[LordOpie]

I mentioned that I don't believe hell exists in another thread and that I did a paper on it -- sorry, can't find it -- where I argued that Hades was a city where capital punishment happened. But I did find a link that is interesting on the non-existance of hell (an argument different than mine). Plus, some good old fashion physics+bible=funny!

http://hector3000.future.easyspace.com/hell.htm

Thermodynamics of Hell
============================================================
A thermodynamics professor had written a take home exam for
his graduate students. It had one question: "Is Hell
exothermic (gives off heat), or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Support your answer with a proof." Most of the students wrote
proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools off when
it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time.
So, we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell
and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume
that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no
souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell,
let's look at the different religions that exist in the world
today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member
of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more
than one of these religions and since most people do not
belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people
and all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they
are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increases
exponentially. Second, we look at the rate of change of the
volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the
temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume in
Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which
souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell
will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure
will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Miss
Therese Banyan during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold
night in Hell before I go bowling with you," and take into account
the fact that I still have not succeeded with her, then #2 cannot
be true, and so Hell is exothermic.

The student got the only "A".

Good stuff

 

[llkoolkeg]

That is quite clever. I would say that his point was not truly proven, though, as there is nothing to show that Miss Therese Banyan will not at some future point go bowling with the student, thereby disproving his conclusion.

 

[Westy]

Originally posted by llkoolkeg
That is quite clever. I would say that his point was not truly proven, though, as there is nothing to show that Miss Therese Banyan will not at some future point go bowling with the student, thereby disproving his conclusion.

If postulate #2 was true hell would be getting colder. It would be a subjective call on what would define a cold day in hell. But if hell was getting colder than the authors chances of bowling with Miss Therese Banyan would increase and at some point the bowling would occur. The author probably has a good idea if his chances of bowling with the lovely young lady are improving or not. The larger question is whether or not Miss Banyans decision to go bowling would actually define the natural state of hell. If you believe in free will than she does. If she does she could only be Satan herself. I would steer clear of Miss Therese Banyan, she can be nothing but trouble.

 

[LordOpie]

sorry, that joke was only part of the link. Click it to see the more serious discussion.