between man and machine blurs, this answer will lean heavily towards "yes". We are very rapidly approaching the point where biological-elements are at the heart of control-systems. Watch this space for a whole raft of ethical-issues to arise.When we have virtual-reality bedded-down, we'll wonder what the hell reality was all about [grin]. Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: Are CEO's salaries bloated?
Some of the discussions on this topic focus on the fairness, rather than the market-forces that allow huge salaries. Any time there is a skill or resource that is in short-supply, the 'auction' will determine who gets the resource. Read More
January 21, 2008
Science and Engineering degrees, Melbourne University. Ex Schlumberger Oil-services engineer. Inventor - Australia's first Electronic-Phone, Dolphin-Drive, etc. Author [ unpublished ] "Brain Transmission - An Alternative to Reincarnation", "The Bathtub of Creation" & the upcoming autobiography "An Obfuscated Life". Software Developer. And most importantly... CLOSET COSMOLOGIST.
