What is the single most stupid, batshit story in the Bible?

[josephpalazzo]

So which of your "labors" are you on? 

Studying representation theory in the context of QFT. Here's a sample: http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/QM/qmbook.pdf

[Baruch]

Well ... how many angels can dance ... on the head of a pin?

I am a long term fan of Prof. Woit.  Like Socrates, I prefer thinkers who are able to be self-critical.  I read is "Not Even Wrong" regularly.

In some ways similar to you, I prefer the more difficult challenges.  That is a serious one!

My current labor of the past 6 months involves trying to find a tie-in between QM and Number Theory.  But mostly I have been studying QM (including QFT).  And it involves a kind of representation too ... a given integer string can be interpreted many ways.  An infinite string is always explicitly incomplete, but some infinite strings (such as Pi) are implicitly complete.  Is each interpretation a representation, or is each integer string that can be generated in a given family of algorithms, a representation of the algorithm?  There can be more than one generating function that produces an integer string.  What is the effect of approximating an infinite string with a finite one?  If one can find an alternative generating function, one that is reversible ... then this can be used for decrypting a crypt text, without having the original algorithm/key.  I don't think I will have much luck with it, but it is like a hone that sharpens my mental knife ;-)

[josephpalazzo]

My current labor of the past 6 months involves trying to find a tie-in between QM and Number Theory.  But mostly I have been studying QM (including QFT).  And it involves a kind of representation too ... a given integer string can be interpreted many ways.  An infinite string is always explicitly incomplete, but some infinite strings (such as Pi) are implicitly complete.  Is each interpretation a representation, or is each integer string that can be generated in a given family of algorithms, a representation of the algorithm?  There can be more than one generating function that produces an integer string.  What is the effect of approximating an infinite string with a finite one?  If one can find an alternative generating function, one that is reversible ... then this can be used for decrypting a crypt text, without having the original algorithm/key.  I don't think I will have much luck with it, but it is like a hone that sharpens my mental knife ;-)

You realize that π is just the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its radius, and in the real world there is no such thing as a perfect circle, and consequently π is just another mental construct, right?!?! Ok, just kidding...

Mathematicians are fixated in turning everything into an algorithm. Some of them... oh wait, many of them haven't realized that math is just like language, a human invention. On the chance that it is used to describe reality that's when you know a physicist is behind the mathematical gymnastics.

BTW, String Theory is over-rated.

"integer string"... and I thought it was always a "string integer", oh well, to each his own...

[Baruch]

"string" not as in quantum string theory, but as in a data type in computer science ... an ordered set of elements drawn from a common set, in this case the positive integers, with duplication allowed (which in a set ... you don't have).  Like your phone number.

Read the first chapter of Woit's book, just because you mentioned it.  Trouble is, every lecture you get on subject X ... the presenter says ... don't listen to that other guy, here is a better way to approach the subject (see Woit's preface) and BTW ... here are some crucial facts that the other guys are not mentioning ... like the ambiguities of using the Poisson bracket to quantize a classical system (in the toy cases covered in the usual lecture, it works of course ... but not in more complicated problems ... leaving you with a false sense of principle).  That is the difference between knowledge and understanding.  With knowledge, it becomes a calculus (like decimal arithmetic) which works most times, but that isn't the same as understanding what an irrational number is (non-repeating infinite mantissa).  With the advent of the calculator, young people don't even know the algorithm for long division.  The world ends, when the Ever Ready bunny runs out of juice ;-(

[josephpalazzo]

like the ambiguities of using the Poisson bracket to quantize a classical system

Hmmm, no. There's no ambiguities. It is the basic way to go from a classical system to a quantum system. The Poisson bracket of the classical system is replaced the commutation relationship:

{x,p} = 1 â†' [x,p] = iâ,, . See equation (6) in The Essential Quantum Field Theory

[Baruch]

Hmmm, no. There's no ambiguities. It is the basic way to go from a classical system to a quantum system. The Poisson bracket of the classical system is replaced the commutation relationship:

{x,p} = 1 â†' [x,p] = iâ,, . See equation (6) in The Essential Quantum Field Theory

Got a jello wrestling pit?  Time for the professors to ... get down!  I got a QM professor in Canada that says ... "yo mamma ...".  Has to do with Weyl Symmetrization Rule and residual higher order terms of h-bar when you do more complicated commutations.  Basically in some cases, the canonical quantization isn't enough, and the quantum mechanic has to add "secret sauce" to complete the formula.

[josephpalazzo]

Got a jello wrestling pit?  Time for the professors to ... get down!  I got a QM professor in Canada that says ... "yo mamma ...".  Has to do with Weyl Symmetrization Rule and residual higher order terms of h-bar when you do more complicated commutations.  Basically in some cases, the canonical quantization isn't enough, and the quantum mechanic has to add "secret sauce" to complete the formula.

There's no secret sauce. After 90+ years, QM has come out of the closet a long time ago. Extending QFT beyond the Standard Model is another matter.

[TopCat]

Another bullshit story I'm realizing is bullshit Noahs ark.

[Mike Cl]

Another bullshit story I'm realizing is bullshit Noahs ark.

That is a good realization to come to.  I will challenge you to find a single story in the bible that is not bullshit--just one.

[TopCat]

You're right. Currently I'm researching Noahs ark because I learned that story in Sunday school. Now I'm noticing the lies. Of course there's more bullshit stories. The whole bible is bullshit.

[Mike Cl]

You're right. Currently I'm researching Noahs ark because I learned that story in Sunday school. Now I'm noticing the lies. Of course there's more bullshit stories. The whole bible is bullshit.

Good for you--keep on researching.

[Munch]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ETuMGrq9yCo

Not really a fan of onision, but still, lol.

[musicharmony87]

When Marry got pregnant with out sex. How is that possible!!!!? How!!!? It's just... not possible! You need a man to have a baby.... It's just... ***mind blown*** To make it more logical the writers could have just had someone donate sperm to Marry to create Christ. That would make more sense. But nooo... they had to have an angel come down to do the dirty work. :/ :/ :/

[Blackleaf]

When Marry got pregnant with out sex. How is that possible!!!!? How!!!? It's just... not possible! You need a man to have a baby.... It's just... ***mind blown*** To make it more logical the writers could have just had someone donate sperm to Marry to create Christ. That would make more sense. But nooo... they had to have an angel come down to do the dirty work. :/ :/ :/

Umm... Well, this is supposed to be the same God who created the entire universe to begin with. I'd think putting one baby in a virgin woman would be child's play for him. No pun intended.

[Munch]

I still find it so laughable how the bible has so many passages about adultery or having an affair as punishable, usually against the woman, but still has them in place, and yet their own deity had sex using his god powers with a woman who was already married.