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

Hah, so you think about that too, then, mvp? The nothingness before the Big Bang. So where did the matter come from? Yes.

The Big Crunch?? Sounds like a breakfast cereal. .

From some other universe? But I thought the Big Bang was the beginning of all the universes? Hmm.

Well, I'll never make a physicist that's for sure. I wish I was a physicist.

How come, if we're supposed to be made up from all the same particles and things, like we are all made of stardust, cosmic dust ...

We are stardust

...when it comes to understanding stardusty things, or pre stardust, my intelligence falls into a black hole that appears somewhere south of my brain. .

OK, perhaps if I try to eat a slice of Maria's physics cake , mmmm sounds good, especially after a bowl of Big Crunch , I might understand.

Back in a minute. (heads off into outer space).

Talking of outer space, my online horoscope (uh oh ...) today said I would be fine if I followed my inner Sat Nav. I'm good with that. I need it. Byeeeee.

I love the analogy, of the drawer, Maria. Gracias! . I get that. That's really good. And I see how the drawer would explode.

So, what disappears into black holes then? (apart from my intelligence haha). Like, what's the universe equivalent of the button or pin? Matter? Energy? Like, everything? Does everything fall into a black hole? Where does it go? Does it disappear? Is that what anti matter is?

So, with the Big Bang, and the Big Breakfast Crunch , I can see how a black hole explodes, and all this matter spews out. But has the matter been in there all along or does it reform, like turn from anti matter to matter?

Erm, OK. Nice cake. . I really want to get my head around this one. I guess there's nothing to learn about the nothingness inside a black hole, because it's all sort of like backwards. Have to unlearn more like.

I think that last paragraph was quite interesting, if not a little wayward. . What's in the cake, Maria??

Does any of this correspond with inner spiritual things? (checks inner Sat Nav). I'm sure there's something in Buddhism, or the Tao that has echoes of this. No beginning, no end. No name, no past no future, time has no meaning. Ineffable.

I think I have something spiritual going on. I need brandy.

I'm obsessed with physics now. . I do find it quite spiritual. Like, if the laws of physics are outside of us, surely they're inside of us as well. There's not really a difference.

Sort of thing.

What I just realised is that, even though physics explains a lot about where we come from, it's OK not to understand everything.

Although some more of Maria's analogies would be good. If that's the right word. Like, comparing a dark hole to a drawer with things in it.

I don't understand everything about, say, the human eye, or the brain, or even how the heart works, and that's OK. I can still appreciate the miracle.



There is one mystery though, that is now obsessing me. OK, so there's loads of galaxies and there's infinity and gravity and all the things that there are, and they all affect each other. And life evolves and recreates and does its thing.

But what started it? What kick-started something out of nothing? Gas or energy or something. But how did that get there? There must have been a start point, but I don't think there is. An original spark. Nah, I don't think so.



And there we go. I have the curiosity of a six year old but the intelligence of a slightly startled grinning thing that hasn't yet been invented. .



'You know who I am, you've stared at the sun, Well I am the one who likes changing from nothing to one.' Leonard Cohen

I've been listening to that lyric for ever. . Obsessed then, obsessed now.

Hello Darling

I wonder if this would help, it is GSCE level, bite size, it explains about the big bang theory as we understand to date. I think the other questions you are asking, like what happened before that, we don't know yet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway/energy_resources/big_bangrev1.shtml

On addictive personality, ok as I understand it...

There is no such thing as an addictive personality as a personality type, however, certain personality traits can predispose someone to developing an addiction but doesn't make it inevitable.

There is also a biochemical element which is due to neurotransmission that makes some people seek stimulation or depressants and then there is the environmental stressors.

As to having those personality traits, this doesn't have to necessarily define your behaviour, understanding what makes you behave in the way that you do can empower you to respond differently, to external stressors and internal drives and then make different and less harmful choices

Busy weekend, most of it not active I spent sleeping.

Reading ovet the posts above I wish I had more time for responses.

There are several themes there of considerable intetest to me,

Sensory perception and synesthesia, cosmology, drug related altered perception, addictive personality.

On that last term, addictive personality, as I understand it, it has to do with adaptive behavioral changes that come as a consequence of long term chronic drug abuse, irrespective of conditons which may predispose.

Personality decay as a consequence of chronic drug abuse is a commonplace with a highly predictable course, devolving from diminished capacity to passive aggression to dementia and sometimes death.

For my own own part I don't use illicit drugs.

I'm afraid not only of what thay might do to my mind, but also of the way they my aggravate my other health problems.

I'm cautious about how I use even common non-prescription medications.

Once, I was taking prescribed tranquilizers, with a cautionary that they do not mix with alcohol.

At a friend's house, I was offered a beer, and thinking, "How much harm can one little beer do?", I accepted.

I woke up laying on the floor with my host standing over me asking, "Are you alright?".

It was very embarrassing.

I've never had an experience like that since.

Wow. Here you folks are, sicussing senses and truth...and over here, without knowing it, we've been talking about Robert Browning.

I think Browning is way neglected. He has tons to say about this. And I was just reading this bit from 'Paracelsus' aloud to Elektra:

http://www.bartleby.com/236/102.html

You know, '... to KNOW,
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape...'

Browning was wasted on Victorians.

...just for the heck of it, my own variation on the pan-galactic gargle blaster...




In a standard highball glass, start with about 3 cm of chilled 198 proof rum*.

Add ice fresh from the freezer with unmelted surfaces to a level just above the surface of the rum.

Pour a dash of Tobasco sauce or other hot sauce on top of the ice, to your own taste.

Pour a layer of grenadine just sufficient to lightly cover or coat the ice on top of that.

Double the depth of the ice.

Carefully pouring over the ice so as not to disturb the grenadine, add orange juice or mango juice, or peach nectar, your choice, just so long as its orange, to a depth of half a centimeter over the grenadine.

Still pouring carefully, top up with half and half lime margarita mix and tequila**.

Embellish with orange slice, lime slice and maraschino cherry.

Neither shaken nor stirred, it only gets stronger as you drink toward the bottom of the glass.




*198 proof rum is the most potent alcoholic beverage commonly available in the alcoholic beverages market, comes under a variety of labels and can be found in most well supplied specialty liquor stores and many supermarkets.

It frequently comes equipped with a a wire mesh screen spark arrestor on the top of the bottle to prevent accidental ignition of the vapors.

By comparison, automotive ethanol fuel is 140 proof and rocket fuel grade ethanol of the kind used in the WW II era A4 or V2 rockets is 200 proof.

The H2O content of 198 proof rum is so low it can be safely stored in the freezer.




In my desert climate I run very strongly to iced beverages.

I go to hot beverages sometimes in cold climates.




**I love a good tequila.

Of all the whiskeys I've ever tried, I'd rate only Old Bushmill's Irish whiskey as comparable or better.

...just for the heck of it, my own variation on the pan-galactic gargle blaster...




In a standard highball glass, start with about 3 cm of chilled 198 proof rum*.

Add ice fresh from the freezer with unmelted surfaces to a level just above the surface of the rum.

Pour a dash of Tobasco sauce or other hot sauce on top of the ice, to your own taste.

Pour a layer of grenadine just sufficient to lightly cover or coat the ice on top of that.

Double the depth of the ice.

Carefully pouring over the ice so as not to disturb the grenadine, add orange juice or mango juice, or peach nectar, your choice, just so long as its orange, to a depth of half a centimeter over the grenadine.

Still pouring carefully, top up with half and half lime margarita mix and tequila**.

Embellish with orange slice, lime slice and maraschino cherry.

Neither shaken nor stirred, it only gets stronger as you drink toward the bottom of the glass.




*198 proof rum is the most potent alcoholic beverage commonly available in the alcoholic beverages market, comes under a variety of labels and can be found in most well supplied specialty liquor stores and many supermarkets.

It frequently comes equipped with a a wire mesh screen spark arrestor on the top of the bottle to prevent accidental ignition of the vapors.

By comparison, automotive ethanol fuel is 140 proof and rocket fuel grade ethanol of the kind used in the WW II era A4 or V2 rockets is 200 proof.

The H2O content of 198 proof rum is so low it can be safely stored in the freezer.




In my desert climate I run very strongly to iced beverages.

I go to hot beverages sometimes in cold climates.




**I love a good tequila.

Of all the whiskeys I've ever tried, I'd rate only Old Bushmill's Irish Whiskey as comparable or better.

Pardon the double posting.

When I went back to 'My Space' to check whether it had posted properly, it didn't come up, so I posted a second time.

Cool poem Dmitri, I liked the first half best, after that it goes over my head a bit, but poetry often does.

Cor that is some recipe ITI , have to see what ingredients we can get for Christmas although will save this until after the Dr Who special

I wonder if this page will help, it is one I use to see if my posts have posted

http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/classic/info?cmd=conv

I am not sure how to make it link properly, or if it works in pliny, sorry about that

Copy, Peanut, I didn't know about that page.

It works just fine in Brunel.

Saved to desktop.

Glad to help It is a nifty page.

Evening all! And splendid wise ones you are.

I love the drink, ITI, the double posting quenched my thirst twice, which was most excellent.

Thanks Peanut, the Big Bang notes are saved for study! GCSE level is in fact a good learning level for me. I often look at GCSE study books in bookshops. Maybe it's where I left off. Never too late to catch up, eh? Till I drop dead, of course, unless there's a good college in The Void. The Void? Later.

And interesting further thoughts on the addictive personality. You people are all soooo wise and interesting. I learn so much from you. I offer you chocolate (or the nearest healthy equivalent, perhaps peppermints.)



I know what you mean, ITI, have to watch the sensitive system.



Hullo Mister D! Robert Browning eh? Robert Browning. You know what? I never ever read Paracelsus! What incredible language!

(adds to list of things to study)

What about Robert Browning then?

I see, from preliminary research, that he and his wife went to seances, she was into spiritualism, but he thought it was a bit dodgy.




Well, I've decided I'm a Void-oid. The Void. I love all this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(philosophy)

I don't intend to start wandering around all thin and haunted, in a long dark coat, reading Sartre, while my friends make plans to avoid me. Av-oid the Void-oid. Done that. .

It feels somehow vocational to me, though, to think about all this. Well, to not-think. Or even go on about it, because there's no words for it anyway. So I'll shut up. .



Very excited!! Three hours in the cinema tomorrow night!! New Nick Cave film. 20,000 Days on Earth. Followed by some concert footage.

We will take sandwiches.

This is an amazingly eclectic thread - what with the Big Bang, black holes and the Void on one hand - and recipes for the on the other!
Although I have an image of the covered in people fighting, praying and partying, while outside all is blackness.

Probably not a good idea to go that way. Better to try to do things that are useful or constructive.

........

heheh, like people watching in Brighton, mvp. I just read your Create piece in . Love it.

Hmm, fighting, praying and partying, with blackness all around. That's an interesting image.

I think I'm a positive void-oid. . I the idea of a blank canvas, that I can fill with illusions and ideas and junk and jitters, , but then breathe them all out with an out breath, and be restored with new energy. Hmm, that sounds like meditation. Is there a link between the void and meditation?

It's so stoooopid to wonder if there are any good coffeeshops in The Void, but I do, of course. Of course there aren't because it's The Void, innit. .

CC and all Daydreamers, here is new Leonard Cohen album---free from NPR website for a limited time only:

http://www.npr.org/2014/09/15/347480040/first-listen-leonard-cohen-popular-problems?autoplay=true

I hope this available to UK and European users (I don't know what restrictions NPR puts on it). Anyway if you can get it, I hope you enjoy it.

Good old Len. . Can't believe he's 80. Hero of my youth, and my not-youth. I'm hoping to pick up my CD tomorrow in fact! Sounds great.

Hello Daydreamers

Just dropping by with some art

Wangechi Mutu: the queen of wild collage – in pictures

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/sep/25/wangechi-mutu-the-queen-of-wild-collage-in-pictures

That is my break over, off to tame the garden some, back soon for some Perculiar