Showing posts with label Pirsig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pirsig. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Harmonious Bibliography
Any book owes a large debt to all books which preceded it.
In my case, Harmonious Universe emerged from my immersion in:
Affluent Society by Galbraith
Silent Spring by Carson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig
Lila by Pirsig
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
The Dancing Wu-Li Masters by Zukav
The Tao of Physics by Capra
The Art of Mathematics by King
Chaos by Gleick
Complexity by Waldrop
Fire in the Mind by Johnson
Quantum Self by Zohar
Superforce by Davis
The Elegant Universe by Greene
How to Know God by Chopra
Shakespeare and the Common Understanding by Rabkin
Quantum Theory by Bohm
A Mathematical Bridge by Hewson
Tao of Chaos by Walter
Consilience by Wilson
Art & Physics by Shlain
Hyperspace by Kaku
The Self-Aware Universe by Goswami
The Philosophy of Physics by Torretti
The Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann
At Home in the Universe by Kaufmann
Would be Worlds by Casti
Universals by Armstrong
The Theatre of the Absurd by Esslin
Free to Choose by Friedman
The Prophet by Gibran
Synchronicity by Peat
Complementarity by Plotnitsky
Metapatterns by Volk
Microfoundations by Weintraub
A First Course in String Theory by Zwiebach
Among others
Lee
In my case, Harmonious Universe emerged from my immersion in:
Affluent Society by Galbraith
Silent Spring by Carson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig
Lila by Pirsig
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
The Dancing Wu-Li Masters by Zukav
The Tao of Physics by Capra
The Art of Mathematics by King
Chaos by Gleick
Complexity by Waldrop
Fire in the Mind by Johnson
Quantum Self by Zohar
Superforce by Davis
The Elegant Universe by Greene
How to Know God by Chopra
Shakespeare and the Common Understanding by Rabkin
Quantum Theory by Bohm
A Mathematical Bridge by Hewson
Tao of Chaos by Walter
Consilience by Wilson
Art & Physics by Shlain
Hyperspace by Kaku
The Self-Aware Universe by Goswami
The Philosophy of Physics by Torretti
The Quark and the Jaguar by Gell-Mann
At Home in the Universe by Kaufmann
Would be Worlds by Casti
Universals by Armstrong
The Theatre of the Absurd by Esslin
Free to Choose by Friedman
The Prophet by Gibran
Synchronicity by Peat
Complementarity by Plotnitsky
Metapatterns by Volk
Microfoundations by Weintraub
A First Course in String Theory by Zwiebach
Among others
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
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The 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
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
Quantum Universe
The notion of a quantum universe brings into metaphysics the metaphors of quantum mechanics. This means that the fields, waves, quarks, dimensions, electrons, uncertainties, entanglement, complementarity, and spaces which pop out of the mathematics of particle physics can be put in a philosophical framework.
This is important, and largely unreported. The fact that Plato's Forms, Aristotle's Chain, Kant's Categories, Bacon's Idols, Hegel's Spirit, Shakespeare's Complementarity, Rousseaus's General Will, Smith's Invisible Hand, Newton's Mechanical Universe, Sartre's Existence, King's Dream, and Pirsig's quality can now be put into a mathematical and scientific framework allows us to transcend prior philosophical dead ends.
Much of the substance of recent findings in particle physics points to an interconnected, interdependent, unified world. The particles which become atoms which become molecules which become cells which become us are ethreal, probabilistic (in our three dimensions of space), fuzzy, connected clouds of virtuality.
As we move higher up the chain of understanding we find fractals, symmetries, emergence, and webs, which ultimately describe nature and humanity.
Plato couldn't have known of this structure. He didn't have the mathematical, scientific, technological and philosophical tools which have arisen in the last century. Neither did Newton, Kant, Nietzche or James.
All the musings about mind and body, permanence and change, universals and particulars, empiricism and rationalism, appearance and reality, idealism and materialism, classicism and romanitcism, chaos and order, skepticism and belief, and other dialectical pairs are transcended and superseded by the findings of modern particles physics.
Modern particle physics demonstrates with mathematical structure how reality emerges from its fundamental constituents. From that core evolves a whole new metaphysical structure which contains all prior structures.
The dualities of Quantum Mechanics transcend those of classical metapyhsics. Wave-Particle, Matter-Energy , and Space-Time all point to an ultimate reality which is connected, transcendent and holistic
When the mathematics of particle physics is combined with that of complexity and actuarial science, a full standard model of everything can emerge.
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, January 2, 2009
Abraham, Martin & John
Martin said, "An individual has not started living until (he) can rise above the narrow confines of (his) individualist concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity..."
He also said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
Kahlil Gibran said, "Life is that which we see and experience through the spirit; but the world around us we come to know through our understanding and reason."
He also said, "We are naught but frail atoms in the heaven of the infinite...If we suffer, the pain lies not in our wounds but in the very heart of Nature."
Are we ready for such words of wisdom...inspiration after decades of dreary platitudes?
Abraham, Martin and John made us feel hopeful, joyful, alive.
The dream died in 1968, but seems alive as we enter 2009.
Can we dream of a world of compassion, wisdom, truth and hope?
Will our new President repair broken world alliances, ecosystems, economic webs, minds and bodies?
Do we have the will to restore the American dream which was launched by the sacrifices of George, Thomas, and Benjamin?
Can we show the courage to leave the world a little better than we found it?
Yes we can.
Lee
He also said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
Kahlil Gibran said, "Life is that which we see and experience through the spirit; but the world around us we come to know through our understanding and reason."
He also said, "We are naught but frail atoms in the heaven of the infinite...If we suffer, the pain lies not in our wounds but in the very heart of Nature."
Are we ready for such words of wisdom...inspiration after decades of dreary platitudes?
Abraham, Martin and John made us feel hopeful, joyful, alive.
The dream died in 1968, but seems alive as we enter 2009.
Can we dream of a world of compassion, wisdom, truth and hope?
Will our new President repair broken world alliances, ecosystems, economic webs, minds and bodies?
Do we have the will to restore the American dream which was launched by the sacrifices of George, Thomas, and Benjamin?
Can we show the courage to leave the world a little better than we found it?
Yes we can.
Lee
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Zen and the Art of Africa
Robert Pirsig sought an understanding of quality and value in ZAMM and Lila. What he had in mind was not a superficial definition and essence, but a deep and resonant revelation.
Quality as a source of Aristotelian happiness, Platonic ideal, Sartrean existence...which transcends our understanding in the way the essence of particle physics does.
In America, quality can be realized in the free pursuit of excellence. What can be said of Africa?
The Congo wallows in Civil War, the legacy of Mobutu's incompetence and corruption. We all know about events in Rwanda. South Africa's response to AIDS was nothng short of bizarre. Robert Mugabe has set a new standard for evil arrogance in Zimbawe. Kenya...
Can African's dream of quality or value in the midst of the horrors visited upon them?
Of course, Africa is not alone. Many parts of the globe harbor hunger, torture, terror and fear.
Can anyone find quality when someone is being denied justice?
The essence of recent findings in particle physics is that everything is connected. At our core and at the core of everything in the cosmos is the nucleus of the atom which itself is composed of fuzzy, probabilistic, interconnected, multidimensional clouds of ethereal structures. Nonlocality and entanglement are inherent in the essence of being...a web of connections
How can we ignore the destruction of fellow beings or the environment in which we exist when we are all so profoudly connected?
The answer is we can't. For true liberation we must be each other's keeper. Only then will we know quality, value, harmony, agape and peace.
Lee
Quality as a source of Aristotelian happiness, Platonic ideal, Sartrean existence...which transcends our understanding in the way the essence of particle physics does.
In America, quality can be realized in the free pursuit of excellence. What can be said of Africa?
The Congo wallows in Civil War, the legacy of Mobutu's incompetence and corruption. We all know about events in Rwanda. South Africa's response to AIDS was nothng short of bizarre. Robert Mugabe has set a new standard for evil arrogance in Zimbawe. Kenya...
Can African's dream of quality or value in the midst of the horrors visited upon them?
Of course, Africa is not alone. Many parts of the globe harbor hunger, torture, terror and fear.
Can anyone find quality when someone is being denied justice?
The essence of recent findings in particle physics is that everything is connected. At our core and at the core of everything in the cosmos is the nucleus of the atom which itself is composed of fuzzy, probabilistic, interconnected, multidimensional clouds of ethereal structures. Nonlocality and entanglement are inherent in the essence of being...a web of connections
How can we ignore the destruction of fellow beings or the environment in which we exist when we are all so profoudly connected?
The answer is we can't. For true liberation we must be each other's keeper. Only then will we know quality, value, harmony, agape and peace.
Lee
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Zen and the Art of Particle Physics.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig says, "...ghosts and spirits are quite as real as atoms, particles, photons and quants...the laws of physics and science ..these are ghosts..."
What he wants to do is develop an all-encompassing notion which allows for the transcendence of the dualities which have split humanity and being. Art and Science, Romantic and Classic, Induction and Deduction, Subjective and Objective, all ways of dividing the world analytically and breaking syntheses.
What he wants to do is develop an all-encompassing notion which allows for the transcendence of the dualities which have split humanity and being. Art and Science, Romantic and Classic, Induction and Deduction, Subjective and Objective, all ways of dividing the world analytically and breaking syntheses.
The Big Bang may have been an event from which perfect symmetry exploded leading to our reality through a series of symmetry breaks. The original connections of the primordial elements may still exist in the elements which make up ourselves and our world.
There may be a unity underlying the apparant diversity we face. Notions from mathematics and science like Non Locality, Entanglement, Fields, Probability Waves, Uncertainty, Complementarity, Exclusion, Fractals, Emergence, Quarks, Topologies, Groups and Spaces all point to the reality of an interconnected, holistic universe.
Philosophical structures like Platonic Forms, Baconian Idols, Kantian Categories, Sartrean Existence, Rousseauean General Will, Hegelean Spirit, and Smith's Invisible Hand, like Pirsig's Quality/Value speak of a transcendence pointing to a similar unity of being.
Lee
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Zen and Harmonious Universe
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was concerned with what I would term "Local Quality". Quality in the way we look at work, play, and other life issues was the focus. When Pirsig talked of classic versus romantic perspective he emphasized a worldview which embraced the metaphysics of quality.
Harmonious Universe takes the notion of quality to the level of complex systems which determine "Global" quality. From the perspective of quantum mechanics and complexity science, Harmonious Universe shows how the universal qualities of beauty, truth and justice can emerge from a citizenry which embraces the interconnedtedness which is manifest in all being.
At the core of all being are the waves, fields and particles which interact in multidimensional space to become what we see, feel and are. The atoms of which all are made are composed of wavy electrons, connected quarks, and a sea of virtual entities. They are all part of a universal symphony which began playing at creation and will continue as long as we can imagine.
Lee
Harmonious Universe takes the notion of quality to the level of complex systems which determine "Global" quality. From the perspective of quantum mechanics and complexity science, Harmonious Universe shows how the universal qualities of beauty, truth and justice can emerge from a citizenry which embraces the interconnedtedness which is manifest in all being.
At the core of all being are the waves, fields and particles which interact in multidimensional space to become what we see, feel and are. The atoms of which all are made are composed of wavy electrons, connected quarks, and a sea of virtual entities. They are all part of a universal symphony which began playing at creation and will continue as long as we can imagine.
Lee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
