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Reinventing the Wheel It's getting more and more obvious as time goes on that I need to freaking read more. My problem here is that I keep making these miraculous leaps of knowledge, only to find that someone much smarter than I had leaped over that particular crevasse long ago. An example would be something I just came across today, one of Zeno's paradoxes:
Dichotomy paradox: Before a moving object can travel a certain distance, it must travel half that distance. Before it can travel half the distance it must travel 1/4 the distance, etc. This sequence goes on forever. Therefore, it seems that the original distance cannot be traveled, and motion is impossible.This is, of course, stupid, and Zeno should have been smacked and told to invent more qualified conundrums. But why, you ask? Because there is no half or quarter or one millionth of a distance until the distance is completed. As well, if one were to stop the object - let's say (as many have), an arrow - along its path, the journey would have been, at least temporarily, and certainly for that instant, stopped, and measuring could take place. If the arrow is still drawn, quivering and unlaunched, then where is '1/8 the distance'? There is yet no distance, therefore it cannot be measured. D=RT, baby. Time and distance coexist, tempered by the object's rate. Man, but I wish I had a numbers brain; I'd have kicked ass in physics. Anyway, I don�t have to bother to look it up either in a book or on the internet to know that someone has very likely already made this refutation ages ago and with more skill than I could ever muster. I'm not saying that I'm an idiot for this (as there are so many other reasons that I could use to brand myself that way); it's just that I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort by just reading about it in the first place. Then I could have put my brain toward less delved-into problems and have actually been useful. Then again, is not the mental exercise useful? Would just reading about other peoples' answers to great questions just dull me into a submission to other peoples' ideas, leaving me ill-equipped to tackle things on my own? It's a problem. Is there a balance between a) complete reliance on others' knowledge without inventive thought and b) forging ahead alone, only to find that you've reached the same conclusion others have already found and are way behind the ones who learned it by rote? I guess it's up to the individual to find that balance. I do know for sure, however, that I am severely lacking in part a) of the equation. A good basis of rote can help one figure out in which direction one should forge ahead. I think comprehensive, shorthand guides to amazing ideas in various fields need to be compiled. The internet seems like a good place to do it. That way one could have an easy, cross-referenceable guide to all things cool and pertinent. Get cracking, somebody. -- End Transmission -- Dark Tower VII Hearing: the boy reading a book Feeling: full of chili |
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