On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 05:11:03PM -0800, Paul E Condon wrote: > Pigeon wrote: > >On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 10:26:57AM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote: > > > (stuff about artificial gravity) > > > > (more stuff about artificial gravity) > > But, in reality, some things are not possible. Maybe "artificial > gravity" is one of them (the class of 'not possible' things). Witness > 'alchemy'. Why do people today believe it is impossible? Because our > folk culture has accepted, without really understanding, some > limitations on the human spirit. Are we up against a real limitation > here, in space flight?
Not quite sure what you're trying to say here. We know so little about gravity that to categorise artificial gravity as definitely possible or impossible at this stage is a bit daft. Maybe it is impossible. But maybe it's just as possible as artificial light, however impossible that may have seemed to a caveman. I prefer to regard it as possible until it is proven impossible. Not knowing how to do it at the moment does not constitute such proof. Alchemy is an interesting example... Of course, alchemy itself is possible, because people used to do it. They were called alchemists. The fact that they never achieved their fabled goals is because the discipline they were following was mostly a pile of mystical bollocks with very little scientific method. Now, we know that it is possible to turn lead into gold, but it is not currently practical to do it on more than the minutest scale. To extend one's lifespan is not currently possible, but there are plenty of researchers in genetics and gerontology trying to change that, and apparently making non-zero progress. Acceptance of the impossibility of something on the grounds of ignorance about it is a limitation on trying to do anything you don't do at the moment. I would suggest this is a rare trait in space flight research, otherwise we wouldn't be flying in space at all! Lack of artificial gravity is a limitation on manned space flight, but probably rather less of a limitation than the lack of a decent power source, or the speed of light being too slow, for example. > Purveyors of silly folk rhetoric, please think quietly before you reply. Who's purveying silly folk rhetoric? Me? Ron? Someone who hasn't replied yet? Pigeon -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
