Straight lines and Elliptical lines

[turk]

I hear this all the time about how something is "pretty straightforward". Well, yes, but if everything was like that there wouldn't be many problems at all then would there? Everything would be simple and direct and linear. These are just ways of conceptualizing the world to explain something. Einstein, Teller, Bohrs, Planck, Heisenberg, etc., put that simple idea on its head. We are limited in our perception. We have two eyes arranged binocularly and horizontally, ears, limbs, etc. arranged to perceive "reality" from this limited axis of orientation. These are linear orientations. It takes a while to orient on other axes. If you stand on your head, you gradually re-orient until you reverse everything, but it's still linear, just reversed. Nature doesn't operate on a straight line trajectory. This is shown in countless ways, that people of curious perception were able to distinguish. Leonardo DaVinci saw it and proved it in his inventions and ideas. It's difficult to do. I can't do it. I have the deep-seated perceptual habit of seeing things as straight lines. It's the easiest way to make sense of our limited perception as humans. But I know its limitations. There are colors, frequencies, waves, etc., that I don't perceive. That doesn't mean they are not there. I accept this concept intrinsically, and with awe, and never for a second believe I know what "it" is all about. This is really what science does best. I hope we don't slide back into a dark age because of propaganda that things are "pretty straightforward". Nothing really is. That's the rub. Shakespeare knew it. It's in all his plays. It's marvelous.

[Amskeptic]

We are limited in our perception. Nature doesn't operate on a straight line trajectory. This is shown in countless ways, that people of curious perception were able to distinguish. I have the deep-seated perceptual habit of seeing things as straight lines.
There are colors, frequencies, waves, etc., that I don't perceive. That doesn't mean they are not there. I accept this concept intrinsically, and with awe, and never for a second believe I know what "it" is all about. This is really what science does best. I hope we don't slide back into a dark age because of propaganda that things are "pretty straightforward". Nothing really is. That's the rub. Shakespeare knew it. It's in all his plays. It's marvelous.

And I am an artist. There is not a straight line to be seen. I have learned to draw these biases of perspective. The building I just drew has not a one straight or parallel line to be seen, but I know that it was indeed built plumb. Someone might say "that building doesn't have one straight line SEE?? Straight lines don't exist!!" But that is only their visual field. In my toolbox is the laser level used to make it straight. Wisdom is awareness of the interplay between observed phenomena and the reality. The reality is that all of It and Us are just atomic energies.
Colin

[turk]

Okay, I like putting things straight. It seems to be a satisfactory way of arranging concepts in my perception to determine some order that I can use. I wish I had compound eyes like a bee or a fly. I could then expand my visual perception to polarize the light waves striking my compound corneas and registering on my retinas. My navigational skills would improve exponentially I assume.

[ruckman101]

Straight is a mathematical ideal not found in reality. Like an average. An average is a mathematical construct. In reality, there is no average expressed, only degrees above and below.


neal

[Amskeptic]

Straight is a mathematical ideal not found in reality. Like an average. An average is a mathematical construct. In reality, there is no average expressed, only degrees above and below.
neal

I find it fascinating that the Earth is a more perfect sphere than any of our best efforts to make a perfect polished ball bearing. That includes the Grand Canyon, the Mid-Atlantic Trench, and Mount Everest . . .
Colin

[ruckman101]

Straight is a mathematical ideal not found in reality. Like an average. An average is a mathematical construct. In reality, there is no average expressed, only degrees above and below.
neal

I find it fascinating that the Earth is a more perfect sphere than any of our best efforts to make a perfect polished ball bearing. That includes the Grand Canyon, the Mid-Atlantic Trench, and Mount Everest . . .
Colin

On average.


neal

[dingo]

Because of the combined effects of gravitation and rotation, the Earth's shape is roughly that of a sphere slightly flattened in the direction of its axis. For that reason, in cartography the Earth is often approximated by an oblate spheroid instead of a sphere. The current World Geodetic System model, in particular, uses a spheroid whose radius is approximately 6,378.137 km at the equator and 6,356.752 km at the poles (a difference of over 21 km).

[ruckman101]

Because of the combined effects of gravitation and rotation, the Earth's shape is roughly that of a sphere slightly flattened in the direction of its axis. For that reason, in cartography the Earth is often approximated by an oblate spheroid instead of a sphere. The current World Geodetic System model, in particular, uses a spheroid whose radius is approximately 6,378.137 km at the equator and 6,356.752 km at the poles (a difference of over 21 km).

Heady. Task specific? Stress tests we haven't explored providing ground shift rethink on the entire concept of an impossible perfect sphere as the be all and end all of efficiency?

Ya never know. Intentional deformation under load. Could be a good thing.



neal

[dingo]

were hurtling thru space on the skin of a lentil....

[Amskeptic]

were hurtling thru space on the skin of a lentil....

It is a pear-shaped spheroid and we are riding on the hot chocolate scum of a molten blob. I am terrorized by the thought that our atmosphere is as thin as the chrome plating on a trailer hitch ball.
Colin