Ainee
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819541. Thu May 26, 2011 3:33 pm |
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Younger son taught me a Qi fact he discovered, and demonstrated:
Wikipedia Philosophy
Whichever Wikipedia page you go to first, click on the first highlighted link (which is not in brackets). Repeat process.
Within a dozen clicks, Wikipedia will ALWAYS take you to their 'Philosophy' page. Each First Link which reappears (highlighted) will speed up the number of returns to Philosophy.
They tested this theory for 30 minutes in lunch break, and it has proved true.
The question we are all wondering is:
WHY? |
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Spoilt Victorian
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819543. Thu May 26, 2011 3:36 pm |
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post 818651 There's a bit of a discussion on the permutations starting here.
Vikki |
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Ainee
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819552. Thu May 26, 2011 4:03 pm |
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Interesting! Shared with Youngerson. Thank you!
This is like discovering 'Googlewhack' all over again! |
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CB27
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819586. Thu May 26, 2011 5:45 pm |
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Did anyone tell David Gorman? |
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Celebaelin
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820157. Sun May 29, 2011 7:22 am |
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Ainee wrote: | The question we are all wondering is:
WHY? |
I'll have a bash at answering that.
Wiki starts with a definition or explanation of whatever the subject of the article is. When you are defining stuff eventually you come to the point where you need to define terms of reference. Each time I've tried this so far eventually I come to the Wiki Knowledge article and from there getting to philosophy is a matter of certainty as the chain goes
Knowledge
Fact
Information
Sequence
Mathematics
Quantity
Property (philosophy)
Modern philosophy
Philosophy
That in seeking to define something, or in this case a chain of somethings, we should eventually arrive at an article which refers to the field of knowledge itself is surely no surprise? Whichever way you start to describe an apple say (I'll try this one in a minute) eventually, possibly in an accelerated manner because of the way Wiki leans towards science, you will get to a field of study be it horticulture, botany or whatever and that starts you along the path whereby you will eventually need to define knowledge and that will, should and does lead you inexorably to philosophy. I don't discount the possibility of more remote routes to the 'knowledge turning point'; in a 32 step sequence starting with a biological phenomenon I quickly got to Human physiology but then took a bit of a detour via such things as Ancient Greek, Social sciences, Interaction and eventually Physics from which point the path to Philosophy is a certainty (via the Knowledge article).
As an aside if you carry on 4 more steps beyond Philosophy you encounter a loop back to Science.
Science
Knowledge
Fact
Information
Sequence
Mathematics
Quantity
Property (philosophy)
Modern philosophy
Philosophy
Existence
Sense
Physiology
Science
I'm now going to go and see how philosophical apples are! Last edited by Celebaelin on Sun May 29, 2011 7:58 am; edited 1 time in total
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Ameena
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820165. Sun May 29, 2011 7:46 am |
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Woo I tried it...
Simba
Lion
Big cat
Felidae
Family (biology)
Biological classification
Biologist
Scientist
System
Latin
Italic languages
Indo-European languages
Language family
Language
Human
Taxonomy
Ancient Greek
Greek language
Greeks
Nation
Soveriegn state
State (polity)
Social sciences
Fields
Academia
Community
Interaction
Causality
Result
Sequence
Mathematics
Quantity
Property (philosophy)
Modern philosophy
Philosophy
So, from Simba to philosophy in over 30 steps :D. |
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Celebaelin
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820168. Sun May 29, 2011 7:55 am |
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Apple
Pome
Flowering plant
Embryophyte
Plant
Life
Physical body
Physics
Natural Science
Science
etc.
19 steps to Philosophy in total.
Perhaps something less tangible - how about Fauvism
Fauvism
Modern art
Abstraction
Hierarchy
Ordered set
Order theory
Mathematics
Quantity
Property (philosophy)
Modern philosophy
Philosophy
11 steps, but not via knowledge; the first common point is mathematics.
What about colour...
Color
Visual perception
Light
Electromagnetic radiation
Energy
Physics
Natural science
Science
etc
17 steps to Philosophy.
OK, how about dung?
Dung
Feces
Waste
Litter
Caliphate of Córdoba
Iberian Peninsula
Europe
Continent
Landmass
Land
Earth
Planet
Orbit
Physics
Natural Science
Science
25 steps in all.
That's enough I think. |
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Celebaelin
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820178. Sun May 29, 2011 8:42 am |
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This is vaguely addictive.
NASCAR
Auto racing
Motorsport
Motorcycle racing
Motorcycle sport
Sport
Organization
Social group
Social cohesion
Social policy
Quality of life
International development
Concept
Cognition
Science
23 total. |
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Celebaelin
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820197. Sun May 29, 2011 10:57 am |
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Well here's an odd one
J. R. R. Tolkien
Order of the British Empire
Chivalric order
Knight
Warrior
Combat
Violence
Psychological manipulation
Social influence
Conformity
Unconscious mind
German philosophy
Philosophy
13 steps.
It doesn't support my idea about it being something to do with defining your terms when describing stuff and seems a little abrupt. The step from conformity to unconscious mind seems incongruous - perhaps the editors have grasped this meme and are twisting it a bit; a link to society would seem to be more appropriate.
Quote: | Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to what individuals perceive is normal of their society or social group. This influence occurs in small groups and society as a whole, and may result from subtle unconscious influences, or direct and overt social pressure. |
Without foreknowledge I decided to check the path from society...
Society
Interpersonal relationship
Limerence
Psychologist
Clinical psychology
Mental disorder
Psychology
Science
17 in total. |
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Ian Dunn
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820225. Sun May 29, 2011 2:23 pm |
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I've just done it now, starting at a random article:
Wind Dancer
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
Comic book
Magazine
Publication
Content (media)
Information
Sequence
Mathematics
Quantity
Property (philosophy)
Modern philosophy
Philosophy
So that's 13 articles I visited. |
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RLDavies
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820940. Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:02 am |
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Philosophy and science are supposed to be considerations of universal truths. Which would mean they include everything. And now Wikipedia proves it! |
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Southpaw
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820948. Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:23 am |
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I would like to see a giant map of the interconnections between Wikipedia articles... |
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PDR
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820950. Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:32 am |
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Celebaelin wrote: | Well here's an odd one
Without foreknowledge I decided to check the path from society...
Society
Interpersonal relationship
Limerence
Psychologist
Clinical psychology
Mental disorder
Psychology
Science
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So according to wiki between society and science there must always be mental disorder?
That's an interesting speculation...
PDR |
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Celebaelin
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Moosh
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821040. Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:58 pm |
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Southpaw wrote: | I would like to see a giant map of the interconnections between Wikipedia articles... |
I wouldn't. Wikipedia has something like 18 million articles on it at the moment, some that link to thousands of others, and some that are linked to by thousands of others. Way too much data to be able to make sense of visually as a map. |
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