It's refreshing when a reporter "gets it". In the current Rolling Stone, Taibbi portays the global financial crisis in the context of the AIG mess. He patiently dissects the complexities in an entertaining and educational way.
" A CDO (collateralized-debt obligation) is like a box full of diced-up assets...What the inventors of the CDO did is to divide up the box into groups...To get AAA ratings, the CDO's relied...on crazy mathematical formulas...
As banks and other investors of all kinds took on more and more in CDO's...they needed some way to hedge their massive bets..."
That's where AIG enters. They began selling Credit Default Swaps (CDS's) which insured the value of the CDO's. For a small premium relative to the potential risk, the CDS guarantees the insured asset.
The type of insured asset which became most prominent in the early 2000's was the mortgage. AIG guaranteed mortgages through their CDS's.
Because this activity had been essentially unregulated, AIG could sell an almost unlimited number of CDS's without any financial backup. As a result they exposed themselves to losses beyond the scope of their massive balance sheet.
Back to the mathematical models, it wan't supposed to happen. According to the models, CDO's and CDS's couldn't default at the rates they ultimately did. The models didn't take account of non-historical patterns, like a collapse of the U S housing market.
OOPS.
As Taibbi reports, the rest is history. AIG's debt rating fell requiring them to cough up assets as collateral at an alarming rate. Now the government is in the derivative business in an attempt to undo the mess.
Can we do it?
Yes we can.
Lee
Showing posts with label Paradigm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paradigm. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Holistic Stimulus
It all should be done at once.
The idea of stimulus spending is to stimulate economic growth. Does anyone believe that will happen if we just dump money into exisitng systems which are failing?
That's why the President wisely wants to reform healthcare, education, lobbying, earmarks, and other dimensions of spending simultaneously with stimuli and bailouts.
When 5% of $ 1 trillion goes to "healthcare", it can have $0 effect, $50 billion effect, or $500 billion effect. It all depends on the microfoundations.
Similarly with infrastructure, energy, science and welfare. When we talk about $4 trillion in total spending, how it flows will make the difference between nirvana and doomsday. We could end up with a collapsed, unsustainable economy or a vibrant, sustainable one.
The choice is ours.
Are we willing to invest in models which will show how flows can best be directed to produce a sustainable economy?
Yes we are.
Lee
The idea of stimulus spending is to stimulate economic growth. Does anyone believe that will happen if we just dump money into exisitng systems which are failing?
That's why the President wisely wants to reform healthcare, education, lobbying, earmarks, and other dimensions of spending simultaneously with stimuli and bailouts.
When 5% of $ 1 trillion goes to "healthcare", it can have $0 effect, $50 billion effect, or $500 billion effect. It all depends on the microfoundations.
Similarly with infrastructure, energy, science and welfare. When we talk about $4 trillion in total spending, how it flows will make the difference between nirvana and doomsday. We could end up with a collapsed, unsustainable economy or a vibrant, sustainable one.
The choice is ours.
Are we willing to invest in models which will show how flows can best be directed to produce a sustainable economy?
Yes we are.
Lee
Monday, February 16, 2009
$787 billion
A billion here...
Now the details of the stimulus package are out. Will it work? Has it been tested?Does anyone know?
Complicated economic/mathematical models have been run. But aren't they the ones which got us here?
Do they account for black swans? tipping points? cascades? power laws? multifractals? fat tails?cluster correlations? phase transitions? interactions? demographics? uncertainties? time frames?
The fact is that there are data mining, agent based, actuarially sound, data visualization, econometric tools available by which to truly test and monitor any stimulus scenario developed. The anticipated impact on the global and US economies as well as the individual sectors and businesses could be forecast. The options most likely to have the sustainable, transformative effect desired could be chosen and monitored and adjusted as needed.
How much more confidence would be inspired if officials could testify..."We anticipate (based on the best data and analysis availble) that this stimulus package will have an impact on GNP of $500 billlion in the first year with a 92% probability it will be at least $400 billion...the multipliers associated with the chosen components of the package are the largest of all those tested..."
Here are the details of the ($787 b) stimulus package passed this weekend:
$506 billion in spending
-$141b healthcare
-$92 b infrastructure
-$87b education
-$67b welfare
-$41b energy
-$10b housing
-$6b science
-$7b security
-$55b other
$281 billion tax credits
This money could be targeted and monitored at the micro level to have maximum impact. For example, the science money could to where it would have a multiplier of 22 or 1.
From the labs of Los Alamos to the campuses of Boston, the tools needed to assure that the stimulus works have already been developed. All we need to do is integrate them with those currently being used.
Yes we can
Lee
Now the details of the stimulus package are out. Will it work? Has it been tested?Does anyone know?
Complicated economic/mathematical models have been run. But aren't they the ones which got us here?
Do they account for black swans? tipping points? cascades? power laws? multifractals? fat tails?cluster correlations? phase transitions? interactions? demographics? uncertainties? time frames?
The fact is that there are data mining, agent based, actuarially sound, data visualization, econometric tools available by which to truly test and monitor any stimulus scenario developed. The anticipated impact on the global and US economies as well as the individual sectors and businesses could be forecast. The options most likely to have the sustainable, transformative effect desired could be chosen and monitored and adjusted as needed.
How much more confidence would be inspired if officials could testify..."We anticipate (based on the best data and analysis availble) that this stimulus package will have an impact on GNP of $500 billlion in the first year with a 92% probability it will be at least $400 billion...the multipliers associated with the chosen components of the package are the largest of all those tested..."
Here are the details of the ($787 b) stimulus package passed this weekend:
$506 billion in spending
-$141b healthcare
-$92 b infrastructure
-$87b education
-$67b welfare
-$41b energy
-$10b housing
-$6b science
-$7b security
-$55b other
$281 billion tax credits
This money could be targeted and monitored at the micro level to have maximum impact. For example, the science money could to where it would have a multiplier of 22 or 1.
From the labs of Los Alamos to the campuses of Boston, the tools needed to assure that the stimulus works have already been developed. All we need to do is integrate them with those currently being used.
Yes we can
Lee
Friday, February 13, 2009
The Worldly Philosophers
Economists are on the hotspot regarding getting us out of the global economic mess.
Unfortunately, the profession as a whole is as clueless as they have been in all the crises of the past few decades. They refuse to ignore the power laws, cascades, feedback loops, adaptivity, demographics, Black Swan, Tipping Point, phase transitions, symmetry breaking, uncertainty, temporality, interactivity, multifractal, cluster correlation nature of global finance and economics.
As a result, when anything happens which hasn't happened in the same way before, such as mortgage derivative collapse, international turmoil, terrorism, natural catastrophes and so on, their models miss it and we all suffer.
This is a tragedy because models exist which can handle unforseen events, cluster correlations, demographic shifts, interactions, uncertainty, missing data, and so on.
Physicists have teased out of subatomic behavior the deep patterns which drive physical reality . These patterns involve vibrating particles with wavelike characteristics, clouds of fields connecting the energy patterns, dimensions which explain probabilistic behavior and other activity which transcends human understanding.
Shouldn't they be part of the team charged with helping us jumpstart the global economy?
If you say well, how does subatomic activity impact the global economy?
That is where complexity science comes in.
But, you say, what about social security, healthcare, finance, insurance, and risk?
That is where actuarial science comes in.
We can build a stimulus package which will truly transform the economy in a sustainable way.
We can test and monitor the flows over time and make adjustments as needed.
Yes we can.
Lee
Unfortunately, the profession as a whole is as clueless as they have been in all the crises of the past few decades. They refuse to ignore the power laws, cascades, feedback loops, adaptivity, demographics, Black Swan, Tipping Point, phase transitions, symmetry breaking, uncertainty, temporality, interactivity, multifractal, cluster correlation nature of global finance and economics.
As a result, when anything happens which hasn't happened in the same way before, such as mortgage derivative collapse, international turmoil, terrorism, natural catastrophes and so on, their models miss it and we all suffer.
This is a tragedy because models exist which can handle unforseen events, cluster correlations, demographic shifts, interactions, uncertainty, missing data, and so on.
Physicists have teased out of subatomic behavior the deep patterns which drive physical reality . These patterns involve vibrating particles with wavelike characteristics, clouds of fields connecting the energy patterns, dimensions which explain probabilistic behavior and other activity which transcends human understanding.
Shouldn't they be part of the team charged with helping us jumpstart the global economy?
If you say well, how does subatomic activity impact the global economy?
That is where complexity science comes in.
But, you say, what about social security, healthcare, finance, insurance, and risk?
That is where actuarial science comes in.
We can build a stimulus package which will truly transform the economy in a sustainable way.
We can test and monitor the flows over time and make adjustments as needed.
Yes we can.
Lee
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Markets and Fish and the Global Economy
We have been making the case that no amount of government spending/stimulus will have the desired effects on the global and US economies unless properly targeted. Proper targeting requires data and analytics which can reasonably test alternative scenarios. Such data and analytics are currently not part of the dialogue on the economic crisis.
It does, however, exist.
In the current issue of Scientific American, an article by Paul Raeburn demonstrates clearly one of the deep values of complexity science-interdiscipinary perspective.
Mathematicians, physical scientists, biologists, social scientists, artists, doctors, military leaders, and economists all see patterns which impact on all aspects of life.
In the case of Raeburn's article, fisheries are seen as complex systems with characteristics many of which are similar to those of chaotic financial markets. As we indicate is the case with financial markets, that they are no longer amenable to conventional analysis, so with fishing, which is "...like the stock market-the crash of one or two species or a hedge fund or mortgage bank, can trigger a collapse of the entire system."
The same issue of Scientific American has a column on the stimulus. It indicates what should be obvious, that certain expenditures like electrical infrastructure and sustainable energy, may have multipliers many times those of other types of expenditure.
Only a complexity based actuarial model can test the various scenarios probabilistically demographically, interactively, and temporally.
Yes we can.
Lee
It does, however, exist.
In the current issue of Scientific American, an article by Paul Raeburn demonstrates clearly one of the deep values of complexity science-interdiscipinary perspective.
Mathematicians, physical scientists, biologists, social scientists, artists, doctors, military leaders, and economists all see patterns which impact on all aspects of life.
In the case of Raeburn's article, fisheries are seen as complex systems with characteristics many of which are similar to those of chaotic financial markets. As we indicate is the case with financial markets, that they are no longer amenable to conventional analysis, so with fishing, which is "...like the stock market-the crash of one or two species or a hedge fund or mortgage bank, can trigger a collapse of the entire system."
The same issue of Scientific American has a column on the stimulus. It indicates what should be obvious, that certain expenditures like electrical infrastructure and sustainable energy, may have multipliers many times those of other types of expenditure.
Only a complexity based actuarial model can test the various scenarios probabilistically demographically, interactively, and temporally.
Yes we can.
Lee
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Secret of Being
Every once in awhile a book will come along which alters the course of history. This is one of those times.
Still untitled, the book is written. Metaphors like harmonius universe, cosmic song, unfinished symphony, paradigm shift, and web of reality speak to its message.
From Plato's Forms though Smith's Invisible Hand, from Bacon's Idols through Rousseau's General Will, all philosophical ideas of history flow into a vessel which empties into recently uncovered truths.
Idealism, Rationalism, Empiricism, Materialism, Mysticism, QCD, QED, QFT, particles, fields, waves, love, truth, beauty, harmony, eightfold way, golden rule, dfa, erm, all are elements of the new vision.
One dimension of the new paradigm is that there is a mathematical edifice which begins at the subatomic level, travels through the classical level, and emerges at the complex level. A mathematical structure may be conceived which will tie all of reality into a grand unified theory.
Another dimension is that all philosophical structures from the Platonic to the Hegelian, from the Kantian through the Sartrean, are a foundation for a metaphorical vision of the reality being uncovered at the subatomic level.
The fuzziness within the atom which is at the core of all being reflects the gaps in understanding which historical thinkers were trying to fill.
A third dimension of the new paradigm is that public policy decisions, including those involving the current stimulus/bailout proposals, can be informed by the deep thinking which is going on in the universities and labs around the world.
The interconnected, convoluted, demographic, heterogeneous, uncertain and temporal nature of the global economy calls for models which not only incorporate traditional econometric structures, but those of compexity science, computer science, and actuarial science as well.
The path to justice is paved with knowledge, and the knowledge needed to transform the economy in a successful and sustainable way can be brought to bear if there is the will.
Yes we can.
Lee
Still untitled, the book is written. Metaphors like harmonius universe, cosmic song, unfinished symphony, paradigm shift, and web of reality speak to its message.
From Plato's Forms though Smith's Invisible Hand, from Bacon's Idols through Rousseau's General Will, all philosophical ideas of history flow into a vessel which empties into recently uncovered truths.
Idealism, Rationalism, Empiricism, Materialism, Mysticism, QCD, QED, QFT, particles, fields, waves, love, truth, beauty, harmony, eightfold way, golden rule, dfa, erm, all are elements of the new vision.
One dimension of the new paradigm is that there is a mathematical edifice which begins at the subatomic level, travels through the classical level, and emerges at the complex level. A mathematical structure may be conceived which will tie all of reality into a grand unified theory.
Another dimension is that all philosophical structures from the Platonic to the Hegelian, from the Kantian through the Sartrean, are a foundation for a metaphorical vision of the reality being uncovered at the subatomic level.
The fuzziness within the atom which is at the core of all being reflects the gaps in understanding which historical thinkers were trying to fill.
A third dimension of the new paradigm is that public policy decisions, including those involving the current stimulus/bailout proposals, can be informed by the deep thinking which is going on in the universities and labs around the world.
The interconnected, convoluted, demographic, heterogeneous, uncertain and temporal nature of the global economy calls for models which not only incorporate traditional econometric structures, but those of compexity science, computer science, and actuarial science as well.
The path to justice is paved with knowledge, and the knowledge needed to transform the economy in a successful and sustainable way can be brought to bear if there is the will.
Yes we can.
Lee
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Cosmic Symphony
The world is a symphony of energy, playing out at the subatomic, human, social, and cosmic levels.
The fields, waves, particles, quarks, strings, electrons, photons, and dimensions which dance in and out of existence in the atom are like notes, tones, beats, rhythms, melodies and harmonies, all blending into an elegant and beautiful song called reality.
Jusy as we experience music on different planes of understanding, so it is with life. Our senses, minds, bodies and spirits all react to different aspects of reality in different ways.
Music resonates within the genetic structure of all life. Pitch may be encoded in our DNA.
We are all part of the orchestra of reality which plays from the subatomic to the cosmic level.
Music and mathematics are intimately related. Just as mathematics can tease out patterns of subatomic interaction, it can identify patterns of harmony.
The Music of the Spheres drives heaven and earth in a symphony of beauty, truth, justice, love and harmony.
All of art contributes to this cosmic song. Art and science give us visions of reality. Just as scientific theories emerge from the sweat of scientific research, aesthetic treasures emerge from the sweat of artistic exploration.
Language often fails both in the description and depiction of scientific and aesthetic truth. Metaphors are used to approach an understanding of the meaning of subatomic interaction and aesthetic result.
Philosophers have eternally struggled with distinctions of reality and appearance, subjective and objective, mind and body, particle and wave. Only with the advent of modern science and art can we see that all may be complementary, and at its core everything may be part of a cosmic holism.
In science we use terms like entanglement, symmetry, non locality, fuzzy and probability wave to approach an understanding of an interconnected, multi-dimensional subatomic world. Art uses words like abstract, surreal, absurd, and non-Euclidean to describe the frustration of attempting to reach an aesthetic vision of core reality.
Space, time, matter and energy are no longer the background against which reality plays, but integral parts of reality itself. Artists must revert back to their sense of childlike wonder to capture this new vision of reality.
We are all part of an interconnected web, interdependent and virtual. From Plato to Kant, Shakespeare to Sartre, philosophers have probed the mystery of reality which science is now unveiling.
Cosmic consciousness, web of nature, harmonious universe, song of the heavens, all ways of articulating the new vision.
What a wonderful world if we only let it be.
Lee
The fields, waves, particles, quarks, strings, electrons, photons, and dimensions which dance in and out of existence in the atom are like notes, tones, beats, rhythms, melodies and harmonies, all blending into an elegant and beautiful song called reality.
Jusy as we experience music on different planes of understanding, so it is with life. Our senses, minds, bodies and spirits all react to different aspects of reality in different ways.
Music resonates within the genetic structure of all life. Pitch may be encoded in our DNA.
We are all part of the orchestra of reality which plays from the subatomic to the cosmic level.
Music and mathematics are intimately related. Just as mathematics can tease out patterns of subatomic interaction, it can identify patterns of harmony.
The Music of the Spheres drives heaven and earth in a symphony of beauty, truth, justice, love and harmony.
All of art contributes to this cosmic song. Art and science give us visions of reality. Just as scientific theories emerge from the sweat of scientific research, aesthetic treasures emerge from the sweat of artistic exploration.
Language often fails both in the description and depiction of scientific and aesthetic truth. Metaphors are used to approach an understanding of the meaning of subatomic interaction and aesthetic result.
Philosophers have eternally struggled with distinctions of reality and appearance, subjective and objective, mind and body, particle and wave. Only with the advent of modern science and art can we see that all may be complementary, and at its core everything may be part of a cosmic holism.
In science we use terms like entanglement, symmetry, non locality, fuzzy and probability wave to approach an understanding of an interconnected, multi-dimensional subatomic world. Art uses words like abstract, surreal, absurd, and non-Euclidean to describe the frustration of attempting to reach an aesthetic vision of core reality.
Space, time, matter and energy are no longer the background against which reality plays, but integral parts of reality itself. Artists must revert back to their sense of childlike wonder to capture this new vision of reality.
We are all part of an interconnected web, interdependent and virtual. From Plato to Kant, Shakespeare to Sartre, philosophers have probed the mystery of reality which science is now unveiling.
Cosmic consciousness, web of nature, harmonious universe, song of the heavens, all ways of articulating the new vision.
What a wonderful world if we only let it be.
Lee
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Mathematics of Chaos
Now that we've reviewed the math of particle physics and relativity, we can move on to the math of things we can touch, feel, see, hear and smell.
No, we aren't interested in Newtonian Mechanics at this point. We want to show how chaos theory is a bridge from "simple" systems like atoms to "complex" systems like humans, ecologies, and economies.
Just as patterns in the subatomic world give rise to the mathematics of particle physics, patterns in nature and the cosmos give rise to the mathmatics of complex systems.
A universality has been found in patterns beneath the surface of things like the human heart, weather, internet traffic, the human brain, nature's rhythms, and cosmic expansion.
There is a holism and universality not unlike that found in certain subatomic patterns in the world around us.
Historically, mathematicians and scientists have attemped to deal with the nonlinear patterns of complex systems using standard mathematical structures like transformed differential equations and probability theory. The problem is that complex systems involve patterns that ultimately don't cooperate with such standard approaches.
As was the case in quantum mechanics and relativity theory, a new way of thinking is needed if we are really going to make progress in understanding complex systems. The dramatic increase in computing power in recent years has provided opportunities for such new thinking.
State and phase space, perturbation, fractals, attractors, power laws, cascades, symmetries, topologies, multifractals, and phase transitions are examples of notions which have arisen in the search for patterns in complex systems. If the mathematics underlying those patterns happens to relate to the patterns uncovered in the subatomic world, a metaphysical and scientific revolution of unprecedented power will be unleashed.
A mathematics of reality which begins with the fuzzy patterns in the subatomic world and shows how those patterns, even in principle, can be followed up the chain of reality, could lead us to a picture of human and cosmic reality which is holistic, interconnected and transcendent.
Economic activity, political activity, social activity, intellectual activity and spiritual activity could all be viewed from the perspective of universal patterns emerging into structures of truth beauty and justice. Quite a leap in logic, perhaps, but better than most of the other possibilities.
We have discussed in other blogs, and will discuss in future blogs, how such deep perspective can help us deal with the problems of the day. As a highly complex system, the global economy cries out for holisitc analysis. The tools of complexity science and actuarial science are ready to be combined with those of relativity and quantum mechanics to form an analytical structure for public policy analysis in the twenty first century.
Are we up to the challenge?
Yes we are.
Lee
No, we aren't interested in Newtonian Mechanics at this point. We want to show how chaos theory is a bridge from "simple" systems like atoms to "complex" systems like humans, ecologies, and economies.
Just as patterns in the subatomic world give rise to the mathematics of particle physics, patterns in nature and the cosmos give rise to the mathmatics of complex systems.
A universality has been found in patterns beneath the surface of things like the human heart, weather, internet traffic, the human brain, nature's rhythms, and cosmic expansion.
There is a holism and universality not unlike that found in certain subatomic patterns in the world around us.
Historically, mathematicians and scientists have attemped to deal with the nonlinear patterns of complex systems using standard mathematical structures like transformed differential equations and probability theory. The problem is that complex systems involve patterns that ultimately don't cooperate with such standard approaches.
As was the case in quantum mechanics and relativity theory, a new way of thinking is needed if we are really going to make progress in understanding complex systems. The dramatic increase in computing power in recent years has provided opportunities for such new thinking.
State and phase space, perturbation, fractals, attractors, power laws, cascades, symmetries, topologies, multifractals, and phase transitions are examples of notions which have arisen in the search for patterns in complex systems. If the mathematics underlying those patterns happens to relate to the patterns uncovered in the subatomic world, a metaphysical and scientific revolution of unprecedented power will be unleashed.
A mathematics of reality which begins with the fuzzy patterns in the subatomic world and shows how those patterns, even in principle, can be followed up the chain of reality, could lead us to a picture of human and cosmic reality which is holistic, interconnected and transcendent.
Economic activity, political activity, social activity, intellectual activity and spiritual activity could all be viewed from the perspective of universal patterns emerging into structures of truth beauty and justice. Quite a leap in logic, perhaps, but better than most of the other possibilities.
We have discussed in other blogs, and will discuss in future blogs, how such deep perspective can help us deal with the problems of the day. As a highly complex system, the global economy cries out for holisitc analysis. The tools of complexity science and actuarial science are ready to be combined with those of relativity and quantum mechanics to form an analytical structure for public policy analysis in the twenty first century.
Are we up to the challenge?
Yes we are.
Lee
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
What if he's right?
In his book, John Perkins talks about the military industrial complex's impact on Third World countries.
"Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, USAID,...into the pockets of a few wealthy individuals who control the planet's natural resources."
Wow. If this beginning to the Preface has any basis in truth, the Obama Administration has issues that transcend those currently being discussed in the media.
In addition to considering the traditional networks in determining ways to allocate government resources in a way that optimizes human welfare, he has to look behind the curtain and see if the resources are really going to appropriate places.
Are the, "Few wealthy individuals who control the planet's natural resources" also receiving government bailouts...?
Do they run the banks, healthcare organizations, infrastructure contractors, and other organizations receiving government money?
Does it matter?
We know that the government needs new analytical tools to determine whether government programs accomplish their goals.
Using actuarial, complexity science, data mining and visualization, and other tools which are available but underutilized, the Administration can be sure its resources will be more likely to have the intended effect.
Can we build analytical tools which will allow us to be sure we are getting the most welfare impact possible from our programs? Can we predict Net Economic Welfare and Gross National Product scenarios which will provide for a reasonable standard of life for future generations?
Yes we can.
Lee
In his book, John Perkins talks about the military industrial complex's impact on Third World countries.
"Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, USAID,...into the pockets of a few wealthy individuals who control the planet's natural resources."
Wow. If this beginning to the Preface has any basis in truth, the Obama Administration has issues that transcend those currently being discussed in the media.
In addition to considering the traditional networks in determining ways to allocate government resources in a way that optimizes human welfare, he has to look behind the curtain and see if the resources are really going to appropriate places.
Are the, "Few wealthy individuals who control the planet's natural resources" also receiving government bailouts...?
Do they run the banks, healthcare organizations, infrastructure contractors, and other organizations receiving government money?
Does it matter?
We know that the government needs new analytical tools to determine whether government programs accomplish their goals.
Using actuarial, complexity science, data mining and visualization, and other tools which are available but underutilized, the Administration can be sure its resources will be more likely to have the intended effect.
Can we build analytical tools which will allow us to be sure we are getting the most welfare impact possible from our programs? Can we predict Net Economic Welfare and Gross National Product scenarios which will provide for a reasonable standard of life for future generations?
Yes we can.
Lee
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Math of String Theory
If there is to be a "Theory of Everything" for the forces of nature, string theory at the moment seems to have a good chance of playing a major role. Everything that happens in the physical universe may be ultimately represented in a single, elegant equation.
The mathematics of string theory gives hope to the dream of a resolution of some of the problems in the current model of particle physics. By adding dimensions to the framework, string theory provides new avenues to mathematical consistency.
Of course, if some version of string theory holds , as was the case with quantum mechanics, our world view will have to be altered dramatically. In addition to matter and energy, space and time themselves will cease to have their commonsense characteristics.
On a conceptual level, string theory uses one dimensional strings rather than zero dimensional particles in developing the formulas. The way these strings "vibrate" determines what type of particle emerges, and ultimately, what kind of universe emerges.
Just as the strings of a piano have resonant frequencies, so do the vibrating strings of subatomic reality. Whereas the strings of musical instruments produce notes, string vibrations produce particles.
The forces of nature also emerge from string vibration patterns. As a result, all matter and forces known become notes on a universal string.
Particle properties are a manifestatinof resonant pattterns of string vibrations as well.
Stretching the metaphor, there is a school of thought that this framework can be brought to bear on the more complex systems which have emerged in our universe, including life and consciousness.
While chaos theory and complexity science show new laws come into play as system compexity increases, there is a belief that those new laws may ultimately be found to be consistent with the deeper mathematics of string theory.
It takes a while to digest even the conceptual, much less the mathematical, framework of string theory. If right, it posits a multidimensional labyrinth of interconnected structures mysteriously intertwined with our notions of space and time.
In conventional physics, events occur in four dimensions. They can be undersood in the context of four factors.
In quantum mechanics, the microscopic properties of space become dissimilar to the analogous properties in classical physics. The notion of a violent quantum foam versus the smooth surface of relativity causes and results in mathematical incompatiblity between the theories.
The standard model of particle physics posits a world of pointlike objects. String/Superstring Theory unveils a cosmos emerging from a microscopic landscape of strings whose vibrations emerge as symphony of reality.
Everything in the universe emerges from vibrating strings.
When strings and their vibrations are fundamental (rather than point particles), the incompatibility of microscopic spatial structures between relaivity and quantum physics vanishes.
Supersymmery is part of string theory. Fermions and bosons are paired, symmetric, in a supersymmetric universe, and the mathematics becomes more elegant as dimensions are added.
Fundamental properties of the universe depend on the number and structure of dimensions in which the fundamental strings vibrate.
In supersymmetry, Hamiltonians commute with supercharges and Lagrangians are transformed to produce mixed bosonic and fermionic fields. Dirac and Pauli matrices are utilized in the representation, and a supersymmetric Lagrangian emerges.
A particular class of six dimensional spaces known as Calabi-Yau spaces have the geometric struture required to meet the mathematical properties of the theory
The mathematics of string theory is important in its own right. Even if it is found that string theory doesn't fully describe our universe, the underlying mathematics has blazed new trails of understanding.
As Robert Pirsig said in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,"...the stream of national consciousness moves faster now, and is broader, but it seems to run less deep...Some channel deepening is called for."
There are a number of cosmic and subatomic implications of the math of string theory. These will be explored throughout my blogs.
Like a Beethoven Symphony, or Mozart Concerto, our world is a labyrinth of elements which emerges in a much more beautiful form than could be predicted from an assemblage of the parts.
The solution of a wave equation can be written in terms of a superposition, a Fourier expansion. The symmetries of the Lagrangian, the energy momentum tensor, and the Hamiltonian which governs time evolution of the worldsheet are elements of the classical analysis of strings.
The quantum extension of classical theory involves covariant quantization and Virasoro constraints. At this point there are 26 space-time dimensions.
Conformal field theory is used in peturbative string theory. A conformal transformation maps a region of the complex plane onto a more workable space.
In T-duality, open strings with Neumann boundary conditions are transformed to those with Dirichlet boundaries.
Spacetime supersymmetry involves superfields, superspaces, Grassman coordinates, and Green- Schwarz formalism.
In conclusion, string theory develops a mathematical framework by which to model the essence of all subatomoic activity. It shows that at the deepest level, reality may be interconnected and multidimensional. This has profound philosophical implcations.
This concludes our blogs on the mathematics of subatomic interactions. (whew!)
The next blogs in Mathematical Universe will deal with the mathematics of larger systems, up to and including the global economic system.
Lee
The mathematics of string theory gives hope to the dream of a resolution of some of the problems in the current model of particle physics. By adding dimensions to the framework, string theory provides new avenues to mathematical consistency.
Of course, if some version of string theory holds , as was the case with quantum mechanics, our world view will have to be altered dramatically. In addition to matter and energy, space and time themselves will cease to have their commonsense characteristics.
On a conceptual level, string theory uses one dimensional strings rather than zero dimensional particles in developing the formulas. The way these strings "vibrate" determines what type of particle emerges, and ultimately, what kind of universe emerges.
Just as the strings of a piano have resonant frequencies, so do the vibrating strings of subatomic reality. Whereas the strings of musical instruments produce notes, string vibrations produce particles.
The forces of nature also emerge from string vibration patterns. As a result, all matter and forces known become notes on a universal string.
Particle properties are a manifestatinof resonant pattterns of string vibrations as well.
Stretching the metaphor, there is a school of thought that this framework can be brought to bear on the more complex systems which have emerged in our universe, including life and consciousness.
While chaos theory and complexity science show new laws come into play as system compexity increases, there is a belief that those new laws may ultimately be found to be consistent with the deeper mathematics of string theory.
It takes a while to digest even the conceptual, much less the mathematical, framework of string theory. If right, it posits a multidimensional labyrinth of interconnected structures mysteriously intertwined with our notions of space and time.
In conventional physics, events occur in four dimensions. They can be undersood in the context of four factors.
In quantum mechanics, the microscopic properties of space become dissimilar to the analogous properties in classical physics. The notion of a violent quantum foam versus the smooth surface of relativity causes and results in mathematical incompatiblity between the theories.
The standard model of particle physics posits a world of pointlike objects. String/Superstring Theory unveils a cosmos emerging from a microscopic landscape of strings whose vibrations emerge as symphony of reality.
Everything in the universe emerges from vibrating strings.
When strings and their vibrations are fundamental (rather than point particles), the incompatibility of microscopic spatial structures between relaivity and quantum physics vanishes.
Supersymmery is part of string theory. Fermions and bosons are paired, symmetric, in a supersymmetric universe, and the mathematics becomes more elegant as dimensions are added.
Fundamental properties of the universe depend on the number and structure of dimensions in which the fundamental strings vibrate.
In supersymmetry, Hamiltonians commute with supercharges and Lagrangians are transformed to produce mixed bosonic and fermionic fields. Dirac and Pauli matrices are utilized in the representation, and a supersymmetric Lagrangian emerges.
A particular class of six dimensional spaces known as Calabi-Yau spaces have the geometric struture required to meet the mathematical properties of the theory
The mathematics of string theory is important in its own right. Even if it is found that string theory doesn't fully describe our universe, the underlying mathematics has blazed new trails of understanding.
As Robert Pirsig said in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,"...the stream of national consciousness moves faster now, and is broader, but it seems to run less deep...Some channel deepening is called for."
There are a number of cosmic and subatomic implications of the math of string theory. These will be explored throughout my blogs.
Like a Beethoven Symphony, or Mozart Concerto, our world is a labyrinth of elements which emerges in a much more beautiful form than could be predicted from an assemblage of the parts.
The solution of a wave equation can be written in terms of a superposition, a Fourier expansion. The symmetries of the Lagrangian, the energy momentum tensor, and the Hamiltonian which governs time evolution of the worldsheet are elements of the classical analysis of strings.
The quantum extension of classical theory involves covariant quantization and Virasoro constraints. At this point there are 26 space-time dimensions.
Conformal field theory is used in peturbative string theory. A conformal transformation maps a region of the complex plane onto a more workable space.
In T-duality, open strings with Neumann boundary conditions are transformed to those with Dirichlet boundaries.
Spacetime supersymmetry involves superfields, superspaces, Grassman coordinates, and Green- Schwarz formalism.
In conclusion, string theory develops a mathematical framework by which to model the essence of all subatomoic activity. It shows that at the deepest level, reality may be interconnected and multidimensional. This has profound philosophical implcations.
This concludes our blogs on the mathematics of subatomic interactions. (whew!)
The next blogs in Mathematical Universe will deal with the mathematics of larger systems, up to and including the global economic system.
Lee
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Math of Quantum Mechanics
As was the case with relativity theory, there is a structure to the mathematics of quantum mechanics.
A good starting point is the Schrodinger Wave Equation. A wavefunction gives information about the "state"of a particle. The Schrodinger equation describes particle behavior over time.
Because in particle physics the place and velocity of a particle cannot be simultaneously determined (due to the basic wave-particle duality of fundamental entities), it is the probability of finding particle in a particular space that is determined by the wave function.
The names associated with the developments of quantum mechanics include Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Planck, Bohr, Dirac, deBroglie, Pauli, and Einstein.
They all developed significant parts of the theory and performed amazing mathematical wizardry in the process.
Schrodinger's wave function was accompanied by Heisenberg's matrix, Bohr's atom and deBroglie's duality. Heisenberg Uncertainty, Pauli Exclusion, Dirac's Sea, and Bohr's Complementarity were critical perspectives.
The fact that the extension of the wavelength described by the Fourier Transform cannot be made arbitrarily small is another way of viewing Heisenberg Uncertainty.
We should consider how Newton's laws bleed into quantum mechanics.
Newton's Second Law of particle motion relates force, mass and acceleration. Classical particle dynamics rests on this law. The Euler-Lagrange Equation generalizes the law for particle motion. Hamilton's Principle provides for the simplification of the math of particle trajectory.
Hamiltonians and Lagrangians are key elements of the math structure of classical mechanics and they are key to quantum mechanics as well. They provide for robust evaluation of particle dynamics and field theory.
Finding the probability that a particle is in a region of space involves integrating the wave function. The time indepenent Schrodinger equation has an eigenvalue form.
The Hamiltonian can be used to determine the possible results of the measurement of the energy of a wavefunction. The eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian are the energies of the system.
The trajectory of an electron is determined by position, speed, and force. Interactions between matter and light involve em fields and photons.
Operators are critical components of the math of quantum mechanics. Operators work on wavefunctions and assist in the measurement of values. Observable events, those involving position and momentum are represented by operators.
Eigenvalues of a matrix which represents an operator give measurement results. Eigenvalues of matrices representing Hamiltonians are possible energies of wavefunctions. Eigenvectors of a Hermitian matrix can be utilized in developing simlarity transformations.
A particle's motion can be represented in either position or momentum form. Fourier transforms relate these two forms. In quantum mechanics much of the activity occurs in mathematical spaces like Hilbert Space.
In state space, functions take the role of vectors. Spaces of any number of dimension are mathematically constructable.
A good starting point is the Schrodinger Wave Equation. A wavefunction gives information about the "state"of a particle. The Schrodinger equation describes particle behavior over time.
Because in particle physics the place and velocity of a particle cannot be simultaneously determined (due to the basic wave-particle duality of fundamental entities), it is the probability of finding particle in a particular space that is determined by the wave function.
Particles interact as waves, but arrive probabilistically as particles in space and time.
Another way of arriving at a picture of quantum processes is to arrange observables in a matrix.
Perhaps the most intriguing insight of quantum mechanics is that at the most fundmental level, reality is connected. This means the interactions, the events, the processes are what is real, not the entities.
This one insight responds to centuries of metaphysical speculation about the nature of reality. Combined with the ideas of entanglement and nonlocality, this takes us to a place where metaphysics and ethics may intersect.
Is it possible that being responsible for our environment and fellow citizens is hardwired into our nature? That when we diverge from this ideal we go against the grain of our being and cause injury to ourselves?
Admittedly this a lot to digest if you are not familiar with quantum physics. Basically what particle physicists have found is that at the most fundamental level, nature is neither mass nor energy, but a "combination" of both.
When we talk of quarks, electrons, strings, and other subatomic entities there is no mental picture possible. Only mathematical formalism which leads to abstract metaphors.
The names associated with the developments of quantum mechanics include Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Planck, Bohr, Dirac, deBroglie, Pauli, and Einstein.
They all developed significant parts of the theory and performed amazing mathematical wizardry in the process.
Schrodinger's wave function was accompanied by Heisenberg's matrix, Bohr's atom and deBroglie's duality. Heisenberg Uncertainty, Pauli Exclusion, Dirac's Sea, and Bohr's Complementarity were critical perspectives.
The fact that the extension of the wavelength described by the Fourier Transform cannot be made arbitrarily small is another way of viewing Heisenberg Uncertainty.
Uncertainty, probability, is built into the very structure of nature as we see it. Wave intensity is linked to probability and wavelength is linked to momentum. The very nature of particle position and movement is ethereal and fuzzy.
We should consider how Newton's laws bleed into quantum mechanics.
Newton's Second Law of particle motion relates force, mass and acceleration. Classical particle dynamics rests on this law. The Euler-Lagrange Equation generalizes the law for particle motion. Hamilton's Principle provides for the simplification of the math of particle trajectory.
Hamiltonians and Lagrangians are key elements of the math structure of classical mechanics and they are key to quantum mechanics as well. They provide for robust evaluation of particle dynamics and field theory.
The Lagrangian determindes the amplitude of a particle's wave and therefore the probability of tha associated particle's existence.
Feynman diagrams allow us to visualize the results of particle interactions.
A system of n particles is described by 3n differential equations. Hamiltonians simplify multi-dimensional calculations.Finding the probability that a particle is in a region of space involves integrating the wave function. The time indepenent Schrodinger equation has an eigenvalue form.
The Hamiltonian can be used to determine the possible results of the measurement of the energy of a wavefunction. The eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian are the energies of the system.
The trajectory of an electron is determined by position, speed, and force. Interactions between matter and light involve em fields and photons.
Operators are critical components of the math of quantum mechanics. Operators work on wavefunctions and assist in the measurement of values. Observable events, those involving position and momentum are represented by operators.
Eigenvalues of a matrix which represents an operator give measurement results. Eigenvalues of matrices representing Hamiltonians are possible energies of wavefunctions. Eigenvectors of a Hermitian matrix can be utilized in developing simlarity transformations.
A particle's motion can be represented in either position or momentum form. Fourier transforms relate these two forms. In quantum mechanics much of the activity occurs in mathematical spaces like Hilbert Space.
In state space, functions take the role of vectors. Spaces of any number of dimension are mathematically constructable.
For a vector space, the number of vectors in a basis gives the dimension. To make basis vectors orthonormal, the Gram -Schmidt procedure is employed.
Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions of Hermitian Operators acting on functions of continuous variables provide additional imformation on particle behavior.
Studying atoms and molecules involves working in three dimensions.
Again, this all sounds a little abstract if we don't keep our eye on the prize...that all this math ultimately tells us what is going on deep in the heart of nature, ourselves, and in others. That knowledge can lead us to a deeper understanding of the mysteries of existence which have puzzled philosophers for millenia.
Lee
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Mathematics of Relativity
This blog is meant for readers with a modicum of interest in the mathemtics of reality.
While no mathematical background is necessary to enjoy this blog, mathematical interest is.
This particular blog will discuss the mathematics of relativity. Later blogs will discuss the mathematics of quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, string theory, complexity science, economics, finance and actuarial science.
Descriptions like that which follows can be found in many relativity publications. In this blog we will be following the formalism laid out in Relativity Demystified.
The mathematical structure of relativity is as straightforward as it is complex. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity change the way we think about our world. Many phenomena of common sense fall within the mathmatics of relativity.
The basic idea flows from a series of mathematical relationships. In 1865, physicist James Clerk Maxwell published his equations which posited that electromagnetic (em) waves exist, and move at the speed of light. Electromagnetic fields can be shown to satisfy wave equations using simple vector calculus.
This is important, because wave equations are used extensively in physics to model physical events. It is important in the context of relativity because it can be shown that em waves (light) always travel at the same speed. It is the constancy of the speed of light in all frames of reference which leads to many of the unique elements of relativity theory.
While no mathematical background is necessary to enjoy this blog, mathematical interest is.
This particular blog will discuss the mathematics of relativity. Later blogs will discuss the mathematics of quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, string theory, complexity science, economics, finance and actuarial science.
Descriptions like that which follows can be found in many relativity publications. In this blog we will be following the formalism laid out in Relativity Demystified.
The mathematical structure of relativity is as straightforward as it is complex. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity change the way we think about our world. Many phenomena of common sense fall within the mathmatics of relativity.
The basic idea flows from a series of mathematical relationships. In 1865, physicist James Clerk Maxwell published his equations which posited that electromagnetic (em) waves exist, and move at the speed of light. Electromagnetic fields can be shown to satisfy wave equations using simple vector calculus.
This is important, because wave equations are used extensively in physics to model physical events. It is important in the context of relativity because it can be shown that em waves (light) always travel at the same speed. It is the constancy of the speed of light in all frames of reference which leads to many of the unique elements of relativity theory.
In Newtonian physics, distances and times are fixed. When it was discovered that waves don't need a medium in which to travel, a mathematical tool called a Lorentz Transformation was applied to explain the results.
Newton used two equations to describe gravity. The first describes the path of a particle through space. The second describes how mass acts as a source of gravity.
Einstein's equations have similar form. In general relativity, the energy-momentum tensor acts as a source of gravitation, and relates to the curvature of spacetime via the Einstein equation.
Symmetries lead to conservation laws. In relativity, Killing vectors can be used to tease out symmetries. The motions of particles and light waves in spacetime involves Lagrangian methods which we will deal with in the math of quantum mechanics blog.
In terms of these blogs, it is important to note that understanding the mathematics of relativity is not just an abstract exercise. Harmonious Universe posits that a metaphysics based on mathematics and science is at least a possibility.
From the mathematics of relativity, particle physics, chaos theory, complexity science and actuarial science, patterns can be seen which point to the possibility that all of reality can be understood at a deep level. The evolution of the universe itself is mathematiclly derivable.
These ideas can be followed without understanding the math, but understanding the math enhances the insights.
Getting back to the math of relativity, now that we have a basic framework, we can begin to build the mathematical structure. The study of relativity involves what most physics does, the analysis of events.
In physics, events occur in a framework. That framework usually involves space, time, matter, and energy. Elements of matter and energy interact in space and time and reality emerges from these interactions.
Galilean Transformations were used to study how phenomena appear to different observers in Newtonian Mechanics. In Relativity Theory, Lorentz Transformations apply.
Among the tools used in developing some of the key elements of Relativity theory are, vectors, tensors, metrics, and manifolds.
Vectors are simply symbols which represent magnitude and direction. Tensors map from vectors to the real numbers. Metrics describe three dimensional space. Manifolds are continuous spaces of points that can be curved globally, but locally are Euclidean.
Many tools of mathematics have as their primary role the simplification of calculation and analysis. Transformations often accomplish this quite directly.
One example is a gauge transformation which is quite prominent in quantum theory, and is used in relativity to tease out wave equations.
In relativity, much of the theory is nonlinear, but can be worked on using linear methods which are much more manageable.
Lie derivatives, Killing vectors, Riemann tensors, Ricci tensors, Cartan Equations, and Einstein's field equations are all in the relativity tool box.
The most famous equation of all, e=mc**2 came out of these elements
From relativity theory came a new vision of the world and a new way of living.
Einstein's relativity theories changed the landscape of the human enterprise. Combined with advances in particle physics, it changed metaphysics itself.
LeeThursday, January 22, 2009
Dimensions of Science
This is my science blog, and it is a good time to put out some ideas which can be explored more deeply in the future.
In Fire in the Mind, George Johnson explores the search for order as reflected in scientific and religious speculation. He compares and contrasts views of the scientific and spiritual communities, particularly in the area around Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The way we carve up the world determines how we perceive it. Physicists see quarks, electons, waves, fields, symmetries and fractals as part of the scaffolding on which our experienes are based. The more we try to contain reality within our perceptual structures however, the more it resists.
Like the scientists who labor in the New Mexico laboratories and look for clues about the existence of everything, so the Tewa labor and wonder. The Tewa "...have woven a tight web of concepts..." into a worldview as well.
We are all trying to make sense of a world which began in mystery and which is connected in ways we cannot yet grasp.
What the scientists in New Mexico and other places have found is that there are patterns which are common to simple and complex systems as well. This gives credence to the notion that there is an overall web of harmony in which all reality is embedded.
Since mathematics is the best tool we have for discerning these patterns, and since mathematics, even aided by advanced computer science, is very crude way of uncovering patterns of systems more complex than the atom, there has been uneven progress in the quest for an overall understanding of reality.
Can Schrodinger Waves be extended to apply to superatomic phenomena?
Can Heisenberg Matrices make the output of experiments on complex systems meaningful?
Can the universality buried in fractal structures explain social phenomena?
Gell-Mann is the man who made sense of the "particle zoo" which had been vexing particle physicists in the mid twentieth century. He was also one of the founders of the complexity science movement in the 1980's.
In Fire in the Mind, George Johnson explores the search for order as reflected in scientific and religious speculation. He compares and contrasts views of the scientific and spiritual communities, particularly in the area around Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The way we carve up the world determines how we perceive it. Physicists see quarks, electons, waves, fields, symmetries and fractals as part of the scaffolding on which our experienes are based. The more we try to contain reality within our perceptual structures however, the more it resists.
Like the scientists who labor in the New Mexico laboratories and look for clues about the existence of everything, so the Tewa labor and wonder. The Tewa "...have woven a tight web of concepts..." into a worldview as well.
We are all trying to make sense of a world which began in mystery and which is connected in ways we cannot yet grasp.
What the scientists in New Mexico and other places have found is that there are patterns which are common to simple and complex systems as well. This gives credence to the notion that there is an overall web of harmony in which all reality is embedded.
Since mathematics is the best tool we have for discerning these patterns, and since mathematics, even aided by advanced computer science, is very crude way of uncovering patterns of systems more complex than the atom, there has been uneven progress in the quest for an overall understanding of reality.
Can Schrodinger Waves be extended to apply to superatomic phenomena?
Can Heisenberg Matrices make the output of experiments on complex systems meaningful?
Can the universality buried in fractal structures explain social phenomena?
Is there a Dirac Sea from which social and economic phenomena emerge?
Certainly worthy questions at least.
In The Quark and the Jaguar, Nobel Prize winning scientist Murray Gell-Mann, gives us a glimpse of his ideas which build from subatomic structures like quarks to complex systems like jaguars.Gell-Mann is the man who made sense of the "particle zoo" which had been vexing particle physicists in the mid twentieth century. He was also one of the founders of the complexity science movement in the 1980's.
Complexity science is a term which has come to be associated with a movement which brought together thinkers from all areas of thought to probe deep questions. In the process they found commonalities among what were thought to be distinct disciplines.
Economics had uncovered patterns which were also apparant in physics. Biology overlapped with chemistry and physics. Sociological patterns bore resemblance to physical patterns. Patterns of aesthetics often mirrored those of nature.
If we can build a metaphysics which can encompass all phenomena, not just physical phenomena, we will be on the path to a level of understanding which could lead to world harmony.
The tools are emerging.
We are ready to interpret their findings
LeeThe Metaphysics of Harmony
As our official philosophy blog, Actuarial Universe will explore issues of ultimate reality.
There are many ways to approach ultimate reality. Many of them may be right. Some converge upon unity as the ultimate "value."
What is striking about the unity perspectives is that science and mathematics now lend support to that idea.
From Plato to Kant, Shakespeare to Locke, the idea that ultimately all is one prevails.
Now, the deepest calculations and consternations of scientists and mathematicians go there.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics gives the entities and interactions which define reality at the subatomic level. The particles and waves are virtual and probabilistic. They exist in a web of connections, called fields, and appear to be entangled.
They may emerge from dimensions beyond those our intellects and senses can perceive. When the clouds of energy within the nucleus "interact" with the electron clouds surrounding it, atoms emerge.
When the electrons of these atoms "interact "with those of other atoms, molecules emerge.
From molecules emerge the objects of chemistry and biology.
As we move up the ladder of complexity, the original elements become part of a framework which doesn't seem to reflect their origins. Only recently have scientists begun to uncover connections among complex objects which have patterns similar to those at the subatomic level.
Words like chaos, fractal, and self-organization begin to emerge from this haze of super-atomic reality.
The fact is that there is now a metaphysical scenario, supported by a partial mathematical structure, which portrays a universe in which everything is connected.
From the Big Bang to eternity, there is an underlying symmetry which connects everything at creation. The symmetry at Creation was perfect. It broke as the world cooled and structures which eventually emerged into us emerged. At the core of everything however is the primordial connection.
There are many ways to slice ultimate reality. One is the way that education has been divided. Philosophy, science, art, politics, history, economics, all part of a tapestry of human understanding.
From a scientific point of view, reality is the things we see and feel and their constituents. Nature, humanity, society, the cosmos, all part of a tapestry which scientists explore.
Reality can also be looked at as the sum of human intellectual activity. Plato's Forms, Kant's Categories, Shakespeare's Complementarities, Smith's Invisible Hand, Rousseau's General Will, Pirsig's Quality, Heisenberg's Uncertainty, Dirac's Sea, Schrodinger's Wave, Mandelbrot's Fractals, Mozart's Harmonies, a mosaic of truth and beauty.
Another perspective on ultimate reality is as the envelope of realms. There is a cosmic realm, a philosophical realm, a complex realm, an economic realm, a chaotic realm, a classical realm, a subatomic realm, a human realm, all creating a vision for our minds and bodies to experience.
Stay tuned.
Lee
There are many ways to approach ultimate reality. Many of them may be right. Some converge upon unity as the ultimate "value."
What is striking about the unity perspectives is that science and mathematics now lend support to that idea.
From Plato to Kant, Shakespeare to Locke, the idea that ultimately all is one prevails.
Now, the deepest calculations and consternations of scientists and mathematicians go there.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics gives the entities and interactions which define reality at the subatomic level. The particles and waves are virtual and probabilistic. They exist in a web of connections, called fields, and appear to be entangled.
They may emerge from dimensions beyond those our intellects and senses can perceive. When the clouds of energy within the nucleus "interact" with the electron clouds surrounding it, atoms emerge.
When the electrons of these atoms "interact "with those of other atoms, molecules emerge.
From molecules emerge the objects of chemistry and biology.
As we move up the ladder of complexity, the original elements become part of a framework which doesn't seem to reflect their origins. Only recently have scientists begun to uncover connections among complex objects which have patterns similar to those at the subatomic level.
Words like chaos, fractal, and self-organization begin to emerge from this haze of super-atomic reality.
The fact is that there is now a metaphysical scenario, supported by a partial mathematical structure, which portrays a universe in which everything is connected.
From the Big Bang to eternity, there is an underlying symmetry which connects everything at creation. The symmetry at Creation was perfect. It broke as the world cooled and structures which eventually emerged into us emerged. At the core of everything however is the primordial connection.
There are many ways to slice ultimate reality. One is the way that education has been divided. Philosophy, science, art, politics, history, economics, all part of a tapestry of human understanding.
From a scientific point of view, reality is the things we see and feel and their constituents. Nature, humanity, society, the cosmos, all part of a tapestry which scientists explore.
Reality can also be looked at as the sum of human intellectual activity. Plato's Forms, Kant's Categories, Shakespeare's Complementarities, Smith's Invisible Hand, Rousseau's General Will, Pirsig's Quality, Heisenberg's Uncertainty, Dirac's Sea, Schrodinger's Wave, Mandelbrot's Fractals, Mozart's Harmonies, a mosaic of truth and beauty.
Another perspective on ultimate reality is as the envelope of realms. There is a cosmic realm, a philosophical realm, a complex realm, an economic realm, a chaotic realm, a classical realm, a subatomic realm, a human realm, all creating a vision for our minds and bodies to experience.
Stay tuned.
Lee
Monday, January 19, 2009
Paradigm Actuaries and The Secret
The Secret is that the truth is not as elusive as we thought.
In a world of poverty, suspicion, ignorance, hypocrisy and irony, the deeper reality is that we are closer to an understanding of true being than ever.
Physicists "looking" into the nucleus of the atom have discovered that the fundamental "thing", the core of everything is an interconnected web of virtual energy.
The atoms which make up all nature, from trees and oceans to rocks and people, are part of a larger tapestry, a tapestry which eludes our instruments and intellects.
Plato, of course, sensed this in his Forms, as did Kant in his Categories and Hegel in his Spirit. Pirsig sensed it in his Quality as did Martin in his dream.
The difference is that, until now, there was no solid mathematical and scientific foundation for a worldview which embraces unity and harmony.
In a world of poverty, suspicion, ignorance, hypocrisy and irony, the deeper reality is that we are closer to an understanding of true being than ever.
Physicists "looking" into the nucleus of the atom have discovered that the fundamental "thing", the core of everything is an interconnected web of virtual energy.
The atoms which make up all nature, from trees and oceans to rocks and people, are part of a larger tapestry, a tapestry which eludes our instruments and intellects.
Plato, of course, sensed this in his Forms, as did Kant in his Categories and Hegel in his Spirit. Pirsig sensed it in his Quality as did Martin in his dream.
The difference is that, until now, there was no solid mathematical and scientific foundation for a worldview which embraces unity and harmony.
The metaphors of particle physics and complexity science, the waves, quarks, fields, spaces, groups, uncertainty, complementarity, exclusion, entanglement, fractals, emergence, symmetries, topologies, dimensions...all elicit a sense of connectedness, transcendence, holism...
This holism is the basis for a new metaphysics grounded in the mathematics which propels the metaphors.
Philosophy, science, politics, economics, art, and proper public policy all emerge from the idea that, at its core, reality is connected and transcendent. This idea makes all prior metaphysical speculation coherent.
It also gives us a path to a brighter future.
Yes we can.
Lee
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hunter, Matt & Lee
In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi says to a clueless "W " who doesn't understand why people don't appreciate his service...
"OK, here it is.You're the child of two emotionally abscent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection..
You grew up resentful and lacking completely in any natural gifts or curiosity...You were aided in (this) quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys...who...manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments...
...you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on earth by turning the Presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis...and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias..."
Of course, Matt is gentle when put beside Hunter Thompson who, in Generation of Swine said about poppa Bush..."It is difficult for an ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as President of the United States..."
Now, since the point of my blogs is that there is hope in America to restore the dream of our Founding Fathers, I don't want to dwell too much on the dark side.
In a world of Platonic Forms, dancing waves of inter-connected energy, and fields of harmonic resonance, there is much about which to be hopeful.
A true leader is to be sworn in tomorrow. He will be in a position to transform the country not just economically but spiritually. The values of life, liberty and true happiness can be combined with courage, integrity, compassion, truth, justice, beauty and wisdom to create a tapestry of hope not seen since 1968.
The American spirit as manifest in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Martin, Bobby and now Barack has never been more healthy. We can overcome the obstacles which have arisen in recent years.
Yes we can.
Lee
"OK, here it is.You're the child of two emotionally abscent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection..
You grew up resentful and lacking completely in any natural gifts or curiosity...You were aided in (this) quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys...who...manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments...
...you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on earth by turning the Presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis...and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias..."
Of course, Matt is gentle when put beside Hunter Thompson who, in Generation of Swine said about poppa Bush..."It is difficult for an ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as President of the United States..."
Now, since the point of my blogs is that there is hope in America to restore the dream of our Founding Fathers, I don't want to dwell too much on the dark side.
In a world of Platonic Forms, dancing waves of inter-connected energy, and fields of harmonic resonance, there is much about which to be hopeful.
A true leader is to be sworn in tomorrow. He will be in a position to transform the country not just economically but spiritually. The values of life, liberty and true happiness can be combined with courage, integrity, compassion, truth, justice, beauty and wisdom to create a tapestry of hope not seen since 1968.
The American spirit as manifest in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Martin, Bobby and now Barack has never been more healthy. We can overcome the obstacles which have arisen in recent years.
Yes we can.
Lee
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Putting People First
Putting People First (PPF) was the "plan" Bill Clinton and Al Gore published in 1992 to "...fight for what Americans deserve".
How'd that work out?
Since we have been kind of hard on the man who succeeded Clinton, it behooves us to look at how Bubba did. After all, by 2000 the American public was so disgusted with Billary that they elected a total moron to lead the free world.
The plan (PPF) involved "...good jobs, world class education, quality healthcare, and safe streets and neighborhoods."
"Our national strategy will reward the people who work hard and play by the rules. "
WOOPS!
"Increase corporate average fuel economy standards from the current 27.5 mpg to 40...45..."
TRIPLE WOOPS!
What happened?
Within days of entering the Oval Office, Bubba was being coopted by the Republicans. He started making deals with the devil immediately, and after the blue dress incident totally rolled over.
Now except for Ken Starr and a few other voyeurs, nobody really cared what Billy did in his spare time. God knows that to the extent Republicans have sex at all it is weird sex.
Unfortunately, Bill's propensity to deny his otherwise normal sex drive made it impossible for him to govern once he was outed.
In fairness, notwithstanding his moral cowardice Bubba did make government work better than had daddy Bush.
And in retrospect, it was heaven compared to "W".
But should that be our standard?
Kinda reminds me of Gary Hart's 1983 campaign book, A New Democracy, where he begins,
"America's character is being tested..."
How'd that work out?
Now compared to Newt Gingrich's cancer deathbed present to his first wife (that he wanted to leave her for his second wife who he later dumped for another...) the Democrataic pecadillos are hardly worthy of mention. Unfortunately, the way Dems handle getting caught condemns them to eternal fury from hypocritical, self-righteous Republicans who periodically emerge from the closet to condemn others.
This all sounds a little negative.
Well guess what?
In a few days we will have a President who seems to have character, intellect, integrity, wisdom, and a bunch of other good traits. And we shouldn't care what he does in private as long as he moves the planet toward peace and harmony.
Yes we can.
Lee
How'd that work out?
Since we have been kind of hard on the man who succeeded Clinton, it behooves us to look at how Bubba did. After all, by 2000 the American public was so disgusted with Billary that they elected a total moron to lead the free world.
The plan (PPF) involved "...good jobs, world class education, quality healthcare, and safe streets and neighborhoods."
"Our national strategy will reward the people who work hard and play by the rules. "
WOOPS!
"Increase corporate average fuel economy standards from the current 27.5 mpg to 40...45..."
TRIPLE WOOPS!
What happened?
Within days of entering the Oval Office, Bubba was being coopted by the Republicans. He started making deals with the devil immediately, and after the blue dress incident totally rolled over.
Now except for Ken Starr and a few other voyeurs, nobody really cared what Billy did in his spare time. God knows that to the extent Republicans have sex at all it is weird sex.
Unfortunately, Bill's propensity to deny his otherwise normal sex drive made it impossible for him to govern once he was outed.
In fairness, notwithstanding his moral cowardice Bubba did make government work better than had daddy Bush.
And in retrospect, it was heaven compared to "W".
But should that be our standard?
Kinda reminds me of Gary Hart's 1983 campaign book, A New Democracy, where he begins,
"America's character is being tested..."
How'd that work out?
Now compared to Newt Gingrich's cancer deathbed present to his first wife (that he wanted to leave her for his second wife who he later dumped for another...) the Democrataic pecadillos are hardly worthy of mention. Unfortunately, the way Dems handle getting caught condemns them to eternal fury from hypocritical, self-righteous Republicans who periodically emerge from the closet to condemn others.
This all sounds a little negative.
Well guess what?
In a few days we will have a President who seems to have character, intellect, integrity, wisdom, and a bunch of other good traits. And we shouldn't care what he does in private as long as he moves the planet toward peace and harmony.
Yes we can.
Lee
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
George & Laura (G&L)
The Bush's are a gift that keep on giving. From Sr. & Babs to Jeb & George, nothing but wisdom and sacrifice.
G&L's going away present is to let us know how lucky we are that they have led us for the last 8 years. Notwithstanding the destruction of the world and U.S. economies and ecologies, the grinding up of the American war machine, hundreds of thousands of dead and disabled world citizens and soldiers sacrificed to a phony cause, the end of America's leadership in the world, budget deficits that will haunt all future Americans, and a general malaise caused by a decade of hypocrisy, they are going back to Texas proud of their legacy.
If we've learned anything from this disaster of a Presidency, hopefully it is never again to elect a President who neither reads or writes. A President with no values and no understanding will never be able to rise to the level of vision needed to deal with the problems faced by the occupant of the office (can you say Palin?).
This year we had a choice, and we made it. Our new President has wisdom, humility, integrity, and the courage of real convictions. He reads and writes and thinks before acting. Like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, he believes in justice and pursues the truth.
If there's anything to be grateful for in America today it is that the long nightmare of Republican rule is at least temporarily ended. If the Democrats can resist the temptation to become their usual dopey selves, we may have a chance for a few years of governmental sanity. That could actually put us back on the path to harmony.
Lee
G&L's going away present is to let us know how lucky we are that they have led us for the last 8 years. Notwithstanding the destruction of the world and U.S. economies and ecologies, the grinding up of the American war machine, hundreds of thousands of dead and disabled world citizens and soldiers sacrificed to a phony cause, the end of America's leadership in the world, budget deficits that will haunt all future Americans, and a general malaise caused by a decade of hypocrisy, they are going back to Texas proud of their legacy.
If we've learned anything from this disaster of a Presidency, hopefully it is never again to elect a President who neither reads or writes. A President with no values and no understanding will never be able to rise to the level of vision needed to deal with the problems faced by the occupant of the office (can you say Palin?).
This year we had a choice, and we made it. Our new President has wisdom, humility, integrity, and the courage of real convictions. He reads and writes and thinks before acting. Like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, he believes in justice and pursues the truth.
If there's anything to be grateful for in America today it is that the long nightmare of Republican rule is at least temporarily ended. If the Democrats can resist the temptation to become their usual dopey selves, we may have a chance for a few years of governmental sanity. That could actually put us back on the path to harmony.
Lee
Actuarial Universe
This entry in each of my blogs will outline the blog structure.
The blogs are:
Name; Content; Address
Huffingtonpost; General; huffingtonposta.blogspot.com
Art of Hardball; Politics; slatea.blogspot.com
Quantum Universe; Science; rollingstonea.blogspot.com
Mathematical Universe; Math; paradigmactuaries.blogspot.com
Actuarial Universe; Philosophy; dailybeasta.blogspot.com
My website is paradigmactuaries.com
Lee
The blogs are:
Name; Content; Address
Huffingtonpost; General; huffingtonposta.blogspot.com
Art of Hardball; Politics; slatea.blogspot.com
Quantum Universe; Science; rollingstonea.blogspot.com
Mathematical Universe; Math; paradigmactuaries.blogspot.com
Actuarial Universe; Philosophy; dailybeasta.blogspot.com
My website is paradigmactuaries.com
Lee
Friday, December 26, 2008
2008 in the Rear View Mirror
Goodbye to 2008...8 years of W...Iraq...Global Economic Crisis...Madoff...Spitzer...Blago...When will they ever learn?
Starting with Reagan, Republican Administrations have quadrupled the Federal Budget Deficit, even accepting government (versus reasonable) accounting rules. From Washington to Carter, the US government had run up "only" about $900 billion in deficit. (Yes, less than a trillion $)
By 1992 (Can you say Bush Sr?. Where is Hunter Thompson when we need him?) it was $4 trillion. After a break during a Democratic Administration, the deficit began to explode again.
Now it is "officially" about $10 trillion.
People who actually understand economics and accounting are actually putting it in excess of $50 trillion if we count deficits in "entitlements" like Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Benefits.
The reasons for such treasonous Republican management of the American economy are painfully transparent. They never met a war they didn't like, or a tax they did. And they couldn't care less about waste in government spending.
The results are as disgusting as they are real. Our children and their children will be saddled with a financial burden at the same time they are coping with declining resources and increasing human dependency.
They will face a world of danger with military resources drained by senseless wars.
(Does it really matter if we turn Iraq over to Al Sadr, a Shiite, from Hussein, a Sunni?
Of course, Republicans aren't concerned about the future because they are about to float naked up to heaven in the presence of people like Tim LeHaye.
Luckily, there is hope. America has elected a true leader who has a vision and integrity. He can take our country back to the principles of the Founding Fathers.
Yes he can!
See my model at paradigmactuaries.com
Lee
Starting with Reagan, Republican Administrations have quadrupled the Federal Budget Deficit, even accepting government (versus reasonable) accounting rules. From Washington to Carter, the US government had run up "only" about $900 billion in deficit. (Yes, less than a trillion $)
By 1992 (Can you say Bush Sr?. Where is Hunter Thompson when we need him?) it was $4 trillion. After a break during a Democratic Administration, the deficit began to explode again.
Now it is "officially" about $10 trillion.
People who actually understand economics and accounting are actually putting it in excess of $50 trillion if we count deficits in "entitlements" like Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Benefits.
The reasons for such treasonous Republican management of the American economy are painfully transparent. They never met a war they didn't like, or a tax they did. And they couldn't care less about waste in government spending.
The results are as disgusting as they are real. Our children and their children will be saddled with a financial burden at the same time they are coping with declining resources and increasing human dependency.
They will face a world of danger with military resources drained by senseless wars.
(Does it really matter if we turn Iraq over to Al Sadr, a Shiite, from Hussein, a Sunni?
Of course, Republicans aren't concerned about the future because they are about to float naked up to heaven in the presence of people like Tim LeHaye.
Luckily, there is hope. America has elected a true leader who has a vision and integrity. He can take our country back to the principles of the Founding Fathers.
Yes he can!
See my model at paradigmactuaries.com
Lee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
