I'll not say more on Skype**  as I've said at least enough [[ ;-) ]] - 
so I'll only comment on one essentially unrelated point

> I'd classify this post of yours as mostly religious (for being based 
> mostly
> on belief). As such, we're of course all entitled to our own 
> beliefs -- but
> I thought that this mailing list was targeted more towards "the 
> knowable"?

Maybe it's targeted "more" towards the knowable, but I don't know 
[:-)] that it'
s meant to be totally so. And I'd certainly hope that even if 
religious statements were being made about Skype that 'the knowable 
truth is out there somewhere' so my most may persuade others to 
increase our knowability quotient - as you indeed appear to have done 
with your input, as far as I can know.

BUT the unknowable is a part of our environment and we shouldn't 
shrink from it. (And I'm not talking about Skype or such at all here).

eg

- What happened before the big bang? (always assuming that the big 
bang did in fact happen :-) ).

This is, as far as we know, unknowable. It would require a revision of 
the laws of science as we know them to know about this. As far as I 
know. And I know that that perspective is moot.

- How does quantum mechanics work.

According to at least one major "interpretation" (The Copenhagen 
doctrine) the essence of QM is utterly unknowable. Any question about 
what happens to a particle (or whatever) prior to the collapse of the 
wave function is not unknowable but actually meaningless - the 
question makes no sense.

And yet on the basis of unknowable QM we can make better predictions 
than from almost any other scientific model.

The "many worlds" interpretation avoids the unknowability of 
Copenhagen but tends to melt people's brains with the sheer magnitude 
of it all (at least in the time lines that I am aware of :-) ).


My point is that while we may hew* mostly to the knowable we should 
not be scared of exploring the footprints of the unknowable, on this 
list or elsewhere.




            Russell


* to forestall queries - nothing to do with trees, or Skype:

        http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?script=search&matchent=hew&matchtype=exact


** But here's some relatively contentless FUD

        http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/A5276B531C8250CDCC25708E00381F98

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