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Of cats and the laws of physics

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  • L Lost User

    Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

    S Offline
    S Offline
    Super Lloyd
    wrote on last edited by
    #4

    This comes from people who think animal are stupid. So they have to make grand theory to admit they were wrong. The gist is, the cat shake the box and can detect whether there is something lose and moving inside by how the box make noise / behave differently from a solid object. But they name it with the much more pompous name of "cats understand the law of physics" Common guys, cats are predator, of course they know all about hiding!

    All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

    OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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    • S Super Lloyd

      This comes from people who think animal are stupid. So they have to make grand theory to admit they were wrong. The gist is, the cat shake the box and can detect whether there is something lose and moving inside by how the box make noise / behave differently from a solid object. But they name it with the much more pompous name of "cats understand the law of physics" Common guys, cats are predator, of course they know all about hiding!

      All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #5

      Super Lloyd wrote:

      cats are predator, of course they know all about hiding!

      Ours doesn't! It's normally fairly obvious where he is hiding, because he forgets to cover his tail... :sigh: Mind you, it doesn't seem to hurt him as a hunter, he brings home dead-or-alive prey pretty much every day.

      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

      S 1 Reply Last reply
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      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

        Super Lloyd wrote:

        cats are predator, of course they know all about hiding!

        Ours doesn't! It's normally fairly obvious where he is hiding, because he forgets to cover his tail... :sigh: Mind you, it doesn't seem to hurt him as a hunter, he brings home dead-or-alive prey pretty much every day.

        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

        S Offline
        S Offline
        Super Lloyd
        wrote on last edited by
        #6

        Haha, just like kids! ;P

        All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

        OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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        • S Super Lloyd

          Haha, just like kids! ;P

          All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

          OriginalGriffO Offline
          OriginalGriffO Offline
          OriginalGriff
          wrote on last edited by
          #7

          Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds? :omg:

          Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

          "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
          "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

          S C 2 Replies Last reply
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          • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

            Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds? :omg:

            Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

            S Offline
            S Offline
            Super Lloyd
            wrote on last edited by
            #8

            Err... I was referring the visible tail when they hide... Young kids usually only hide their face when they are hiding! ;P Or were you taunting me?! haha! :laugh:

            All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

            OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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            • S Super Lloyd

              Err... I was referring the visible tail when they hide... Young kids usually only hide their face when they are hiding! ;P Or were you taunting me?! haha! :laugh:

              All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar DirectX for WinRT/C# since 2013! Taking over the world since 1371!

              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriff
              wrote on last edited by
              #9

              It's the taunting one! ;)

              Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
              "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds? :omg:

                Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                C Offline
                C Offline
                Corporal Agarn
                wrote on last edited by
                #10

                OriginalGriff wrote:

                Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds?

                Yes it's called supper. I'll get my hat

                Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.

                OriginalGriffO J 2 Replies Last reply
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                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                  I think what they are saying is the cat's understand that a box that rattles has something in it - so when that understanding fails they are surprised and stare longer. It's a bit of a stretch to get from that to "understanding physics" I agree, but the basic grasp of "noise == content" is established. And yes, cats do grasp some abstract concepts surprisingly well, and will experiment to get to a goal. We had one that learned to raid his treats - which took jumping from the third step onto the wine rack, jumping from there to the top of the cabinet, leaning over the side to chew through the rubber band keeping the door shut (so he couldn't raid his treats), dropping to the shelf below so he could push himself up under the doors to get inside the cupboard. Took him about a week to work out - had to be the third step, the second was too low, the fourth too far away - and so on. But once he'd got it fixed, it took him seconds each time.

                  Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                  M Offline
                  M Offline
                  Mark_Wallace
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #11

                  OriginalGriff wrote:

                  the basic grasp of "noise == content" is establishe

                  I'd have said it's the basic grasp of "noise == something to chase". Hunting instinct != understanding of Physics.

                  I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                  L 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • L Lost User

                    Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                    K Offline
                    K Offline
                    Kent Sharkey
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #12

                    aaryan42 wrote:

                    Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                    More likely just, "Science reporter doesn't really understand the paper, writes headline to catch attention." You can never trust headline writers. Or blurb writers. They're all shifty. :-O

                    TTFN - Kent

                    M 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • C Corporal Agarn

                      OriginalGriff wrote:

                      Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds?

                      Yes it's called supper. I'll get my hat

                      Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.

                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                      OriginalGriff
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #13

                      Corporal Agarn wrote:

                      I'll get my hat

                      Why? Are you going to pull a rabbit out of it? :laugh:

                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                      C 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                        Corporal Agarn wrote:

                        I'll get my hat

                        Why? Are you going to pull a rabbit out of it? :laugh:

                        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        Corporal Agarn
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #14

                        Na, just too hot for a coat. :) Besides I need a hat to keep the glare down. :-O

                        Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • C Corporal Agarn

                          OriginalGriff wrote:

                          Your kids bring home rats, mice, moles, and dead birds?

                          Yes it's called supper. I'll get my hat

                          Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.

                          J Online
                          J Online
                          jeron1
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #15

                          Corporal Agarn wrote:

                          Yes it's called supper.

                          Cue up 'Dueling Banjos'....

                          "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

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                          • K Kent Sharkey

                            aaryan42 wrote:

                            Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                            More likely just, "Science reporter doesn't really understand the paper, writes headline to catch attention." You can never trust headline writers. Or blurb writers. They're all shifty. :-O

                            TTFN - Kent

                            M Offline
                            M Offline
                            Mark_Wallace
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #16

                            Kent Sharkey wrote:

                            You can never trust headline writers.

                            +5 although that's not entirely fair. Most newspapers are trustworthy sources, staffed by dedicated professionals The problem is the 83 yotta Interweb "news" sites that are staffed with semi-literate cretins who don't know what the word "journalism" means, let alone "Physics", and probably "cat".

                            I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                            1 Reply Last reply
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                            • L Lost User

                              Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                              Sander RosselS Offline
                              Sander RosselS Offline
                              Sander Rossel
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #17

                              Cats understand how to manipulate people in a way that we give them shelter and food; let them sit on us; let them in, then out, then in, then out again; let them wreck our furniture and won't even get mad... Ancient Egypt worshiped them. And now they have taken over the Internet. Cats understand way more than just physics, they might be aliens with an intellect vastly superior than our own! You think the Illuminati or lizards rule the world? Hell no, it's cats!

                              Read my (free) ebook Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly. Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles here on CodeProject.

                              Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

                              Regards, Sander

                              S 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L Lost User

                                Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Marc Clifton
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #18

                                Cats are alien beings that telepathically send their observations back to their home world, Meow. When they stare at things longer, they're actually sending longer messages, along the lines of "humans keep proving what idiots they are." Marc

                                Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project! Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny

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                                • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                  Cats understand how to manipulate people in a way that we give them shelter and food; let them sit on us; let them in, then out, then in, then out again; let them wreck our furniture and won't even get mad... Ancient Egypt worshiped them. And now they have taken over the Internet. Cats understand way more than just physics, they might be aliens with an intellect vastly superior than our own! You think the Illuminati or lizards rule the world? Hell no, it's cats!

                                  Read my (free) ebook Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly. Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles here on CodeProject.

                                  Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

                                  Regards, Sander

                                  S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  Stephen McCafferty
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #19

                                  You make a convincing argument there. Does tinfoil protect against cats?

                                  Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • S Stephen McCafferty

                                    You make a convincing argument there. Does tinfoil protect against cats?

                                    Sander RosselS Offline
                                    Sander RosselS Offline
                                    Sander Rossel
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #20

                                    Seems like it does[^] :laugh:

                                    Read my (free) ebook Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly. Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles here on CodeProject.

                                    Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

                                    Regards, Sander

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                      Seems like it does[^] :laugh:

                                      Read my (free) ebook Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly. Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles here on CodeProject.

                                      Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

                                      Regards, Sander

                                      S Offline
                                      S Offline
                                      Stephen McCafferty
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #21

                                      You learn something new every day.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • L Lost User

                                        Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                                        K Offline
                                        K Offline
                                        kdmote
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #22

                                        I finished watching a random Monty Python video just prior to reading this thread, so naturally I read all these comments in the various voices of the Python troupe. It was extraordinarily entertaining, what with all the non-sequiters and whatnot. "That's not a cat license. That's a dog license with the word 'dog' crossed off and 'cat' written in crayon."

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                                        • L Lost User

                                          Could someone kindly explain to me how they got from "the box that makes a noise has something inside it" to "cats understand physics"? Cats seem to grasp the laws of physics[^] Sounds like a good way to swindle research funds.

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          jhog
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #23

                                          Dog: man's best friend Man: cat's best friend

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