Possibly, but that's extreme. But I think it's algorithmically clever, a high-level macro programming language. People usually have five fingers. But sometimes they have six that are fully functional, all muscled and wired up. So there's a detailed heirarchical design to the larger structure "hand." Evolution has been going on long enough that the process of evolution is itself optimized at a pretty high level. Since evolution is probably punctuated by disasters (as opposed to the gradual and gentle Darwinian model) DNA has to have tricks up its sleeve, to be ready to turn on a dime when times get tough. You can expose bacteria to some sorts of toxins and have them "evolve" resistance in days; that's sure not Darwinian.
Like, how did life start? Where did DNA come from? How, specifically, did complex structures and chemistries evolve? What was the chemistry of the planet 1e9 years ago, and how did life work then? How did species split?
"Theory" is not a dirty word, unless your science is actually dogma.
I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin wrote (in ) about 'failure', on Tue,
27 Sep 2005:
Bad teacher? My early teacher was a kindly soul, but teach algebra? He could probably pole-vault better. OTOH, he was good for geometry (I mean the real formal Euclid).
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Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
If everything has been designed, a god designed evolution by natural selection.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
Sure. Hacking code has nothing to do with math or science.
There used to be performers who could do prodigious feats of math before audiences... remember or multiply long strings of numbers, things like that. Some visualized the numbers mentally, and some verbalized them. As I've read, the verbal guys were the best. And there are autistic people who can instantly tell you if a big number is prime.
I read in sci.electronics.design that Jim Thompson wrote (in ) about 'failure', on Tue,
27 Sep 2005:
You have to keep the math in step with what math the other subjects need. You can only teach physics (above what I suppose is Grade 10 in US) in a crippled fashion without simple differential calculus.
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Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
If everything has been designed, a god designed evolution by natural selection.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
I suspect that most of that is intuitive; even ants do pretty good trig. I do a lot of "analog computing" in my head, usually to 5% accuracy or so. Impresses the hell out of the kids, who think I'm actually doing the math.
I was reading a history of mathematics last night, and there was a chapter on Descartes. His view (and he was of course a deeply religious guy) was that the understanding of nature should be based on doubt. Only by doubting everything does the truth make it self known. Science is pretty much based on that idea. Scientists doubt everything they can't justify by experiment, either theirs or those of somebody else they trust. Descartes believed he proved the existence of God by some clever reasoning, so he didn't have a problem with religion. Sadly, however, his proof, and all subsequent proofs, have been flawed. Thus, scientists have moved away from religion as a method to understand the world.
So, by that definition, religion, which is based on faith, is completely at odds with science, which is based on doubt. Science is on its way towards replacing religion as the dominant worldview. That is why Osama Bin Laden dislikes the west. Science and Religion are two completely different ways to understand the universe, and they are unfortunately completely at odds. They imply different things, make different assumptions, and lead us on different paths.
If a western scientist decides he is religious, he probably does it in the way Einstein did it, by removing God from the equation of the real world. God becomes an abstract entity, a watcher, who never interferes with his creation. That kind of god isn't a god at all. A real god can hammer you if you get out of line, or flood the world, or throw lightning at you. They care about what you do, and turn you into a pillar of salt if you don't do it, or flood the world if they get pissed off enough. The god of scientists (and really, the god of the christian west; I was taught pretty much this in sunday school in the 60s) does nothing but lurk, waiting for your death, so he can judge you and decide whether you get to live with him or 'something else'. This is little more than a boogyman story, meant to keep children from rioting and killing their elders. People of the
1600s would have burned american christians at the stake.
"Physics with calculus" is often taught here as 1st year physics in college/uni. Some high schools will carry an "AP Physics" course (advanced placement) where it will include some calculus or else require concurrent enrollment in a calculus class, though. But I think it is only where there is a teacher and sufficient demand to justify the course. (High schools will often examine enrollment over the summer and drop courses that aren't close to full.)
I AM intolerant of ignorance, particularly when the ignoramus is so ignorant he doesn't know he's ignorant.
"Burger flippers" were at the bottom of my list, then I went to Fry's Electronics ;-)
I AM for welfare, for the NEEDY... but not for BUMS playing the system.
Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL!
...Jim Thompson
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| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
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