4 ms·
Here is a link to the arXiv version of the paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00010 https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00010 Incidentally, I used to work in dynamics an
by antognini 5y ago
Here is a link to the arXiv version of the paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00010 https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00010
Incidentally, I used to work in dynamics and Hagai is great to work with. To give you a sense of him, I went to a conference on dynamics that he organized about six years ago, and he opened it with the following story:
Many years ago, the philosopher Nasreddin was on his farm looking out into the distance and saw some people approaching. He had heard that there were bandits in the area and became afraid that they would come, beat him, and steal all his things. So Nasreddin ran away. As he ran, he came to a graveyard, and there he found an open grave. In case the bandits followed him, he decided to take off all his clothes, get in the grave, and pretend to be dead.
It turned out that the men were not bandits, but were Nasreddin's friends. They saw him run off and wondered where he was going and so followed him. As they were walking through the graveyard, they came upon the open grave and saw Nasreddin lying there naked. So they asked him, "Nasreddin, why are you lying in this grave with all your clothes off?"
Nasreddin opened his eyes and saw it was his friends, and replied, "My friends, there are some questions which have no answers. All I can tell you is that I am here because of you, and you are here because of me."
- konschubert 5y agoI don't get it. Is it just meant to be funny or is there a deeper message?
- arvidkahl 5y agoI think this might be about the interdependency of these actions. Both lead to each other. None would happen without the other. Wrapped in a funny story.
- OnlineGladiator 5y agohttps://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI https://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI
- jareklupinski 5y agoif you have trouble telling your friends from your foes at a distance buy binoculars
- dandelany 5y agoHere’s my reading of it: when speaking about dynamical systems with several interdependent moving parts, humans are fond of asking “why” questions and looking for simple narratives in such systems where satisfying answers may not exist. For example, imagine a three-body planetary system which exists in a pseudo-stable configuration for millions of years, until suddenly one of the planets gets slung off on a wild orbit and ejected from the system. A layman might be inclined to ask, “whoa, that’s weird, why did that happen?!” while the physicist will reply “All I can say is that planet A is where it is because of planets B & C, and B & C are where they are because of A.”
- antognini 5y agoI like that! The way I interpreted it when hearing it at the conference he was saying that we were all here at the conference because he had organized it, but he was there because we were all there to talk about our research. But the great thing about a good parable is that there are endless interpretations. :)
- dandelany 5y agoHa, I suppose in context your interpretation makes more sense :)
- jimmySixDOF 5y agoIANAP, but it calls to mind "Winger's Friend" which was a response to Schrödinger’s Cat that says: imagining a (human) friend of his shut in a lab, measuring a quantum system. He argued it was absurd to say his friend exists in a superposition of having seen and not seen a decay unless and until Wigner opens the lab door. [1] I have seen it come up in the Many Worlds school of thought and reminds me of HHTTG's : The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is a vicious wild animal from the planet of Traal, known for its never-ending hunger and its mind-boggling stupidity. One of the main features of the Beast is that if you can't see it, it assumes it can't see you. [1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-twist-on-schroedingers-cat-paradox-has-major-implications-for-quantum-theory/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-twist-on-sch...