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Posted
2 hours ago, merjet said:

WW 2 is the reason why we have employer paid medical insurance plans.  During WW2   wages were frozen by law and the only way employers could attract employees   was not by higher wages,  but by offering benefits as a non-cash kind of salary inducement.  A bonus as it were.  That is how Blue-Cross and Blue-Shield became the major players  they became. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, merjet said:

What is the length of an expansible body subject to temperature  variation? Since molecular motion is somewhat random there is no definite length that can be assigned.  The best we can do is specify a length interval.   In nature  nothing is at rest.  

Posted
1 hour ago, BaalChatzaf said:

What is the length of an expansible body subject to temperature  variation? Since molecular motion is somewhat random there is no definite length that can be assigned.  The best we can do is specify a length interval.   In nature  nothing is at rest.  

Do you mean like the mercury or alcohol in a thermometer? It varies with time. The precision of any measured length is limited by the nature of the measuring instrument.

Posted
1 hour ago, merjet said:

Do you mean like the mercury or alcohol in a thermometer? It varies with time. The precision of any measured length is limited by the nature of the measuring instrument.

The Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle implies that we cannot get either the temperature or the length exactly.  We have to settle for an interval. The very act of measure the length of a body  causes the length to change a bit.  I bet Ayn Rand did not know that....

Posted
1 hour ago, BaalChatzaf said:

The Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle implies that we cannot get either the temperature or the length exactly.  We have to settle for an interval. The very act of measure the length of a body  causes the length to change a bit.  I bet Ayn Rand did not know that....

You conflated quantum mechanics with everyday tasks like measuring the square footage of a room or how long it takes to run a mile. 

Posted
2 hours ago, merjet said:

You conflated quantum mechanics with everyday tasks like measuring the square footage of a room or how long it takes to run a mile. 

quantum mechanics  pertains to every and all physical actions in the cosmos.  The term "everyday"  means  not rigorously thought about.  Everyday actions are for everyday people who don't think much and who don't think deep.

Posted
On 7/6/2017 at 2:38 PM, BaalChatzaf said:

quantum mechanics  pertains to every and all physical actions in the cosmos.  The term "everyday"  means  not rigorously thought about.  Everyday actions are for everyday people who don't think much and who don't think deep.

Huh? http://www.onelook.com/?w=everyday&ls=a

Do you (a) not brush your teeth or use toilets, or (b) not think much or deeply? :P

Posted
9 minutes ago, merjet said:

Huh? http://www.onelook.com/?w=everyday&ls=a

Do you (a) not brush your teeth or use toilets, or (b) not think much or deeply? :P

Everyday = mundane,  ordinary  and mostly mediocre. 

Posted
On 7/6/2017 at 7:36 AM, BaalChatzaf said:

The Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle implies that we cannot get either the temperature or the length exactly.  We have to settle for an interval. The very act of measure the length of a body  causes the length to change a bit.  I bet Ayn Rand did not know that....

Define "exactly."

If you mean something needs to be at rest we know nothing is at rest.

Heraclitus got that right.

--Brant

Posted
8 minutes ago, Brant Gaede said:

Define "exactly."

If you mean something needs to be at rest we know nothing is at rest.

Heraclitus got that right.

--Brant

Exactly has a nice mathematical definition.  Exact measurements which involve a physical interaction or energy transfer cannot be exact.  They can be bounded by an interval of some sort.  What the interval is is a function of what is being measured,  the surrounding physical conditions and the technology of the measuring devices.  

Posted
2 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Exactly has a nice mathematical definition.  Exact measurements which involve a physical interaction or energy transfer cannot be exact.  They can be bounded by an interval of some sort.  What the interval is is a function of what is being measured,  the surrounding physical conditions and the technology of the measuring devices.  

Sort of like a meat thermometer in the turkey? Don't you hate it when there's some reddish blood around the bone? Spock. What does your tricorder show?

It shows an interior temperature of 160 degrees. I suggest we leave it in the oven for another hour, Captain.   

Posted
1 hour ago, Peter said:

Sort of like a meat thermometer in the turkey? Don't you hate it when there's some reddish blood around the bone? Spock. What does your tricorder show?

It shows an interior temperature of 160 degrees. I suggest we leave it in the oven for another hour, Captain.   

Broil long and prosper.  

Posted
55 minutes ago, merjet said:

 

...delete...

Posted
3 hours ago, merjet said:

There is more to motion than just getting from Here to There.

Aristotle  extended the idea of motion to more than changes in place over time.  He included  changes in state,  quantity and relation. He saw motion as the actualization of potential.

Please see:  http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-mot/#H7

Posted
10 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

There is more to motion than just getting from Here to There.

Aristotle  extended the idea of motion to more than changes in place over time.  He included  changes in state,  quantity and relation. He saw motion as the actualization of potential.

Aristotle was more concerned with causation, and he named four types, of which First and Final became a two-headed monster that ate whole civilizations.

Posted
On 7/6/2017 at 9:36 AM, BaalChatzaf said:

The Heisenberg Indeterminancy Principle implies that we cannot get either the temperature or the length exactly.  We have to settle for an interval. The very act of measure the length of a body  causes the length to change a bit.  I bet Ayn Rand did not know that....

Here's something else that Ayn Rand - and apparently other people closer at hand - did not know:

https://phys.org/news/2017-07-smart-atomic-cloud-heisenberg-problem.html

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