Is there a teapot going round the sun?

[6ft 4]

For those of u who just watched Richard Dawkins channel 4 i propose this question.

I cannot disprove there is a teapot going round the sun, therefore i believe there is.

[6ft 4]

And btw if anyone can think of a witty but not cheesy 3rd option for the poll please post it and i will edit.

[Siberian Husky]

3. why hasnt 6ft4 been banned yet?

[prometheus]

Hehe.

Dawkins is a funny guy. He has nice jokes.

[gorbee natcase]

take a look at this, ( a new picture of gravity) third row down1st on left .   
Infact they are all fascinating videos
Saucer Q answered

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program_d.html

[prometheus]

String theory is math based philosophy. Not science (yet).

Ooh and there is also the spaghetti monster.

[gorbee natcase]

String theory is math based philosophy. Not science (yet).

Ooh and there is also the spaghetti monster.

You have to admit it makes an awfull lot of sence though. and if it is real, it opens up the possibilities of parrelell universes

[stevie]

planet earth revolves around the sun, there are teapots on earth, so yes, mildly.

[gorbee natcase]

It may be conjecture, but untill I see something better I will believe in string theory

[ahinton]

Mornington Crescent...

Ah, that's better!

Teapots be damned! I must go make myself a pot of nice strong coffee before resuming work on my latest addition to the art of sonic pollution (see another recent thread that isn't quite called "Mothers against Invention"...).

Best,

Alistair

[Tash]

i'm doing an astronomy general education subject in feb for uni so will ask if an astronaught has left one up in space woo i believe there is, if i was a teapot i would revolve around the sun

[lagin]

So if I cannot disprove that there is a God, then there is?    (Peace, everyone.  I just couldn't resist!)

[prometheus]

You have to admit it makes an awfull lot of sence though. and if it is real, it opens up the possibilities of parrelell universes

Yes, but you have to be careful here. Actually this is totally on topic. String theory isn't falsifiable. Just like the teapot and god and Intelligent Design. And just like pink little elephants that dance under my bed but that turn invisible when I look. Just as the Spaghetti Monster.

You must understand science doesn't primarily concern itself with truths and facts. It deals with making models of reality that fit observations and that make accurate predictions. If God lands on earth tomorrow saying that he 'fakes' all our laws of science and that their are far from 'fact' and 'universal truth' our models would still be as good as ever. Why? Because they describe reality correctly. If they are truth or not doesn't matter. They work.

As long as string theory isn't falsifiable it is useless. It is a huge problem. It may make an awful lot of sense but you have to be very careful.
First of, you can't measure how much sense it makes. So we can never be really sure that it actually does make sense. Secondly, of course it makes sense. It is thought up by humans. Most theories that are proposed make sense in some way. But most are also wrong.
An argument that is made is that it can only make sense if it is part of reality. But there is no way to be sure of this. There could be something funny at work here that has been overlooked. The math is really really complex, too complex for physicists; most people leading in the field are actually mathematicians. It could also be pure and stupid coincidence; a joke by god if you will. But it may very well be largely correct and we may never be able to test the theory. It may be beyond the realms of science. Personally I don't believe there are limits to what science can do.
Scientists are humans too. They make terrible mistakes. You must understand that many people have dedicated their lives to String Theory. If it turns out to be totally wrong then they have wasted their lives. Therefore they cannot accept it to be wrong. Do not underestimate this. Even the best scientists can fool themselves and this happens all the times. Look at Einstein for example. He made several mistakes because he didn't like several theories, who turned out to be right in the end. He didn't like quantum physics. He added a cosmological constant to one of his formula's to avoid the big bang, which he didn't like. (Actually most scientists didn't like the big bang, they found it too christian. But in the end experiment proved them wrong). Einstein called this his biggest mistake.
The laws of nature don't always make sense. Quantum physics make no sense at all, one of the reasons Einstein disliked it. Why would a theory that makes sense be the correct one?
Lets observe the possibilities. The laws of nature could be a very ugly layer upon layer of complex rules, that in the end turn out to be much simpler than they appear. Or natural laws could be something really simple at the basis of its all with very complex results. Wouldn't it be nice if it was the first. That would be really lovely and nice for science. Imagine the first. We would get 40 'nonsense' theories that are absolutely correct and almost useless. One simple theory that explains everything would be a lot more powerful than 40 complex ones explaining very little. What would you prefer?

Personally I do look favorable on String Theory. But I fear greatly for it. People would like for the universe to make sense. It could even be that they are religious. God would make a nice elegant theory, a beautiful one. Not layer upon layer of 'stupid ugly' ones. They believe in God and therefore they also have faith in String Theory.

You either believe in String Theory or not. It is a matter of faith. Since I had several creationism discussions. The Big Bang and Evolution aren't matters of faith but String Theory is.

[leahcim]

Dawkins is a funny guy. He has nice jokes.

Perhaps, but that one is actually Bertrand Russell's.

https://skeptically.org/thinkersonreligion/id15.html

[...and it's couched in terms, as it was in the programme, that the teapot isn't on Earth...]

[Dazzer]

I find those videos VERY VERY interesting.

I would investigate more, if the math were not way above my level.

So, its a case of "Something which does not require my thought, as it does not concern me in the slightest".

[semme]

maybe there was a teapot once. but im convinced the heat would have melted him away . if a pin would have the same heat than the sun, we would be a bolt of fire in case we would stay in a radius of 200 meters.

[tompilk]

i thought the probram was great... especially when he argued with the preacher and he drove him off his lland threatening to ring the police and burn his tapes!!! The preacher also had a Dodge Ram... not a "holy" car seeing how much damage it does to the environment...

[perfect_pitch]

planet earth revolves around the sun, there are teapots on earth, so yes, mildly.

So technically there are teapots flying around the sun....

There's also kettles and vacuums flying around the sun as well.   

Love the answer Stevie. Politically correct and true.   

[Derek]

hmm I bet you could find an asteroid which looks almost exactly like a teapot (since there are so many this is pretty likely) so in that case, the question is what is a teapot?

[gorbee natcase]

hmm I bet you could find an asteroid which looks almost exactly like a teapot (since there are so many this is pretty likely) so in that case, the question is what is a teapot?

I bet there is one that looks like a thingy too