SQuInT program and deadline, Rush Limbaugh on quantum cosmology, and the parallel worlds of Hugh Everett's son
- The 2008 SQuInT conference deadline for registration is fast approaching, December 12. The program is now available online as well. Looks like a good lineup.
- Rush Limbaugh talks about quantum cosmology. He is completely wrong that man doesn't affect his environment, less wrong that we are insignificant in the universe, and you can imagine that since the paper he is talking about has been filtered through at least one other media organization prior to reaching his hands, the content of the discussion isn't too high.
- Did anyone catch the BBC
documentary discussed here? I've always been interest in how little I know about the personal story of Hugh Everett. The usual joke is that since he disappear from physics history, the Ocaam's razor explanation is certainly that he jumped to a parallel universe.
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From Rush, "My problem with this [a particular idea in quantum cosmology] is that we are so insignificant. We couldn't cause global warming; we couldn't cause global cooling; we can't do diddly-squat. We're just inhabitants here."
Can someone remind him of his insignificance more regularly. He seems to lose sight of it.
I don't know. Perhaps Rush in onto something. I'll bet good money if he observed a buffet it would significantly shorten its lifespan.
looks like the BBC documentary "Parallel Universes, Parallel Lives" is available as a torrent on thepiratebay.org.
If you are into that kind of thing.
I saw the documentary, it is really good. It is a very nice mix of science and the story of Everett's family through the eyes of his son.
Whenever I hear something related to Rush, I just cover my ears with my hands and go to a happy place where I can reason with people who are open-minded. I haven't seen the Everett documentary. Thanks for pointing out the torrent TRJ.
Haven't seen the documentary. Of interest to Everettians might be the Everett@50 conference that took place in July in Oxford. There is a webcast of the talks and discussions on the website, http://users.ox.ac.uk/~everett/
Speakers: David Albert, Andreas Albrecht, Jeffrey Bub, David Deutsch, Hilary Greaves, James Hartle, John Hawthorne, Tim Maudlin, Wayne Myrvold, Itamar Pitowsky, Simon Saunders, David Wallace, Lev Vaidman, and Antony Valentini.
I believe a couple of these speakers may be in the documentary. Quoting Simon Saunders, the "film crew shot talks and interviews at the Everett@50 conference at Oxford in July - mostly unused, I gather".
Rush Limbaugh IS from one of the parallel worlds of Hugh Everett.
A world without global warming. A world where trees cause most air pollution (as Ronald Reagan declared). A world where Evolution by Natural Selection does not operate. A world where Arrow's Theorem doesn't operate, and Democracy is perfect. A world where rich oxycontin addicts are praised, while jailed crack addicts are executed.
In short, someplace in the Landscape with different Math, Physics, and Biology.
I don't usually indulge in ad hominem arguments, but there's this classic joke:
Q: What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Graf Zeppelin?
A. One is a bloated deadly Nazi gas bag, and the other is just a blimp.
If someone can figure out how Rush Limbaugh tunnelled to our universe, then:
(1) he/she wins a Nobel Prize for Physics;
(2) we can start working on how to send him back.