But the point is, we shouldn't focus only on the optimistic predictions that failed to come true and forget that ones like that were made by prominent scientists as well.
Order of Kilopi
But the point is, we shouldn't focus only on the optimistic predictions that failed to come true and forget that ones like that were made by prominent scientists as well.
Established Member
Ok, let's be positive, here's one that has exceeded my wildest expectations: the confirmation of hundreds of exoplanets!
That didn't seem very likely 30 years ago. Let alone starting to analyze the composition of some of their atmospheres (!)
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but the exoplanets are definitely out of reach... it's so tantalizing...
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I think i lucked out in school (with the excpetion they never discovered my dyslexia)
For a time in the 70-80's Oregon schools had elective courses like Astronomy and Aerospace, Computers, and other technology/science related classes. They were also one of the first to school systems to abandon 'Expanding Earth' text books in favor of Plate Techtonics. I remember that happening between the third and fourth grades. The teacher even explained -why- the older teaching was no longer correct. (And yes that means i'm a few years older then Clint) It was a good example for me of how the sciences tended to change as new information was leaned. Something i never forgot.
But I certainly have tried to have to explain light years to people, which at times can be frustrating. I find starting with the time 8 minutes of sun to earth helps, and then the time of sun to jupiter, and then sun to Proxima Centari.
Order of Kilopi
I have an ongoing one. The person that owns the place where I work (and has fired people for no reasons we can determine) has developed an interest in astronomy. He calls every night and asks me about the same things over and over. Some of his questions are things like:
"What if we had 100 Hubbles up there?" He asks this about 6 times per week.
"If I had a really clear night with the best amateur scope on the market, how would that compare tot he Hubble for image quality?"
"We already know about everything there is to know about the solar system, so why are they wasting money on more probes?"
Oh, and he's a die hard creationist, so any probe that might be looking for clues to early life, and other places in the universe it might be, are a waste of time and money. Money that could be used to put more Hubbles in orbit.
I'm Not Evil.
An evil person would do the things that pop into my head.
Order of Kilopi
Hey, he might be Palin's speechwriter! Go easy on him, and keep talking him up on Ares 5 and the big scope that can put up there.
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Clever!Originally Posted by KaiYeves
Established Member
I go through that, too. Not only do they lose interest, they treat you like you are somehow smaller for thinking it is worth talking about. This is, really, the only place where I find people with common interests.I hate to be the pessimist, but it's bound to get worse
Once people get to my age, they tend to have long forgotten even the very few things they once learned about astronomy - and lost all interest, too.
I can't wrap my head around large measurements like light years and parsecs (I know what they are but the distances just become nonesense in my head). One of the things I like to do is convert them to miles just to actually see numbers in the trillions and quadrillions. About a week ago, I was just looking through Hubble pics and saw M87. I decided to see the length, in miles, of the jet coming out of the galactic core. When I came to the final number I found it fascinating that I was looking at a picture of an object that was over 29 quadrillion miles long. I put the pic up and the explaination of what it was along with the length, in miles, on my facebook and the replies were, "Huh?" "You need to get a life" and one telling me that my lack of genius and zest for ** is awestriking. I even got a private mail calling me pretentious. No, taking the time to play with those numbers is not improving me, nor is it making me a better person but everyone has silly things they do with idle time. I can understand not getting it or not being interested but why the aggression?
Established Member
Might not be as sexy or fashionable as cars, football or celebrity gossip.
Nevertheless, I for one find it much more interesting
BTW, I had a very similar experience on Facebook:
every time I write something trivial (like "I'm really tired" or "my feet are aching") I get half a dozen answers in no time.
However, nobody has bothered to comment (yet) when I linked this video about possible life on Enceladus a few days ago.
Mainstream interests are so frustratingly and scarily trivial...
Order of Kilopi
Have you seen that comic strip where the old man has a smartphone and he types "I just farted.", and you see all these replies saying "Hey, me too!"?
The caption is "Why Some People Should Not Be Allowed To Use Twitter".
Established Member
LOL!! I think some people should not be allowed on the internet, period.
Member
I'm the only person in my office (35 people, open plan) with such a deep interest in cosmology. I had to explain a light year to one of my female colleagues the other day and it just wouldn't sink in. She's lovely but her interests are all about celebrity magazines and reality TV. I guess even though a school curriculum will include various aspects of science to all children, some may simply have zero interest in such subjects and will therefore not retain any knowledge of these things.
Order of Kilopi
I think the root of some disinterest in science and the mechanical world is that people are too easily swayed when some fool says to them...
" yeah..... you don't need to know that stuff. No sense filling up your head with stuff you're nevah gonna need .... " .
This is the universal excuse for lazy people to out-right reject the foundation of their education: A belief in yourself and your ability to learn
along with the interest and reccognition of every opportunity to learn. It remains as the fundamental difference between the
honed intellect and the .....shrug...... non-intellect, uninterested and talentless zombies who try to pass themselves off as educated .
Just don't let them work on your brakes or babysit your children.
"and there shall be a wailing in the night and a gnashing of teeth".
The future shall be well and bright for the person who labors at his continuing education... in all areas, always aware of opportunities to improve themselves. The success of such people is most high .
" I can not live without books . " --- Thomas Jefferson
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