Do You Conduct Your Own Scientific Experiments

[Queso]

i like to think of it that way too dark mind. i tend to go on many "Adventures" and "missions" that have very scientifical significance. at least in my mind.

[nkt]

Most of my experiments are along the lines of "I wonder if anyone did this yet?"

 

My most recent one was a failure, but Uncle Al has given me a clue from one of his recent articles on his website.

 

I've got a formal science education, and, indeed, a degree with a long name, but I am none to good at the "real world" experimental lab work. I can get any chemical experiment wrong! Even highly energetic ones that should go mental sit there and do nothing, which is weird. So I've kind of given up on that now.

 

I like building stuff, and inventing. I'm currently (meant to be right now) working on my first patent application - but obviously I can't tell you about that yet! I post a lot of my ideas on my website http://www.rubbertreeplant.co.uk, and I have found two inventions from a while back that have just been developed by two other groups, the new DREAD rotary gun system, and the flocking cube robots, which I posted about on there, and posted a third one, which is bound to be noticed by the DREAD team when they try to weild the gun!

 

I used to work for a large Aerospace company, but couldn't cope with the lack of anything to do, poor management, etc. so I quit. Trying to save a huge company when part of a small non-funded team is really hard, and even harder when the company retires or forces out half of the members (the older ones) and scatters the younger ones to the winds!

 

So now I am trying to be a self-employed inventor and problem solver, I guess.

[Turtle]

___Welcome Nkt.

___In regard to mind experiments, I concur they deserve inclusion. While I didn't specify a definition for experiment when I started this pole, I had in mind any invesstigation which uses the scientif method. The stating of a hypthosis, designing a test (experiment) to represent the hypthosis, & drawing conclusions from the test (experiment) results.

___I submit that whether folks realize it or not, this is how life is lived everday & therefore we all regularly conduct our own scientific experiments. :hihi: :naughty:

[nkt]

___Welcome Nkt.

Thanks. Nice place you've all got here.

 

I am an inventor, first and foremost. I make prototypes, but only after I have reasoned out the system, and searched to see if someone else has already done it.

 

I'm not sure that people really (in general) put cause and effect together on a logical level.

 

Most people do it subconciously, and many make stupid descisions that could have been avoided by a few moments of thought.

 

Then there are those who do something silly, like going on Tricia to tell the world they slept with thier sister, who obviously are just far to dumb to realise that 15 minutes of fame are not worth it, sometimes.

[niviene]

Most people do it subconciously, and many make stupid descisions that could have been avoided by a few moments of thought.

 

Did you say something? I heard "George Bush" over and over... ;) Sorry, couldn't help it...

 

Welcome. ;)

[mojassty]

And I'm sure we've all experimented on the optimal time for microwave popcorn to pop on high in our particular microwaves- 2:47 for me. That's with Healthy Pop brand, yellow package. Gave the stuff up for the pan popped, organic kind, but hey- microwave popcorn was a big part of many people's lives...

 

My optimal time is 2:19, with Redenbaucher's, Blue bag. :)

 

Man, I must need to get a better microwave. My optimal time is around 3:40.

 

As for experiments, I have to do them regularly, since I'm a college student. Those don't really count though, since they're experiments set up by the professor, and usually aren't something I enjoy doing (it's hard for an experiment to be fun when it's graded, especially if you screw them up as often as I do!)

 

Every once and a while I'll conduct small investigations for my own personal edification. For instance, the other day I read something interesting about the theory behind perfect numbers, so I got a pen and paper and calculator and played around with perfect numbers for a while.

 

Mini-investigations give a little sense of fulfillment and are a good way to fight off boredom. I recommend them. :)

[selky]

i've done two seince exeprments both were simple and worked :D

 

i've tried to do three but it didn't work :(

 

 

i was an ticking :) when it didn't work

[nkt]

i've done two seince exeprments both were simple and worked :)

 

i've tried to do three but it didn't work :D

What were they?

[selky]

one was about makeing and heavry iteam flaot with toliet roll

 

it was an succsses !!!

 

 

the seacoend was an candle wich i made out of wax craons

 

it was again an sucsses !!!!

 

 

selky :( :( :D :)

[Freethinker]

Life is an experiment. Every step we take is based on the accumulation of knowledge gained by the ongoing experiment to that point. Some choose to not follow the well proven scientific methodology, including the application of reason and logic. I choose to evaluate every possible detail for it's relationship to the reality of our existant physical world with the goal of determining the most positive eventual outcome. Or perhaps the best path towards that goal.

 

That is if we actually do make individual choices.

[majordinkydau]

Life is an experiment. Every step we take is based on the accumulation of knowledge gained by the ongoing experiment to that point. Some choose to not follow the well proven scientific methodology, including the application of reason and logic. I choose to evaluate every possible detail for it's relationship to the reality of our existant physical world with the goal of determining the most positive eventual outcome. Or perhaps the best path towards that goal.

 

That is if we actually do make individual choices.

 

Quote=Major Dinkydau, Why do I keep making the same mistakes in life? If I pet a dog and it bites me I avoid petting it again, but I find when I live in a world filled with people, I make the same relasionship destroying mistakes again and again. The natural scientific world is very safe because our hearts don't get stepped on producing unreasonable responses, ie fight or flight. I'm not intimadated by a test tube or even a forest fire because it follows observable rules. People on the other hand, when you think you've got them figured out, wham!

[Freethinker]

I'm not intimadated by a test tube or even a forest fire because it follows observable rules. People on the other hand, when you think you've got them figured out, wham!

"The HOOK" by FreeThinker.

 

Long ago, as I was a travelling salesman (by car covering up to 6 states) I had the chance to observe how people drive, pehaps how they "think" as they drive. Yes social science/ science experiment. To give a simple single word overview:

 

LEMMINGS

 

The vast majority of drivers (in the US as this is my lab's boundaries at this point) drive based on unconscious visual alignment with surrounding cars. A driver will unconsciously "lock" their position to visual cues provided by other cars and their relative movement.

 

One process I have developed to help me move thru traffic based on these observations and experiments I call the "HOOK". I have taught it to my kids and a few others. It works very consistantly. It shows how predictable the average lemming, er... human is. Far too often the number of lanes available will determine the number of vehicles that can control their own speed. 3 lanes across means 3 cars will get into locked step and those 3 will determine the speed of all three lanes for everyone behind them. Typically all three the same speed with lines of cars stuck behind them. (Oh for autobaun laws enforced in the US!)

 

A driver will unconscously adjust their speed to keep a car ahead of them at about a 45% angle to their periphery. So the trick is to slowly move into their peripheral view, just slightly ahead of them. You need to be far enough forward as to replace the vehicle they had "latched" onto already. Then once they have unconsciously replaced the previous vehicle with yours as their point of reference, you slightly slow down. It is just like grabbing their car with a hook. They will slow down with you. This opens a gap ahead of them relative to the car they were pacing previously. Then by rapidly speeding up (their response reaction dislodges at higher relative speeds/ accelerations) you can get infront of them and pass the blockade.

 

It works so consistantly it is scary. Indicating how mindlessly people drive. And how easy it is to predict human response in repetitive situations. It is always a source of humor in my car when I do it to people. The kids can recognize immediately when I start the process and laugh as another lemming is HOOKED and manipulated so easily.

 

Being is sales for decades, this is just one of a vast catalog of such simple manipulations available to those that wish to perform social science experiments. Such as the 3F's and getting 3 yes'.

[majordinkydau]

As I have driven thousands of miles all over the world I have seen the pack mindset all over. Driving along I'll see a condensed pack of drivers all close to each others bumpers and then long spaces with no drivers. I am a country boy and do not like to spend much time in crowds so I look for the open areas, prefering to drive high speeds with about 500 feet behind another vehicle.

Road rage has always been my personal signal that my lower nature is getting the upper hand in my life. The symptoms start with impatience at slow drivers blocking me and leads to white knuckles on the steering wheel. I often fantasize I have a 50 cal machine gun on my hood which can chew up the Winnebago poking along at 25mph in a 45mph zone. After some very dangerous high speed chases and near death experiences I sought psyciatric help and went on medications to control Rage and depression. My current lable is schizoaffective disorder. Who needs guns when you have a 5,000 lb male enhancement product that gulps diesel. I have been off meds for 1 year and no longer yield to road rage because I tried an experiment from the Bible. I applied it to my own life and not everyone else. As a fundamentalist christian for 35 years I wondered why I didn't see gods promise to "write the law in my heart" and found I was unable to pull it off by will power. I was content to point out everyone elses flaws and compare myself to them. We can always find someone worse than us.

It well after Christmas time but here's a little tune I wrote from my experiment

A look at anger management By Douglas W. Coulter

 

A Slaying Song (to the tune Jingle Bells)

Driving down the road in my brand new SUV

someone cuts me off this enrages me

ram them from behind, force them off the road

then they hit a tree and their car explodes

as I drive away just like nothings wrong

suddenly I start to sing this silly road rage son

 

Oh jangled nerves jangled nerves breakdown on the way

Hysterical reactions from a stressful hectic day ay (repete)

 

Dashing through a crowd in a psycotic episode

empty magazine, stopping to reload

cars with sirens scream, gumballs flashing lights

Oh what fun it is to sing a postal song tonight

 

Oh jangled nerves jangled nerves breakdown on the way

hysterical reactions from a stressful hectic day ay (repete)

 

I think its a valid experiment, fundamentalist Christians try to change our conduct by outward regulation. A pot of water on a hot burner is boiling away and the steam rolls upwards. Fundamentalists try to slap a pressure lid on that pot and think they've dealt with sin. Jesus offered to take my pot off of the burner and cool it down to make it refreshing instead of scalding.

[Turtle]

___Great Song! Great Hook!

___Here is my traffic behavior trick based on experiment. Most traffic light sensors lie buried at varying distances from lights they control. Logically, the metal car's movement triggers a counter & a preset switch in the control box determines how many counts trigger a change. My strategy, is to always stop short over the sensor & moreover it must be a complete no-motion stop for several seconds. Then I roll forward slightly (counter advanced) & stop again. Usually no more than 3 such maneuvers trigger the light in my favor. It has proven dependable. :)

[bumab]

Interesting! I know the whole "flashing your brights so it's like a strobe light" to trigger the light doesn't really work, although I'm going to try it with the strobe fireworks.

[majordinkydau]

When I was 8 years old I tried to fly by strapping a piece of corregated roofing tin on my back and jumping off the barn roof. (This is one of those "don't try this at home" stunts) Anyone with basic knowledge of gravity and areodynamics can figure out what my results were. I landed on my head which explains much of my current mental state. I never performed this experiment again. Live and learn, the gimprider

 

"leaden earthworm armies united under one ocean together until suprised lichen impoisoned lions stalk storks in search" George Parsons

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