Knowing, without seeing...

[Lightscribe]

I have come across this many times, reading about our world, in one or other book, or online article.

Here's an example:

In general, modern scientific Deep-sea exploration can be said to have begun when French scientist Pierre Simon de Laplace investigated the average depth of the Atlantic ocean by observing tidal motions registered on Brazilian and African coasts. He calculated the depth to be 3,962 m (13,000 ft), a value later proven quite accurate by soundings measurement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-sea_exploration

and, what I remember reading about in a Lyall Watson book:

It is likely that the Polynesians also used wave and swell formations to navigate. Many of the habitable areas of the Pacific Ocean are groups of islands (or atolls) in chains hundreds of kilometers long. Island chains have predictable effects on waves and on currents. Navigators who lived within a group of islands would learn the effect various islands had on their shape, direction, and motion and would have been able to correct their path in accordance with the changes they perceived.

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P...ng_directions_of_winds,_waves_and_islands.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation

There are so many times humans knew something, about the nature of the Universe, calculated an answer, made a statement, that later proved to be correct, the right approach, or an almost magical ability, to be in tune, or in touch, on a myriad of levels, with the flow of the Universe.

Which do you remember reading about..?

 

[HavocXphere]

That my friend is unfortunately confirmation bias and not some "magical ability".

For every example of where a prediction worked out there are hundreds that were wrong - most of which are never recorded in our histories. And naturally in hindsight, the correct one is what makes the news.

Making theories without scientific facts is hit & miss. I mean see how the "world is flat" thing panned out. Or sea monsters. Or witches. Or ether. Or....

 

[Lightscribe]

That my friend is unfortunately confirmation bias and not some "magical ability".

For every example of where a prediction worked out there are hundreds that were wrong - most of which are never recorded in our histories. And naturally in hindsight, the correct one is what makes the news.

Making theories without scientific facts is hit & miss. I mean see how the "world is flat" thing panned out. Or sea monsters. Or witches. Or ether. Or....

I see...Nothing to contribute, to some of the fascinating history of our world, other than some negative waffle.

People such as yourself, were always needed also.

Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (/ləˈplæs/; French: [pjɛʁ simɔ̃ laplas]; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five-volume Mécanique Céleste (Celestial Mechanics) (1799–1825). This work translated the geometric study of classical mechanics to one based on calculus, opening up a broader range of problems. In statistics, the Bayesian interpretation of probability was developed mainly by Laplace.[2]

Laplace formulated Laplace's equation, and pioneered the Laplace transform which appears in many branches of mathematical physics, a field that he took a leading role in forming. The Laplacian differential operator, widely used in mathematics, is also named after him. He restated and developed the nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system and was one of the first scientists to postulate the existence of black holes and the notion of gravitational collapse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Simon_de_Laplace

Seems he was a thinker...But, hey, don't let that stop your pessimism.

Polynesian navigators employed a whole range of techniques including use of the stars, the movement of ocean currents and wave patterns, the air and sea interference patterns caused by islands and atolls, the flight of birds, the winds and the weather

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation

Seems the Polynesian navigators were thinkers also...But, hey, don't let that stop your pessimism.

 

[HavocXphere]

Yes perhaps I was unduly pessimistic. I suppose things like Einstein predicting the deflection of the sun's light accurately might count. Or the god particle. Or hawking radiation...ok well that one not yet.

People such as yourself, were always needed also.

*Fuzzy warm feeling inside*

Seems he was a thinker...But, hey, don't let that stop your pessimism.
Seems the Polynesian navigators were thinkers also...But, hey, don't let that stop your pessimism.

Neither of which I denied or disputed.

 

[Techne]

I find the development of our view of atoms quite interesting. From the Greeks' philosophical atomism (e.g. Democritus) to the corpuscular philosophy of Geber (13th century) and Boyle (16th century) which later developed into our views of atoms. For thousands of years people, based on reason but without any empirical evidence, argued structures such as atoms exist.

It just shows that one can have access to whether something exist or not, or whether something is true or not even if one does not sense it (directly or indirectly) with your 5 senses. I suppose you can add to that the entire edifice of mathematics since they are objects of our intellect and not necessarily actual objects (e.g. a triangle on an Euclidean plane is an intentional object, not something real).