tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post5393257466978685532..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Is Nature Beautiful or Monstrous?Benjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-19875492152633280152022-05-15T16:05:46.778-04:002022-05-15T16:05:46.778-04:00“A flower is a classic example of something that’s...“A flower is a classic example of something that’s perceived as beautiful in view of a greater tragedy: the fragility of its petals, the curve of its stem as the flower bows before its inevitable end thanks to natural forces like gravity, the scent that can only be remembered because it’s gone almost as soon as it’s produced.”<br /><br /><br />Full many a flower is born to blush unseen<br />And waste its sweetness on the desert air.<br /><br />—Thomas Grey, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard<br />Voice of Reasonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-46412994695685205502016-10-29T19:20:53.453-04:002016-10-29T19:20:53.453-04:00Sorry, Eduardo, I deleted your comment by accident...Sorry, Eduardo, I deleted your comment by accident. But here’s what you wrote:<br /><br />“Wow! I forgot how I got to this article but I bookmarked it because it seemed interesting, and a week later it proves it certainly was. Along the lines of the article, I often try to convey to people when a sociably acceptable opportunity arises that space is not a friendly place. Simply acknowledging that a great part of our evolutionary history has been guided by a force field which we call "gravity" and then trying to imagine earthly life outside of it is difficult. But one of the immediate effects, as you commented, is ebullism. Its presence in the most drastic form without pressurized equipment would literary cause our eyes to explode out of our heads as the rest of the body swell up like an airhead. Still, Ryan brings up a good point and reminder of one the thermodynamic laws we commonly depend on. I haven't considered that until now but I trust it will make an interesting conversation and topic for pondering upon.”<br /><br />Yes, this sort of observation should put a dent in the teleological proof of a benevolent God’s existence—as if the fact that we can survive in one miniscule part of the universe provides compelling evidence that we’re designed to be here. Flipping the coin to the other side and appreciating that we would die horribly in 99.9% of the universe should, rather, indicate the opposite point: not only must our existence be accidental, but we’re horrifically outmatched by the scale of nature’s inhumanity.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-65975001035982282122015-08-13T21:02:42.189-04:002015-08-13T21:02:42.189-04:00Space is incredibly lethal on multiple fronts, as ...Space is incredibly lethal on multiple fronts, as you've pointed out. I didn't mean to contradict your overall point at all.<br /><br />I just think it's kind of interesting to think about the temperature of space. Most of the time, we think of the temperature of something as basically being a statistical measurement of the amount of molecular motion in the object. In other words, the faster the molecules of an object are vibrating, the higher its temperature.<br /><br />To use an analogy, it would kind of be like the frog who is boiled to death so slowly he doesn't even notice it, except in reverse.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06234846958193327264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-46703021918243718112015-08-09T09:57:39.241-04:002015-08-09T09:57:39.241-04:00Interesting and informative! I stand corrected on ...Interesting and informative! I stand corrected on the technical definition of "coldness" and on its relevance to outer space. I'm afraid my knowledge of what would happen to an unprotected person in space was based more on the movies than on science. According to Wikipedia, the key concerns would be "ebullism, hypoxia, hypocapnia, decompression sickness, extreme temperature variations and cellular mutation and destruction from high energy photons and (sub-atomic) particles." So of course my overall point is valid: outer space is lethal to human life, meaning we'd die there within around 90 seconds. But the main problem wouldn't be freezing to death--at least, not right away--so much as the lack of oxygen.<br /><br />Still, the question of whether space is cold is a little tricky. Space is the temperature of the background radiation, which is just a little above absolute zero. That's very cold! But your point is that there's little heat transfer in space, so that temperature wouldn't be immediately relevant. That is, we would freeze to death in space, but it would take a long time, contrary to what I said.<br /><br />You say we'd burn up in the solar system. This is what happens quite memorably in the movie Sunshine. This movie gets it wrong, though, when it shows someone freezing right away in space while being protected from the sun by a huge heat shield. But I was thinking of outer space in general and thus on average. Most places in outer space aren't so close to stars, right? <br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the correction, Ryan. I'll change that sentence in the article.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-85515643052079914332015-08-08T22:47:25.541-04:002015-08-08T22:47:25.541-04:00Sorry for the typos, I wrote this on my phone.Sorry for the typos, I wrote this on my phone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06234846958193327264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-85936298265124765942015-08-08T22:45:32.843-04:002015-08-08T22:45:32.843-04:00Interesting article, but u do have to point out th...Interesting article, but u do have to point out that the following passage: "If you step foot in outer space without an arsenal of protective gear, you instantly lose your foot: it freezes into a Popsicle and snaps off," is incorrect. Space is "cold" only in the sense that the cosmic background radiation is of a frequency corresponding to the blackbody radiation of an object at a temperature somewhere around 3 degrees Kelvin, but you have to remember that in space there IS NO OBJECT. Recall that heat can only be transferred via radiation, conduction, or convection. In a vacuum, convection is right out, conduction can't occur, because you're not touching anything, and so radiation is the only way a human can possibly lose heart in space, but at normal body temperatures, you radiate in the infrared, which means heat loss is extremely slow. In fact, you're more likely to burn up inside the solar system than you are to freeze. To be perfectly clear, you would eventually freeze in space, but it would take quite a while.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06234846958193327264noreply@blogger.com