3 ms·

I don't get it. Is it just meant to be funny or is there a deeper message?

arvidkahl 5y ago
I 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 ago
https://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI https://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI
jareklupinski 5y ago
if you have trouble telling your friends from your foes at a distance buy binoculars
dandelany 5y ago
Here’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 ago
  I 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 ago
    Ha, I suppose in context your interpretation makes more sense :)
jimmySixDOF 5y ago
IANAP, 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...

I 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 ago

https://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI https://youtu.be/_eRRab36XLI

jareklupinski 5y ago

if you have trouble telling your friends from your foes at a distance buy binoculars

dandelany 5y ago

Here’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 ago
I 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 ago
  Ha, I suppose in context your interpretation makes more sense :)

jimmySixDOF 5y ago

IANAP, 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...