natural theology

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vol VII: Notes

1999

Notes

[Notebook MA, DB 51] [Sunday 1 August 1999 - Saturday 7 August 1999]

[page 195]

DerMum: while not thinking I am JC (who was created as a symbol long after his death) I do think I am the bearer of good news.

. . .

As one whose faith is (and was) rooted in scientific method, I simply could not accept that my human nature was flawed by some action of my

[page 196]

ancestors. In evolutionary terms this is tantamount to inheritance of an acquired characteristic. I now believe that the universe is divine and that our experience of it is equivalent to the beatific vision, As a matter of fact the beatific vision so conceived is not all roses . . .

Metanoia = reboot. . . .

Monday 2 August 1999

[page 197]

Tuesday 3 August 1999

Copying text / genes: guided by environment.

Dogmatism: an attempt to stop textual evolution by freezing the text and the environment in which the text exists.

The Nag Hammadi Library 3rd ed, James M Robinson (ed), Harper Collins 1990 . Robinson

Roger Haight, Jesus, Symbol of God Orbis, Maryknoll, New York 1999 Haight

Word of God = genotype, text.

Haight page xii: Hellenization / modernization

'genuinely new understanding and behaviour'

'the basis is Christianity is soteriology.

[page 198]

'faith as imagination'

Evolution of fiction: hard base, imaginative construct.

Haight page 4: Faith oriented to action.

Modern theology is based on a meticulous study of texts to discern both what they meant to their writers and what they could possibly mean now.

Put Xianity into universal language of physics and biology.

My original thesis proposal was met with SCHOLARLY FOG intended to show the extreme difficulty of my task.

higher viewpoint: Goedel.

TEXT IS OUTSIDE SPACE AND TIME [or outside time alone?]

. . .

[page 199]

MY FEELING, what moves me to action. A faith is in some sense a view of the world that says do this and you will be saved.

The dynamics of life are the dynamics of debt. We are all borrowers in life and inevitably repay by distributing out body through the pool of life / biosphere.

This is the encounter with transcendence, something bigger 0 —> ℵ1 = aleph(0) looks at aleph(1).

So
SPIRIT = POTENTIAL
PNEUMATOLOGY CYBERNETICS

I have arrived at my position by rejecting what seems impossible and meaningless: human nature flawed by human action? eternal torment? unique children of Gd?

Haight page 9: 'Because theology is symbolic, its assertions are not direct statements of information about God.' [?]

[page 199]

Haight page 9: '. . . symbolic religious assertions uncover and mediate to consciouness areas that would otherwise remain closed.'

Wednesday 4 August 1999

The Roman Catholic Church treats the minds of children as though they were terra nullius. Terra nullius - Wikipedia

THE HUMAN ARCHIVE: LAND

The rape of our minds parallels the rape of the land.

The claim to represent god is merely a claim to authenticity, eg the Roman Catholic Church. This hypothesis has to be tested, sf Einstein: 'The Lord is subtle but he is not malicious'.

. . .

COSMOLOGY: From the quantum mechanical point of view the universe is a text processor.

The Universe is reflected in the atom and vice

[page 200]

versa, ie they are elements of a symmetry.

SYMMETRY = { y | y ∈ P } where P is the substance (essence ) of the symmetry, ie SYMMETRICAL PROPERTY

Symmetry is the root of DIVINITY = PRODUCTIVITY.

My father, whose pointless torture in the jungles of Bougainville was ended by the symbols of Hiroshima and Nagasaki naturally wanted me to be a nuclear physicist but even then I was after bigger game. Medcalf, Bougainville Campaign - Wikipedia

. . .

The parallel between quantum mechanics and human affairs is mathematically exact, not some vague matter of parable, analogy, metaphor or some other ague term. A turning point in quantum mechanics

[page 201]

DIRAC Dirac

. . .

The aim of this thesis is to express and apply the idea that there is a strict mathematical isomorphism between quantum mechanics and human affairs. We link these two universes through a symmetry which may be described as invariance with respect to complexity, This symmetry is expressed in Cantor's transfinite numbers. Cantor

This fels like the day I have finally said it.

[page 201]

. . .

As a scholar my input is text and my

[page 202]

output is text, books, articles, tapes, disks etc.

. . .

[page 203]

. . .

Thursday 5 August 1999

So back to the thesis. What we want to do is extract the model that the universe is network of particles in communication with one another through various channels.

[page 204]

Present a model of God that fits the world.

Map some Xian concepts onto this model.

THESIS: The Christian theory of the world is no longer testable in the scientific sense.

To be without a consistent theology is to be like an animal at moult time, exposed and heavily engaged in getting a new structure in place.

Money is the simple arithmetic of trade.

Quantum mechanics is the complex arithmetic of bonding.

. . .

In each case we devise a struCture and then provide statistical analysis that shows how the system spends its time between the various states.

[page 205]

. . .

I am an example of a broken chain of faith, a mutation.

We are to take Jesus' life as a dramatic portrayal of the life we all lead, sometimes succeeding miraculously, sometimes getting crucified, but determined to go on forever.

Theology must lead back to the real.

Collapse of the ψ does not depend on the complexity of the ψ. [Quantum mechanics is complexity invariant]

Thhe doman of my mind s myself and my environment.

Salvation = error correction.

[page 206]

Friday 6 August 1999

Symmetry
Time - energy
place - momentum
spin - action
complexity - Cantor

It is symmetry with respect to complexity makes knowledge possible ad is deeply related to set theory, bonding, quantum mechanics, spin etc etc.

Haight page 326: Haight sounds like a pre-scientific physicist, going through all the possibilities.

Symmetry with respect to complexity carries us all the way from atom to god.

GRAVITATION : SYMMETRY with respect to COMPLEXITY

How does gravitation respond to numerical differences - it does not see them, only MASS [energy], not MEANING.

Quantum mechanics relates to individuality, bonding, meaning etc etc.

[page 207]

All points on a null geodesic are intrinsically identical and one, They are differentiated by their meaning, ie their mapping to other points.

As observed, the universe is a system of symbols. TURING.

We are all that mixture of natural and divine that Chalcedon postulated of Jesus Christ. Council of Chalcedon - Wikipedia

I publish as supplementary material more extracts from the notebooks I kept while working on this idea. In time I hope to make this record complete so you can see what was happening.

Cybernetics deals with systems at all levels of complexity.

card(a) ≡ card(b) (PEERS).

. . .

[page 208]

. . .

Do I believe that I have achieved anything? I think I will when I see it work.

[page 209]

. . .

It is clear that we are parts of the whole. In the past we have considered ourselves as parts of the universe that did not really belong here. This idea seems to have its origin about the same time as self-consciousness entered literary history. As we have amply demonstrated, our technological powers to much outweigh those of the other animals that we might be excused for overestimating ourselves The theory of evolution shows that we are in the right universe, having evolved here through a chain of events stretching back more than 10 billion years.

[page 210]

Peers = one who understand what you are talking about.

LONELY = PEERLESS

,p> Replace the sin model of evil with . . . the error model, and so arive at a new meaning for redemption.

There is no need for all this artificial loathing and abhorrence, except to try to bring down the social error rate. Each sin is an error to be corrected, and the sooner detected and dealt with the better, both in the public and the priae sphere.

. . .

Computers make it possible for the

[page 211]

whose human race to cohere, ie to become a BOSON.

Was Jesus political? is to me rather like asking was this grown up dinosaur once an egg? Jesus is some way fertilized a point in human consciousness and christianity grew out of it, This is rather like the formation of a water droplet on a charged particle Jesus catalyzed the formation of a new structure in the human world which we call Christianity, encompassing everything from visions to buildings of stone.

We are all anointed with the oil of existence, of being an independent dimension of god.

The GENES are also ANCIENT TEXTS enormously bigger and denser in meaning than biblical texts and traditions. They are encoded and decoded by life.

. . .

[page 212]

. . .

SYMMETRY with respect to COMPLEXITY (SIZE): We are all part of the whoe. We here can mean atoms, planets, galaxies, anythink ecept the universe aka god, the whole which is part of nothing bigger, no whole.

[page 213]

Haight suggets to me, however, that my personal christology is not so much an outlier in the distribution as it was when I first parted from the Church. There are islands and strings of probability density penetrating the space around me providing a reference frame against which to outline my personal christology.

The ideas presented here were developed on a more mathematical framework while exploring the proposition 'the universe is divine'. This exploration was necessary because I could not find the hypothesis that god is other than the Universe credible. This is its first tentative translation into christological language.

. . .

Christology has ost its anchor and floated free, a situation fraught with danger in the absence of effective navigation. I propose to salvage it and

[page 214]

earn salvage rights.

. . .

One cools by expanding against pressure, releasing energy.

Pneumatology: the spirit makes us all divine.

There are no gravitons. Gravitation is the net effect on the whoe of al the interactions of its arts, ie it is the NON-INTERACTION that is broken by every ACTION in detail but not on the average ?

. . .

RELIGION is the TECHNOLOGY [art] of SALVATION.

Haight page 364: 'At least this is true: for one

[page 215]

passionaetly concerned about the human project, religion rovides no platform through which this passion will be satisfied.

The fact of biological unity should override all theories.

. . .

Matter is the text in which spirit is encoded.

. . .

[page 216]

We can be pretty certain that the quantum rules and gravity guide the creation of the world as we have it, and so, by applying them to our condition, we may gain insight into the future.

. . .

Haight: A thoughtful review of the problems facing Xianity as it reache sits nominal 2000th birthday.

. . .

A work of mathematical theology = liberated theology, expressed mathematically, free from the constraints of history

[pag 217]

. . .

GUILT is a POTENTIAL that is felt when one moves away from what is perceived as RIGHT.

Saturday 7 August 1999

. . .

[page 218]

. . .

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance:
a) eternal watch for dangers
b) eternal watch for feeding opportunities
c) eternal watch for reproductive opportunities

. . .

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!)

Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, Editiones Paulinae 1962 Advertenda: 'Cum Summa Theologia Divi Thomas usitatissimus in scholis theologicis evadat, saepius temporibus anteactis forma manuali edita est, ut facilius eius usus redderetur; tamen hucusque impossibile fuit editionem manualem unico volumine parare. Nunc progressus artis typographicae ad hoc optima media praebet et ideo desiderium omnium professorum at alumnorum adimplere nisi sumus, illis Summam Theologiae unico volumine, forma manuali et scholaris, cum typis maxime perspicuis, offerendo et hoc modo magno incommoda editionum in prluribus voluminis evadendo.'back
Cantor, Georg, Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers (Translated, with Introduction and Notes by Philip E B Jourdain), Dover 1955 Jacket: 'One of the greatest mathematical classics of all time, this work established a new field of mathematics which was to be of incalculable importance in topology, number theory, analysis, theory of functions, etc, as well as the entire field of modern logic.' 
Amazon
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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)  
Amazon
  back
Haight, Roger, Jesus Symbol of God, Orbis Books 1999 Jacket: 'This book is the flagship of the fleet of late twentieth century works that show American Catholic theology has indeed come of age. Deeply thoughtful in its exposition, lucid in its method, and by turns challenging and inspiring in its conclusions, this christology gives a new articulation of the saving "point" of it all. ... Highly recommended for all who think about and study theology.' Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, Fordham University. 
Amazon
  back
Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight : A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '... Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding' 
Amazon
  back
Medcalf, Peter, War in the Shadows: Bougainville 1944-45, Collins 1986 Jacket: '... written by an Australian infantryman who, as a nineteen year old, fought in the bloody campaigns on Bougainville, tells the dramatic truth about jungle warfare in the south-west Pacific during the second world war from the point of view of the combat soldier.' 
Amazon
  back
Needham, Joseph, Science and Civilisation in China (Volume 3) Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth, Cambridge UP 1959 Book description: 'After two volumes mainly introductory, Dr Needham now embarks upon his systematic study of the development of the natural sciences in China. The Sciences of the Earth follow: geography and cartography, geology, seismology and mineralogy. Dr Needham distinguishes parallel traditions of scientific cartography and religious cosmography in East and West, discussing orbocentric wheel-maps, the origins of the rectangular grid system, sailing charts and relief maps, Chinese survey methods, and the impact of Renaissance cartography on the East. Finally-and here Dr Needham's work has no Western predecessors-there are full accounts of the Chinese contribution to geology and mineralogy.' 
Amazon
  back
Robinson, James M, and (editor), The Nag Hammadi Library in English , Harper 1990 Amazon.com Review: 'The Nag Hammadi Library was discovered in 1945 buried in a large stone jar in the desert outside the modern Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. It is a collection of religious and philosophic texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians and translated into English by dozens of highly reputable experts. First published in 1978, this is the revised 1988 edition supported by illuminating introductions to each document. The library itself is a diverse collection of texts that the Gnostics considered to be related to their heretical philosophy in some way. There are 45 separate titles, including a Coptic translation from the Greek of two well-known works: the Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus' brother Judas, and Plato's Republic.' 
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Papers
Gingerich, Owen, "A radical turning point", Nature, 430, 6998, 22 July 2004, page 407. Nature essay turning points: 'How an annotated book transformed a theoretician into an historian'. back
Jaenike, John, Robert Unckless, Sarah N Cockburn, Lisa M Boelio, Steve J Perlman, "Adaptation via Symbiosis: Recent Spread of a Drosophila Defensive Symbiont", Science, 329, 5988, 9 July 2010, page 212-215. 'ABSTRACT Recent studies have shown that some plants and animals harbor microbial symbionts that protect them against natural enemies. Here we demonstrate that a maternally transmitted bacterium, Spiroplasma, protects Drosophila neotestacea against the sterilizing effects of a parasitic nematode, both in the laboratory and the field. This nematode parasitizes D. neotestacea at high frequencies in natural populations, and, until recently, almost all infections resulted in complete sterility. Several lines of evidence suggest that Spiroplasma is spreading in North American populations of D. neotestacea and that a major adaptive change to a symbiont-based mode of defense is under way. These findings demonstrate the profound and potentially rapid effects of defensive symbionts, which are increasingly recognized as major players in the ecology of species interactions.'. back
Pennisi, Elizabeth, "Volvox Genome Shows It Does Not Take Much to Be Multicellular", Science, 329, 5988, 9 July 2010, page 128-129. 'How a single cell made the leap to a complex organism is one of life's great mysteries. Biologists have thought that new genes and gene networks would be needed to make possible the move to multicellularity. But, at least in green algae, that turns out not to be the case. On page 223 of this week's issue of Science, a comparison between the genomes of the 2000-cell Volvox carteri and a single-celled green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, has revealed surprisingly few differences in their gene makeup.'. back
Links
Bougainville Campaign - Wikipedia, Bougainville Campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Bougainville campaign (Operation Cherry Blossom) was fought by the Allies in the South Pacific during World War II to regain control of the island of Bougainville from the Japanese forces who had occupied it in 1942.' back
Council of Chalcedon - Wikipedia, Council of Chalcedon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Council of Chalcedon (/kælˈsiːdən/ or /ˈkælsɨdɒn/)[1] was a church council held from October 8 to November 1, AD 451, at Chalcedon (a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor), on the Asian side of the Bosporus, known in modern times as Kadıköy in Istanbul, although it was then separate from Constantinople. The judgements and definitions of divine nature issued by the council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separate establishment of the church in the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century.' back
Emmy Noether, Invariante variationsprobleme (English Translation), E. Noether, "Invariante Variationsprobleme," Nachr. v. d. Ges. d. Wiss. zu Göttingen 1918, pp235-257. English translation: M.A. Tavel, Reprinted from "Transport Theory and Statistical Mechanics" 1(3), 183-207 (1971). Provided to this site by M.A. Tavel and Henry M. Paynter." back
Terra nullius - Wikipedia, Terra nullius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Terra nullius ( plural terrae nullius) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one",[1] which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty. Sovereignty over territory which is terra nullius may be acquired through occupation,[2] though in some cases doing so would violate an international law or treaty.' back
Islam - Wikipedia, Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] ( listen)[note 1]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (which is called the Sunnah in Arabic, and demonstrated in collections of Hadith). Islam literally means "submission (to God)." back
Nina Byers, E. Noether's Discovery of the Deep Connection Between Symmetries and Conservation Laws, Abstract: 'Emmy Noether proved two deep theorems, and their converses, on the connection between symmetries and conservation laws. Because these theorems are not in the mainstream of her scholarly work, which was the development of modern abstract algebra, it is of some historical interest to examine how she came to make these discoveries. The present paper is an historical account of the circumstances in which she discovered and proved these theorems which physicists refer to collectively as Noether's Theorem. The work was done soon after Hilbert's discovery of the variational principle which gives the field equations of general relativity. The failure of local energy conservation in the general theory was a problem that concerned people at that time, among them David Hilbert, Felix Klein, and Albert Einstein. Noether's theorems solved this problem. With her characteristically deep insight and thorough analysis, in solving that problem she discovered very general theorems that have profoundly influenced modern physics.' back

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