Seven random thoughts

[m_mcgregor]

Random thought number one: What would life be like if there was no such thing as the placebo effect? I had that thought this afternoon and I've been mulling it over all day. I really can't imagine how different the world would be. So much would be different. Thousands of years of history would be different. It's a remarkably potent aspect of human

Comments

[nothorse]

Have you ever been somewhere really isolated? Like, no human settlement for the next few dozen miles and no major city within a hundred miles? And then looked up? At night?

If you ever do, the "Milky Way" is completely and totally obvious.

[m_mcgregor]

No no, I get it. It looks like milk. We're some clever folk, us humans.

[nothorse]

We're some clever folk, us humans.

Oh yes, we are. We're capable of inventing explanations where we don't have any clues and immediately after look for new clues and explanations as soon as we get new toys to expand our perception.

And then, when we find one increasingly accurate explanation after the other -- detours through faulty research included -- we're still able to keep the first explanation as a sentimental reminder of the original emotional impression.

Crafty buggers, aren't we?

[m_mcgregor]

Nuh-uh!

(Works every time)

[mymatedave]

Well in regards to Dawkins, I always say he's a famous science writer and inventor of the term "meme". That always get their attention, and if they don't even know what a meme is, I tend not to bother further.

[booster17]

Wasn't he the guy who married Romana? Bastard!

[m_mcgregor]

Most people I talk to tend to think a meme is when your friends make you do an internet quiz.

[m_mcgregor]

And also pronounce it "Me Me"

[ponderoid]

We do indeed get both the name "Milky Way" and the term "Galaxy" from allusions to the Greek-Roman mythology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way_(mythology)#Greek_and_Roman... )

The Lottery

[troyguffey]

I agree with the dreams part. But I prefer to have an *actual* chance to win, so I buy a ticket for every drawing (for Powerball only). There's a difference between "zero chance" and "very little chance". You have to actually play to actually win

Re: The Lottery

[d_tepes]

Oh, don't forget. If by some miracle you win the "big money" for goodness sake, collect through a lawyer! Don't let your name get out or else your life as you know it is over in the bad way, not the good way like a lottery should.

[m_mcgregor]

So, you know what it says about you when you dream about winning the lottery but you don't buy a ticket: You're cheating the system!

Yes! I love it when I do that!

[nistelle]

lol doilies.

[m_mcgregor]

omg so purty

[learnedhand_dj]

Re. Random thought number five:

Of course everyone knows who Richard Dawkins is! I mean, come on, Hogan's Heroes? Family Feud? The Running Man?

[m_mcgregor]

I tell ya, it's a travesty