natural theology

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vol VII: Notes

2015

Notes

[Sunday 21 June 2015 - Saturday 27 June 2015]

[Notebook: DB 78: Catholicism 2.0]

[page 183]

Sunday 21 June 2015

Surgery: we cut, screw, sew and staple to maintain juxtaposition between various points in the body, but we rely on cellular processes to heal the wounds and make them strong without artificial aids. The same is true of atoms and people, we manipulate them spatially and rely on natural communication to establish bonds (open channels) depending on the appropriateness of the juxtaposition.

Inappropriate subsetting juxtaposition. Charles Krauthammer, 'Sykes-Picot map is defunct'. Charles Krauthammer

Monday 22 June 2015

One needs faith to make the investment necessary to get proof.

What we are looking for is a plan of salvation. We already know the answer, it is the religious answer, ie cooperate and succeed. The political evolutions of humanity [has seen the formation of larger and larger cooperative groups].

The political definition of a false God is one that favours one group of humans over another.

The key to social harmony is the removal of perverse incentives which in the human world means any incentive to act contrary to human symmetry as expressed (for instance) in the declaration of human rights. United Nations: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

[page 184]

Politicization : radicalization. I spend a lot of time reading the political news now and fitting it to the model. The principal problem is the perverse incentive to compete between parties that need to cooperate for the common good. How to deal with it. Prisoner's Dilemma. Prisoner's dilemma - Wikipedia, Axelrod: The Evolution of Cooperation

The dilemma arises from secrecy.

The essence of cooperation is a common god / goal. The common goal is defined for us by the nature of the world in which we find ourselves, not the dreams of men who think they are born to rule.

The foolishness of fundamentalism is starkly exposed in Mr Abbott's money fundamentalism: money is the fundamental value.

Tuesday 23 June 2015

One can write a theory in terms of resolving an apparent contradiction. So special relativity dealt with the invariance of Maxwell's equations and consequent local invariance of the velocity of light even in moving reference frames. A fundamental metaphysical contradiction is that between idealism, which imagines the world how we would like it to be, and pragmatism, or engineering which deals with the world as it is as revealed by measurement, ie communication with the world vs narcissistic self indulgence. Most of the troublemakers in the world are egotistical idealists who have fixed ideas about how things should be and are prepared to kill [or at least take away the livelihood] of anyone who disagrees

[page 185]

with their plans.

The origin of science was in the advent of pragmatism, when Galileo, an engineer, took on the Pope, an idealist.

Idealists have no hope because there is no way they can collect evidence for their ideas before

The Pope says we must listen to science. Galileo is finally vindicated.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Abbott probably stands by a false dichotomy between religion and politics. Even though the Universe is layered, all the layers beneath and above a particular layer of interest must also be taken into account. So politics is to be found in churches, as religion is to be found in parliaments.

The [Catholic] Church says there is no science of God because God is invisible. We just have to take what the Church says by faith alone, and the Church promises an eternal reward for such faith (but conditions apply).

[page 186]

Thursday 25 June 2015

Mathematics is the set of provable propositions. Provable means Turing computable. Quantum information theory tells us that the Universe is as powerful as a transfinite network of universal turing machines, and so we can magine that the Universe can realize the whole of mathematics.

Here is the root of salvation.

Friday 26 June 2015

Falling in lust —> falling in love.

Saturday 27 June 2015

What I am trying to devise is a foolproof plan to bring peace on Earth by forging an Einsteinlike link between love, cooperation and peace. Something like Shannon's theorems and their impact on communication. So what is it? Tell you in the morning.

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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!)

Axelrod, Robert, The Evolution of Cooperation, Basic Books, Reised Edition 2006 'The Evolution of Cooperation provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely praised and much-discussed, this classic book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoists-whether superpowers, businesses, or individuals-when there is no central authority to police their actions. The problem of cooperation is central to many different fields. Robert Axelrod recounts the famous computer tournaments in which the “cooperative” program Tit for Tat recorded its stunning victories, explains its application to a broad spectrum of subjects, and suggests how readers can both apply cooperative principles to their own lives and teach cooperative principles to others.' 
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Feynman, Richard P, and Robert B Leighton, Matthew Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (volume 3) : Quantum Mechanics, Addison Wesley 1970 Foreword: 'This set of lectures tries to elucidate from the beginning those features of quantum mechanics which are the most basic and the most general. . . . In each instance the ideas are introduced together with a detailed discussion of some specific examples - to try to make the physical ideas as real as possible.' Matthew Sands 
Amazon
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Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, Wilder Publications 2008 Amazon product description:' The Communist Manifesto was first published on February 21, and it is one of the world's most influential political tracts. Commissioned by the Communist League and written by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it laid out the League's purposes and program. The Manifesto suggested a course of action for a proletarian (working class) revolution to overthrow the ruling class of bourgeoisie and to eventually bring about a classless society.' 
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West, Morris L, and Kenneth Woodward (Introduction), The Devil's Advocate, Loyola Press 2005 Amazon customer review: 'It is a fascinating tale of suffering, human failings, redemption and above all faith, set in Southern Italy during World War II. Monsignor Blaise Meredith, who is dying of cancer, has been assigned the most important task of his life to be a Devil's Advocate for beautification of Giacomo Nerone. He is sent to a small town in Calabria to investigate the life and death of this martyr. The story unfolds as the Monsignor interviews Nerone's widow, Nina Sanduzzi, Nerone's friend, Dr. Aldo Myers, a Jew among the Catholics, a wealthy Contessa, who was in love with Nerone and Contessa's guest, Nicholas Black, an English painter. Nerone's character comes alive through Dr. Myers and his widow's narration of events leading to his death by firing squad by the partisan mob. Nerone's life in the small town is revealed gradually like clouds parting to reveal the sun. He is a British officer who disserts his post after a horrifying accident where he kills an infant and the parents. With a bullet in his shoulder he runs away to find love, peace and God. He eventually finds all three.' Vijay B Kumar 
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Papers
Raizen, Mark G, "Comprehensive Control of Atomic Motion", Science, 324, 5933, 12 June 2009, page 1403-1406. Review: 'Recent work provides a general two-step solution to trapping and cooling atoms, The first step is magnetic stopping of paramagnetic atoms with a sequence of pulsed fields. The second step is single-photon cooling, which is based on a one-way barrier. This cooling method is related intimately to the historic problem of "Maxwell's Demon" and subsequent work by L Szilard. Here I discuss the connections between single-photon cooling and information entropy. I also outline future application of these methods to fundamental tests with hydrogen isotopes. . back
Links
Charles Krauthammer, The way forward in Iraq and Syria, 'It’s time for a new strategy in Iraq and Syria. It begins by admitting that the old borders are gone, that a unified Syria or Iraq will never be reconstituted, that the Sykes-Picot map is defunct.' back
E J Dionne Jr, Charleston & the Politics of Evasion, 'Right off the top, anyone who wants to discuss the implications of this shooting is scolded for “politicizing a tragedy.” We are told we must “heal” and “mourn” first, that it’s “disrespectful” to the victims to ask what this slaughter means and what we must do as a nation. Thus is real debate delayed until the moment of urgency passes. In a media culture with a short attention span, there is no surer way to contain and marginalize the hard questions.' back
John Quiggin, Measure of happiness tell us less than economics of unhappiness, 'The track record of the welfare state has been one of remarkable success. This can be seen by comparing outcomes in modern welfare states with those in the United States, where the New Deal produced only a stunted, and stinting, version of the welfare state. Despite its technological leadership and its founders' endorsement of the pursuit of happiness, the US leads the developed world on numerous measures of unhappiness, including premature mortality, food insecurity, incarceration and inadequate access to health care.' back
Kathleen Parker, Take down the Confederate flag, South Carolina, 'Now, once and for all, it is clear that the Confederate battle flag that flies on the South Carolina State House grounds is the racist symbol many have long thought it to be. After the massacre of nine people at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, the pro-Southern-heritage argument for the flag can no longer hold.' back
Lucy Mangan, Klittra: Sweden's new word for female masturbation, 'The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) held a competition late last year that asked people to nominate words that women could use instead of having to – ahem – press into service the traditionally male-associated words and phrases that abound. After sifting through more than 1,200 replies – presumably with protective gloves in place – the RFSU chose klittra, a portmanteau of “clitoris” and “glitter”, because “it highlights the importance of the clitoris for pleasure”.' back
Lynette Molyneux, The case for Australian coal in Indial is weakening, 'Not long ago, rural communities in India and Africa had little hope of access to computing or telecommunications. And yet without heavy investment in mainframe computers, telephone exchanges, poles and wires, advances in technology have enabled the roll-out of affordable, low-function mobile phones and laptop computers. There is no reason why energy access for the rural poor shouldn’t take the same course. Alternative energy technologies like solar, coupled with battery storage, are rapidly decreasing in cost.' back
Monica Tan, 'We've got to tell them all our secrets' - how the Barjanji won a landmark battle for indigenous Australians, 'The law was specific too. Only those practices that could be traced, uninterrupted, back to pre-colonial times could be recognised. For the Barkandji people this included the right to camp, erect shelters, move about, hold meetings, hunt, fish, conduct burials and gather and use the natural resources of the land, according to traditional law and customs.' back
Prisoner's dilemma - Wikipedia, Prisoner's dilemma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The prisoner's dilemma is a canonical example of a game analyzed in game theory that shows why two purely "rational" individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests[citation needed] to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W. Tucker formalized the game with prison sentence rewards and gave it the name "prisoner's dilemma" (Poundstone, 1992)' back
Pythagorean theorem - Wikipedia, Pythagorean theorem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle). This is usually summarized as: The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.' back
Richard Paul Hamilton, Hope, anger and courage - or why are conservtives so miserable?, 'Behind Andrew Bolt’s twisted grimace or Miranda Devine’s patrician sneer, a sensitive and compassionate observer can recognise the frightened child hiding under the blankets. For the most immediately obvious fact about such figures, their wealth and fame notwithstanding, is how very unhappy they seem. Understandably so, for a life with neither hope nor compassion is not properly human. Their message amounts to saying that nothing can be done, that nothing should be done and if something is done then the consequences will be dire.' back
Sub specie aeternitatis - Wikipedia, Sub specie aeternitatis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Sub specie aeternitatis, from the Philosophical Dictionary,[1] Latin for "under the aspect of eternity"; hence, from Spinoza onwards, an honorific expression describing what is universally and eternally true, without any reference to or dependence upon the merely temporal portions of reality. In clearer English, sub specie aeternitatis roughly means "from the perspective of the eternal". Even more loosely, the phrase is used to describe an alternate or objective point of view.' back
Sykes-Picot Agreement - Wikipedia, Sykes-Picot Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Sykes–Picot Agreement, officially known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of Russia, defining their proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East should the Triple Entente succeed in defeating the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The negotiation of the treaty occurred between November 1915 and March 1916. The agreement was concluded on 16 May 1916.' back
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I, 2, 3: Whether God exists?, 'I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. . . . ' back
Tim Vines, The 'allegiance to Australia' bill: arguably unconstitutional, definitely questionable, ' . . . this law fails to answer a central question in this debate: why should some citizens be entitled to escape justice? By revoking citizenship we renounce our own ability to bring a person to justice for breaking our laws. As citizens we agree to be bound by Australian laws, and to submit to the jurisdiction of Australian courts if we break them. If an Australian commits non-terror related murder (say domestic violence) we punish them in our courts because that is the compact between citizen and state: protection provided by the latter in return for allegiance. The “allegiance to Australia” bill ultimately weakens, rather than strengthens, that bond.' back
United Nations, Official UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Home Page, 'The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) (French) (Spanish) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.'' back

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