Dots, slinkies, strings, or ropes?, page 1

So I've been watching this guy's stuff: www.youtube.com...

Seems a little semantic to me, but he has a few interesting hypotheses. Using the torsion and twist of an incredibly large but finite number of ropes connecting each to every other of an incredibly large but finite number of particles he tries to do away with the need for relativity, particle physics, and pretty much all of theoretical physics since Newton. He maintains that the "pictures" we have taken of atoms (which typically show little lumps of "whatever" are literally pictures of what the atoms are, namely; actual tiny lumps that have shape, contour, and position, all simultaneously, and somehow make up all of everything. No electron clouds, no abstract BS, no uncertainty principle, no particle wave duality - none of that common-sense-denying, counter-intuitive hock. Just actual physical atoms with dimension and size and location connected each to all other atoms in the universe through torsion cords, which are able to explain gravity, orbits, and spin of both macroscopic and microscopic particles.

However, he spends most of his time making fun of mathematicians, and equating them to religious fanatics. Meh. I'm not a "fan" but I like some of his ideas.

Specifically, in one of the later installments, he claims that all of the Earth's mass extinctions have been caused, not by meteor impacts, but by simple evolution: When a new plant paradigm becomes dominant, the animals that thrived in the previous plant environment go extinct, while those that are adapted to the new plant environment stick around. Basically, the idea is that plant evolution is slow but occasionally revolutionary.

First on land, once things emerged from the oceans and really got going, we had ferns and conifers for tens of millions of years, and while they were around, we had all sorts of weird dinosaurs, giant bugs, and whatever all else. These ferns and conifers reproduced, for the most part, asexually. They cloned themselves, sent off runners - whatever. And there were certain kind sof animals, that after a long time, had adapted themselves to this envrinement. Some eating the plants, and others eating the things that ate the plants.

Then, not all that long ago, geologically speaking, flowering plants that reproduced sexually arrived on the scene. Their competition for pollination (relying on pollinating insects) resulted in beautiful fractal functions that gradually changed the color, shape, and size of the plants' reproductive organs in a way that (intriguingly and wonderfully) is aesthetically pleasing to most humans. This is probably because our ape ancestors ate a lot of flowers (much like most primates, such as baboons, do today) and we became genetically conditioned to find them pleasing in shape, smell, texture, and what all else.

In any event, these flowering plants were very different from the conifers and ferns of the previous plant paradigm, and because the feeding behavior of so many species is incredibly instinctual, they are not able to survive the transition to a new plant ecosystem. Thus, when flowering plants overtook, outperformed, and almost wholly replaced the ferns and conifers (they and their descendants still survive and prosper in many places, though they no longer predominate) there was a massive adjustment in the populations of various plant eating animals. And, subsequently, in the populations of various predators. As with most "sudden" changes in plant paradigm, it was both the most generalized (aka "least specialized") animals, as well as the "freaks" that happened to be so fortunately endowed with a random and favorable mutation that survived the transition. Opportunists. The ones that would try anything, eat anything, and learn from their mistakes (or die) rather than be totally dependent on instinct to tell them when, what, and how to eat.

Each time the plant paradigm shifts, there is a "mass extinction event" as all the animals that had specialized to eat the "old" plants slowly dwindle and die with their food stock, while the "new" generalists (soon to become specialists) that can effectively adapt to the new plant food stock begin to predominate. The predator/carnivores soon follow suit, as their old quarry dissapear and their (almost entirely) uncontrollable hunting instincts are shown to be less successful against new, unfamiliar prey, in a new, unfamiliar environment. Picture polar bears drowning in the arctic melt while vainly looking for a seal.

Each of these "plant paradigm shifts" takes an impressive amount of time. The amount of time is almost immeasurably short, geologically, but impressively large historically. We are in the middle of one of these now, one of these "plant paradigm shifts" and "mass extinction events". We have, for the most part, mistakenly blamed ourselves for the ongoing cycle of extinctions our planet is facing. The truth is that we have remarkably little control over our physical enthronement, and that the latest transition (a war between the flowering factions of "tree/bush" and "grass") has actually DRIVEN OUR evolution as a species. The notion that WE have somehow influenced the plant paradigm cycle is wholly ridiculous. We react to its changes, which are real and forceful on a geological level. It does not react to our flailing attempts at interference with the natural cycle.

Desertification will continue, as will the replacement of forests with grass. This is the next great plant paradigm shift. The mass extinction which will accompany it is underway right now. Once again, the most generalized, adaptable, and opportunist species are the ones that will survive. And, of course, the specialized freaks that happened to be perfectly suited for the emerging environment will also prosper. I would argue that mankind is one of these freaks. We love grass. Flowering grass plants? We live on them! They're our staple - have been for close to 12,000 years.

And, man, are we good at eating them.

Anyways, the guy in the videos takes the whole grand concept to conclude that mankind is doomed and we're the last generation, but I think that's bogus. I think if his plant paradigm extinction theory is right, than mankind and species like him are just getting started - not on the way out.

Anyways, it's a bit condescending, and the audio quality is terrible, but it's still very interesting. I dunno... I'm smart, and I found it at least partially conceivable. It's not "amazing" and he's a bit of a crank, but a lot of his ideas and criticisms of mainstream conceptions make you go "huh" and chuckle.

For what it's worth.

P.S> All criticisms, flames, and rants are welcome. I would like replies to be as vitriolic, sarcastic, and uninhibited in emotive content as the poster might desire. What do I care?

Also - please - no stars or flags. Let this thread slide under the radar. I only want cranks and weirdos to post on this one.