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vol VII: Notes

2015

Notes

[Sunday 17 May 2015 - Saturday 23 May 2015]

[Notebook: DB 78: Catholicism 2.0]

Sunday 17 May 2015
Monday 18 May 2015

[page 164]

Tuesday 19 May 2015

We can see a matrix as analogous to a network or form. A network is in effect a dynamic realization of a form, the structure of the dynamics being determined by the structure of the form.

Monk Russell page 114: Hegel jelly vs Russell shot, reconciles by 'continuous' dynamics with fixed points. Monk

117-118 Relations are real (Russell)

page 118: 'A consequence of this was that there was now no reason for Russell to distinguish "Appearance" from "Reality" in the way customary for Hegelian metaphysics, no need to consider the everyday world of the senses an illusion, "It was", he later claimed, "an intense excitement, after having supposed the sensible world unreal, to be able to believe again that there really were such things as tables and chairs" . '

Wednesday 20 May 2015

[page 165]

Motion is necessary to avoid error (pain), but where does the error come from (motion?)

Thursday 21 May 2015

Ballarat Law Courts, 100 Grenville Street.

Friday 22 May 2015
Saturday 23 May 2015

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Further reading

Books

Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)

a Kempis, Thomas, and Aloysius Croft (Translator), Harold Bolton (Translator), The Imitation of Christ, Dover Publications 2003 Amazon Product Description 'This classic, second only to the Bible for religious instruction and inspiration, has brought understanding and comfort to millions for centuries. Written in a candid and conversational style, the topics include liberation from worldly inclinations, preparation and consolations of prayer, and the place of eucharistic communion in a devout life.'back
Christie, Agatha, Elephants Can Remember, Bantam Books 1984 'A Classic example of the ingenious three-card trick she has been playing on us for so many years.' Sunday Express 
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Crombie, A C, The History of Science from Augustine to Galileo, Dover Publications 1996 Amazon customer review: 'This is a very widely encompassing account of the evolution and development of science through history. The considerations of the sociopolitical and philosophical climates pertaining to the times gives the reader a basis of understanding why science progressed as it did. The account is very well organised and lucid, although it fails in some aspects to consider the contributions of the Far Eastern civilizations. It makes a very valuable contribution to help appreciate acutely the value of those who contributed to science's development.' A Customer  
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de Loris, Guillaume, and Jean de Meun, Frances Horgan (translater), The Romance of the Rose, Oxford University Press 2009 Amazon Product Description 'This is a new translation of The Romance of the Rose, an allegorical account of the progress of a courtly love affair which became the most popular and influential of all medieval romances. In the hands of Jean de Meun, who continued de Lorris's work, it assumed vast proportions and embraced almost every aspect of medieval life from predestination and optics, to the Franciscan controversy and the right way to deal with premature hair-loss.' 
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Dirac, P A M, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics (4th ed), Oxford UP/Clarendon 1983 Jacket: '[this] is the standard work in the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, indispensible both to the advanced student and the mature research worker, who will always find it a fresh source of knowledge and stimulation.' (Nature)  
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Hofstadter, Douglas R, Goedel Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Basic/Harvester 1979 An illustrated essay on the philosophy of mathematics. Formal systems, recursion, self reference and meaning explored with a dazzling array of examples in music, dialogue, text and graphics. 
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Isaiah, and (Alexander Jones, Editor), in The Jerusalem Bible, Darton Longman and Todd 1966 Introduction to the Prophets: 'The prophet Isaiah was born about 756 B.C. In the year of king Uzziah's death, 740, he received his prophetic vision while in the Temple of Jerusalem. His mission was to proclaim the fall of Israel and Judah, the punishment of the nation's infidelity. ... The prominent part played by Isaiah in his country's affairs made him a national figure, but he was also a poet of genius. Brilliance of style and freshness of imagery make his work pre-eminent in the literature of the Bible; he wrote a conciae, majestic and harmonious prose unsurpassed by any of the biblical writers who were to follow him.' 
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Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprengler, Montague Summers (translator), The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Spengler, Dover Publications 1971 Amazon Product Description 'Full text of most important witchhunter's "bible," used by both Catholics and Protestants. First published in 1486, the book includes everything known at the time about cults, illicit sex, dealings with the devil, and more.' 
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Lovelock, James, Ages of Gaia: A Biography of our Living Earth, W W Norton 1995 'This book describes a set of observations about the life of our planet which may, one day, be recognised as one of the major discontinuities in human thought. If Lovelock turns out to be right in his view of things, as I believe he is, we will be viewing the Earth as a coherent system of life, self regulating and self-changing, a sort of immense living organism.' Lewis Thomas 
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Monk, Ray, Bertrand Russell: The Spirit of Solitude, Vintage 1997 '"the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair." ... The aim of this book is to chart this course ... To understand the course his life took is to understand the power of each of these great passions and the tensions that existed between them, forcing him, on occasion, to abandon, in turn, philosophy for love, politics for philosophy, love for politics, and so on.' pp xviii-xix. 
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Russell, Bertrand, Mortals and Others: American Essays 1931-1935 Volume 1, George Allen and Unwin 1975 Jacket: 'No one this century has written essays more trenchantly than Bertrand Russell—to instruct, to inform and to entertain. But the essays published in books during his lifetime represent a fraction if those he actually composed. . . . Mortals and Others serves as a splendid fresh introduction to the compassionate eclecticism of Bertrand Russell's mind.' 
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Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes, Modern Library 1994 'First published 1776. The eighteenth century classic that laid the foundation for modern political economy. Here Smith descibes the work of the 'invisible hand' which guides a group of people freely acting in accord with their human nature to form an orderly and coherent social structure. The bible of laissez faire (let it be) capitalism.' 
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Papers
Lovelock, James, "Gaia as seen through the atmosphere", Atmospheric Environment, 6, , 1972, page 579-580. 'The purpose of this letter is to suggest that life at an early stage of its evolution acquired the capacity to control the global environment to suit its needs, and that this capacity has persisted and is still in use. In this view the sum total of species is more than just a Catalogue, "The Biosphere", and like other associations in biology is an entity with properties greater than the simple sum of its parts. Such a large creature, even if only hypothetical, with the powerful capacity to homeostat the planetary environment needs a name: I am indebted to Mr William Golding for suggesting the use of the Greek personification of mother Earth, "Gaia".' . back
Zurek, Wojciech Hubert, "Quantum origin of quantum jumps: Breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer in the transition from quantum to classical", Physical Review A, 76, 5, 16 November 2007, page . Abstract: 'Measurements transfer information about a system to the apparatus and then, further on, to observers and (often inadvertently) to the environment. I show that even imperfect copying essential in such situations restricts possible unperturbed outcomes to an orthogonal subset of all possible states of the system, thus breaking the unitary symmetry of its Hilbert space implied by the quantum superposition principle. Preferred outcome states emerge as a result. They provide a framework for 'wave-packet collapse', designating terminal points of quantum jumps and defining the measured observable by specifying its eigenstates. In quantum Darwinism, they are the progenitors of multiple copies spread throughout the environment &mdash the fittest quantum states that not only survive decoherence, but subvert the environment into carrying information about them &mdash into becoming a witness.'. back
Links
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Employment in Culture Australia, 'This publication presents summary data on selected cultural occupations and industries from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Occupations and industries are considered as 'cultural' based on inclusion in the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (ACLC) (cat. no. 4902.0).' back
Confraternity of Saints Peter & Paul, Roman Breviary, 'The Divine Office of the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church Restored by the Sacred Council of Trent Published by order of the Supreme Pontiff Saint Pius V, and carefully revised by other Popes, Reformed by order of Pope Saint Pius X' back
Formalism (mathematics) - Wikipedia, Formalism (mathematics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In foundations of mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of logic, formalism is a theory that holds that statements of mathematics and logic can be thought of as statements about the consequences of certain string manipulation rules. For example, Euclidean geometry can be seen as a game whose play consists in moving around certain strings of symbols called axioms according to a set of rules called "rules of inference" to generate new strings. In playing this game one can "prove" that the Pythagorean theorem is valid because the string representing the Pythagorean theorem can be constructed using only the stated rules.' back
Formula One car - Wikipedia, Formula One car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'A modern Formula One car is a single-seat, open cockpit, open wheel race car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver. The regulations governing the cars are unique to the championship. The Formula One regulations specify that cars must be constructed by the racing teams themselves.' back
Ministers of Religion, Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 'UNIT GROUP 2515 MINISTERS OF RELIGION MINISTERS OF RELIGION perform spiritual functions associated with beliefs and practices of religious faiths and provide motivation, guidance and training in religious life for the people of a congregation, parish or community. Skill Level: The entry requirement for this unit group is a bachelor degree or higher qualification. There is a requirement for high levels of personal commitment and interest as well as, or in place of, formal qualifications or experience. Tasks Include: preparing and conducting services of public worship or acknowledgments of faith preparing and delivering sermons, homilies and special talks and planning music for services participating in the social and welfare activities of communities, encouraging people to be aware of their responsibilities, and organising participation in community projects conducting classes of religious instruction, and supervising prayer and discussion groups, retreats and seminars conducting pre-marital and family counselling and referring people to professional service agencies where necessary performing marriages, funerals and special memorial services according to ecclesiastical and civil law and keeping records as required by the church or local law' back
Patti Smith, Gloria, 'Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine meltin' in a pot of thieves wild card up my sleeve thick heart of stone my sins my own they belong to me, me ' back
Problem of universals - Wikipedia, Problem of universals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The problem of universals is an ancient problem in metaphysics about whether universals exist. Universals are general or abstract qualities, characteristics, properties, kinds or relations, such as being male/female, solid/liquid/gas or a certain colour[1], that can be predicated of individuals or particulars or that individuals or particulars can be regarded as sharing or participating in. . . . The problem of universals is about their status; as to whether universals exist independently of the individuals of whom they can be predicated or if they are merely convenient ways of talking about and finding similarity among particular things that are radically different. This has led philosophers to raise questions like, if they exist, do they exist in the individuals or only in people's minds or in some separate metaphysical domain?' back
Summis desiderantes affectibus - Wikipedia, Summis desiderantes affectibus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Summis desiderantes affectibus (English: Desiring with supreme ardor) [was a papal bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII on December 5, 1484. The bull was written in response to the request of Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer for explicit authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany, after he was refused assistance by the local ecclesiastical authorities.' back
Transubstantiation - Wikipedia, Transubstantiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation (in Latin, transsubstantiatio, in Greek metousiosis) means the change of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.' back
Universal Turing Machine - Wikipedia, Universal Turing Machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Alan Turing's universal computing machine (alternately universal machine, machine U, U) is the name given by him (1936-1937) to his model of an all-purpose "a-machine" (computing machine) that could process any arbitrary (but well-formed) sequence of instructions called quintuples. This model is considered by some (for example, Davis (2000)) to be the origin of the stored program computer -- used by John von Neumann (1946) for his "Electronic Computing Instrument" that now bears von Neumann's name: the von Neumann architecture. This machine as a model of computation is now called the Universal Turing machine.' back

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