What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses various random thoughts and observations, touching on topics such as media programming, personal anecdotes, language use, and mathematical curiosities. The scope includes informal commentary, humor, and reflections on everyday experiences.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express frustration with the quality of documentaries on channels like the History Channel and National Geographic, suggesting a decline in factual programming.
  • There is a humorous anecdote about discovering a polythene bag obstructing a kitchen extractor fan, leading to a discussion about the clarity of installation manuals.
  • Participants share thoughts on the nature of prime numbers, particularly regarding the status of the number 2 and its implications for mathematical proofs.
  • There are reflections on language use and the reactions to grammatical errors made by native speakers, with some participants sharing their personal responses to such situations.
  • One participant humorously suggests that if 2 were not considered prime, it would complicate the understanding of prime factors in even numbers.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple competing views, particularly regarding the status of the number 2 as a prime and the quality of media programming. No consensus is reached on these topics.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying degrees of skepticism and humor, with some comments reflecting personal experiences and subjective opinions rather than objective analysis.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in informal discussions about media, language, and mathematics may find this thread engaging.

  • #2,401
They must be squeezing through holes that look way too small for them. I have seen one few days ago on my front yard, where to my best knowledge there are no gaps in the fence other than a slit about an inch and a half high below the gate. I live in the middle of the residential area, all houses have fences, it had to pass many yards and fences before getting here.
 
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  • #2,402
Youtube seems to have some evidence backing up my memory that hedgehogs are pretty good climbers, so up-and-over is a possibility for how they get in and out.
 
  • #2,403
I would be surprised if it was restricted to the garden. They normally walk up to a few kilometers per night and the number of slugs in your garden might not be high enough either.
 
  • #2,404
I've recently been thinking about the question 'what is time?'

I still have no idea how to answer it :(
 
  • #2,405
I have this strange friend-acquaintance ( sort of in-between) who confuses the hell out of me in that he will say things that are either crealy idiotic or trite, or really isightful deep ones. I guess we all do at times, but this guy's comments somehow are fat in both tails. I had never met or heard of someone like this in this regard.
 
  • #2,406
Borek said:
They must be squeezing through holes that look way too small for them. I have seen one few days ago on my front yard, where to my best knowledge there are no gaps in the fence other than a slit about an inch and a half high below the gate. I live in the middle of the residential area, all houses have fences, it had to pass many yards and fences before getting here.
A slit? Quantum hedgehogs squeezing in?
 
  • #2,407
Borek said:
Haha, I just made a comment here about someone like that. A curious, smart inquisitive person without a formal education to be discriminating and think more clearly, and use for reference something beyond " They said" , " They believe" , etc.
 
  • #2,408
WWGD said:
A slit? Quantum hedgehogs squeezing in?

Blame my English. Slit, gap, slot, opening, hole, they don't have exact equivalents in Polish, even if we too have several words covering the same meanings (szczelina, szpara, dziura, otwór).

That being said, some animals appear to be able to tunnel through barriers, so yes, QM is probably at work here.
 
  • #2,409
Borek said:
Blame my English. Slit, gap, slot, opening, hole, they don't have exact equivalents in Polish, even if we too have several words covering the same meanings (szczelina, szpara, dziura, otwór).

That being said, some animals appear to be able to tunnel through barriers, so yes, QM is probably at work here.

Hey, no problem, you helped set up one of my horrible puns, none of which goes with neither szczelina, szpara, dziura, nor otwor. Have a Fart on me! EDIT: And you know more English than I will ever know Polish, so you're winning on that account, by far(t). EDIT2: Common, Borek, you got to be able to find English words that mean something weird/funny in Polish.
 
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  • #2,411
WWGD said:
I have this strange friend-acquaintance ( sort of in-between) who confuses the hell out of me in that he will say things that are either crealy idiotic or trite, or really isightful deep ones. I guess we all do at times, but this guy's comments somehow are fat in both tails. I had never met or heard of someone like this in this regard.
I know a German director, Christoph Schlingensief, who would have fitted in this description. He was highly intelligent, but his spectators greeted themselves by: "Well, what's been the most horrible this time?"
 
  • #2,412
fresh_42 said:
I know a German director, Christoph Schlingensief, who would have fitted in this description. He was highly intelligent, but his spectators greeted themselves by: "Well, what's been the most horrible this time?"
I would think these are people who are smart but without formal training. For whatever its defficiencies, formal training often forces one to provide support for arguments and challenges ones views.
 
  • #2,413
WWGD said:
I would think these are people who are smart but without formal training. For whatever its defficiencies, formal training often forces one to provide support for arguments and challenges ones views.
A burden artist don't have to carry.
 
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  • #2,414
Why wasn't it called " Dr Whom"? I have heard the explanation for the difference between who and whom, but it matters so little to me that I have never absorbed it.
 
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  • #2,415
WWGD said:
For whatever its defficiencies, formal training often forces one to provide support for arguments and challenges ones views.
It teaches disciplined and rigorous thinking.
Genius I'd say is the ability to mix disciplined thought with free form wool-gathering when figuring out problems.

old jim
 
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  • #2,416
jim hardy said:
It teaches disciplined and rigorous thinking.
Genius I'd say is the ability to mix disciplined thought with free form wool-gathering when figuring out problems.

old jim
It who (whom?) (Owl call ;) Ref. my previous post ).
 
  • #2,417
WWGD said:
It who (whom?)
no verb ?
But then i omitted object...

It teaches one ...
 
  • #2,418
jim hardy said:
...free form wool-gathering...

?

2017.08.14.pf.ffwg.png


Is this something your non-internety neighbors do?
 
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  • #2,419
Just went out with a torch to see if the hedgehog was active (shortly after dark) and saw two very cute baby hedgehogs (about the size of a tennis ball) near the nest. They had the sense to go back to the nest but didn't seem very concerned at having a torch shone on them.
Now we will have to be careful not only to avoid stepping on an adult hedgehog, but also on babies, which could be much harder to see in our long grass!
 
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  • #2,420
OmCheeto said:
Is this something your non-internety neighbors do?

upload_2017-8-14_22-17-50.png


Do you need some help with Google ?
 
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  • #2,421
OCR said:
I don't think so. Without the quote marks, it just gives me links where the words are randomly used, which is not what I was looking for.
I wanted an exact match.

If you would like to know more about how to use the Google search engine, the following page is quite useful: Google Search Help
 
  • #2,422
My God... I didn't think even you could break Google !

upload_2017-8-15_1-58-44.png
 
  • #2,423
Jonathan Scott said:
Just went out with a torch to see if the hedgehog was active (shortly after dark) and saw two very cute baby hedgehogs (about the size of a tennis ball) near the nest. They had the sense to go back to the nest but didn't seem very concerned at having a torch shone on them.
Now we will have to be careful not only to avoid stepping on an adult hedgehog, but also on babies, which could be much harder to see in our long grass!
Just in case:

 
  • #2,424
Can you believe it? This guy with last name Nast chose to call his kid 'James'. James Nast, or, for short, Jim Nast. Yes, there is a Jim in my building , but he does not work out. There are also people with names like Andrew Andrews, William Williams, Robert Roberts...
 
  • #2,425
A friend of the family used to be a pediatric nurse, and said one of the things they were encouraged to do was to reflect on parents' choice of names before they registered the birth. She said she failed to persuade Mr & Mrs Lamb that "Shaun" was a bad idea (poor lad...), but did manage to get Mr & Mrs Trickey not to call their son Richard.
 
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  • #2,426
Ibix said:
A friend of the family used to be a pediatric nurse, and said one of the things they were encouraged to do was to reflect on parents' choice of names before they registered the birth. She said she failed to persuade Mr & Mrs Lamb that "Shaun" was a bad idea (poor lad...), but did manage to get Mr & Mrs Trickey not to call their son Richard.
Wish they had talked with Mr/Mrs. Hyman, before they decided to name their daughter...Misty. Misty Hyman .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_Hyman
 
  • #2,427
Drinking red bull may make me more motivated but increases the number of D'oh moments I have in a day.
 
  • #2,428
Enigman said:
Drinking red bull may make me more motivated but increases the number of D'oh moments I have in a day.
Maybe it has doh-pamine in it.
 
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  • #2,429
I have to reconsider my favorite sports. I seriously read "Why is first TD law different for chemical reactors" and asked myself. What the heck is a touchdown law?
 
  • #2,430
Having trouble feeling sympathy for people who have had their Wallets/Phones/PDAs stolen from...their back pockets. Why, in a crowded city, does anyone keep valuables in their back pocket, giving easy access to thieves?
 

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