Re: virus: 2000, forget gravity

Dan Plante (danp@CS347838-A.gvcl1.bc.wave.home.com)
Mon, 01 Jun 1998 00:31:42 -0700


At 07:40 PM 5/31/98 -0400, George S Waksman wrote:
>
>I will add one more thing.
>
>Now, this has nothing to do with my, idea of looking back at what
>everyone else said.
>
>We have agreed, I think, that the gravity of all the celestial bodies in
>our solar system pulling in the same direction would not do much at all.

An optimistic assumption. Never underestimate the tenacity of
an ego that has invested itself in any particular viewpoint. When
it sees its market of ideas collapsing, it will invest heavily
in an attempt to shore up its stock. Besides, facts are BORING.
End-of-the-world is SEXY! (Which is probably why it invested in
the first place....)

>However, look at Magnetics. All the planets have magnetic fields, which
>matter a lot to the planets. These magnetic fields, in fact all magnetic
>fields, react strongly to other magnetic fields, especially such large
>ones. So the lining up of the magnetic fields will do quite a lot to the
>Earth's magnetic field.
>
>Normally the magnetic field does some major things, like cause our planet
>to spin and align in a certain way, create the auroras, etcetera,
>etcetera, etcetera.

Please tell me you're kidding. I mean it. I'm begging. I need to
get some sleep tonight. I need to believe that the rest of the body-
public, whose voting habits shape the system I have to live in, is
marginally educated and savvy. If I don't believe that, I'll be up
all night counting demons jumping over pitch-forks.

>Now, what happens if the field shifts, and the north pole falls over,
>say, New York, then New York becomes a frozen polar region and Antarctica
>moves up and becomes nice.

Oy, vay. Hmmmm....where did I leave the Ny-Tol? The Hell with it.
I'll just read myself a bedtime story......
"So then Chicken-Little went to Mr. Piggy-Wiggy and yelled 'The sky
is falling! The sky is Falling!'"
.......Doh!

Look, I realize the global cataclysm theme is a seductive one, but
why don't you reinvest yourself in one with some small kernel of truth
to it? Preoccupation with the possible dangers around you is a good
evolutionary survival mechanism, unless it's allowed to hijack the
brain's resources for frivolous needs due to uncritical thinking.

Take the asteroid or cometary impact meme, for example. It
actually /could/ happen. And, while the chances of impact are slight
during your lifetime, the results really /could/ be catastrophic
(depending on its mass, composition, velocity, angle and location of
impact, etc.). Just think; if one /did/ hit during your lifetime
(assuming you lived through it), you could then point to all the
charred body parts and say "See? I told you so! Didn't I tell you?!!".
I know that feeling. That puffed-up feeling you get when the opiates
and adrenalin kick in. Vindication!

And, let's face it; that rush of vindication, however slight, is
the payoff that the ego always hopes to get from its investment.

>Such Magnetic shifts have happened in the past, so they do happen,

Which just goes to show that the most virulent myths and legends
often have /some/ tiny kernel of truth to them.

>which
>means that this is the meme-allergen and everyone just doesn't know it.

Sorry. Dont' know what you mean by this.

> GSW13

GSW13, I'm finding it really difficult to believe that anyone would
post crap like this right on the heels of the gravity-hoo-hoo, and
you already mentioned you had followed it. You're not baiting us
by any chance, are you? I realize that a successful manipulation
pays off with its own little rush of glee, but I also realize that
it's just another misguided waste of the mind's resources.

>_____________________________________________________________________
>You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.

Then again, maybe you're not kidding. Free email /and/ 'Net access
to the unwashed masses. Yikes.

>Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
>Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

Dan
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instincts --> input
input + thinking --> data
data + thinking --> information
information + thinking --> knowledge
knowledge + thinking --> understanding
understanding + thinking --> wisdom
wisdom + thinking -->
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