Tag: Meaning
-
Domains of Conception
The Borders of Understanding My molecular biologist friend, Barry Bowman, brewed up this stimulating thought: One can understand much about nature without mathematics. Can one understand quantum mechanics only through its arcane mathematics? Can one not comprehend quantum physics other than through its mathematical expression? To explore the thought some agreement is needed on the…
-
Meaning from Data
Intelligence: Artificial vs. Real Here is the problem David Cope solved many years ago Given the enormous musical library of compositions left to us by the venerable Johann Sebastian Bach, can new compositions be manufactured as if his signature were upon them? As if they were long lost Bach musical manuscripts only recently discovered? Cope…
-
Judgement’s Penalty
Value judgements impede understanding In medieval times and in primitive societies an explanation for events was a matter of morality; of good and evil, right or wrong. A death, say by tuberculosis, was explained as the action of evil forces. Witches maybe. Or perhaps the death was explained as good; justice – retribution for a…
-
Axioms
Hypotheses I cannot prove; taken on faith I’m thinking about my axioms of faith. On what unprovable hypotheses do I confront the world. My axioms are my prejudices; the fewer the better. The first one is this: 1. That reality exists. That a world exists in whose catalogue of entities I am one. And what…
-
Right Wrongs
Drowning in the ocean of injustice. Context: An atomic bomb was dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima, Japan in August of 1945. This event was the critical one which ended the Second World War. Some claim that it was an act of savagery needlessly killing many because the war could have been ended without that…
-
Perspectives
Sadye Stories My mother’s name was Sadie. By some coup of whim I had thought she spelled it ‘Sadye’ when I suggested that name for our new born daughter to her mother. My precious wife, Elfi, acceded so our daughter became Sadye. Quarantine. Sadye was a 5 year old in kindergarten in 1997. The children…
-
Is Good Evil?
The Mechanics of Acquiring Political Power Renowned books on how to attain or keep power are by Machievelli, (The Prince) by Sun Tzu (The Art of War) and by Saul Alinsky. Alinsky (1909-1972) was an effective organizer and radical and he wrote the book, Rules for Radicals (1971) N.Y. Over the years this has become…
-
Emotion and Reason
“Les passions ont appris aux hommes la raison” Emotion has taught mankind to reason Marquis de Vauvenargues 1715-1747 What is it that captures us about these words? Emotion has taught mankind to reason. It is this. They appear to contradict common opinion which holds that emotion is the antithesis of reason; behavior is either emotional…
-
Adagia
Adagia Set In Stone The path to the house demanded stepping stones. It could be a muddy walk without them. To make a stepping stone is merely a matter of pouring cement into a wood frame set on the ground. You remove the frame when the cement hardens. But a slab of wet cement calls…
-
Free-Will-Free
“We must believe in free-will. We have no choice.” ― Isaac Bashevis Singer The words, “free will,” as commonly understood, are without meaning. (Explanation here.) They are words that describe an illusion about reality. Like the word, sunset, describes the illusion that the sun is moving whereas, in fact, the sun is not moving. Rather…
-
Nature’s Imperatives
This drivable motion graphic embodies an idea. It illustrates the content of the earlier post called Free Will. The idea is that we live in a deterministic world. And free will, properly understood, is not in contradiction to this notion. Free will is behavior not evidently coerced. But all behavior is coerced. By coerced is…
-
Free Will
Sequel to previous post: God Determines Almost 400 years ago, the venerable philosopher, Baruch de Spinoza (1634-1677), in his ‘Improvement of Understanding,’ wrote of free will: these are words to which no idea is attached. That the phrase, free will, has no meaning has been demonstrated by philosophers for several hundred years: Locke, Hume, Hegel,…
-
Texture
“What do you seek in life?,” was the question. “Texture,” said Clarissa, without hesitation, in her deep throated silken British voice as she sunned herself, settled on the lawn chair by the pool. She had studied philosophy at Cambridge. Her title of nobility was authentic. Lady Clarissa. She was 32 years old. Beautiful and intelligent…
-
The Equation
An equation is a statement that says ‘this equals that’. It’s hard to imagine, from that raw and basic idea, that something called an equation could be of any use. Whether ‘this equals that’ or not seems a matter of little consequence! But, in fact, we know that to state what things are equal can…
-
Dog Language
On my daily walk along Joy Road I pass many scenes. One of them is shown in the image. Another, further along the road, is policed by a black and white dog. My neighbor tells me he is a Border Collie. As I walk by he barks at me without stop as if to say,…
-
Understanding hindered.
The image shows one of the stepping stones leading to my house. In mixing the cement I asked myself, “What words deserve being set in stone?” My choices are set in stepping stones. They are observations about the mechanics of being; notes on how the world is. No complaints, no visions of how the world…
-
Measurement Problem
A commonplace computational practice in quantum mechanics generates the most profound conceptual challenge to the theory. The challenge is called the measurement problem. Here are some quotes summarizing the problem. “The quantum measurement parodox.. stated succinctly… In quantum mechanics all possibilities… are left open whereas in … experience a definite outcome always (occurs).” A. J.…