h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It seems that there are several hootoo members who claim to be time travelers including me. The conundrum of the directionality of time is an illusion only. This is due to the brain chemistry we share with other hominids and is something that can be overcome (with great pain)given the proper thought processes (which I will not divulge at this time)

It is kind of like the processes that C. S. Lewis claimed for his "Screwtape Letters". He never divulged that process either.

Time travel is something that I have sworn to protect with my life and while I dont know about the others, who claim to know this little secret, as for me you wont find it out from me, thank you

Or even surgery on the...er I think its the thalmus? Then time will be one great homogenous mass. But sadly thats biology, not theoretical physics. Although I indulge in that too.

The brain-mind connection is very close. But I'm not telling.

One might ask oneself am I my brain or am I something else? From that the freedom...

Or you could have reached new heights of pretentiousness which although terribly enetrtaining does not tend to contribute much to the sphere of human influence or knowledge and would get your sweeties confiscated if I had anything to do with it. Which I do. Hmm.
And a person is not theri brain, tehre are several other squidgy bits attached also, not to mention bazonga.

confiscate my sweeties????? OH NOOOOOO.

Even if you assume that you are the physical being we all pretend to be, which I dispute most vehemtly, we all tavel through time at least one way don't we (always forward).

The problem is not the going forward that is the toughies but the backward, and the control of it all.

I suspect Oxford (that bastion of orthodoxy, they wont tell either)came up with the original and in my research made a similar discovery. They pretended not to notice when I presented my theorem and promptly went back in time to prevent me from making the discovery but I beat them to the punch. I encoded the material in a secret place and can go back and remind myself anytime I want.

It is entertaining isn't it? (You're not from Oxford are you????? pretending to fool me into revealing the secret by your poor spelling and bad grammer.)

Oh no, just my typing canna keep up with my brain which is huuuge . Hmm, why is there no modest smiley?
Anyway, no I aint from Oxford, from much further north where the air is clearer and more conducive to logical/lateral trans-dimensional thought. Going backwards in time merely acquires an effort of will, people dont realize this. Its a logical extension of the occasions where you go "Oh gods, I need more time!" and miraculously you can stretch five minutes into juuust long enough. Going backwards merely requires substitution with the word "have".
Terribly easy when you get the knack, like bicycle riding only with less sore knees.
Do you have any jelly babies I can take away?

I thought I recognized the Scottish brough in the typing here. In my many travels into past times I seem to come upon many connections with that dread institution Oxford and the various schools that purport to provide education within the British Isles. Their influence on the history of our heritage is incontrovertable and like it or not I must acknowledge it as a place that is worthwhile.

Doesn't mean I would go there for classes though.

Given the nature of time in the context of the 26 dimensional universe, I'm surprized that more people haven't figured out the so called "Problem of Time". On a personal note, lately I have been experiencing time as passing much faster than previously. Eventually I expect that I will come to a place where time doesn't exist as I know it now and then I will finally be free of this paradox.

Adieu friend

That I suspect is your lack of sugar due to your sweeties constantly being confiscated for spouting toot like that.
And there are somewhat more than twenty-six dimensions available, due to there always being another dimension from which you can observe the previous one in the list, until the whole shebang collapses in on itself and you can view the entirity of creation from within an immobile dot. So the trick is not to expand our thought, but to work backwards to the perspective of a blip.
Humbling no?
Anyway, time doesnt exist, we just percieve it cos we are within and all that jazz.

last time I counted uhhh....
Oh yeah there were our original(?) three width, hieght, depth and then duration (a ratio of three to one)

Now since the physicists think they need at least twelve and some say 26 dimensions to make all the math to simplify in the Grand Unified Theory, I'll go along with the 26.

But can you imagine a two dimensional time dimension set(LxW?) Or even a 3D time set. Makes my mind go in whirlies with or without the sweeties.

Are you familiar with Aleph null? (refer to my guide entry on qualities of infinity)

All of the universe can be mapped in sets. Logically if we think of time as a quality of a set instead of part, of a set. Then there need not be any more than one time as a quality of all sets formed from the universe. But we are not restricted to this. There might be a bi-directional time quality still within a one dimensional quality of time. If we attempt to separate time as a quality of sets and make it a separate set, then we get into unlimited and totally disconnected times and lose all rational meaning for time as a quality of duration.

If you choose to eliminate meaning from the universe then this last scenario might be the one you choose but not me. I am confident that there is meaning and therefore choose the former.

Lastly, in a sense you cannot even prove that you (or I) exist. There is no proof universally accepted. As operational theories though you and I do exist and so does time regardless of whether or not we perceive it. Everything else is irreducably wasted thought.

Ok, thinking out loud here so try and keep up.
Time is a point which used to be over here, and now is over here, and now is over here. Now, if time can move through the additional dimensions it can now move over there, or over there.
So, then for each point that can exist in the timescale, there must be alternatives for it to travel along otherwise time would stop and nobody would be able to account for anything at all (the human brain requiring time to function due to its electro-chemical reactions).
There may however be another version of thought processes out there, for as the dimensions get more complicated in their observations of each other, logically there will be a degree of complexity that allows a different version of 'thought', which will be so utterly alien to us that I can quite happily say will be beyond our comprehension no matter how pretentious one claims to be.
Anyway, so as a dimension in order to function must exist in another dimension beyond it, and another beyond it, ad infinitum. Unless fair enough there is a cutoff point where the process loops on itself, so say Dimension 26 exists within Dimension 1, which is part of Dimension 2 which is a part of Dimension 3, which moves in Dimension 4, which alternates in Dimension 5.
This would send a body (aha) loopy, just attempting to quantify them all, because there are only so many degrees of complexity that physically CAN be represnted from our perspective, no matter how many greek letters are used.

Very very entertaining.

I'm so happy that I decided not to interrupt, early in the thread!

Now, if you'd both just care to give us the ultimate question, everything else will fall into place, eh?

Easy, What is the exact energy quotient of God, given in MpWh?

Thanks bunny, but perhaps it is no so easy as that. This may indeed be an ultimate question, but the assumption here is that the answer must be 42, and that it relate to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

According to the Guide, it must also answer all the niggling questions like 'Why are people born?', 'Why do they die', and 'Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?'

I don't believe that mere power speaks sufficiently to the capriciousness of existence. There must, logically, be some additional component to the power that makes a universe that seems to run on pretty well, and yet seem so random and nonsensical to its inhabitants.



PS: If you guess it, I'll be glad to let you know you were right; but, if you get the question right, you should know just as soon as you've got it.

Ok, heres the logic.
Power = Potential
Potential = Ability to do something
Ability = Inclination to do something
Inclination = Making stuff happen.
So every living and non-living thing is assigned an energy quotient based on their ability (and inclination) to affect the world around them, say for instance an inanimate staple gets a 2-3 because it can still rust and interact with things, while an ameoba gets a 7 because it mucks around with nutrient uptake and so on. Humans would probably get 19-22 because they can delibrately do things to change the world around them. Continuing to scale up, a being that can manipulate pretty much anything would be human power squared (cos we can only do things to the limits of our resources, while God would have EVERYTHING to play with).
Hence, if God had an energy quotient of 42, then he would be quite inclined to do a spot of creation and manipulation, simply because He CAN. Same as a bloke with an energy of 20 climbing a mountain, because that is within his ability, thus he may be more inclined to do it.

Sounds pretty good, Let's try it out!

Q: Why are people born?
God's exact energy quotient of is 42 MpWh.

Q: Why do people die?
God's exact energy quotient of is 42 MpWh.

Q: Why do people spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?
God's exact energy quotient of is 42 MpWh.

Does it work for you?
I'm really confused at this.

I'm not saying that the question isn't a good one, or that it doesn't fit the answer 42; just that it doesn't appear to fill all the requirements for the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

The question, "How many roads must a man walk down?" does nearly as well, doesn't it? And still does not quite work out.

Noooo, the energy amount is on a scale, which represents the ability and inclination to do something. So in fact you are accurate with saying stuff like
Q: Why are people born?
God's exact energy quotient of is 42 MpWh.
Because that is the equivalent of saying,
Q: Why are people born?
Because he can make it happen, so he did.

In human terms:
Why did you climb the mountain?
Because my energy quotient is 20 MpWh
so,
Why did you climb the mountain?
Because I could.

Hi again, BF!

I am intrigued. Still, it is a bit fatuous to say we climb a mountain merely 'Because I can', when it only then begs the questions 'So then, why is everyone else with an energy quotient of 20 MpWh not climbing mountains?' and 'why aren't you doing something else that you could do with the identical energy quotient?'

It's kinda like the infinite impropability drive never finding two things with the precisely identical improbabilities, That is highly improbable, perhaps to the extent of being infinitely improbable.

I'm afraid that my version of the ultimate question explains a whole lot more, answers a more diverse set of questions, and is much more logical (if a bit more anthropomorphic) than that.

If He can make all this happen, then there's a myriad other possible universes he could make happen with the same energy quotient. It still wouldn't answer the 'Why include this one' in any sense that it would describe the 'why' or 'reason' of it all.

Still, I'm not one to try and squelch anothers' belief system, so I'll accept your answer as one that works for you and the maintenance of your private sanity.

Good luck with it. May it always serve you well.

Decart walks into a bar. The barman says,
"You'er that fella who said 'I think therefore I am'. Decart, that's your name!"
"That's right.". Said Decart.
"Pleasure to meet you, would you like a beer."
To which Decart replies, "I think not"
And *poof* he disappears in a {all together now} puff of logic.


Think About It

Didn't take a lot of thought! Thanks!!!

Belief system nothing. There are always extraneous factors affecting things no matter how high the energy quotient. Take the man climbing the mountain. he may not climb the mountain becaue
1) His wife wont let him.
2) He forgot to buy a woolly hat.
3) There is something else he is more disposed to doing.
3) There is no mountain in the vicinity he can get to.

So a 'higher' being in making things happen just because he can is still limited by:
1) Materials available
2) If he can make said materials
3) If a system of operation can be devised that does not need constant intervention
4) His willingness to do one thing over another.
Anthopomorphisation CANNOT apply also, simply because the motivation of an ameoba at energy 12 or whatever cannot be known to us, same the reasons for a being at 42 doing what he does are utterly impossible to know. So asking Why do we die? or Why do we wear digital watches? could be answered by saying that we live in the system devised by a thingy with an energy of 42, or it could equally be answered by the following:
"The inneffable force of good publicity"

And Doctor08, seriously, you can do far better. Do the one about Galileo and his extendable telescope, thats a good one