CLICK ON ANY LABEL BELOW TO JUMP TO THAT TOPIC FROM HERE.
1. Scientific Theories and Laws
2. The First Decade (1936-1946)
4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)
6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)
8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)
10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)
12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)
14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)
15. The Theory of More than Everything
16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)
18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)
Appendix A Paintings
Appendix B Caps and Bunnies
Appendix C Musical Compositions
Appendix E A Googolplex Universe
Appendix F Acknowledgements
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Aha, now you can agree. The dimes will sink to the bottom. This little demo has perhaps made your common sense do a flip-flop in just a minute. Does that mean we can't depend on common sense? It's possible.
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Common sense tells us to eat when we're hungry. Every reasonable person agrees because we have a common experience. We've learned hunger is a good way to tell when we need food (if we're basically healthy), but over the years, common sense can change.
Let's say a talkative tribe lives on a small island. Their common sense tells them it's OK to wade around in the water chattering away without a care; they've played like this for two hundred years with no trouble. A school of sharks finally hears about this carefree bunch and decides to move into the neighborhood. After a few noisy villagers disappear in a most unpleasant way, the local common sense suddenly changes because of new information. Now they have a new motto: Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Suppose I traveled back in time and met you in the year 1200. If I told you the Earth goes around the sun, you might say that's against common sense, and you'd be right for that century. You'd say, "Just look. The sun goes around us." I'd say, "It only looks like that because the world is spinning." You'd laugh, "How can the Earth spin around without hurting the turtle it sits on?" as I back away from you slowly and climb into my time machine.
What will you say if I ask you the same kind of question today? "Do the planets go around us, or do they go around the sun?" You'd say, "It's common sense that the planets go around the sun," but you believe this because you've heard the story so many times. You've seen drawings of the solar system and perhaps went to a good science fiction movie, so it's all reasonable to you, but do you realize what you are doing?
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