vol VII: Notes

2017

Notes

Sunday 26 February 2017 - Saturday 4 March 2017

[Notebook: DB 80: Cosmic plumbing]

[page 315]

Sunday 26 February 2017

On immigrants: since economic networks are scale invariant immigrants, once they come up to speed, make no net difference. Because they are often highly motivated, one might expect their net contribution to be above average. Janet Murguia: The new immigration order: A disaster in the making

McIntyre Breitbart: the effects of environment on economics - Boycott Niamh McIntyre: Another 100 companies pull advertising from Breitbart

H. R. McMaster Dereliction of Duty McMaster

Monday 27 February 2017

Have been handed a task / role by the incomputable unpredictable event of my birth into a particular environment, ie a set of connections into the human networks.

Omnino simplex = pure symmetry = pure act = pure possibility.

The constraint of consistency are the properties of God, and we access them through the via negativa ie symmetry defined in the axiomatic development of probability. As pathology is the driver of medicine, so error is the

[page 316]

driver of theology, which might explain why the Roman Catholic Church, apparently wrong at the root, spends so much time rabbitting on about how it alone knows the truth about our situation.

Theology is at the highest level of cybernetic control in a human social system.

Talar page 404: 'A sense of betrayal pervades Pascendi sufacing at intervals in the portrayal of the character and motivation of Modernists. Their views are called "a delirium,", "insanity," and "audacious sacrilege." Modernism is a "monstrosity," and its proponents characterized as guilty of "pride and obstinacy," as having cast off all "sense of modesty," as being the "most pernicious of all adversaries of the Church" because they "lay the axe to the root, not the branches" while working from within.' [Pacsendi, 2, 3] I am proud to be working in the Modernist tradition. Pius X: On the doctrines of the modernists

It is necessary for us as individuals to control systems far larger than ourselves such as marriages, tribes, nations and united nations. The principle of requisite variety constrains our control. We therefore follow two strategies, trying to reduce the variety of the system controlled and to increase the variety of the controlling system. Ashby: Cybernetics

What did I think of on the way home. Now it is lost somewhere in the labyrinth of my mind.

Intellectual impotence? An example of randomness. We can exponentially speed up search by sorting the search space into alphabetical

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order etc. Exponential speedup (as in position significant notation) can cut ℵ_n down to ℵ_n-1.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

Talar page 506: 'Modernity's —and Modernism's—commitments to the historicity and subjectivity of thought come up against the speculative outlook, deductive method and objective notion of religious truth embraced by neo-Thomism. This system has been described as a "supernatural rationalism"—supernatural in that is derived its data from supernatural revelation, not from autonomous reason; rationalist in its marginalization of experience as a valid theological category.'

Tabar page 511: 'It can fairly be said that, in imposing renewed commitment to Scholasticism as a solution, Pascendi significantly misdiagnosed the problem.'

page 513: [The Modernists] personalize the dilemma of the scholar (indeed of the Catholic) who finds the conclusions that emerge from experience at variance with the dicta of ecclesiastical authorities. When fidelity to one's own integrity and fidelity to one's religious tradition conflict. what is to be done?' If necessary ditch the religion to preserve integrity. On a wider scale, the integrity of the planet demands birth control but the Church opposes it and it is clearly wrong on many other counts.

Wednesday 1 March 2017

[page 318]

Thursday 2 March 2017

What is really wrong with the right wing? Greed and violence that is monarchy and exploitation of people through warlordism.

Real salvation vs bogus salvation. Where did we go wrong, money and action, cash flow and energy.

Mary Dejevski Russian Revolution. Mary Dejevsky: Can Putin's divided Russia be reconciled in remembrance as it marks the centenary of 1917 revolutions?

God is the source of our peace = creation = complexification, the opposite of those narrow minded rent-seeking nationalists which seek violence and simplification. Princeps pacis is a contradiction in terms insofar as princeps implies warlord. Jesus was on the right track when he replaced the military messiah of Judaism with the man of (relative) peace that we remember. Isaiah 9:6: Unto us a child is born . . .

Lonergan: Method in Theology page 340 'From the very first chapter we have moved out of a faculty psychology with its options between intellectualism and voluntarism, and into an intentionality analysis that distinguishes four levels of conscious and intentional operations, where each successive level sublates previous levels by going beyond them, by setting up a higher principle, by introducing new operations, and by preserving the integrity of previous levels, which extending enormously their range and significance. Lonergan: Method in Theology

Friday 3 March 2017

This essay is the conclusion of a fifty year hike through the almost impenetrable forest of bullshit which have been concocted by the ruling classes to control their sheep a, to lead the blindly to being fleeced and often to die in battle for ideas that are essentially

[page 319]

worthless.

Falling in love is a life changing experience, the creation of a new trinity from two monotheisms.

The fundamental error in ancient thought is the rejection of time in favour of eternity, thus trapping us in the intellectual equivalent of [one mapping of the] natural numbers [onto themselves]. Only one function of the numbers onto themselves is allowed in a treelike deterministic world like the God imagined by Thomas, infinite but eternal, another self contradictory mystery in the rotten foundations of the Church. What we need to understand is the symmetry with respect to complexity which makes all permutations in effect equal[ly probable]. Symmetry is broken when a permutation becomes able to reproduce itself, giving it an advantage over [those of ] its fellows whose existence s a matter of pure chance.

Time and energy are arithmetic inverses, additive? multiplicative, E = 1/f, f = 1/E

I buy too quickly, sell to late, and call it buy and hold.

Whatever

Tradie heaven is a complete set of tools which may nevertheless be finite, tools for every possible operation in the task.

Why (how) are the frequencies of quantum events fixed? By overlap, ie by individual events being structured into larger sequences of

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events and we are sampling the sequences [at different points in their execution and so discovering the relative frequencies of various operations in the sequence.]

Fitting: keep writing until it comes right. Is it possible for me to write an article that Theological Studies would publish? So has to be written coolly, mathematically, leaving the reader to deal with the political implications.

Symmetry, human rights and stability. Something is said to be stable if it returns to a fixed point if it is perturbed. This is expressed by Newton's third law, things resist perturbing forces with equal and opposite forces of resistance, as President Trump is demonstrating so clearly.

Saturday 4 March 2017

Copyright:

You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.

Further reading

Books

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

Collingham, Liz, Curry: A Take of Cooks and Conquerors, Oxford University Press 2006 Editorial review from Booklist: 'From Booklist Like a fragrant biryani studded with bits of sweet and savory relishes, every page of this history of Indian cuisine offers some revelation about the origins of Indian food and its spread to the West. Historian Collingham traces how successive invasions of the subcontinent contributed new ingredients and novel cooking techniques that transformed indigenous cooking into what we now recognize as classic Indian cuisine. Early invasions from the northwest brought rice, and Persian pilau became Hindustani biryani. Portuguese sailors imported pork and Brazilian chili peppers to create vindaloo. Collingham describes how the regal courts of the various Indian states elaborated on all these foodstuffs to produce what may have been the most sumptuous banquets the world has ever known. Most surprising of all, Collingham's ruminations address the role of tea in India. Although it is a commonplace that today's India is the world's leading producer and consumer of tea, Indians drank very little tea until the British introduced it scarcely a century ago. Recipes, both contemporary and antique, supplement the text.' Mark Knoblauch   Amazon   back

Lonergan, Bernard J F, Method in Theology, University of Toronto Press for Lonergan Research Institute 1996 Introduction: 'A theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the signifcance and role of religion in that matrix. ... When the classicist notion of culture prevails, theology is conceived as a permanent achievement, and then one discourses on its nature. When culture is conceived empirically, theology is known to be an ongoing process, and then one writes on its method. Method ... is a framework for collaborative creativity.'  Amazon   back

McMaster, Herbert Raymond, Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam, Harper Perennial 1998 'Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning new analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on recently released transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. It also pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.'  Amazon   back

Packer, George, The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 0374299633 2005 Amazon review: 'As the death toll mounts in the Iraq War, Americans are agonizing over how the mess started and what to do now. George Packer, a staff writer at The New Yorker, joins the debate with his thoughtful book The Assassins' Gate. Packer describes himself as an ambivalent pro-war liberal "who supported a war [in Iraq] by about the same margin that the voting public had supported Al Gore." He never believed the argument that Iraq should be invaded because of weapons of mass destruction. Instead, he saw the war as a way to get rid of Saddam Hussein and build democracy in Iraq, in the vein of the U.S. interventions in Haiti and Bosnia. How did such lofty aims get so derailed? How did the U.S. get stuck in a quagmire in the Middle East? Packer traces the roots of the war back to a historic shift in U.S. policy that President Bush made immediately after 9/11. No longer would the U.S. be hamstrung by multilateralism or working through the UN. It would act unilaterally around the world--forging temporary coalitions with other nations where suitable--and defend its status as the sole superpower. But when it came to Iraq, even Bush administration officials were deeply divided. Packer takes readers inside the vicious bureaucratic warfare between the Pentagon and State Department that turned U.S. policy on Iraq into an incoherent mess. We see the consequences in the second half of The Assassins' Gate, which takes the reader to Iraq after the bombs have stopped dropping. Packer writes vividly about how the country deteriorated into chaos, with U.S. authorities in Iraq operating in crisis mode. The book fails to capture much of the debate about the war among Iraqis themselves--instead relying mostly on the views of one prominent Iraqi exile--but it is an insightful contribution to the debate about the decisions--and blunders--behind the war.' --Alex Roslin  Amazon   back

Tawney, Richard Henry, The Radical Tradition, Penguin 1966 back

Links

Avani Dougas, Tiwi Islands Sistagirls prepare to wow Sydney Mardi Gras, want to show Indigenous LGBTIQ culture, 'It took decades of fighting for recognition and several suicides before the Northern Territory's Tiwi Islands community finally accepted a group of Aboriginal transgender women. The Sistagirls want to spread the message of their journey of resilience and hope when they travel to Sydney's Mardi Gras for the first time on Saturday.' back

David Barnett, Fifty years after the madness sparked by Mao's Cultural Revolution, a book uncovers horror of massmurder spree, 'But that day in Daojiang he had stumbled on another facet of the Cultural Revolution that could not in any sense be dismissed as an oddity… it was the systematic murder, over 66 days in 1967, of an astonishing 4,000 people, a kind of insanity that spread out to the surrounding districts and eventually resulted in the deaths of 9,000 men, women and children, who were considered enemies of the Maoist government. And it might have all been suppressed or forgotten, had Hecheng not become a journalist and taken an assignment in 1986, which gave him access to a large quantity of classified documents relating to the Daoxian massacre and which prodded the memories of the feelings of horror he had felt on that innocuous day trip 20 years earlier.' back

Esther 3:7, The Book of Esther, 'New International Version In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.' back

George Monbiot, Our greatest peril? Screening ourelves off from reality, 'It is no longer rare to meet adults who have never swum except in a swimming pool, never slept except in a building, never run a mile or climbed a mountain, never been stung by a bee or a wasp, never broken a bone or needed stitches. Without a visceral knowledge of what it is to be hurt and healed, exhausted and resolute, freezing and ecstatic, we lose our reference points. We are separated from the world by a layer of glass. Climate change, distant wars, the erosion of democracy, resurgent fascism – in our temperature-controlled enclosures, all can be reduced to abstractions.' back

Haris Aziz, Kenneth Arrow's legacy and why elections can be flawed, 'Although philosophers have been thinking about collective decision making for ages, Arrow helped approach these issues in a mathematical manner. More generally, Arrow’s insights have kick started new fields that have impacted the theory and practice of economics and political science.' back

Ian Johnston, John Major's Brexit speech warns about over-optimism, nationalism and Donald Trump, 'And the British rejection of the EU had “energised” anti-immigrant nationalists across Europe, Sir John warned. “I caution everyone to be wary of this kind of populism. It seems to be a mixture of bigotry, prejudice and intolerance. It scapegoats minorities. It is a poison in any political system – destroying civility and decency and understanding. Here in the UK we should give it short shrift, for it is not the people we are – nor the country we are.” ' back

Isaiah 9:6, 'Unto us a child is born . . . ', 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' back

Janet Murguia, The new immigration order: A disaster in the making, 'And the cost of the undocumented? Their contributions to the economy far outweigh their burden. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants pay $11.6 billion in taxes each year. According to the Social Security Administration, undocumented workers contribute $15 billion annually to the fund, but only withdraw an estimated $1 billion.' back

Kristina Keneally, Catholicism has done more harm to Australia than Islam. Where's the outrage?, 'Why aren’t they demanding the government urgently implement a national redress scheme to make reparations to the Catholic church’s victims? Or is taking on Australian Catholics hitting just a little too close to home? It’s easier, isn’t it, to pick on the young woman with the scarf on her head, or get upset about two little girls in a hijab, all in the name of making Australia safe. What brave defenders of freedom, of Australia, you are.' back

Margaret Sullivan, Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, asks: Who will be the next Snowden?, 'Despite the threats that such leakers will endanger national security and have “blood on their hands,” he said, no such harm has been proved. Now it’s time to bring more to light. “I would like others, like Snowden, to think about their oath to the Constitution and whether they are obeying it” by keeping silent, he said. back

Mary Dejevsky, Can Putin's divided Russia be reconciled in remembrance as it marks the centenary of 1917 revolutions?, 'Just typing the date as I sit down to write this article – 2017 – feels like an act darkened with shadows and loud with echoes. The centenary of the February Revolution (whose start is dated to 23 February in the old Julian calendar, and 8 March in the Gregorian calendar commonly used today) opens Russia’s year of revolution, with landmark anniversaries, now falling one after the other until the end of the year and beyond.' back

Niamh McIntyre, Another 100 companies pull advertising from Breitbart, 'In an effort to combat dwindling ad revenue, Breitbart appears to be attempting to re-brand as a more moderate platform. Recent hires from mainstream publications like The Wall Street Journal and The Hill website, indicate editors will increasingly be focusing on straight news reporting and moving away from its notoriously fiery comment pieces. ' back

Patrick Cockburn, With the US distracted by Trump and the UK by Brexirt, the're about to see a decline in their global power, 'The election of Trump brings with it another negative but less tangible outcome that is already eating away at American primacy: the US will be not only divided but unable to focus on for the foreseeable future on anything other than the consequences of Trumpism. When US politicians, officials and media look at Russia, China, Ukraine, Iran, Israel or anywhere else in the world from Sweden to Australia, they will view them through a prism distorted by his preconceptions and fantasies.' back

Pius X: On the doctrines of the modernists, Pascendi dominici gregis, '2. That We make no delay in this matter is rendered necessary especially by the fact that the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; they lie hid, a thing to be deeply deplored and feared, in her very bosom and heart, and are the more mischievous, the less conspicuously they appear. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic laity, nay, and this is far more lamentable, to the ranks of the priesthood itself, who, feigning a love for the Church, lacking the firm protection of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, vaunt themselves as reformers of the Church; and, forming more boldly into line of attack, assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not sparing even the person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with sacrilegious daring, they reduce to a simple, mere man.' back

Stephen M Walt, Its Time for Europe's Militaries to Gtw Up, 'This recurring concern with European defense spending is understandable, but it mostly misses the point. Why? Because the fundamental problem isn’t inadequate latent capacity or even a lack of mobilized resources. The only “clear and present” military threat Europe faces today is a resurgent Russia (though this threat may not be nearly as great as alarmists maintain), and NATO’s European members possess the wherewithal to deal with the challenge on their own. Leaving the United States and Canada out of the equation, NATO’s European members have nearly four times Russia’s population, and their combined GDP is more than 12 times greater. More importantly, even at today’s supposedly “inadequate” spending levels, every year NATO’s European members (again: not counting the United States and Canada) spend at least five times more on defense than Russia does.' back

Thomas L. Friedman, Tony Blair's Lesson for President Trump, 'It’s too bad Democrats wouldn’t enlist a foreigner to deliver their rebuttal to President Trump’s address to Congress. They could have just replayed the speech given 11 days earlier by Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. It was a passionate appeal to his country to reject its version of Trumpism. Blair said the U.K. must reconsider Brexit, the narrowly won 2016 vote to withdraw from the European Union.' back

Tony Blair, Against Populism, the Center Must Hold, 'Today, a distinction that often matters more than traditional right and left is open vs. closed. The open-minded see globalization as an opportunity but one with challenges that should be mitigated; the closed-minded see the outside world as a threat. This distinction crosses traditional party lines and thus has no organizing base, no natural channel for representation in electoral politics.' back