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Author Topic:   Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Scripp_man
Inactive Member


Message 1 of 23 (24247)
11-25-2002 2:02 PM


If you have read the Hitchhiker's Guide, you will probably be familiar with the part about the babble fish. If not, let me bring you up to speed.
The babble fish is a so heavily advanced creature it is hard to comprehend. It lives inside the auditory canal of a host and feeds on the language of the creatures that the host hears. It then runs the language through an internal biological matrix and excretes the information into the host as the host's native language. It has been used as proof of the NON existance of god. The logic goes something like this.
God: "I refuse to prove myself because my existance requires faith"
Bystander: "But you did prove yourself with the babble fish"
God: "Oh. I suppose you are right"
and he is destroyed in a puff of logic.
Which leads me to my main point. Wouldn't the logic be the same? By proving god, will creationists prove the nonexistance of god? If so, then should evolutionists try to prove god instead of proving one doesn't exist? And if this is the case, if there is any proof to be found, would it ultimately prove evolution? I'm interested in hearing some other opinions.

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by Psycospin13, posted 11-25-2002 2:07 PM Scripp_man has not replied
 Message 3 by Primordial Egg, posted 11-25-2002 2:09 PM Scripp_man has not replied
 Message 8 by Mammuthus, posted 11-26-2002 6:13 AM Scripp_man has not replied
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Psycospin13
Guest


Message 2 of 23 (24250)
11-25-2002 2:07 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Scripp_man
11-25-2002 2:02 PM


yeah but a fiction writer is not exactly the best source of info even though the logic makes sense

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Scripp_man, posted 11-25-2002 2:02 PM Scripp_man has not replied

  
Primordial Egg
Inactive Member


Message 3 of 23 (24252)
11-25-2002 2:09 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Scripp_man
11-25-2002 2:02 PM


Douglas Adams RIP
quote:
"But are you not," he said, "a more fiendish disputant than the Great Hyperlobic Omni-Cognate Neutron Wrangler of Ciceronicus Twelve, the Magic and Indefatigable?"
"The Great Hyperlobic Omni-Cognate Neutron Wrangler," said Deep Thought, thoroughly rolling the r's, "could talk all four legs off an Arcturan Mega-Donkey -- but only I could persuade it to go for a walk afterward."
PE
------------------
It's good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brains
fall out. - Bertrand Russell

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Scripp_man, posted 11-25-2002 2:02 PM Scripp_man has not replied

Replies to this message:
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mark24
Member (Idle past 5185 days)
Posts: 3857
From: UK
Joined: 12-01-2001


Message 4 of 23 (24307)
11-25-2002 8:01 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by Primordial Egg
11-25-2002 2:09 PM


So long & thanks for all the fish.......
------------------
Occam's razor is not for shaving with.

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Minnemooseus
Member
Posts: 3940
From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior)
Joined: 11-11-2001
Member Rating: 10.0


Message 5 of 23 (24330)
11-25-2002 11:15 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by mark24
11-25-2002 8:01 PM


Somehow, I must think that the HGTTG concept of "improbibility drive" must have some sort of relevance to the creation/evolution debate. Anyone recall the "improbibility drive" story, and the statement said when the odds decend to 1:1?
Moose

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John
Inactive Member


Message 6 of 23 (24333)
11-25-2002 11:25 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by Minnemooseus
11-25-2002 11:15 PM


quote:
Originally posted by minnemooseus:
Somehow, I must think that the HGTTG concept of "improbibility drive" must have some sort of relevance to the creation/evolution debate. Anyone recall the "improbibility drive" story, and the statement said when the odds decend to 1:1?
Moose

While the improbability drive is impressive, nothing compares to the bistromatic drive for speed and shear raw power.
------------------
No webpage found at provided URL: www.hells-handmaiden.com

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mark24
Member (Idle past 5185 days)
Posts: 3857
From: UK
Joined: 12-01-2001


Message 7 of 23 (24369)
11-26-2002 5:55 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by John
11-25-2002 11:25 PM


quote:
Originally posted by John:
While the improbability drive is impressive, nothing compares to the bistromatic drive for speed and shear raw power.

Indeedy, IMHO the improbability drive is the most elegant, the bistromatic drive was relatively limited by "merely" inflated integers found in bistros & restaurants, whilst the improbability drive was capable of anything!
Mark
------------------
Occam's razor is not for shaving with.

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Mammuthus
Member (Idle past 6465 days)
Posts: 3085
From: Munich, Germany
Joined: 08-09-2002


Message 8 of 23 (24372)
11-26-2002 6:13 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Scripp_man
11-25-2002 2:02 PM


The answer is 42

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Replies to this message:
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Primordial Egg
Inactive Member


Message 9 of 23 (24379)
11-26-2002 7:11 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by Minnemooseus
11-25-2002 11:15 PM


quote:
Originally posted by minnemooseus:
Somehow, I must think that the HGTTG concept of "improbibility drive" must have some sort of relevance to the creation/evolution debate. Anyone recall the "improbibility drive" story, and the statement said when the odds decend to 1:1?
Moose

The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing vast interstellar distances in a mere nothing of a second, without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. It was discovered bya lucky chance, and then developed into a governable form of propulsion by the Galactic Government's research team on Damogran.
This, briefly, is the story of its discovery:
The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) was of course well understood - and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess's undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy.
Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this - partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties.
Another thing they couldn't stand was the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite improbability needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralysing distances between the furthest stars, and in the end they grumpily announced that such a machine was virtually impossible.
Then, one day, a student who had been left to sweep up the lab after a particularly unsuccessful party found himself reasoning this way:
If, he thought to himself, such a machine is a virtual impossibility, then it must logically be a finite improbability. So all I have to do in order to make one is to work out exactly how improbable it is, feed that figure into the finite improbability generator, give it a fresh cup of really hot tea ... and turn it on!
He did this, and was rather startled to discover that he had managed to create the long sought after golden Infinite Improbability generator out of thin air.
It startled him even more when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute's Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass.
PE
------------------
It's good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brains
fall out. - Bertrand Russell

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Minnemooseus, posted 11-25-2002 11:15 PM Minnemooseus has not replied

Peter
Member (Idle past 1469 days)
Posts: 2161
From: Cambridgeshire, UK.
Joined: 02-05-2002


Message 10 of 23 (33607)
03-04-2003 4:31 AM
Reply to: Message 8 by Mammuthus
11-26-2002 6:13 AM


Yes ... but what's the question?

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 Message 8 by Mammuthus, posted 11-26-2002 6:13 AM Mammuthus has not replied

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Gzus
Inactive Member


Message 11 of 23 (33622)
03-04-2003 11:07 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Scripp_man
11-25-2002 2:02 PM


[quote][b]should evolutionists try to prove god instead of proving one doesn't exist?[/quote][/b]
We do neither. We prove that it is impossible for us to know whether or not there is a god hence when someone comes along and says that they know the answer, we laugh at them.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Scripp_man, posted 11-25-2002 2:02 PM Scripp_man has not replied

PaulK
Member
Posts: 17815
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.1


Message 12 of 23 (33636)
03-04-2003 3:18 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Peter
03-04-2003 4:31 AM


The Question
What do you get if you multiply six by nine ?

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Replies to this message:
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Primordial Egg
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 23 (33640)
03-04-2003 3:50 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by PaulK
03-04-2003 3:18 PM


Re: The Question
What do you get if you multiply six by nine ?
The universe is indeed a bizarre place
PE

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PaulK
Member
Posts: 17815
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.1


Message 14 of 23 (33645)
03-04-2003 5:00 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by Primordial Egg
03-04-2003 3:50 PM


Re: The Question
That was pretty close to Arthur Dent's reaction

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Peter
Member (Idle past 1469 days)
Posts: 2161
From: Cambridgeshire, UK.
Joined: 02-05-2002


Message 15 of 23 (34014)
03-10-2003 2:09 AM
Reply to: Message 14 by PaulK
03-04-2003 5:00 PM


Re: The Question
I think I understand the universe now ... oh darn! it just changed again!!!

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