Introductions Thread

Coldblade said:
Sorry I was not watching this thread, hence the late reply. Here's my intro:
1. Just stumbled upon this club, and was glad that I could discuss philosophy and physics with people.

2. Probably hunter x hunter, because it was a great all round watch. I loved the concept, action, the characters.

3. I know very few philosophical ideas, not enough to hold a position myself at least. All I know of philosophy is from an undergrad introductory course.

4. Quantum mechanics, because the way it defies intuition.

5. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler's_identity]Euler's identity[/url] e^iπ + 1 = 0

BiddingGortonio said:

Welcome Welcome! :) I wish there was a way to notify through email here or something, so I can truly be always online. Any ideas?

Do you prefer the original anime or the 2011 version?

Among the few, which ideas interest you most? Not holding a philosophical position, that's already a position. It's called Nihilism, belief in nothing. We all have some form of philosophical standpoint, whether unconscious or aware.

yeah, There's this thing in QM called "Spooky action at a distance" where for some reason, one subatomic particle from one end of the universe affects the probability of the state of the other particle at the other end. Light can't travel that fast so the causality between the two is seemingly incomprehensible.

But really, don't all physics defy intuition, especially common intuition? For example, our intuition for motion is just something moving inside earth's atmosphere, but motion is like the earth's rotation on its axis plus rotation around the sun plus sun's own rotations relative to the galaxy and the galaxy relative to other galaxies. We're literally always in motion, this defies intuition. We're as small as dust in space, this also defies intuition.

5. Euler's identity e^iπ + 1 = 0

wow, that is indeed beautiful. The three mathematical constants(e,i, and pi) relating so intimately with the most basic counting numbers as they fill each other completely.

Coldblade said:

I don't know how to notify others of my posts. For threads I am interested in, I toggle them to watching, but for some reason I didn't get updates for this one. Strange.

2011 version. I have not seen the original adaptation. But from a few clips I saw, at least I like Hisoka's more feminine character design in 2011 version. In the original he appeared too bulky and muscular.

What I meant was I can't hold my own in a debate to defend my philosophical stand. And I don't believe in the other doctrines of Nihilism. I believe our lives do have some meaning, and it's worth living (I think existential nihilism denies this). Maybe my current stand is skepticism, I do believe that true knowledge is not possible.

Yeah I have heard of quantum teleportation, and it is indeed bizarre. Yes, even classical physics defies intuition, when we stop to think about it. Probably it's because we are taught these things when we still take anything we are presented as it is, without a grain of skepticism, that we find them natural. The discoverer of these phenomena sure found them confounding, and maybe a 100 years from now QM and it's applications will be so pervasive that middle-schoolers find the ideas the most natural thing in the world.

Yes, with no apparent connection between them, they still fit so nicely relating to each other via just addition, multiplication and exponentiation.

BiddingGortonio said:

I prefer the original adaptation. It was darker and it exuded a little bit more realism. You would be fine watching 2011 version, but I think a child might be traumatized watching the original with all the details of Gon's bones being broken. Hisoka was also darker and more sadistic. It just felt more murderous. But I'm probably biased because that's my first watch of HxH. My favorite moments of action is probably Gon jumping desperately around the ceiling. It's less cartoonish in the original.

Wow, that's very insightful. Personally, I can never find anything "natural." That might be related to my nihilism. Everything is always unknown and defying my intuition, because I have very little "intuition." What I do have are many intuitions about people's intuitions. I think it's more interesting to view everything as a mystery even if it's already has several applications.

This talk about middle schoolers treating Quantum physics as natural reminds me of an anime about this futuristic society where people have insects growing out of their neck. It's called No.6. (http://myanimelist.net/anime/10161/No.6) It might interest you. While I agree that middle-schoolers will eventually find QM natural, I don't think they'll give it much thought, similar to how today, most Middle schoolers pay little attention to what Gravity or Inertia. Now, there are probably several smart kids out there, but I personally just memorized equations and applied them.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Standard Model of Physics Equation. It's only the most simple, concise equation ever.

One particular moment from HxH etched in my mind is that of Killua using godspeed when fighting Yuopi. His transformation scene makes him look so cool and badass. I can handle a darker version of HxH, but I am not a fan of explicit violence. Which was your favorite arc in HxH? People usually prefer the darker chimera ant or yorknew arc, but I liked the brighter arcs. I loved watching Gon and Killua adventuring together without the burden of saving the world lying on them.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out sometime. About finding things natural, that is why I said 'when I stop to think about it'. What I meant was that most of the time I don't think too much or too deeply about classical physics. It's only when nudged (by posts like these), that I truly think about it and find it amazing. At some level it is the same as doing philosophy, I think. Even mundane questions like what is knowledge, which we assume for granted in daily lives, leave us stumped.

So yeah, what I meant was that middle-schoolers will not stop to think about how bizarre QM is. Just as we take it for granted that day and night is caused by the earth rotating.

Do you mean this?
I only have a vague idea of what the standard model is. I did not know there was some equation summarizing is concisely.