The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
At a basic level it is straightforward: protons, neutrons and electrons. However isotopes are slightly more complex, and it took me rather too long at school to get my head around valances.
So even the basics hide significant (but beautiful) complexity.
I've never really understood string theory, even after trying on several occasions. That is, aside from one glorious evening sitting at the bar in the Baron of Beef, when an astrophysicist took me through it, and I understood. It was a magical moment. It made sense.
By the time I had sobered up the next morning, that moment of clarity had disappeared in a mist of strange quarks, muons and gluons.
I think this holds true for virtually everything: basic levels are simple, but go deeper - as you must to be an expert - and a world of complexity lurks waiting for you.
So sub-atomic physics is only comprehensible when you are pissed. That might explain a few things but one would have thought the subject would be more popular. "Six pints of HSB please, Miss, I have a lecture to go to this afternoon"
My theory (*) is that there is actually an infinite level of detail, designed as one of God's tricks to us ("Ha! You think you understand atoms? Just you wait to see what's under them!"). We got a handle on atoms, only to learn there was a layer beneath that of electrons, neutrons and protons. Then we learn there is a layer beneath that of sub-atomic particles. When we finally get a handle on that, there'll be another layer below that, like infinitely-nested Russian dolls.
Your post extends that theory. If you need three pints of Abbot (not HSB, please!) to understand each layer, it's quite probable that some drunken pigeon-kissing Scotsman (**) on a park bench will suddenly understand what the strands of the super-strings are made of ...
(*) This is almost certainly not original. (**) This happened.
from Flightpath01 'What a bozo you are. Saddam was in breach of the ceasefire agreement which ended the Gulf war. Well it ended the fighting of the Gulf War but it did not end the war. In breaking the ceasefire Saddam laid himself open to further attack. Do you get that? Poland was a legal independent at peace country invaded without cause. Saddam's Iraq was a country which had invaded Kuwait and was finally evicted by international coalition. It was Saddam after that who should have been put on trial. Instead the ceasefire allowed him to say in power under certain conditions which he broke (not least by his Republican Guard massacring his opponents). Yet you in your bigotry try to tell us that Bush and Blair are worse than Hitler and Nazi Germany. Get stu##ed.'
You have long revealed yourself to be one of the nastier pieces of work on this board - clearly a fully paid up member of the Arbeit Macht Frei wing of the Tory party. Whether or not Hussein was in breach of the ceasefire agreement any further action to enforce it required the support of the Security Council. That was certainly Koffi Annan's view and I am inclined to attach more weight to that than to the opinions of you - and the criminals who authorised the unprovoked attack. As for bigotry , I suggest that you read what I actually said rather making everything up as you go along. I did not mention Poland though it is fair to say that Iraq was as much at peace in 2003 as was Poland in 1939 . Why not address your ignorance by actually reading the Nuremburg indictments and so increase the possibility of making intelligent comment on the matter? Blair and Bush planned the 2003 attack on Iraq - Hans Blix needs no convincing of that. How many of the Nuremburg defendants planned the attack on Poland? Goering certainly did not.
A happy state of affairs for supporters of our current arrangements that can only be damaged by opening the issue up to debate and scrutiny in my opinion.
If you'd read the poll, you'd see that it did explore options - such as 'cheaper Trident' - and support for a deterrent remained greater than getting rid of it - even in Scotland!
Much as I admire Andrew Sparrow, surely the Faslane debacle has been an ongoing situation for the past year and has more to do with Scotland and the SNP than Jeremy Corbyn?
I agree.
SNP 'You never keep your referendum promises'
UK: 'Here's one we made - Faslane gets all the UK subs'
SNP: 'Its nae fair, we dinna want it....just gie us the money'
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
One of the reasons I instinctively (*) think that subatomic physics has gone wrong somewhere is that it lacks the beauty of the upper levels. Or perhaps nature is that messy.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
One of my biggest regrets is not studying physics. Although with a background in maths and stats there are few msc physics courses available to me outside of theoretical physics.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
I love this sort of one-eyed nonsense from the Left. What about the Observer, the "Independent", the Mirror, the BBC...?
......
I think that's an unfair attack on his post. For a start, the BBC is far more a socially liberal organisation, than it is one which toes the Labour party line and narrative. During Blair's time as PM the party ran into conflict with the BBC. By contrast, it's fair to say The Sun, The Telegraph, and the Mail do promote Conservative party narratives - on the economy, on welfare, and on immigration. And the Independent has no where near the influence The Sun and the Mail do. The Sun is the biggest newspaper in the country, while the Mail is set to overtake it in 2016, and has one of the most visited websites in the world.
It's true to say that Labour party members are also hyper-partisan (they are party activists and members after all) and loathe the Conservative party. Where both sets differ, as Oliver_PB points out is that the Conservative party is, to all intents and purposes obsessed with power - it's probably why it's an historically far better election-winning machine than the Labour party (who are too obsessed with ideological purity). However, whether the country is actually better for having the Conservatives in power in another matter. In fact, this whole five years, probably proves why Britain has many problems, and why many of Britain's problems are likely to go unresolved.
On the one hand, you have probably the most dire opposition party in the whole of Europe, whose mainstream candidates are so mediocre a nutter like Corbyn is about to become opposition leader. A man, with views which are so far away from reality it's an absolute joke. And stupid Guardian Corbynites, in abdicating their duty to provide a decent opposition to the government, have essentially let down the most vulnerable in society who now more than ever need someone to stand up for them. Meanwhile, the heir-apparent to the Conservative party leadership and the country is a man more interested in being some kind of political master-mind than actually making the country a better place for all. No wonder therefore, that among all of this the immigration crisis continues unresolved, as do the threats of ISIS, and internal issues such as the housing crisis. All while the spectator of another downturn - which may be global given China's issues (and Brazil in recession to add insult to injury) looms.
Happy days, what a shower of shite the political elite in this country are.
Mr. Jessop, might be a jigsaw missing most of the pieces.
I can't remember where, or why, or when [which, now I think about it, is moderately alarming] but I do remember reading about sub-atomic particles a bit.
They're quite complicated. I think it was muons in relation to time dilation caused by extremely high relative speeds (I wrote a short story inspired by the Queen song '39 and for a time considered trying to make the time elapsed accurate, but abandoned that).
War elephants are both larger and easier to comprehend.
Hilariously The Mirror had it as £500BILLION (their capitals, not mine)...
Nearly as crap as yesterday's Sunday Times, which described the poet Phillip Larkin as being "Hull-born" and a former poet laureate. Both completely wrong. Indeed, he famously turned down the laureate job.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
It's not so much the mathematics but the symbolic notation and representation.
I teach quantum mechanics for chemistry students and the actual mathematics under-pinning the very basic levels is not that hard. Trying to get your head around what the squiggles actually mean? That's the killer.
Sorry to go off topic but there’s a programme on Multiverses on BBC2 this coming Wednesday. Horizon does dumb down a lot but surely they can’t mess this one up.
There are several varieties of multiverse but they must all confront the issue of infinity. There are an infinite number of me writing these very words in an infinite number of universes. William of Ockham (or rather an infinite number of William of Ockhams) must be spinning in their graves, but it does explain why this universe could be exquisitely made for human existence.
Will they add in ten or eleven dimensions and have a go at when time began. I’m not convinced by Hawking’s analogy of the South Pole – where you can’t go any further south so that’s where south begins. If you go below the globe, there’s still an infinite space for south.
If nothing else, it will mess up your head as effectively as infinities mess up mathematics.
OK, I'll get my anorak.
Do you mean that at least some of the other you's writing those words in other universes are necessarily writing in a universe that isn't exquisitely made for human existence?
How would a human know whether their universe was exquisitely made for human existence? In what way would their experience of life differ from a human living in one that was?
Well, the statement - that this universe is very precise about factors that make it possible for life of the animal/human sort to arise - is quite commonly heard.
I doubt (from my position of total ignorance) that any one factor could be different without affecting at least some of the others. Too far off-beam & we couldn't be here, I gather (but something else with cognitive powers might be?).
But it's quite easy to see ways in which experience of life could differ - even the difference between a temperate climate like ours & a hostile one like Antarctica or the Middle East carries an indication. I shudder with horror at the idea of 30-degree temps, never mind 40-degs.
Ockam clearly wouldn't have approved of the 'Multiverse'. Neither do I for that matter, but I'm less wise.
Maths is sort of ok with infinity, although the physicist's use of it isn't well regarded. Maths too is the hardest thing to explain - why should there be this very strong pattern?
The Anthropic principle takes care of most of the other questions.
On the scale of the universe we're not even a sidenote.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
One of my biggest regrets is not studying physics. Although with a background in maths and stats there are few msc physics courses available to me outside of theoretical physics.
About 5 years ago I opened my University physics notes.
I could not understand what the equations meant, what the symbols meant nor indeed the subject (sub atomic physics). I suspect I did not really understand it the day after my final exam:-)
I think you have to have a a very special type of mind which very few are gifted with...
I became a sytems analyst and accountant.. far simpler;-)
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Well, the statement - that this universe is very precise about factors that make it possible for life of the animal/human sort to arise - is quite commonly heard.
I doubt (from my position of total ignorance) that any one factor could be different without affecting at least some of the others. Too far off-beam & we couldn't be here, I gather (but something else with cognitive powers might be?).
But it's quite easy to see ways in which experience of life could differ - even the difference between a temperate climate like ours & a hostile one like Antarctica or the Middle East carries an indication. I shudder with horror at the idea of 30-degree temps, never mind 40-degs.
But, Ma'am, surely you are talking about the existence of a planet that can support human life and civilisation. That is not the same thing as a universe exquisitely made for human existence, is it? There must be lots of habitable worlds in our own galaxy and there a lots of galaxies and that is in just one universe.
If there are an infinite number of universes then there must be an infinite number of, for want of a better term, Planet Earths. Some will be in a universe that is exquisitely made for humans and some won't but they will all be occupied by humans, well not all of them but an infinite number of them will be. So how will life differ for those living in say, Hurstpierpoint, in a universe exquisitely made for humans and from those living in Hurstpierpoint in a sub-optimal universe? If there is no difference discernible by the two sets of humans is the concept of an exquisite universe valid at all?
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
One of my biggest regrets is not studying physics. Although with a background in maths and stats there are few msc physics courses available to me outside of theoretical physics.
One of my happiest reflections on 'progress' is that girls are no longer prevented from studying physics because they are girls (as happened to me).
There's a lot of words you could use to describe ISIS's actions, but "nihilistic" certainly isn't one of them!
I know what you mean, but arguably SeanT uses the word correctly here. They won't be happy until there is only one person left, who will then die. Like Nazism, ISIS seems to be a credo whose idee fixe is making larger and larger categories of people to kill. It's the universal enemy.
People once pondered the paradox of the universal solvent: what bottle would you keep it in? Similarly, ISIS is the universal enemy: sooner or later, it will try to kill you, regardless of your stance. It's an expression of the mammalian urge to kill, untrammeled by conscience or empathy
Indeed. They also remind me of the Alien in Alien, with poor old John Hurt as the Iraq war.
There's another gory vid doing the rounds which shows a different Sunni Syrian death cult, executing weeping ISIS members. The killers are in orange jumpsuits, the victims are in Jihadi John couture, spring range, 2014.
It's a clever inversion of all the ISIS memes: the vid is almost as slick as the best ISIS vids, and, as I say, shows that the ISIS terror is breeding a scary counter terror, as ISIS brutally attacks everyone and everyone fights back, with similar brutality. Hopefully they will all exterminate each other.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
One of my biggest regrets is not studying physics. Although with a background in maths and stats there are few msc physics courses available to me outside of theoretical physics.
About 5 years ago I opened my University physics notes.
I could not understand what the equations meant, what the symbols meant nor indeed the subject (sub atomic physics). I suspect I did not really understand it the day after my final exam:-)
I think you have to have a a very special type of mind which very few are gifted with...
I became a sytems analyst and accountant.. far simpler;-)
Feynman is supposed to have said:
"If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics."
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
And what exactly do you know anything about?
Turnips?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Round about the cauldron go; In the poison'd entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy, maw and gulf Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat, and slips of yew Silver'd in the moon's eclipse, Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, Finger of birth-strangled babe (30) Ditch-deliver'd by a drab, Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, For the ingredients of our cauldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.
MG How is it drivel ..What is the SNP offering the workers at Faslane when it becomes Independent..except the dole..
You know nothing of what the SNP would do. They would have a real port with real jobs. I repeat either learn about your topic or don't talk mince. Think how many real jobs could be created with that amount of money.
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
Well, the statement - that this universe is very precise about factors that make it possible for life of the animal/human sort to arise - is quite commonly heard.
I doubt (from my position of total ignorance) that any one factor could be different without affecting at least some of the others. Too far off-beam & we couldn't be here, I gather (but something else with cognitive powers might be?).
But it's quite easy to see ways in which experience of life could differ - even the difference between a temperate climate like ours & a hostile one like Antarctica or the Middle East carries an indication. I shudder with horror at the idea of 30-degree temps, never mind 40-degs.
But, Ma'am, surely you are talking about the existence of a planet that can support human life and civilisation. That is not the same thing as a universe exquisitely made for human existence, is it? There must be lots of habitable worlds in our own galaxy and there a lots of galaxies and that is in just one universe.
If there are an infinite number of universes then there must be an infinite number of, for want of a better term, Planet Earths. Some will be in a universe that is exquisitely made for humans and some won't but they will all be occupied by humans, well not all of them but an infinite number of them will be. So how will life differ for those living in say, Hurstpierpoint, in a universe exquisitely made for humans and from those living in Hurstpierpoint in a sub-optimal universe? If there is no difference discernible by the two sets of humans is the concept of an exquisite universe valid at all?
You can easily have an infinite number of universes with the only variation being the length of Jeremy Corbyn's beard. I don't for one moment suppose that infinity wishes to be so limited mind you.
Until someone provides evidence of another universe I'm pretty happy to stick with one.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
It's not so much the mathematics but the symbolic notation and representation.
I teach quantum mechanics for chemistry students and the actual mathematics under-pinning the very basic levels is not that hard. Trying to get your head around what the squiggles actually mean? That's the killer.
I used to do a bit of proof-reading for scientists and the thing that always made me LOL was when the next intelligible words after a couple of pages covered in mathematics were "Obviously, therefore ....."
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
Well, the statement - that this universe is very precise about factors that make it possible for life of the animal/human sort to arise - is quite commonly heard.
I doubt (from my position of total ignorance) that any one factor could be different without affecting at least some of the others. Too far off-beam & we couldn't be here, I gather (but something else with cognitive powers might be?).
But it's quite easy to see ways in which experience of life could differ - even the difference between a temperate climate like ours & a hostile one like Antarctica or the Middle East carries an indication. I shudder with horror at the idea of 30-degree temps, never mind 40-degs.
But, Ma'am, surely you are talking about the existence of a planet that can support human life and civilisation. That is not the same thing as a universe exquisitely made for human existence, is it? There must be lots of habitable worlds in our own galaxy and there a lots of galaxies and that is in just one universe.
If there are an infinite number of universes then there must be an infinite number of, for want of a better term, Planet Earths. Some will be in a universe that is exquisitely made for humans and some won't but they will all be occupied by humans, well not all of them but an infinite number of them will be. So how will life differ for those living in say, Hurstpierpoint, in a universe exquisitely made for humans and from those living in Hurstpierpoint in a sub-optimal universe? If there is no difference discernible by the two sets of humans is the concept of an exquisite universe valid at all?
You can easily have an infinite number of universes with the only variation being the length of Jeremy Corbyn's beard. I don't for one moment suppose that infinity wishes to be so limited mind you.
Until someone provides evidence of another universe I'm pretty happy to stick with one.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
It's not so much the mathematics but the symbolic notation and representation.
I teach quantum mechanics for chemistry students and the actual mathematics under-pinning the very basic levels is not that hard. Trying to get your head around what the squiggles actually mean? That's the killer.
I used to do a bit of proof-reading for scientists and the thing that always made me LOL was when the next intelligible words after a couple of pages covered in mathematics were "Obviously, therefore ....."
My theory (*) is that there is actually an infinite level of detail, designed as one of God's tricks to us ("Ha! You think you understand atoms? Just you wait to see what's under them!"). We got a handle on atoms, only to learn there was a layer beneath that of electrons, neutrons and protons. Then we learn there is a layer beneath that of sub-atomic particles. When we finally get a handle on that, there'll be another layer below that, like infinitely-nested Russian dolls.
Your post extends that theory. If you need three pints of Abbot (not HSB, please!) to understand each layer, it's quite probable that some drunken pigeon-kissing Scotsman (**) on a park bench will suddenly understand what the strands of the super-strings are made of ...
(*) This is almost certainly not original. (**) This happened.
It could be of course that God is just making it up as he goes along, we discover atoms he makes up the next level on the fly and so forth - just to make sure mankind never actually discovers the true nature of the universe. That might explain the point you make in another post that sub-atomic physics lacks the beauty and elegance of previous versions - when you are making up complex stuff on the hoof it must be hard to keep the whole thing nice and balanced.
MG..You seem to have missed the point... Osborne has secured and created jobs with that kind of money....What would the SNP do..you seem to know, so tell everyone....
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
And what exactly do you know anything about?
Turnips?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Quoting an English Playwright?
When chapmen billies leave the street, And drouthy neibors, neibors meet, As market days are wearing late, An' folk begin to tak the gate; While we sit bousing at the nappy, And getting fou and unco happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles, That lie between us and our hame, Where sits our sulky sullen dame. Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
MG..You seem to have missed the point... Osborne has secured and created jobs with that kind of money....What would the SNP do..you seem to know, so tell everyone....
Spend £500M a lot more wisely , 520 jobs most of which are cleaners and cooks etc , for that kind of cash is crap.
MG How is it drivel ..What is the SNP offering the workers at Faslane when it becomes Independent..except the dole..
You know nothing of what the SNP would do. They would have a real port with real jobs. I repeat either learn about your topic or don't talk mince. Think how many real jobs could be created with that amount of money.
A real port? For what? Surely Whisky exports are already well served elsewhere...
Edit: Can you define a real job please? I'm sure the good folk who work at Faslane would like to know what they've be forced to do under Macaroni Pie in the Sky economic plans...
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
And what exactly do you know anything about?
Turnips?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Quoting an English Playwright?
When chapmen billies leave the street, And drouthy neibors, neibors meet, As market days are wearing late, An' folk begin to tak the gate; While we sit bousing at the nappy, And getting fou and unco happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles, That lie between us and our hame, Where sits our sulky sullen dame. Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
Scot manque....
Unlike you I am not bigoted, I like the English.
PS: Serious question , is there anything Scottish you do not hate.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
And what exactly do you know anything about?
Turnips?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Quoting an English Playwright?
When chapmen billies leave the street, And drouthy neibors, neibors meet, As market days are wearing late, An' folk begin to tak the gate; While we sit bousing at the nappy, And getting fou and unco happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles, That lie between us and our hame, Where sits our sulky sullen dame. Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
There's a new ISIS vid out, I won't link. It shows guys being suspended alive above fires and burned. There are two interesting aspects to this nihilistic horror.
1. It's actually in response to an equally appalling video, where a Shia warlord by the name of Abu Azrael burns and "kebabs" a member of ISIS.
2. The impact of the ISIS video is less than those before. Because we've seen it all before.
As I say, this points up two problems for ISIS. Firstly they are now generating a counter-terror, mainly from Shia, but also from Kurds and Christians. They are turning all against them. Secondly, their horror-porn has gone as far as it can. After burning people alive what else can you do? Once you've demolished Palmyra you can't demolish it again - and ISIS will never overtake another site like Palmyra.
So, amidst the ghastliness, there are grim reasons to hope that ISIS might have peaked.
I would worry about what sexually sadistic torture they might commit, especially after their recent ruling that rape of non-Muslim women is permitted/required by Islam. No doubt there is awful stuff happening now and reports from Yazidi girls who have escaped are harrowing. But given that they have said that IS supporters should attack the West I would certainly worry about some such attack here. That would take the level of terror to a whole new level.
I don't want to give people nightmares. But assuming the worst about IS seems the only sensible option.
MG You demean the people who work at Faslane and are dependent on the place to earn a living... and not all of them are cleaners and ancillaries..are you some sort of Scottish snob.. "You are a cleaner and therefore you don't count"..sort of snob.
MG Absolutely.. go and ask them yourself..job security for a lot more years.. until the Scots decide on Independence and then bingo.. unemployed..It is all that the SNP is offering them.
Stick to something you know about, here you are just talking drivel.
And what exactly do you know anything about?
Turnips?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Quoting an English Playwright?
When chapmen billies leave the street, And drouthy neibors, neibors meet, As market days are wearing late, An' folk begin to tak the gate; While we sit bousing at the nappy, And getting fou and unco happy, We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles, That lie between us and our hame, Where sits our sulky sullen dame. Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
Scot manque....
Unlike you I am not bigoted, I like the English.
So do I!
Perhaps you are
getting fou
Would you like a translation.....?
At 6pm I hardly think so, you do not seem to know much about me.
The trouble with Horizon physics and astronomy programmes is that they would rather spend their budget sending a team over to California or South America to film a scientist driving his car up a mountain than to make a serious attempt to simplify difficult topics. For all their resources, they fall way behind 5-minute U tube videos on the structure of the atom, for example.
Surely the structure of atoms is straightforward, even I sort of understand it - neutrons protons and electrons whizzing round. Its when someone tries to explain sub atomic particles, quarks and strings and whatnot that complexity really sets in and peoples eyes glaze over..
I have an Honours Degree in Physics.. Not a very good one and 46 years ago.
I don't have a high enough IQ to understand the maths that explains sub atomic particles.. - basically if your IQ is less than 150 then you are a dumbo and have no chance.. And if you have an IQ o 150 and don't understand maths , you have no chance.
And I don't mean maths as at school. I mean vastly complex equations..and concepts..
Feynman was the great explainer of physics for the less able physicists.. I think even he (died 1988) would struggle today. And he was a genius.
It's not so much the mathematics but the symbolic notation and representation.
I teach quantum mechanics for chemistry students and the actual mathematics under-pinning the very basic levels is not that hard. Trying to get your head around what the squiggles actually mean? That's the killer.
I used to do a bit of proof-reading for scientists and the thing that always made me LOL was when the next intelligible words after a couple of pages covered in mathematics were "Obviously, therefore ....."
Atkins Physical Chemistry often throws out "trivially, we obtain" skipping about 2 sides of A4.
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
But you aren't just any old voter (or even any young voter). Maybe you're one of the people who are going to do the hard work of re-interpreting Labour's original principles into a form that's relevant to the 21st century. If you've got any aptitude & interest at all, please don't leave it to "someone else".
MG You demean the people who work at Faslane and are dependent on the place to earn a living... and not all of them are cleaners and ancillaries..are you some sort of Scottish snob.. "You are a cleaner and therefore you don't count"..sort of snob.
Richard , as you know zilch on the topic best just to keep posting your in depth opinions on SNP policy.
MG You demean the people who work at Faslane and are dependent on the place to earn a living... and not all of them are cleaners and ancillaries..are you some sort of Scottish snob.. "You are a cleaner and therefore you don't count"..sort of snob.
Are you serious about this 'giving people jobs' thing? I thought you were a conservative.
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
Ah, so I was right the other week.
Beard and Sandals brigade here I come.... *sigh*
Don't worry, they don't expect a long term commitment I suspect, given their recent collapse of support, so you can just dally in beards and sandals until you decide it is no longer for you.
Ms Apocalypse If you actually engage with the Lib Dems you may find we are nothing like as bad as you fear! Left of centre, sense of humour (we need one), what's not to like?
PS Australia now 175 for 7 and apparently determined to throw T20 away.....
MG You demean the people who work at Faslane and are dependent on the place to earn a living... and not all of them are cleaners and ancillaries..are you some sort of Scottish snob.. "You are a cleaner and therefore you don't count"..sort of snob.
Are you serious about this 'giving people jobs' thing? I thought you were a conservative.
A happy state of affairs for supporters of our current arrangements that can only be damaged by opening the issue up to debate and scrutiny in my opinion.
If you'd read the poll, you'd see that it did explore options - such as 'cheaper Trident' - and support for a deterrent remained greater than getting rid of it - even in Scotland!
'Exploring options' within a poll is neither scrutiny nor debate.
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
Ah, so I was right the other week.
Beard and Sandals brigade here I come.... *sigh*
Don't worry, they don't expect a long term commitment I suspect, given their recent collapse of support, so you can just dally in beards and sandals until you decide it is no longer for you.
It also pisses off the people, will not help the Tory surge for sure.
Panic Stations at Chez Ruth as she see's her numbers plummeting even further. While she may have given her an outstanding chance of being The Last Tory In Scotland by switching to Edinburgh, it will be a very lonely place in Holyrood when the Tories and Liberals can't even fill one back row of the their segment of benches.
There's a lot of words you could use to describe ISIS's actions, but "nihilistic" certainly isn't one of them!
I know what you mean, but arguably SeanT uses the word correctly here. They won't be happy until there is only one person left, who will then die. Like Nazism, ISIS seems to be a credo whose idee fixe is making larger and larger categories of people to kill. It's the universal enemy.
People once pondered the paradox of the universal solvent: what bottle would you keep it in? Similarly, ISIS is the universal enemy: sooner or later, it will try to kill you, regardless of your stance. It's an expression of the mammalian urge to kill, untrammeled by conscience or empathy
Indeed. They also remind me of the Alien in Alien, with poor old John Hurt as the Iraq war.
There's another gory vid doing the rounds which shows a different Sunni Syrian death cult, executing weeping ISIS members. The killers are in orange jumpsuits, the victims are in Jihadi John couture, spring range, 2014.
It's a clever inversion of all the ISIS memes: the vid is almost as slick as the best ISIS vids, and, as I say, shows that the ISIS terror is breeding a scary counter terror, as ISIS brutally attacks everyone and everyone fights back, with similar brutality. Hopefully they will all exterminate each other.
I'm not sure that maths is all that happy with infinities. I read a little about Georg Cantor who invented sets and supposedly proved that you can have bigger infinities and lesser infinities. But I reckon I disproved that in a playground argument when I was nine - "The highest number in the world" "OK, then the highest number in the world plus one."
However, I never really believed in electromagnetism and fields so I'm not that reliable.
from Flightpath01 'What a bozo you are. Saddam was in breach of the ceasefire agreement which ended the Gulf war. Well it ended the fighting of the Gulf War but it did not end the war. In breaking the ceasefire Saddam laid himself open to further attack. Do you get that? Poland was a legal independent at peace country invaded without cause. Saddam's Iraq was a country which had invaded Kuwait and was finally evicted by international coalition. It was Saddam after that who should have been put on trial. Instead the ceasefire allowed him to say in power under certain conditions which he broke (not least by his Republican Guard massacring his opponents). Yet you in your bigotry try to tell us that Bush and Blair are worse than Hitler and Nazi Germany. Get stu##ed.'
You have long revealed yourself to be one of the nastier pieces of work on this board - clearly a fully paid up member of the Arbeit Macht Frei wing of the Tory party. Whether or not Hussein was in breach of the ceasefire agreement any further action to enforce it required the support of the Security Council. That was certainly Koffi Annan's view and I am inclined to attach more weight to that than to the opinions of you - and the criminals who authorised the unprovoked attack. As for bigotry , I suggest that you read what I actually said rather making everything up as you go along. I did not mention Poland though it is fair to say that Iraq was as much at peace in 2003 as was Poland in 1939 . Why not address your ignorance by actually reading the Nuremburg indictments and so increase the possibility of making intelligent comment on the matter? Blair and Bush planned the 2003 attack on Iraq - Hans Blix needs no convincing of that. How many of the Nuremburg defendants planned the attack on Poland? Goering certainly did not.
Oh yes he did!! As head of the Luftwaffe he was intimately involved
Many years ago my ancestors decided to join the British army. I can't imagine that was as decision without dilemmas, but nonetheless that's what they did. For several generations thereafter it was a theme. They were Scots obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be saying this.
I'm sure that they would have loved Scotland. I'm equally sure that they would be dismayed if Scotland lost its link with the broader UK. They fought with their lives for the UK. Something inspired them to do so.
Somehow along the way of Scottish Nationalism I think you need to re-embrace this history. Scotland detached from England is wrong - a different relationship - sure.
It also pisses off the people, will not help the Tory surge for sure.
Panic Stations at Chez Ruth as she see's her numbers plummeting even further. While she may have given her an outstanding chance of being The Last Tory In Scotland by switching to Edinburgh, it will be a very lonely place in Holyrood when the Tories and Liberals can't even fill one back row of the their segment of benches.
Nationalist spin-training in Scotland must be incredibly easy.
Lesson 1: All news is good news for the nationalist cause. Even if counterintuitive. Especially if a Tory announcement.
Given the considerable hubris of the SNP, am pretty confident that the sensible opposition to nationalism in Scotland will turn Conservative again - maybe 10 years down the line, maybe 20, but it will happen eventually.
Mr. 1983, must admit I was thinking that [also about the destruction of Palmya. The Temple of Artemis [I think] was one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. It was destroyed by an idiot who thought his name would live forever by his atrocious deed. Historians often refuse to name him, to rob him of that dubious fame].
Mr. CD13, don't black holes of varying size suggest infinities can be larger or smaller? Like an ant on a tennis ball hovering in mid-air. It can take an infinite number of steps and will never reach the end. An ant on a beach ball can do the same. But a beach ball is clearly larger than a tennis ball.
LG1983.. I am not a Conservative .. I happen to think that everyone should have the opportunity to be employed.. That is not exclusively a LEFTIE stance..
MG How is it drivel ..What is the SNP offering the workers at Faslane when it becomes Independent..except the dole..
Faslane's future is assured after Independence.
While there is an utter ridiculousness in the UK's level of defence spending and the outdated reliance on a separate armed service, the SNP are committed to maintaining such for an Independence Scotland, based at Faslane (Army and Navy). Jobs would increase,
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
The Conservative party marginalised themselves as a force in Scotland. They've been dead as a political-do-do in Scotland since the 1990s really, and the Tory brand has been so damaged it that they could promise every Scot £1m and they'd still lose heavily there. The SNP have really marginalised Labour, more than any other party. In some ways, I don't blame Scots for voting SNP. I'd probably vote SNP if I were Scottish.
Probably because of the fact that Labour are electing an idiot who called the death of Bin Laden a 'tragedy', and that I'm probably going to end up voting LD for the next five years.
But you aren't just any old voter (or even any young voter). Maybe you're one of the people who are going to do the hard work of re-interpreting Labour's original principles into a form that's relevant to the 21st century. If you've got any aptitude & interest at all, please don't leave it to "someone else".
I wouldn't even know where to start on making Labour actually relevant to the 21st century. A large part that, I think would actually have to start with making trade unions relevant to the 21st century. With the likes of McCluskey running them, it's like they are stuck in the 1980s! How you'd do that though, I have no idea.
@kle4 Hmmm, that's true but I think they're hoping Labour's own 'apocalypse' can resurrect their political fortunes.
@MrsB The LDs are okay on paper, I've never hated them or anything like that (which is unusual for anyone who has voted Labour after 2010). But things like the Rennard scandal, and the LDs being not as liberal or for equality as they claim to be in practice, has made me sceptical.
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
MG I keep asking you for some SNP policy with regard to Faslane.. we all get Zilch response..Do they actually have one and what is it..
Richard, you don't listen. They have said they would have it as a navy base with more jobs than it has now, however until independence they can do nothing as London hold all the powers. £500M down the drain is hardly a great policy, and it is over 10 years. SNP put £100M into ferries today over the next few years, that is real investment.
It also pisses off the people, will not help the Tory surge for sure.
Panic Stations at Chez Ruth as she see's her numbers plummeting even further. While she may have given her an outstanding chance of being The Last Tory In Scotland by switching to Edinburgh, it will be a very lonely place in Holyrood when the Tories and Liberals can't even fill one back row of the their segment of benches.
Nationalist spin-training in Scotland must be incredibly easy.
Lesson 1: All news is good news for the nationalist cause. Even if counterintuitive. Especially if a Tory announcement.
Given the considerable hubris of the SNP, am pretty confident that the sensible opposition to nationalism in Scotland will turn Conservative again - maybe 10 years down the line, maybe 20, but it will happen eventually.
Not too bright are we Mortimer, do you ever read the newspapers. The sub regional leader in Scotland is having to knife someone in Edinburgh just so she can have a chance of surviving in a consolation list seat. Their vote is on a continuous downward spiral.
LG1983.. I am not a Conservative .. I happen to think that everyone should have the opportunity to be employed.. That is not exclusively a LEFTIE stance..
I used a small 'c'. I just think it's a silly argument to spend huge amounts of money to keep people in (what I believe to be) gainless employment. It's very 'Strasbourg-esque'. I'd like the money spent on conventional forces - which would entail far more people being employed for the cash.
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
To be fair to him though there is a reasonable role to put oneself in as a last olive branch. He clearly wasn't connected with power over many years, and as such thought that he might hold his nose and create a channel of communication.
There's a danger though that all this holding of his nose might seem to suggest that he supports, endorses, or doesn't disapprove of, all sorts of nonsense. He's clearly engaged some impressionable people, and he should very swiftly act to make clear that he doesn't approve of the excesses of IS for example. So do that now Jeremy!
Many years ago my ancestors decided to join the British army. I can't imagine that was as decision without dilemmas, but nonetheless that's what they did. For several generations thereafter it was a theme. They were Scots obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be saying this.
I'm sure that they would have loved Scotland. I'm equally sure that they would be dismayed if Scotland lost its link with the broader UK. They fought with their lives for the UK. Something inspired them to do so.
Somehow along the way of Scottish Nationalism I think you need to re-embrace this history. Scotland detached from England is wrong - a different relationship - sure.
Omnium , Unfortunately Westminster do not want a federal relationship, they will cling to power as long as they can and therefore the only outcome is the break up of the UK. Once upon a time the UK was reasonably fair to all , not nowadays.
20 mile tailbacks after Austrian police border crackdown as hundreds of migrants pack into trains bound for Germany
Extra border checks have led to serious tailbacks on the Austrian border Austrian Interior Minister said 200 asylum seekers found hidden last night Hungary finish work on 13ft fence in addition to barbed-wire border barrier Hundreds of desperate migrants cram into trains bound for Germany Some 3,080 people crossed border from Serbia to Hungary on Saturday The UN estimates 300,000 migrants have arrived in Europe this year Greek coastguard picks up 2,500 migrants heading to islands in three days Teenage migrant killed in firefight with Greek police whilst sail from Turkey
It also pisses off the people, will not help the Tory surge for sure.
Panic Stations at Chez Ruth as she see's her numbers plummeting even further. While she may have given her an outstanding chance of being The Last Tory In Scotland by switching to Edinburgh, it will be a very lonely place in Holyrood when the Tories and Liberals can't even fill one back row of the their segment of benches.
Nationalist spin-training in Scotland must be incredibly easy.
Lesson 1: All news is good news for the nationalist cause. Even if counterintuitive. Especially if a Tory announcement.
Given the considerable hubris of the SNP, am pretty confident that the sensible opposition to nationalism in Scotland will turn Conservative again - maybe 10 years down the line, maybe 20, but it will happen eventually.
Not too bright are we Mortimer, do you ever read the newspapers. The sub regional leader in Scotland is having to knife someone in Edinburgh just so she can have a chance of surviving in a consolation list seat. Their vote is on a continuous downward spiral.
Yep - I tend to read the national newspapers, but even so was well aware of the issue. More significant Scottish announcement today is that Faslane future is secured. Another one in the eye for the SNP. 'Yes' will be down to 35% in the polls before we know it...
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
And this is what John McDonnell MP, a Corbyn supporter and possible candidate for Shadow Chancellor has said: "It’s about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA.”
LG1983.. I am not a Conservative .. I happen to think that everyone should have the opportunity to be employed.. That is not exclusively a LEFTIE stance..
I used a small 'c'. I just think it's a silly argument to spend huge amounts of money to keep people in (what I believe to be) gainless employment. It's very 'Strasbourg-esque'. I'd like the money spent on conventional forces - which would entail far more people being employed for the cash.
Richard just cannot take that onboard , his hatred of the SNP blind him to reality.
I'm not sure that maths is all that happy with infinities. I read a little about Georg Cantor who invented sets and supposedly proved that you can have bigger infinities and lesser infinities. But I reckon I disproved that in a playground argument when I was nine - "The highest number in the world" "OK, then the highest number in the world plus one."
However, I never really believed in electromagnetism and fields so I'm not that reliable.
I've never *quite* got my head around this.
You've got an infinite set of integers, from 0 to infinity.
So you've got an infinite set of numbers between each number, from x to x + 1.
And you've got another set of integers from 0 to - infinity.
But if you take the set of numbers that are squares of other integers, there are an infinite amount of them, but its clearly a smaller set of numbers than the original set of numbers.
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
And this is what John McDonnell MP, a Corbyn supporter and possible candidate for Shadow Chancellor has said: "It’s about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA.”
It also pisses off the people, will not help the Tory surge for sure.
Panic Stations at Chez Ruth as she see's her numbers plummeting even further. While she may have given her an outstanding chance of being The Last Tory In Scotland by switching to Edinburgh, it will be a very lonely place in Holyrood when the Tories and Liberals can't even fill one back row of the their segment of benches.
Nationalist spin-training in Scotland must be incredibly easy.
Lesson 1: All news is good news for the nationalist cause. Even if counterintuitive. Especially if a Tory announcement.
Given the considerable hubris of the SNP, am pretty confident that the sensible opposition to nationalism in Scotland will turn Conservative again - maybe 10 years down the line, maybe 20, but it will happen eventually.
Not too bright are we Mortimer, do you ever read the newspapers. The sub regional leader in Scotland is having to knife someone in Edinburgh just so she can have a chance of surviving in a consolation list seat. Their vote is on a continuous downward spiral.
Yep - I tend to read the national newspapers, but even so was well aware of the issue. More significant Scottish announcement today is that Faslane future is secured. Another one in the eye for the SNP. 'Yes' will be down to 35% in the polls before we know it...
Many years ago my ancestors decided to join the British army. I can't imagine that was as decision without dilemmas, but nonetheless that's what they did. For several generations thereafter it was a theme. They were Scots obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be saying this.
I'm sure that they would have loved Scotland. I'm equally sure that they would be dismayed if Scotland lost its link with the broader UK. They fought with their lives for the UK. Something inspired them to do so.
Somehow along the way of Scottish Nationalism I think you need to re-embrace this history. Scotland detached from England is wrong - a different relationship - sure.
Omnium , Unfortunately Westminster do not want a federal relationship, they will cling to power as long as they can and therefore the only outcome is the break up of the UK. Once upon a time the UK was reasonably fair to all , not nowadays.
Indeed; my constituency fares particularly poorly when it comes to educational, transport and other infrastructure spending; certainly worse than the regions. That said, I don't have some dreamy notion of separation. United we stand.
LG1983.. I am not a Conservative .. I happen to think that everyone should have the opportunity to be employed.. That is not exclusively a LEFTIE stance..
I used a small 'c'. I just think it's a silly argument to spend huge amounts of money to keep people in (what I believe to be) gainless employment. It's very 'Strasbourg-esque'. I'd like the money spent on conventional forces - which would entail far more people being employed for the cash.
A similar argument was made by Crispin Blunt this morning on the radio. He is the only Tory opposed to Trident, despite chairing the Defence Select Committee, who seemed to be saying that this was the wrong way to spend such a significant proportion of the defence budget, especially given the risks we face. I can see something in this but don't know enough about the topic really.
LG 1983.. what..from your lofty perch..do you consider to be .."Gainful employment".. in my book it is the ability and opportunity for someone to earn a living, no matter ow umble..do cleaners..of which there are many thousands across the country..not count.
LG1983.. I am not a Conservative .. I happen to think that everyone should have the opportunity to be employed.. That is not exclusively a LEFTIE stance..
I used a small 'c'. I just think it's a silly argument to spend huge amounts of money to keep people in (what I believe to be) gainless employment. It's very 'Strasbourg-esque'. I'd like the money spent on conventional forces - which would entail far more people being employed for the cash.
A similar argument was made by Crispin Blunt this morning on the radio. He is the only Tory opposed to Trident, despite chairing the Defence Select Committee, who seemed to be saying that this was the wrong way to spend such a significant proportion of the defence budget, especially given the risks we face. I can see something in this but don't know enough about the topic really.
I have just noticed that Wikipedia mysteriously says that the former Liverpool MP Bob Wareing died on 1st Msay 2015, although it was only edited as such on 25th August 2015.
He was previously reported to have died on 29th August 2014, but this was corrected the next day as an error. I presume that this is another false rumour, although if it is true then would be ironic that his death was reported when it didn't happen, but not reported when it did.
"Don't black holes of varying size suggest infinities can be larger or smaller?"
You may be thinking of singularities or the original Big Bang which suggest that pressure and gravity increase to infinity as the volume hits zero. I think that's one reason that strings gained favour - they have a minute but definite volume. Black holes can be tiny or massive but are never infinite.
But I've never claimed to be a physicist, my doctorate was in toxicology - an arcane but sensible subject by comparison.
Can anyone find any examples of Jeremy Corbyn doing something similar with ‘the other side’ of any of these peace processes or inter-faith meetings? For instance does anyone anywhere have any record of Jeremy Corbyn standing for a minute’s silence for some loyalist thugs killed while on ‘active service’? Or, more plausibly, are there any records of Jeremy Corbyn attending memorial events for the many members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed by while doing their duty as policemen? Or are there any records of him remembering members of the British armed forces and security services killed while performing their duties? It is only if we cannot find evidence of Jeremy attending such events that people might read reasons into why we only have records of him attending memorials for the IRA.
To be fair to him though there is a reasonable role to put oneself in as a last olive branch. He clearly wasn't connected with power over many years, and as such thought that he might hold his nose and create a channel of communication.
There's a danger though that all this holding of his nose might seem to suggest that he supports, endorses, or doesn't disapprove of, all sorts of nonsense. He's clearly engaged some impressionable people, and he should very swiftly act to make clear that he doesn't approve of the excesses of IS for example. So do that now Jeremy!
He was not seriously acting as any sort of channel of communication. As others have noted, HMG had plenty of ways of speaking to the IRA if they wanted to. That's just Corbyn disingenuously puffing himself up on the back of genuine efforts by others to try and justify his squalid little adventures.
But in any case it's too late. This is what he did, what he chose to do when no-one else was looking and it tells you all you need to know about his moral and political judgment, or lack of it.
I wouldn't even know where to start on making Labour actually relevant to the 21st century. A large part that, I think would actually have to start with making trade unions relevant to the 21st century. With the likes of McCluskey running them, it's like they are stuck in the 1980s! How you'd do that though, I have no idea.
(snipped for length)
making trade unions relevant to the 21st century
That's a very good example: what we need to do is to dig down to the roots & origins of the Trades Unions and identify the generic principles underlying why they were set up in the first place: what they did & why they did it.
As an analogy, computer programs used to be written all in one very long 'line'; then we realised we could abstract out parts & have subroutines, which were general-purpose. Later, bigger abstractions came along, like Objects & what-not; there'll be many more now because I've been out of IT for the best part of 10 years.
I was a software engineer and did a lot of systems analysis. The 'system' that needs analysis here is Labour's roots & origins including the TUs. It's a social system you'd be analysing.
You're currently at Uni, I gather? They always used to say that if you learn to tackle one subject, you know how to tackle any subject.
Comments
My theory (*) is that there is actually an infinite level of detail, designed as one of God's tricks to us ("Ha! You think you understand atoms? Just you wait to see what's under them!"). We got a handle on atoms, only to learn there was a layer beneath that of electrons, neutrons and protons. Then we learn there is a layer beneath that of sub-atomic particles. When we finally get a handle on that, there'll be another layer below that, like infinitely-nested Russian dolls.
Your post extends that theory. If you need three pints of Abbot (not HSB, please!) to understand each layer, it's quite probable that some drunken pigeon-kissing Scotsman (**) on a park bench will suddenly understand what the strands of the super-strings are made of ...
(*) This is almost certainly not original.
(**) This happened.
'What a bozo you are.
Saddam was in breach of the ceasefire agreement which ended the Gulf war. Well it ended the fighting of the Gulf War but it did not end the war. In breaking the ceasefire Saddam laid himself open to further attack.
Do you get that?
Poland was a legal independent at peace country invaded without cause. Saddam's Iraq was a country which had invaded Kuwait and was finally evicted by international coalition. It was Saddam after that who should have been put on trial. Instead the ceasefire allowed him to say in power under certain conditions which he broke (not least by his Republican Guard massacring his opponents).
Yet you in your bigotry try to tell us that Bush and Blair are worse than Hitler and Nazi Germany. Get stu##ed.'
You have long revealed yourself to be one of the nastier pieces of work on this board - clearly a fully paid up member of the Arbeit Macht Frei wing of the Tory party.
Whether or not Hussein was in breach of the ceasefire agreement any further action to enforce it required the support of the Security Council. That was certainly Koffi Annan's view and I am inclined to attach more weight to that than to the opinions of you - and the criminals who authorised the unprovoked attack.
As for bigotry , I suggest that you read what I actually said rather making everything up as you go along. I did not mention Poland though it is fair to say that Iraq was as much at peace in 2003 as was Poland in 1939 . Why not address your ignorance by actually reading the Nuremburg indictments and so increase the possibility of making intelligent comment on the matter? Blair and Bush planned the 2003 attack on Iraq - Hans Blix needs no convincing of that. How many of the Nuremburg defendants planned the attack on Poland? Goering certainly did not.
(*) and almost certainly incorrectly.
It's true to say that Labour party members are also hyper-partisan (they are party activists and members after all) and loathe the Conservative party. Where both sets differ, as Oliver_PB points out is that the Conservative party is, to all intents and purposes obsessed with power - it's probably why it's an historically far better election-winning machine than the Labour party (who are too obsessed with ideological purity). However, whether the country is actually better for having the Conservatives in power in another matter. In fact, this whole five years, probably proves why Britain has many problems, and why many of Britain's problems are likely to go unresolved.
On the one hand, you have probably the most dire opposition party in the whole of Europe, whose mainstream candidates are so mediocre a nutter like Corbyn is about to become opposition leader. A man, with views which are so far away from reality it's an absolute joke. And stupid Guardian Corbynites, in abdicating their duty to provide a decent opposition to the government, have essentially let down the most vulnerable in society who now more than ever need someone to stand up for them. Meanwhile, the heir-apparent to the Conservative party leadership and the country is a man more interested in being some kind of political master-mind than actually making the country a better place for all. No wonder therefore, that among all of this the immigration crisis continues unresolved, as do the threats of ISIS, and internal issues such as the housing crisis. All while the spectator of another downturn - which may be global given China's issues (and Brazil in recession to add insult to injury) looms.
Happy days, what a shower of shite the political elite in this country are.
I can't remember where, or why, or when [which, now I think about it, is moderately alarming] but I do remember reading about sub-atomic particles a bit.
They're quite complicated. I think it was muons in relation to time dilation caused by extremely high relative speeds (I wrote a short story inspired by the Queen song '39 and for a time considered trying to make the time elapsed accurate, but abandoned that).
War elephants are both larger and easier to comprehend.
Turnips?
I teach quantum mechanics for chemistry students and the actual mathematics under-pinning the very basic levels is not that hard. Trying to get your head around what the squiggles actually mean? That's the killer.
Maths is sort of ok with infinity, although the physicist's use of it isn't well regarded. Maths too is the hardest thing to explain - why should there be this very strong pattern?
The Anthropic principle takes care of most of the other questions.
On the scale of the universe we're not even a sidenote.
About 5 years ago I opened my University physics notes.
I could not understand what the equations meant, what the symbols meant nor indeed the subject (sub atomic physics). I suspect I did not really understand it the day after my final exam:-)
I think you have to have a a very special type of mind which very few are gifted with...
I became a sytems analyst and accountant.. far simpler;-)
If there are an infinite number of universes then there must be an infinite number of, for want of a better term, Planet Earths. Some will be in a universe that is exquisitely made for humans and some won't but they will all be occupied by humans, well not all of them but an infinite number of them will be. So how will life differ for those living in say, Hurstpierpoint, in a universe exquisitely made for humans and from those living in Hurstpierpoint in a sub-optimal universe? If there is no difference discernible by the two sets of humans is the concept of an exquisite universe valid at all?
"If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics."
But you can always study it now. I did only a single year of classical history at school, and only really got into it some years later.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe (30)
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Think how many real jobs could be created with that amount of money.
Until someone provides evidence of another universe I'm pretty happy to stick with one.
It could be of course that God is just making it up as he goes along, we discover atoms he makes up the next level on the fly and so forth - just to make sure mankind never actually discovers the true nature of the universe. That might explain the point you make in another post that sub-atomic physics lacks the beauty and elegance of previous versions - when you are making up complex stuff on the hoof it must be hard to keep the whole thing nice and balanced.
When chapmen billies leave the street,
And drouthy neibors, neibors meet,
As market days are wearing late,
An' folk begin to tak the gate;
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
And getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky sullen dame.
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
Scot manque....
Opportunities don't always come twice in a lifetime. Best to accept it & rejoice that others are able to grab the opportunities when they arise.
Edit: Can you define a real job please? I'm sure the good folk who work at Faslane would like to know what they've be forced to do under Macaroni Pie in the Sky economic plans...
PS: Serious question , is there anything Scottish you do not hate.
Perhaps you are
getting fou
Would you like a translation.....?
I don't want to give people nightmares. But assuming the worst about IS seems the only sensible option.
Thanks.
PS Australia now 175 for 7 and apparently determined to throw T20 away.....
Didn't look like it with 2 overs to go.
LD ladies at conference frequently need to heed the advice of Coco Chanel "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory"
However, I never really believed in electromagnetism and fields so I'm not that reliable.
Many years ago my ancestors decided to join the British army. I can't imagine that was as decision without dilemmas, but nonetheless that's what they did. For several generations thereafter it was a theme. They were Scots obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be saying this.
I'm sure that they would have loved Scotland. I'm equally sure that they would be dismayed if Scotland lost its link with the broader UK. They fought with their lives for the UK. Something inspired them to do so.
Somehow along the way of Scottish Nationalism I think you need to re-embrace this history. Scotland detached from England is wrong - a different relationship - sure.
Lesson 1: All news is good news for the nationalist cause. Even if counterintuitive. Especially if a Tory announcement.
Given the considerable hubris of the SNP, am pretty confident that the sensible opposition to nationalism in Scotland will turn Conservative again - maybe 10 years down the line, maybe 20, but it will happen eventually.
Mr. CD13, don't black holes of varying size suggest infinities can be larger or smaller? Like an ant on a tennis ball hovering in mid-air. It can take an infinite number of steps and will never reach the end. An ant on a beach ball can do the same. But a beach ball is clearly larger than a tennis ball.
While there is an utter ridiculousness in the UK's level of defence spending and the outdated reliance on a separate armed service, the SNP are committed to maintaining such for an Independence Scotland, based at Faslane (Army and Navy). Jobs would increase,
@Morris_Dancer Really? I didn't know that!
@kle4 Hmmm, that's true but I think they're hoping Labour's own 'apocalypse' can resurrect their political fortunes.
@MrsB The LDs are okay on paper, I've never hated them or anything like that (which is unusual for anyone who has voted Labour after 2010). But things like the Rennard scandal, and the LDs being not as liberal or for equality as they claim to be in practice, has made me sceptical.
Yes, these are very fair points.
"“I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong."
and "Physics isn't the most important thing. Love is.”
and, of course ... "If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part.”
Their vote is on a continuous downward spiral.
To be fair to him though there is a reasonable role to put oneself in as a last olive branch. He clearly wasn't connected with power over many years, and as such thought that he might hold his nose and create a channel of communication.
There's a danger though that all this holding of his nose might seem to suggest that he supports, endorses, or doesn't disapprove of, all sorts of nonsense. He's clearly engaged some impressionable people, and he should very swiftly act to make clear that he doesn't approve of the excesses of IS for example. So do that now Jeremy!
Never in doubt!!
And this is what John McDonnell MP, a Corbyn supporter and possible candidate for Shadow Chancellor has said: "It’s about time we started honouring those people involved in the armed struggle. It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes of Bobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA.”
You've got an infinite set of integers, from 0 to infinity.
So you've got an infinite set of numbers between each number, from x to x + 1.
And you've got another set of integers from 0 to - infinity.
But if you take the set of numbers that are squares of other integers, there are an infinite amount of them, but its clearly a smaller set of numbers than the original set of numbers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Wareing
He was previously reported to have died on 29th August 2014, but this was corrected the next day as an error. I presume that this is another false rumour, although if it is true then would be ironic that his death was reported when it didn't happen, but not reported when it did.
"Don't black holes of varying size suggest infinities can be larger or smaller?"
You may be thinking of singularities or the original Big Bang which suggest that pressure and gravity increase to infinity as the volume hits zero. I think that's one reason that strings gained favour - they have a minute but definite volume. Black holes can be tiny or massive but are never infinite.
But I've never claimed to be a physicist, my doctorate was in toxicology - an arcane but sensible subject by comparison.
There's a danger though that all this holding of his nose might seem to suggest that he supports, endorses, or doesn't disapprove of, all sorts of nonsense. He's clearly engaged some impressionable people, and he should very swiftly act to make clear that he doesn't approve of the excesses of IS for example. So do that now Jeremy!
He was not seriously acting as any sort of channel of communication. As others have noted, HMG had plenty of ways of speaking to the IRA if they wanted to. That's just Corbyn disingenuously puffing himself up on the back of genuine efforts by others to try and justify his squalid little adventures.
But in any case it's too late. This is what he did, what he chose to do when no-one else was looking and it tells you all you need to know about his moral and political judgment, or lack of it.
That's a very good example: what we need to do is to dig down to the roots & origins of the Trades Unions and identify the generic principles underlying why they were set up in the first place: what they did & why they did it.
As an analogy, computer programs used to be written all in one very long 'line'; then we realised we could abstract out parts & have subroutines, which were general-purpose. Later, bigger abstractions came along, like Objects & what-not; there'll be many more now because I've been out of IT for the best part of 10 years.
I was a software engineer and did a lot of systems analysis. The 'system' that needs analysis here is Labour's roots & origins including the TUs. It's a social system you'd be analysing.
You're currently at Uni, I gather? They always used to say that if you learn to tackle one subject, you know how to tackle any subject.