Posted by Gene E. Bloch on 04/26/06 17:47

Interleaved...

On 4/25/2006, thanatoid posted this:
> Gene E. Bloch <spamfree@nobody.invalid> wrote in
> news:mn.cc137d64bfac563e.1980@nobody.invalid:
>
>> On 4/25/2006, thanatoid posted this:

....

>> But I thought brain cells started to fade before age 30...
>
> I read 30... I'm sure it varies, especially depending on how
> much you drink and drug yourself. But apparently the brain is
> still growing as opposed to deteriorating until about 20. Then
> there's a steady-state (term usage?) for about ten years. Who
> cares. We're all getting dumber, that's all there is to it.

Maybe I remember the number wrong because (drum roll) I'm over 30 :-)

I don't think we're getting dumber, though. Yes, some function is
reduced, but I don't think enough to compensate for more experience and
better judgment. YMMV, but...

I'm assuming not too much chemical behavior, of course :-)

>>> Being over 50, I understood just enough to get a good
>>> idea, and I thank you for taking the time.
>>
>> Once in a while I swithc nto my teaching mode - I can't
>> help it :-) Bu to me you're a yongster.

BTW, the above is an example of how good a typist I am, and why I try
to spell-check every posting. I obviously let that one slip through...

> I would say "it's all relative", but I read once that (although
> that phrase is used billions of times every day), Einstein's
> theory of relativity ACTUALLY means exactly the opposite.
> Perhaps as a physicist, you could clarify.

The problem: I don't really know what "it's all relative" means, except
perhaps that you're free to make your own moral or esthetic judgments,
or that it depends on your culture, or something. This has nothing to
do with physics, and vice versa. Except metaphorically, of course (as
if that helps me understand the phrase!).

As I understand it (and I'm not an expert), Einstein's theory says, in
general, that the laws of physics do not depend on where you are or how
you're moving, which could mean that "it's NOT all relative". However,
the theory also means that the numbers your get from a specific
measurement DO depend on where you are and how you're moving.
Metaphorically, you could say that the *measurements* sort of fudge
themselves to make the *laws* constant.

In short, it's not too simple :-)

<SNIP>

>> BTW, AFAIK, even the built-in ringtones of all cell phones
>> are weird, so don't blame it on downloaded ringtones :-)
>
> I know, they should all be set to vibrate-or-tazer mode.

OTOH, when I set my cell phone's ring, it is very loud, but when
someone calls me I never hear it. Einstein again?

Ciao,
Gino

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

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