(October 18, 2016 at 9:42 am)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: If pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter in all possible worlds then it was discovered and not invented.
No, that's just describing it using maths. It can be described using language as well. We discover things in the meta-structures of both maths and language. Also, a circle can't exist in "all possible worlds" or in fact any worlds that are not two dimensional, and we don't have any two dimensional worlds - a circle is a theoretical shape. You can't build anything two dimensional, but you can use two dimensional shapes when designing real-world three dimensional objects. On that you might say then there's a ratio of a sphere's circumference to its radius - that's true, but spheres don't exist in nature either. We have to build things using particles, let's say you want to make a small spherical diamond using 6.022*1023 atoms. I won't do the calculation, but there's a finite number of atoms on the circumference, thus meaning there are many many many tiny sides to what appears to you to be a "sphere", but a sphere is a perfect geometric shape with no tiny sides that does not exist in the real world. Pi provides a shortcut to calculate the volume as if it were a sphere.
(October 18, 2016 at 1:54 pm)Soldat Du Christ Wrote: "Case in point - why not consider one of the most famous assassinations in the history of the world: the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans. Most classicists think that Pilate snuffed him out for becoming unruly at the Jerusalem temple where he may have also become violent. That's deduced from an understanding of the ancient world that looks beyond what his followers passed on about the ordeal. So, facts only tell you so much."
How is a crucifixion an assassination? Sources please.
I used that word purposefully. Of course Jesus was assassinated by the State, there's no doubt about that. Assassinations take many forms, you can be poisoned, shot, drowned, beaten to death. What would you call it? The appropriate application of Roman law perhaps? The Romans had a policy at the time to snuff out people who they perceived as a threat to their rule or as a threat to communal peace. That's a textbook example of an assignation.
And a perfect example of how perception frames a "fact".
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke