»
Discussion
»
Philosophy 101
»
which is "up"?
| Philosophy 101 |
|
which is "up"? |
|
|
desperado Member
since 1999-05-24
Posts 312FT Hood,Tx 
|
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 27Singapore |
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 22612Hurricane Alley |
Up is a matter of perspective.... |
||
|
Skyfyre Senior Member
since 1999-08-15
Posts 1906Sitting in Michael's Lap |
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 1301That place with padded walls and funny people in white......... |
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 5705Jejudo, South Korea |
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 82Oz |
Huh? I thought UP was the Unknown Poet...  |
||
|
Justin Thyme Member
since 1999-09-13
Posts 216Oz |
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 |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||