--- In [email protected], "Richard J. Williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > TurquoiseB wrote: > > Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or > > endothermic (absorbs heat)? > > > The answer to this is simple: to obtain Holy Water, you > just boil the hell out of it. > > > An old favorite story reappeared in my Inbox today, > > so I thought I'd share it here: > > > > The following is an actual question given on a University > > of Washington Chemistry Mid term. > > > > Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using > > Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats 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 at which souls are > > moving into Hell and the rate at which 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. > > > > Most of these religions state that if you are not a > > member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since > > there is more than one of these religions and since > > people do not belong to more than one religion, we can > > project that all souls go to Hell. > > > > With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect > > the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. > > Now, 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 of Hell has to expand proportionately 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 pres- > > sure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. > > > > 2. 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 Teresa during > > my freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell > > before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact > > that I slept with her last night, then number two must > > be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and > > has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory > > is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it > > is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct, > > leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a > > divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept > > shouting "Oh my God." > > > > > > THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+ > > >
Barry, I've read this story before. But I still have a laugh reading it. On a serious note, I believe this story has a distant similarity to the rasa dance of Krishna with the gopis. Also, it is commonly understood among Christians that there was a war in heaven between the good angels and Lucifer's cohorts. When the bad angels lost, they were condemned to stay in Hell. However, in an interview by Bill Moyers with Campbell (forgot his first name), the famous researcher of symbolic meanings, the two discussed that Lucifer's motives may not have been dastardly as tradition portrays. They postulated that Lucifer may have acted out of love. How can this be so? >From my own understanding, Lucifer was one of the brightest angels in the heavenly realm at one time. As such, he must have had the super intelligence to foresee the future. Based on his intuition, he foresaw that a realm devoid of heavenly existence would have to be created. Thus, he sacrificed his heavenly existence for Love to be in Hell. (it sounds irrational as I write this paragraph. But so be it!) There's another angle to this story. But that's for another day.
