Quotes that make you THINK!

I love quotes! Especially ones that make you think! Ones that inspire you to strive to become a better person. Listed below are some of my favorite quotes from some of my favorite thinkers and leaders.

"It was said of old that he who governs himself is greater than he who takes a city."
- Gordon B. Hinckley

"May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law."
- Immanuel Kant

"There are many things that I believe that I shall never say but I shall never say those things I do not believe." - Immanuel Kant


"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei

"Long experience has taught me this about the status of mankind with regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them, while on the other hand to know and understand a multitude of things renders men cautious in passing judgement upon anything new." - Galileo Galilei


"We knew of old that God was so great that he could make all things; but, behold, he is so much greater even than that, that he can make all things make themselves."
- Charles Kingsley

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Albert Einstein

"Truth is what stands the test of experience." -Albert Einstein

"If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut." - Albert Einstein

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity." - Albert Einstein

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." - Albert Einstein

"Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man." - J. Robert Oppenheimer (speaking of Albert Einstein)

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer (speaking of the atomic bomb)

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Aristotle

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato

"Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil." - Plato

"I detest that man who hides one thing in the depths of his heart, and speaks for another."
- Homer


"A generation of men is like a generation of leaves; the wind scatters some leaves upon the ground, while others the burgeoning wood brings forth - and the season of spring comes on. So of men one generation springs forth and another ceases." -Homer


"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." - Isaac Newton

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." - Samuel Johnson

"It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours."
- Sam Ewing

"Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street."
- Elbert Hubbard

"This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men." - Captain J. A. Hadfield

"Latter-day Saints...do not deny that an evolutionary process, a reflection of the gospel law of progression, may be one of the methods of the Lord's labor in the universe." - John A. Widtsoe

"Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife." - Euripides

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." - Mark Twain

"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it." - Herodotus

"If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase." - Epictetus

Is 186,000 Miles Per Second The Speed Limit? (REPOST)

I realize this is a repost, but it is something that I ponder often. I assure you that I have an "ULTRA" post in the works.

Back in September (2008) I posted about the speed of light and how there is nothing faster. Ever since I posted that I have been wondering if that is true. I know, that is really something that most people worry about, but it keeps me busy thinking about. I know scientifically and theoretically that there is nothing faster. That has been proven by the calculations of Albert Einstein with his theory of special relativity. We know that light travels at, roughly, 186,000 miles per second or 299,792,458 meters per second. Since then we have found that the speed of light can be manipulated. Light can slow as it is refracted passing through much denser materials, such as water, glass, and much slower through diamonds. We can also temporarily speed up light. One experiment in 2000 made the group velocity, or speed, of laser beams travel for extremely short distances through caesium or cesium atoms at 300 times the speed of light, WOW! now that is fast.


Now let me let you in on what I have been thinking about. We use many wavelenghts of nonvisible light for communication purposes. Most common is radiowaves and microwaves, no not ovens, but that makes me hungry. There is another form of communication that many use each day. This may get a little deep in thought so bare with me. Prayer! Prayer, what is the mechanism used to transfer our thoughts and words in prayer? Is it some sort of wavelenght of light? Perhaps, but it all depends on how far our prayers need to travel to be heard and then the time it takes for our answers to travel back. We do not know the exact location of our Heavenly Father, but it is probably pretty far. Let's just say we probably know that it is farther than our sun. Our sun is roughly 93 million miles from Earth. Using a wavelenght of light for communication and using the distance of our sun as our prayers destination, that would take our prayer 8.31 minutes to arrive and then an additional 8.31 minutes to return if answered immediately. I know that I have had prayers answered almost instantly. So, probably not a wavelenght of light, since we know that the speed of light is constant, but could caesium surround us while we pray? (I am joking here) That could speed up our prayers, I sure hope not, that could be very dangerous. Caesium is highly reactive and is highly explosive when it comes in contact with water. I don't know about you, but I have often cried while praying, so that could be deadly.


This is what makes me wonder, what is the mechanism used to transfer our thoughts and words in prayer. Whatever this mechanism is, our Heavenly Father has it all worked out and I do believe that it is much faster that the speed of light. It all depends on where are prayers are going and how far that really is. Or could it be that we all live in very close proximity, just in a different dimension perhaps? After all the veil is very thin at times between this world and others, but that is just going WAY TOO into things. That is another thing I think about, but I will just leave it at this point. The point is that I believe that the speed of light is theoretically the fastest, but I also believe that this mechanism that transfers our prayers is much faster that the speed of light, how fast? Who knows, but science can not measure this. THINK ABOUT IT!

Global Warming? AGAIN!

Due to the recent strange weather events across the nation I thought I would re-post something that I wrote a couple of months ago. I feel that many people do not understand the real "Global Warming" issue. It frustrates me when people develop an opinion without researching it first and obtaining the facts first. I hope that by reading this that some will open their minds a little more to the issue and understand it a little better. Read this with an open mind and think about this subject. Do not make this a left vs. right issue.

Why else would the Lord have told us to be stewards over the Earth? This Earth was created for our use and we are to care for it. I ultimately feel that the changing climate here on Earth is part of the plan of the Creation. The Earth will take care of itself and it will be renewed again! The Earth is angry!

ORIGINAL POST: JANUARY 29, 2009

Global Warming? Think for a moment… Is it real????? Hmmmm! Yes! WAIT! Don’t leave! Take a few moments and read this one. It is a little long, but trust me, I have shortened this, REALLY! And this is right up my alley; I studied this extensively in school, so give it a chance!!!! And please do not argue with me with anything that you heard from Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. I like them both, but they are not scientists, just conservatives like me, but I however understand the Earth System Processes, well more than they do!Temperatures on a global average have been on the rise. (Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the 100 years ending in 2005) This is a fact! No, I do not like Al Gore. His work is flawed and inconsistent. And he has bad hair. Does this mean that everyone is experiencing a warming? No. Some places are cooling and some are warming. This is an “average” global temperature increase, “average.” And yes, I know some of you are thinking, I am really cold right now. Yes! It is winter. HELLO! Really though, this is what happens when there is a climate shift, weather begins to see extremes. When a climate begins to change, bad things can happen. (I really like this, but then again, I am a natural disaster “FREAK,” as long as nobody gets injured or killed) If you have noticed in the past few years there has been an increase in extreme weather events. I know my friends in Arkansas thinks so. So when it gets colder than usual and you say, Wow! Global Warming huh! You are correct! When it snows in June you say, Wow! Global Warming huh! You are correct again! There are those that may say, well I thought they said back in the 70’s and 80’s that we were going into an ice age? Yes, this is the pattern that the earth should be going into. (This is what is great about science; new discoveries are made, let’s see what we can figure out next!) Does this mean an Earth covered in ice? No! Although, here in Utah this could be very bad, anyone remember the great prehistoric pluvial lake, Lake Bonneville, from the Pleistocene? I don’t, I was not around yet, but our mountains and shorelines remember. Take a look sometime if you are in the area, remarkable!There are cycles that the Earth goes through called Milankovitch cycles, named after a Serbian civil engineer and mathematician, Milutin Milanković, that helped to determine these various orbital variations. These orbital variations are eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the Earth's orbit and they are very complicated, so I will not bore you with them. Feel free to read about them if you can’t fall asleep. Talk about "moving!" These cycles show that we should be headed toward what looks like an ice age, but we are not. We are warming! (Sorry Phoenix! It is getting hotter!) This is where the confusion begins.There is a direct correlation with warming to the industrial revolution. Also, there is a direct correlation to the increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere with the industrial revolution. By the way, the levels of CO2 have been measured from the top of Mount Kīlauea, Hawaii. Far away from any heavily polluted areas. It is very hard to ignore this evidence. So, Yes! global warming is happening. Now this is where the argument about global warming can begin.Since it is a fact that temperatures have been on the rise, now we need to ask why. Is it anthropogenic? (Dang humans!) Perhaps! This is where there is such a debate. This is where I feel the real question should be. Is Global Warming Man Made? I personally believe that we have had some sort of an impact on climate change. To what extent? I am not sure. To actually know how much is very hard to track. Could there be some variable that we do not know? Yes! Could we, as humans, have just set off a tipping point and caused the warming to occur, or a climate shift to occur? Perhaps! There are just too many variables to consider. Whatever has caused this to happen may never be known. On the flip side we have also been helping to cool our planet with the sulfates we have been releasing into the atmosphere. This was discovered through methods called pan evaporation. (Cool Huh!) Pans of water are measured for the amount of evaporation that occurs over time. Evaporation is related to temperature and solar insolation or sunlight. The temperature has been increasing over the past years, but the amount of evaporation has been decreasing. Long story short, this has been because of the amount of sulfates that have been releases into the atmosphere. These sulfates block the amount of solar insolation the Earth receives. Now, could we have actually been slowing the rate of warming, very likely! Can you say, “Global Dimming!” (Very interesting study performed the day after 911 when all the planes were grounded, let me give you a little hint, no vapor trails!)
So, as you can see there are so many factors to consider. Since we do not know how much man has contributed to global warming, it is hard to say what we need to do, or if anything. My problem with these global warming extremists is that they think that we can fix this with no problems. They also paint a very dim picture of our future. It has taken a long time for this problem to happen and it is going to take a very long time to correct the problem. I personally feel, too little too late! I believe we are past the point of no return. The damage has been done. I am not an extremist when it comes to the global warming issue, but if we know we are contributing then it is our responsibility to do what we can to stop polluting our atmosphere. Even though I feel. it is too late, let's be good stewards of our Earth. Ultimately, the Earth will fix itself as it has done many, many times in the past. We will probably not be around to see this, but Earth will take care of this problem. Think About It!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

I would like to wish my father, Lloyd William Schempp, a Happy Birthday. I truly feel that he is the greatest father that anyone could be blessed to have here upon the face of this Earth. I would like to start with a couple of paragraphs from the autobiography of my father. These two paragraphs should and will shed a little bit of light on my thought process. It should give you an indication of why I think the way I do. GENETICS?

"Lloyd William Schempp was born on 22 March 1940 at Alamosa, Alamosa County, Colorado. I was born at the Alamosa Community Hospital and delivered by our family doctor, Dr. Sidney Anderson. I came into the world at 12:30 a.m. on the morning of Good Friday."

"The 22nd of March is the earliest date upon which Good Friday can fall. Are you ready for this. Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. The Paschal full moon is the 14th day of a lunar month occurring on or following the next day after March 21. Anyway with Good Friday occurring the Friday before Easter, Good Friday, on a March 22, is a once in a lifetime happening. Between the years 1940 AD and 2041 AD, March 22 occurs on Friday only 15 times and only once does it occur on Good Friday. I won't even get into the equinox for 1940, aren't you glad?" - Lloyd William Schempp

"KARL, I AM YOUR FATHER!" (In a deep breathing voice)

Now, I hope this give you a little indication of why I am the way I am. (For the better, I feel) I am a very lucky person to have such a great man as a father. He is one of the smartest men that I know. I have learned many things from just growing up around him. I have also learned many things from the example that he has set for me. I would have to say that the greatest thing that I have learned for my father is not anything scientific or anything to do with a thought process. The greatest thing that I have learned from my father is how to treat your wife and mother. My father treats my mother with the greatest respect of anyone that I know. My father grew up without his mother. She passed on to the next stage of life on April 21, 1940. I have always wondered if this is why he treats my mother with the greatest respect. By not having a mother, growing up, I feel that he perhaps he has taken the love and respect that he would have shown to his own mother and carried it with him until he was married and expressed this love for mothers and gave my mother, his wife, an extra appreciation of love and respect. This is the greatest example that he has shown for me.

My father has always been there for me through the years and continues to be there for me to this day. I love just being around my father. He is just fun to be around. As I grow older I can see that I am a lot like my father. I can see many things in me that I have either learned or inherited from my father. There is one thing that we do not see eye-to-eye on though! BYU vs. Utah. I can not think of a greater example of a father, than my own father, to follow here upon this Earth.

I usually try to not give the age of any of my family members on their birthdays, but this one was given in the beginning. It was too great to pass up the opportunity in showing how I came to be the way I am. I am looking forward to spending many more equinoxes with my father. If you are wanting to know about the equinox, read my previous post. Don't worry! I did not get into the equinox of 1940 either. But, I will say that it does involve two points of view. Heliocentric or Geocentric! THINK ABOUT IT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! I LOVE YOU!

*If you want to read more about my father see http://sonofathinker.blogspot.com/2008/12/quotes-from-my-dad.html

What a Great Day for Equality here on Earth!

True equality only happens twice a year on Earth. People try to equal in many ways. Boys want to be equal to girls and girls want to be equal to boys, but this can never really be achieved. There is only one way that we can achieve true equality here on Earth. And today is one of those lucky days that we have equality. Today at 11:44 UTC the Earth reached an equinoctial point. This happens twice a year. This is a point where the Earth's axis is inclined neither away or toward the sun. The sun's solar isolation is directed directly at the Earth at the equator. (No, the sun is not only shining on the equator!) This happens twice a year at the vernal point (no, not Vernal, Utah) and the autumnal point. The names given to these days are the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox. The term equinox is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). This is exactly what occurs. The the night and day are approximately equally long.

Summer is my favorite season, but the first day of spring has to be one of my favorite days. Even though it is not as warm as summer, I like to look at it this way. From this point moving into summer, each day we will be blessed with an increasing duration of sunlight. (unless you are reading this from the southern hemisphere, SORRY!) And if you have not caught on by now, I LOVE THE SUN AND SUNLIGHT! (There are many, many reasons that I love the sunlight that I will not go into now(Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD)) From this point we will be able to enjoy the blooming plants and trees. We will see an increasing activity of life, both in human and animal forms (also an increase of mosquitoes from where I chose to live in close proximity too, thanks Utah Lake) I love the increasing sunlight! There is nothing greater than the light we receive from the sun. We would not be here without it.

Whenever I feel the increasing sunlight it always bring to me a feeling of renewal and life. I am thankful for such a great and marvelous Creation. I often think of this passage of scripture when I feel the warming sun upon my skin.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. JOHN 8:12

So, on the great day of equality on Earth, be thankful for this day, a day of renewal and optimism. THINK ABOUT IT!

As a side note I would also like to add a link to something very interesting thay my mother sent me.

http://www.ldsmag.com/sci_rel/090318star.html

Further reading also at

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090313-ns-venus-fading.html

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARI!

Shari in Germany

On this day, March 19th, a very special individual was brought into this World. It was a beautiful Tuesday in Mesa, Arizona when Shari Loree was sent from Heaven to start her journey here on Earth. Shari was chosen to be sent to Earth at a specific time. She was chosen to be sent to Earth at this time so magical things could happen in her life. She was chosen to be sent, at the time she was, so she could best influence those around her. As she grew she was able to touch the lives of many as she traveled around the world in her young age. Even at this young age she was able to influence and touch peoples lives for the better. Her outgoing personality, that has been handed down to her own daughter, has always been a great characteristic that has been used for the best. Shari, just like most that have been sent to Earth, has had many trials and struggles in her life. She has faced these challenges in her life and carried on. Many people would have not been able to take on the challenges that she has. But, because of her great strengths and abilities she has always been able to put these trials behind her and learn from them and help others with trials in their life. Shari has blessed the lives of many people in her life, but I personally feel that I am the one that has been most blessed by having met her.

Shortly after meeting her, in the Fall of 1993, I knew I was in love. I knew that she was the one that I wanted to spend eternity with and we were married in February 1995. After we were married I continued to learn more about my wife and saw what a great example she was to those around her. She always makes people around her feel very comfortable. She has always been one that people are attracted to. And for good reason, she is an amazing person. Like many couples, as you continue in your relationship things change as you pass through the different stages of your life. Shari has only done one thing as we have known each other and that is, she continues to progress and become a better person.

Many years after being married we were blessed to have our first child, Cruz. I was able to see many changes in Shari as she became a mother. She was a natural at being a mother. Soon came our second, Kenyon then Mara our third. Within days we will be blessed to have our fourth child, a boy, join us here on Earth. Her children, as well as I are very lucky to have a woman so great as her. Once again, Shari was chosen to be sent at a specific time here in Earth. She was chosen to be sent so she could mold her children's lives for the better. As you look around at the world, it is filled with much good, but also there is a lot of evil around. Shari was chosen to be sent here on Earth at this time in Earths existence to be a guide, a leader, a teacher, and a mother for these special children. She is truly the greatest woman that I know. I am very thankful to have met her and to be married to her for eternity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARI!

I LOVE YOU!

Now, It would not complete and it would not be me if I did not add a little bit of thought into the whole thing. How old is she? Well, she is younger than me! Let's do it like this. Let us find her age by counting the successful revolutions around the sun of my second favorite planet in our solar system. It is my second favorite for many reasons. One being a comet magnet! Thanks (PLANET) I love you for this! Well, you guessed it! It is a Jovian planet! It is also the third brightest object in our night sky with an apparent magnitude of -2.3. (Which in just a few nights the Space Shuttle docked with the International Space Station will also have this same apparent magnitude YES! Can't wait!) It is the fifth planet form the sun and the largest of the planets within our solar system. Yes, Pluto! DOH! Pluto is not a planet. Sorry Pluto, but you had this coming. Pretending to be something you are not. COME ON! YES! JUPITER! So, if we were to start counting from the moment she was born, which I actually did on this day, March 19th of a certain year, the planet Jupiter has made roughly 2.95129519697 successful solar passes. I never knew until just this moment why I started counting the orbits Jupiter was making around our sun. So, you can do the math if you want, but, I hope that she is around for a few more passes of this Jovian planet. And Shari, like this planet, you are out of this world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I LOVE YOU!

99942 Apophis!

The coming attraction has arrived! Well, not really! I have been wanting to post information on the asteroid Apophis, but could not condense all the information I wanted to present. (Shari has informed me that I present too much information and too detailed) I am sure that you are happy. ( I am trying to do better, REALLY!) I thought for this post that I would let my favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, present this information to you in his very entertaining way. I feel, somewhat, that I have taken the easy way out on this post and have not given you all the information that I wanted to. But I know that this clip will present the basics of this asteroid. ENJOY!

BE SURE TO MUTE MY PLAYLIST (MUSIC) AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE BEFORE STARTING THE VIDEO.