Nothing is impossible!

[XXShadowXX]

are you saying that Einstein has no clue what he was doing?

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by XXShadowXX

are you saying that Einstein has no clue what he was doing?

It's possible.

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by XXShadowXX

are you saying that Einstein has no clue what he was doing?

Einstein had a very good clue about what he was doing, but would be the first to admit the weaknesses in his theories. Suggesting that we do not have a complete understanding of the universe, or what is possible in the universe, does not mean that current theories are wrong, merely that they are incomplete.

Newtonian mechanics, for example, accurately describe almost everything we do... until the velocity approaches the speed of light, at which point they are incomplete.

While I would disagree with the postulate that nothing is impossible, simply because the proof would require demonstrating that everything is possible, I wholeheartedly agree with the spirt of the post. When someone posts to CD (or states elsewhere) that "it won't work" or "it can't be done"... it would be wise to consider the reasoning behind the statement rather than the statement itself. Sometimes they are right... other times their statement is incomplete... and other times they really do have no clue what they are talking about.

Jason

[Un Luchador]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

Einstein had a very good clue about what he was doing, but would be the first to admit the weaknesses in his theories. Suggesting that we do not have a complete understanding of the universe, or what is possible in the universe, does not mean that current theories are wrong, merely that they are incomplete.

Newtonian mechanics, for example, accurately describe almost everything we do... until the velocity approaches the speed of light, at which point they are incomplete.

While I would disagree with the postulate that nothing is impossible, simply because the proof would require demonstrating that everything is possible, I wholeheartedly agree with the spirt of the post. When someone posts to CD (or states elsewhere) that "it won't work" or "it can't be done"... it would be wise to consider the reasoning behind the statement rather than the statement itself. Sometimes they are right... other times their statement is incomplete... and other times they really do have no clue what they are talking about.

Jason

Very nicely stated.

[martin417]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

When someone posts to CD (or states elsewhere) that "it won't work" or "it can't be done"... it would be wise to consider the reasoning behind the statement rather than the statement itself. Sometimes they are right... other times their statement is incomplete... and other times they really do have no clue what they are talking about.

Jason

Well said.

As I said, this type of comment is generally well-intentioned, (trying to prevent a team from wasting time on an approach that is destined for failure?) but if not done very carefully, can stifle creativity. I think it is OK to say that a specific design wont work (if you are absolutely sure, and completely understand the design) as long as you can point out alternatives. But making blanket statements about the unworkability of concepts should be avoided.

[Raul]

My opinion is that there are an equal number of possible things that can be done as there are impossibe (an infinite number of each).

Raul

[les chortos]

I think Einstein had a lot of problems with his relatives- he seemed to talk about them alot.

Relatively speaking -

[Chris Fultz]

You have identified the beauty of FIRST, in that while 1500 teams received the same game challenge, there are multiple ways of playing the game and anding the game elements. Systems were designed by one team that were thought to be impossible by another.

If you look around a competition, there are several ways to score in this game, and lots of variations of those gereral themes.

The challenge for each of us, new, veterans, students and mentors, is to make the decisions of what is possible and feasible given the constraints on the team, and what is fundamentaly impossible given the same constraints.

Anything that is stated as impossible will eventually be proven posible, it might jst be thta it is not possible today given the knwledge and tools that exist.

*example - 25 years ago it was impossible to send a text message - no systems existed for that to happen. Now, it is commonplace.*

[Raul]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

You have identified the beauty of FIRST, in that while 1500 teams received the same game challenge, there are multiple ways of playing the game and anding the game elements. Systems were designed by one team that were thought to be impossible by another.

If you look around a competition, there are several ways to score in this game, and lots of variations of those gereral themes.

The challenge for each of us, new, veterans, students and mentors, is to make the decisions of what is possible and feasible given the constraints on the team, and what is fundamentaly impossible given the same constraints.

Anything that is stated as impossible will eventually be proven posible, it might jst be thta it is not possible today given the knwledge and tools that exist.

*example - 25 years ago it was impossible to send a text message - no systems existed for that to happen. Now, it is commonplace.*

Come on Chris, I can think of at least one thing that will ALWAYS be impossible - convincing ones wife that FIRST really does not take up too much of your time.

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by Raul

Come on Chris, I can think of at least one thing that will ALWAYS be impossible - convincing ones wife that FIRST really does not take up too much of your time.

Raul, I have found a solution to that.
My wife is now a team mentor for 234!

[vivek16]

If nothing is impossible, then anything is possible. If anything is possible, there is the possibility that something is impossible. Right?

-Vivek

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by vivek16

If nothing is impossible, then anything is possible. If anything is possible, there is the possibility that something is impossible. Right?

I think it's possible that you ought to sit down with a nice hot cup of tea.

[Protronie]

Motto of the Protronie Shop...

The difficult we do while you wait.
The impossible might take a day or two.

Protronie said that!

[Scott L.]

The belief that everything is possible at any given moment in time in some dimension of the universe, which gives the possiblity of any given outcome.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

*example - 25 years ago it was impossible to send a text message - no systems existed for that to happen. Now, it is commonplace.*

That needs to backup a few years. I was text messaging between mainframes and between remote terminals in the 60's. They just weren't very portable... (Hi Michael!)

Is it possible to think of something that's impossible?
Or is that impossible?