ZOMBIE FORUMS

Wandering Idiot, you rock. :D I basically agree with everything you said. I was arguing about the nonexistence of free will, consciousness, etc. less because I actually believe what I'm saying, and more because I find it interesting that the case of our not having consciousness is so easy to make. I'm still not entirely sure whether that implies that it's true or not.

Oh, and Godel Escher Bach is definitely a great book. Have you read the entire thing?

Twice :) (The second time, you actually understand what he's talking about. I'm of the opinion that GEB is actually an interlocking 3- dimensional concept map that just had the misfortune to have to be presented in the form of linear writing [there's actually a partial 2-D version of this on page 370]. Stupid human limitations...)

Damn, I killed the thread by saying too much again, didn't I? Gotta stop doing that... And the way I see it, a discussion is an exchange of ideas and arguments, where the participants are willing to change their opinions. A debate is a useless practice where the participants bludgeon each other with their opinions, with neither side is willing to change their minds (think "presidential debate"). The only possible use of the latter is for the sake of any spectators. If you really want to know more about quantum physics, you might want to try Richard Feynman's QED. It leaves a lot out, so I can't recommend it as strongly as GEB (a lot of acronyms with these physics books...), but it's a good place to start.

Wandering Idiot methinks your location would make more sense if you where all curled up in Kaluza-Klein bottle, since... well nevermind.

Read QED if you are adventurous, though I recommend reading Elegant Universe first, by Brian Greene.

Meh. My introduction to Quantum Physics was through Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, which I read in 8th grade or so. It's simple to understand (I was 13 at the time and I understood most of it), fun to read, and gives you enough of the basics to act as a a great jump-off point. Plus it focuses on string theory, which r0xx0rz.

Yeah the first I read was Visions by Michio Kaku in the 7th grade. Fantastic book, basically everything in science-fiction gets examined to see if it would really work.

I have been meaning to finish up reading Elegant Universe, but if you are interested in string theory that is definently the way to go since the author is basically the leading scientist in its research.

Y'know, I almost mentioned that one, but really it's more about string theory than Standard Model quantum physics (great book, though).

Speaking of which, what's wrong with my location? Because Kaluza and Klein deserve the credit? Or because of the inherent difficulty involved in fitting a macroscopic object into a Planck-scale space? :) I have to admit, I'm not familiar with the term "Kaluza-Klein bottle". Now, I know what a Klein bottle is, and Kaluza-Klein theory, as far as I know, is a generalized term for the concept of higher-dimensional curled spaces affecting the nature of the universe. Is a K-K bottle a general class of complex higher dimensional shapes, of which Calabi-Yau spaces are only a specific subset?

Oh, and while I was checking a reference, I came across an amusing site that sells glass Klein bottles. They're only 3-D analogues, of course, but neat nonetheless.

A Kaluza-Klein Bottle is the fourth dimensional equivalent of a Mobius strip. It has only one side. It was more a pun on words since Calabi-Yau would make more sense in terms of physics. After all, if physicists are right there are several dimensions all mashed into one of those spaces.

Eh? How's that different from a regular ol' Klein bottle? And if you're going to make physics puns, you should stick to the good-old-fashioned groaningly awful type, like my previous subject line :)