Re: "Real" ringworlds
Blimey! I go away for a weekend and theres several pages to catch up on! Good work all!
One of the problems that i think a lot of people have with science stems is because there is so much of it. If you truly wanted, you coud go right back to basics and repeat everyhing. However, since that is very impractical, you have to trust ("have faith") that other peoples work is reliable and true. Scientists have been caught out before, and will be again.
What Darwin did was not evolution. It was a mechanism by which evolution worked. He was so afraid of ridicule for it that he spent most of his life ammasing evidence to prove it and only published when another guy (Russel or Alfred Wallace is think) had a similar idea while in a malarial coma!
You could say that both Evolution Theory (ies) and Creationist Theory (ies) are the products of evolution themselves. All that is needed for evolution is inheritance, variation, and natural selection. Most ideas/knowledge/concepts have these.
Inheritance is teaching others (verbally, writings, or forun threads!)
Variation is different interpretations (look at the types of christianity)
Natural selection is differential inheritance (norse relegion against christianity)
Science and relegion are not mutually exclusive. Several hundred years ago, humans believed that lighting was the work of god (Zeus et al). Since then significant evidence has accumulated that lighting is a trasnfer of electrons created by static electricity (I think, im open to correction). Most significant modern religions (I.e. most of the world population follow) would not say that lightning is an act of god (I think) (Though insurance companies might). This is because most of the world would say that lighting is a transfere of electrons created by static electricity.
And finaly...
Quote from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
"The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isnīt it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you donīt. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadnīt thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing."
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When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat. The two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, I could conquer the world.
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