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Author Topic: Mysteries  (Read 10799 times)

joiwind

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Mysteries
« on: November 20, 2012, 05:42 AM »
I thought of starting a thread about the many mysteries that seem unsolvable (I can already hear the groans) - it could be interesting and maybe even fun ? (Could be a waste of time and forum space too...)

Here are two well known ones :

  • Candidate A wins an election with 51% while candidate B gets 49% - it looks as though candidate A won by 2% (51 - 49) but then just take that 1% from candidate A's 51% and give it to candidate B : and they both have 50%

  • When you look at yourself in a mirror the objects you see reflected are inverted in the horizontal plane - why not in the vertical plane ?


Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2012, 06:22 AM »
I thought of starting a thread about the many mysteries that seem unsolvable (I can already hear the groans) - it could be interesting and maybe even fun ? (Could be a waste of time and forum space too...)


For a moment, I thought you were going to spin off from the secret society thread with freaky mysteries like pyramids and UFOs or something. :D


Here are two well known ones :

I've not seen those as "mysteries" before.

  • Candidate A wins an election with 51% while candidate B gets 49% - it looks as though candidate A won by 2% (51 - 49) but then just take that 1% from candidate A's 51% and give it to candidate B : and they both have 50%

Use absolute values. ;) +1 & -1 is still 2.


  • When you look at yourself in a mirror the objects you see reflected are inverted in the horizontal plane - why not in the vertical plane ?

Just lay down sideways~! :D

Here are some fun ones:

Zeno's Paradoxes
https://en.wikipedia...eno's_paradoxes

Suppose Homer wants to catch a stationary bus. Before he can get there, he must get halfway there. Before he can get halfway there, he must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, he must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on.

I've explained them elsewhere. But they are fun!

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Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

4wd

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2012, 06:28 AM »
  • Candidate A wins an election with 51% while candidate B gets 49% - it looks as though candidate A won by 2% (51 - 49) but then just take that 1% from candidate A's 51% and give it to candidate B : and they both have 50%

How is that a mystery?

Win = more than the other guy
Draw = equal second place
Lose = less than the winner

Who cares what the numbers are  ;)

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2012, 06:38 AM »
  • Candidate A wins an election with 51% while candidate B gets 49% - it looks as though candidate A won by 2% (51 - 49) but then just take that 1% from candidate A's 51% and give it to candidate B : and they both have 50%

How is that a mystery?

Win = more than the other guy
Draw = equal second place
Lose = less than the winner

Who cares what the numbers are  ;)

I think the "mystery" there is different than what you're thinking, and that it relies on how muddled most people's thoughts are. e.g.

1) The difference is "2"
2) Transfer 1
3) Now the difference is 0
4) Oh, wow. Magic! :P

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

joiwind

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2012, 06:48 AM »
I thought of starting a thread about the many mysteries that seem unsolvable (I can already hear the groans) - it could be interesting and maybe even fun ? (Could be a waste of time and forum space too...)

For a moment, I thought you were going to spin off from the secret society thread with freaky mysteries like pyramids and UFOs or something. :D


Erm ... well that was my hidden intention (how did you guess ?).

joiwind

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2012, 06:49 AM »
  • Candidate A wins an election with 51% while candidate B gets 49% - it looks as though candidate A won by 2% (51 - 49) but then just take that 1% from candidate A's 51% and give it to candidate B : and they both have 50%

How is that a mystery?

Win = more than the other guy
Draw = equal second place
Lose = less than the winner

Who cares what the numbers are  ;)

I think the "mystery" there is different than what you're thinking, and that it relies on how muddled most people's thoughts are. e.g.

1) The difference is "2"
2) Transfer 1
3) Now the difference is 0
4) Oh, wow. Magic! :P



You got it Renegade. One shouldn't be too rational about these things  ;)

Stoic Joker

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2012, 06:52 AM »
When you look at yourself in a mirror the objects you see reflected are inverted in the horizontal plane - why not in the vertical plane ?

Everything you see is already inverted vertically by the optics of the human eye. It's then uprighted in/by the brain.

You see, all this time we've actually been standing on the celing, because we really live inside the earth and "outerspace" is underground.

joiwind

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2012, 07:03 AM »
When you look at yourself in a mirror the objects you see reflected are inverted in the horizontal plane - why not in the vertical plane ?

Everything you see is already inverted vertically by the optics of the human eye. It's then uprighted in/by the brain.

You see, all this time we've actually been standing on the celing, because we really live inside the earth and "outerspace" is underground.

That's true, at least some of it seems to be, but to get back to the premise ... set up a camera in front of a mirror, take a shot and look at the pic - inverted or what ?

All I'm getting at is that things do not exist the way they appear - and it can be fun ...

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #8 on: November 20, 2012, 07:06 AM »
When you look at yourself in a mirror the objects you see reflected are inverted in the horizontal plane - why not in the vertical plane ?

Everything you see is already inverted vertically by the optics of the human eye. It's then uprighted in/by the brain.

You see, all this time we've actually been standing on the celing, because we really live inside the earth and "outerspace" is underground.

You know it~! :P

http://www.hollowearthnetwork.com/

HOLLOW EARTH NETWORK

The Most Informed Network
on the Planet!


WHY are we the most informed network on the planet?


Interactive Messages From

Hollow Earth
Inner Earth
Galactic Masters!
Galactic Federation of Light
Ashtar Command


Because our information comes
DIRECT FROM ZORRA in Hollow Earth!

Next stop, hollow Earth ascension masters 2012 of infinite lovely grooviness for alien enlightenment of the non-demonic sort and flowers!


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Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2012, 07:15 AM »
For a moment, I thought you were going to spin off from the secret society thread with freaky mysteries like pyramids and UFOs or something. :D
Erm ... well that was my hidden intention (how did you guess ?).

Let me ponder what one I should post... Too many out there. I'd like to post something in that vein with something in the "answerish" area.

Some fun things to think about:

* Free energy
* Pyramids
* Crop circles
* Ancient electricity
* Atlantis
* Sunken cities
* Sirius and the African Dogon tribe
* Satanic elite
* Alien abductions
* Magical aviation fuel
* World's first high-rise destroyed by small fires
* Probabilities of "terrorism" drills exactly coinciding with the exact drill scenario
* Moving large stone blocks
* etc. etc.

Those are just a few off the top of my head.
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

joiwind

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2012, 07:22 AM »
For a moment, I thought you were going to spin off from the secret society thread with freaky mysteries like pyramids and UFOs or something. :D
Erm ... well that was my hidden intention (how did you guess ?).

renegade - I was joking  ;D

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2012, 07:24 AM »
renegade - I was joking  ;D

Damn!  >:(

Some good physics problems there...
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2012, 07:37 AM »
Here are some "mysteries": ;)

1)
If a traditional map only requires 4 colors, how many colors are required for a Mobius strip map?

2)
If spacetime is curved, but most physics assume flat spacetime, what are the consequences?
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

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Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2012, 08:42 AM »
Here's an easier mystery:

Who said, "I've never been frustrated. I just have real low expectations when I go to Washington." ;D
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

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Edvard

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2012, 12:00 PM »
OK, so it goes like this:

20dollarbox.jpg



No problem, because Wall Street. ;D

40hz

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #15 on: November 20, 2012, 01:52 PM »
Here's an easier mystery:

Who said, "I've never been frustrated. I just have real low expectations when I go to Washington." ;D


Answer: Just about anybody you can name who has an IQ over 60 and is not in a coma. :P

P.S. Wasn't that Ron Paul? (Got a friend who's a big fan so I get daily RP updates - whether I want them or not. ::))

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #16 on: November 20, 2012, 06:12 PM »
OK, so it goes like this:
 (see attachment in previous post)


No problem, because Wall Street. ;D


Things like this are clever, but still rely on muddy thinking.

1) A > box (20), B > box (20) -- box has 40 - system has 40
2) B > A (30), box > B (40) -- system has 70 -- A has netted 10, B has netted -10

Here's an easier mystery:

Who said, "I've never been frustrated. I just have real low expectations when I go to Washington." ;D


Answer: Just about anybody you can name who has an IQ over 60 and is not in a coma. :P

P.S. Wasn't that Ron Paul? (Got a friend who's a big fan so I get daily RP updates - whether I want them or not. ::))

Yes. He's quite the joker. He could almost do stand up. :D
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

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Tinman57

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #17 on: November 20, 2012, 07:48 PM »
Here's an easier mystery:

Who said, "I've never been frustrated. I just have real low expectations when I go to Washington." ;D
 
  Ron Paul.  I wish he would get elected president......

tomos

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2012, 04:36 AM »
OK, so it goes like this:
 (see attachment in previous post)

No problem, because Wall Street. ;D

I really had to think about this one for a while :up:
Tom

joiwind

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #19 on: November 21, 2012, 05:09 AM »
OK, so it goes like this:
 (see attachment in previous post)

No problem, because Wall Street. ;D

I really had to think about this one for a while :up:

Yes, it took me a while too ...  :P

Paul Keith

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #20 on: November 21, 2012, 07:15 AM »
http://www.slate.com...re_class.single.html

First, man does not live by bread alone. Our happiness depends partly on our incomes, but also on the time we spend with our friends, our hobbies, and our favorite TV shows. So, it's a good exercise in perspective to remember that by and large, the big winners in the income derby have been the small winners in the leisure derby, and vice versa.

...extending from that quote, the thing that mystify me is how as a species we went from a "no income" species to an "income dependent" species.

Even in communism, agriculture-reliant, socialist concept for humanity...it's all about "in" "come" fueling our life.

Where as if you look at animals, early human years, pre-Industrial Revolution years, spiritual tribes...it's more "out" "come" based.

The Native Americans (using the most popular tribal culture to Americans) had a society that was based on the outcome of what disease resistance and advanced invaders they had to deal with.

The average pack animals form packs because their livelihood depended on the outcome of food.

Even in later trade cultures, the outcome of wars were more important. We still see these in many videogames. There is no game to my knowledge where something like Vietnam or the Cold War occurs. In popular media, the only time there was a successful war of truce remain the final ending of the Matrix. Everything else, there was a winner and loser and the outcome of those were crucial to the life of the human species.

Of course some of these are fiction but consider this: How fictional are the world of the top tiers of rich people that it must impact the entire economic destiny of a country? How fictional are the living conditions of ants, bees and spiders that live in a more "in" "come" based world to the average animal?

In all those, humanity have been the sole species that have paradigm shifted several times upon several times that when the internet became a tool for the masses, we who have lived in houses and jobs and legal borders and government, and yet we still shuffle away from those income behaviour modification structures and today things like anarchy, capitalism, corporations, freedom, libertarian freedom etc. continue to be debated.

The only other species that  I know to have done that rapid of a change in their life is the theory that a dog used to be a wolf which when compared to the pet lifestyle of today is rapidly different from the domestic dog lifestyle of the past but at least the structures of income such as food/dog treats are fundamentally the same to the domestic dog of today and that of the past.

Humanity doesn't have that. The income structure of the rich and very rich are vastly different. (hence you have the Wall Street problem) The income habits of the well educated hoarder are vastly different from the non-hoarder. (hence you have the bitCoin problem even in virtual worlds.) The income expectations and understanding of the middle class are different from the poor. (hence you have the healthcare justification problem) The income structure and income acquisition of a person who didn't get lucky to be born in one of the richer countries is different from those born in poor or corrupt countries (hence you have the immigrant's American dream and outsourcing as some forms of long distance wage slavery/job destruction paradox.)

The only real outcome for our species today is what and who will get us off this planet and what will happen when we do. Even factoring in technological changes, the average man who's willing to argue for liberty over security unless their employment is in danger is a recent phenomenon. There's just so many things we've taken for granted. PHDs, drugs, voting outside of the winning team when little to no risks are involved, lotteries vs. stock markets, hardware creators vs. coders vs. non-coders classes, the people without the internet being literally the disabled 2.0 when it comes to being able to see the opportunities presented to them. It's a rube goldberg of mysteries especially when we step out of our own history. Where did every other species including people earlier in our time got it wrong/got it right?

TaoPhoenix

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #21 on: November 21, 2012, 08:34 AM »
In one sense we had one chance to build towards getting off this planet, and we missed it. It's an interesting variant of the tragedy of commons problems and so on. If the global nations of the earth pooled wealth to make a universal moon and mars base pair starting from 1960 and finishing in 2025, we would have had it. But that was too hard of a problem. Instead people fell into endless "local" traps of smaller concerns. For me the biggest tip-off was the specifics of the computational power as it relates to the space program. So we got to the moon in 1969 ... with 1969 tech, both vehicle and glaringly, computational. So in 2013 we're acting like that's now too hard to do?! Really?! We couldn't have used that decade's worth of wasted money on DHS to just build a moonbound SuperFreighter Dreadnought just to dump supplies on the moon to get going with?

Nah, because that's not as much fun as visiting Iraq and Afghanistan claiming to look for a guy being actively protected by the Pakistani Government. (Isn't it amazing how fast THAT became old news, after years of "Staying the Course?")

40hz

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #22 on: November 21, 2012, 10:34 AM »
Nah, because that's not as much fun as visiting Iraq and Afghanistan claiming to look for a guy being actively protected by the Pakistani Government. (Isn't it amazing how fast THAT became old news, after years of "Staying the Course?")

Yes.  He was far more useful alive than dead, wasn't he?

Renegade

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Re: Mysteries
« Reply #23 on: November 21, 2012, 04:47 PM »
Nah, because that's not as much fun as visiting Iraq and Afghanistan claiming to look for a guy being actively protected by the Pakistani Government. (Isn't it amazing how fast THAT became old news, after years of "Staying the Course?")

Yes.  He was far more useful alive than dead, wasn't he?

Especially as he knew where the Fountain of Youth was, as you could see in later pictures of him, he keeps getting younger! :P
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker