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Philosophy 101
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desperado
Member
since 1999-05-24
Posts 312
FT Hood,Tx

0 posted 1999-10-06 09:48 PM


what is "up"? is it a place? a thing? a direction? if it's a direction, then what is it in relationship to north? if you are upside-down, then does "up" change direction? is "up" something that makes sense to one person alone? could I point a gun "up" and hit the surface of the earth, while standing on it? are "up" and "down" opposites? or can they both be the same? for that matter, what is "down"? does this circular thought bother "you"? does it enlighten "you"? for that matter, what are "you"? are "you" real? are "you" a figment of my imagination? are "you" "up"? are "you" "down"? what is "up"? .....
© Copyright 1999 James Webster - All Rights Reserved
Tal
Junior Member
since 1999-10-05
Posts 27
Singapore
1 posted 1999-10-06 10:25 PM


You got me there... but I think "up" is any place that is above you.. at least that's what I think..
Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley
2 posted 1999-10-06 11:02 PM


Up is a matter of perspective....
Skyfyre
Senior Member
since 1999-08-15
Posts 1906
Sitting in Michael's Lap
3 posted 1999-10-07 12:54 PM


In my dictionary (which weighs a good 30 pounds), the word "up" has 18 definitions and takes up more than half a page in very small print.

This does not count the more than 30 definitions for unique sayings using "up", such as "up and up," "up to," etc.

Essentially, as PDV said, "up" is a matter of perspective ... assuking you are talking about "up" in the physical sense,it is a direction relatively vertical to one's position or vantage point.

------------------
"Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, morierus"
(Now as I hear this bell tolling softly for another, it says to me, "Thou must die.")


Systematic Decay
Senior Member
since 1999-09-15
Posts 1301
That place with padded walls and funny people in white.........
4 posted 1999-10-07 01:02 AM


I think that "up" is the opposite of the way gravity is pulling. It makes sense. Gravity holds us down, so since up is the opposite of down, it makes sense that up is opposite of the way gravity is pulling.

------------------
"Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage."
-Billy Corgan-

Brad
Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea
5 posted 1999-10-07 05:47 AM


Systematic Decay has a definition that I've heard before and that there's no 'up' in space. I prefer Poet DeVine's (and Nochtdraco's) about perspective.

Do you have any problem with left and right being perspectival based?

What's wrong with opposites being the same?

And here we hit on something really interesting (well, I think so). Many times absolute opposites become the same thing from a human point of view. If we live in a closed universe for example, absolute up and down are the same thing. Or rather, without a specific, arbitrary reference point you can't tell the difference. It's the perspective that allows so much of what we say actually to make sense. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics say the same thing (but in different ways).

Without an established, arbitrary perspective, you can't say anything.

Think about it (or have a drink; some of this stuff can certainly drive someone to drink),
Brad

Justin Kace
Member
since 1999-09-13
Posts 82
Oz
6 posted 1999-10-07 08:04 AM


Huh? I thought UP was the Unknown Poet...
Justin Thyme
Member
since 1999-09-13
Posts 216
Oz
7 posted 1999-10-07 11:40 AM


UP and DOWN and LEFT and RIGHT are all descriptions of 3-dimensions, of which YOU are in the midst of.

THYME, on the other hand, is the 4th-dimension.

Now, I have a question of you. Is "desperado" a pen-name for: (a) a desperately curious individual, (b) a character from a song popular in the '70s, (c) a joker, or (d) all of the above ?

Just curious. Thanks for posing these deep, philosophical questions about the time-space mystery.

signed--
Thyme: The Fourth Dimension

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