Comments on BOOK OF THE FUTURE: We're not big or clever

You would think that there would be a good collect...

2009-04-21T15:21:18.799+01:00

You would think that there would be a good collection of such analogies readily available on the web. But I can't seem to find one - most of them claim to be repositories but only have one or two average ones. A gap to be filled?

I love analogies. I was thinking.. semantics. As ...

2009-04-21T10:31:00.000+01:00

I love analogies. I was thinking.. semantics.

As language predates our burdgeoning scientific understanding of the universe - over the last three hundred years. Basic language seems incapable of truly describing the wonders of the universe and mathematics provides a better means of understanding. Although maths at that level, is for most people (me included, lol) too much of a stretch to comprehend. Analogies really offer us a great way of contemplating the physical world. I like the football stadium, pea analogy and the Dawkins one.. any more please?

I love those analogies. There's one about the soli...

2009-04-20T16:47:23.905+01:00

I love those analogies. There's one about the solidity of matter: if an atom was the size of a football stadium, then its nucleus would be the size of a pea on the centre spot. Sounds so weird that I had to check it when I wrote it down, but it's true.

You've just inspired me to subscribe to that podca...

2009-04-20T16:04:00.000+01:00

You've just inspired me to subscribe to that podcast.

I think I feel more humbled than depressed after that sort of discussion.

I remember Dawkins doing a talk that involved the timescales of life on earth. His analogy was that if the time that life has existed on earth is the distance between your nose and the end of your middle finger, then humans have been around for a single light filing from the end of the nail.