When I was studying science in high school they told us the world was made up of atoms with a solid core of protons and neutrons with electrons circling round this core in shells. Now they tell us matter is largely nothing, and have introduced a whole zoo of particles with fantastical names and the uncertainty principle! I'd have more chance with a tip on a horse from a bookie at the racecourse than on knowing where a particular particle is at any point in time!
I have as much success predicting the weather (and knowing what to wear today) by using the old adage "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" than by listening to the weather report from the meteorologists with their mathematical models.
Tell me, what is the 'hard' 'scientific' explanation for the current oscillations of the stock markets? Even chaos theory cannot cope with a market that swings at the words of a one head of state about how secure the economy is, or the words of another head of state about 'Jewish financiers', or depends on what side of the bed the investors got out of this morning, what their 'lucky' number is, whether they are going through a divorce etc etc
When it comes down to the nitty gritty, human beings live and move and have their being with little or no understanding of mathematics and do not make the most important decisions about the big questions (e.g. who am i? where did I come from? is there a God? how do I cope with sex and death?) on the basis of reason. Your 'hard' science and my 'soft' science are only to occupy our time 'under the sun' and are part of the vanity, futility, absurdity, frustrations and nonsense of existence.
The end of the matter is, as the Preacher said, "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the _whole duty_ of man. For God will bring _every work_ into judgment, including _every secret thing_ [I wonder if that does not incorporate a lot of the things discussed on this newsgroup], _whether it is good or whether it is evil_" (_emphasis_ mine).
In good faith
Philippa
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Philippa Westerman
Systems & Technology Librarian
Sunshine Coast University College
Ph: +61 7 5430 2801
Fax: +61 7 5430 2811
Email: pwesterman@scuc.edu.au