Empty Force Challenge

[Gerry Seymour]

It's true! It's actually very cute - as far as @gpseymour is concerned, all the Agatha Christie mysteries, even the ones we'd owned for years, are still mysteries, because he still can't remember who done it. It's adorable, really.

He can say to me, "Remember that movie... with that guy... and the green thing..." and I usually can name the movie. On the other hand, I could recite half the plot to him, and KNOW we'd seen something together - and he wouldn't remember what it was.

Nor, sometimes, that I've even seen it. True story.

 

[pdg]

It's happened more than a couple of times that I've sat down to watch a film and only about 5 minutes from the end realised I've already seen it...

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It's happened more than a couple of times that I've sat down to watch a film and only about 5 minutes from the end realised I've already seen it...

Brother!

 

[pdg]

There's something worse than remembering 5 minutes from the end that you've already seen a film.

It's remembering that you didn't think it was that good the other 3 times you watched it.

Not that I've ever done that



Thankfully, I seem to remember films that are truly terrible and don't have to waste another 2 hours on them (I'm looking at you, cast of 'sideways'...)

 

[skribs]

There's something worse than remembering 5 minutes from the end that you've already seen a film.

It's remembering that you didn't think it was that good the other 3 times you watched it.

Not that I've ever done that



Thankfully, I seem to remember films that are truly terrible and don't have to waste another 2 hours on them (I'm looking at you, cast of 'sideways'...)

About 10 years after it came out, I watched the Lost in Space movie with my Mom. At the end of the movie I asked if she liked it and she goes "it was okay, but I don't think I'd watch it again."

I said "Mom...you just did."

To this day she doesn't believe me.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

About 10 years after it came out, I watched the Lost in Space movie with my Mom. At the end of the movie I asked if she liked it and she goes "it was okay, but I don't think I'd watch it again."

I said "Mom...you just did."

To this day she doesn't believe me.

And I believe her.

 

[pdg]

About 10 years after it came out, I watched the Lost in Space movie with my Mom. At the end of the movie I asked if she liked it and she goes "it was okay, but I don't think I'd watch it again."

I said "Mom...you just did."

To this day she doesn't believe me.

From at least one standpoint, it could be said you're both completely correct, and both entirely mistaken...

It's a bit like Schroedinger's film, but not

 

[skribs]

From at least one standpoint, it could be said you're both completely correct, and both entirely mistaken...

It's a bit like Schroedinger's film, but not

Shroedinger says you can THINK of the cat as both alive and dead. But the cat itself isn't both.

Of course, Shroedinger's cat is the "smart" way of saying "if a tree falls down and nobody is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?"

 

[pdg]

.

Of course, Shroedinger's cat is the "smart" way of saying "if a tree falls down and nobody is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?"

Well it's really not.

If a tree falls down there will be tearing of wood fibres, snapping of branches, leaves or branches moving through the air, an impact when it hits the ground and possibly stuff like soil/stones falling off the roots (if that's how it fell).

All of those things will cause vibrations in the air, which is what sound is.

Scientifically, it makes no difference whether anyone hears the sound or not, it'll happen regardless.

Conversely, you don't know which state the kitty is in until you open the box.

A better analogy would be "if a tree falls over and nobody is there to hear it, does the sound matter?"

 

[oftheherd1]

Will you pay $10,000 to someone who can do this to you? If that person can't, he only need to pay you $1,000. I think that 10-1 ratio is quite reasonable.

Your thought?

I guess if you can find enough gullible takers it would beat teaching for a living.

 

[oftheherd1]

Well it's really not.

If a tree falls down there will be tearing of wood fibres, snapping of branches, leaves or branches moving through the air, an impact when it hits the ground and possibly stuff like soil/stones falling off the roots (if that's how it fell).

All of those things will cause vibrations in the air, which is what sound is.

Scientifically, it makes no difference whether anyone hears the sound or not, it'll happen regardless.

Conversely, you don't know which state the kitty is in until you open the box.

A better analogy would be "if a tree falls over and nobody is there to hear it, does the sound matter?"

I agree. But the problem is how do you prove it? You won't be there, nor will anybody else, and that implies there can be no recording equipment because that gives you a presence there. Now we know that any time a person has been a place when a tree fell, there were lots of different sounds. But who knows about that one time when nobody is? Of course if nobody is there, does the sound make a difference?

 

[pdg]

But the problem is how do you prove it?

Proof is a matter of very simple mechanical analysis...

When something hits something the second something has to move, it has no choice in the matter. That movement could be called 'percussive' or maybe 'vibratory'.

When something snaps or tears (wood fibres say), there is movement.

If anything moves in air, it moves the air.

Ergo, sound.

Nobody (to my knowledge) has ever questioned whether wind in a forest makes a noise if nobody is there, so why is a falling tree so special anyway?

Digging even deeper and really classifying noise as something that must be experienced to exist, we'd have to determine at what level something can be deemed to experience it.

Think of all the creatures in a forest - how likely is it really that there are no mammals, birds or bugs within range?

Taking that even further, studies have shown that plants can respond and react to the experience of nearby plants (chillies on one plant get hotter if a nearby plant is systematically damaged), so all the other trees in the forest might just be able to hear (or otherwise sense) their friend's demise.


Still don't know how kitty is faring though

 

[Xue Sheng]

Will you pay $10,000 to someone who can do this to you? If that person can't, he only need to pay you $1,000. I think that 10-1 ratio is quite reasonable.

Your thought?

That guy is rather well trained at jumping backwards on cue

 

[TSDTexan]

Brendan Lai was famous for his speed. If Brendan won, he was faster than me. If I won, I was faster than him.

I accepted his challenge. If I

- lose, I would need to train harder, or modified my training program.
- won, my training was on the right path.

Shot, of course, with the Potatocam 150. You can tell by the pixels and from seeing quite a few Potatocams in my time.

 

[donald1]

It would be nice if there were subtitles somewhere. I havnhava foggy clue what that old man is talking about

I'm pretty sure that old man is a ninja. Considering hees moving so fast the only thing caught on camera is the other man moving backwards.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Here is another quite famous CMA instructor. But his demo is very hard to believe.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

If people are open to suggestion, strange things will happen:

 

[Xue Sheng]

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

More clips.

 

[Balrog]

One of my favorite videos. "Master" claims to have this super force, actually believes his own BS. Goes into a match with someone else and gets the snot knocked out of him.