What to do with all this magic?

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Flint

~snippage And, in 1000 years, my relatives would have to go on Antiques Roadshow to find out that the card catalog was not originally intended as a storage unit for this archaic media format.

That will be Antiques Spaceshow?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

One day Uncle Jim says to my dad "I bet I have something you don't have. An airport runway light." Dad says "I have three."

Awesome!

[Shawnee123]

He did, too. I saw them!

[spudcon]

Say what you will about us being smarter, but whenever I think about how Kepler figured out planetary orbits are ellipses, with no telescopes or sophisticated equipment, I wonder if today's scientists would be able to do it without their "magic."

[Flint]

Originally Posted by spudcon

Say what you will about us being smarter...

To clarify, I never said we were smarter. I said we have better access to information.

And then, upon reflection, I realized we actually only have faster access to less complete information.

[Undertoad]

Smarter we are.

Today's scientists are able to work out the actual age of the universe.

[Flint]

Not as individual humans. I can drive a car, but I can't build a car. I'm using accumulated knowledge; I can't take credit for that.

[icileparadise]

Selectively. Before IT we used the Holy books. And we made them say that which we wished. Now it's not so exclusive as the World has opened up. It's final right now. All that info must lead us to the correct. To ignore it now is to deny.

[spudcon]

So now we don't have to believe CNN and NPR any more?

[BigV]

Speaking of holy books...behold:

The reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson's Library.

Re-Created Library Speaks Volumes About Jefferson

By Amy Orndorff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 11, 2008; A01

In Thomas Jefferson's day, the books he lovingly collected were almost as famous as he was.

Leather-bound tomes on topics as varied as whist, beekeeping and philosophy were gathered from across Europe and colonial America, then brought to Monticello to help fulfill Jefferson's vow to amass the whole of human knowledge. They eventually became the foundation for the Library of Congress, although two-thirds were lost in a fire in 1851.

For the past decade, a small group of rare book experts has sought to re-create Jefferson's library, scouring antiquarian book collections on two continents to acquire thousands of volumes. The entire collection of more than 6,000 volumes -- some originals and some replacements -- will go on display tomorrow at the Library of Congress, looking much as it would have 200 years ago.

"These are the books that made America," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress.

After a lifetime collecting the books, Jefferson, sold them during the War of 1812. British soldiers had set fire to the first congressional library, obliterating more than 1,000 books. Aghast, Jefferson offered his library at whatever price Congress deemed reasonable. In 1815, Congress paid about $24,000 for all 6,487 volumes.

Re-creating such a famous library is a book collector's dream, Dimunation said, and it has not been easy. The search took Dimunation and his staff near and far, from their own stacks to the basements of French booksellers as they hunted down the same editions and obscure pamphlets from the early 1800s.

"We have dealt with the dealers from both coasts and everything in between," Dimunation said with a resigned laugh. "I am still waiting for my pamphlet on brewing beer."

They burned the fucking library.

What a treasure! I wish I could see it!

[SteveDallas]

It's just books. You can always get more.

[skysidhe]

Originally Posted by Yznhymr

The only question is: how will we choose to use these powers? [b]Well, I had this power 15 seconds before you stated your question and was already bored with it.

lol


well, I try to become a better cook. I have recipie shortcuts on my desktop.

I love a good photo and have begun a good collection. It isn't very big because I think I save the best for my harddrive and keep the rest online someplace.

It's a good encyclopedia,medical resource and how to manual.

I don't find 'tools' to be all that magical or omnipotent.
I think a major electrical failure would prove that to be true.

Now if someone would harness the wind power from my blustery patio and convert it to useable energy THAT would be valuable usable sorcery!

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Flint

To clarify, I never said we were smarter. I said we have better access to information.

And then, upon reflection, I realized we actually only have faster access to less complete information.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Smarter we are.

Today's scientists are able to work out the actual age of the universe.

Originally Posted by Flint

Not as individual humans. I can drive a car, but I can't build a car. I'm using accumulated knowledge; I can't take credit for that.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

It's just books. You can always get more.

Great, do you have a copy of Plutarch's Life of Epaminondas? I lost mine around 400 AD, haven't seen it since. :p

[TheMercenary]

Oh, I have a copy of that. Let me see if I can track it down for you. How's your ancient Greek?