vol VII: Notes
1999
Notes
[Notebook MA, DB 51]
[Sunday 8 August 1999 - Saturday 15 August 1999]
[page 222]
Sunday 8 August 1999
Haight; Logos / Sarx christology
Quantum mechanics is mathematically pure [formal] = logos
Particles become complexes = logos ==>sarx Haight
GRACE
a) that knowledge is possible in the universe
b) that knowledge yields advantage = fitness
Both quantum mechanics and mathematics can function without meaning, but meaning (symmetry breaking) spontaneously groed in them.
[page 223]
. . .
Physics is really solid. Since Galileo declared that mathematics was the language of nature I believe that it has consistently approached the heart of the matter. My purpose here is to restate this modern view of the universe in sufficiently abstract terms to link it to christology as developed by the theologians of the community represented by Haight. The advent of quantum computing has enables is to connect physics very directly to mathematics, so that the postulate that quantum mechanics is an incarnation of pure mathematics seen from the inside becomes viable. Deutsch
Are the operations of a unitary operatr broad enough to ground a Turing Machine? YES.
[page 224]. . .
Matter conceived as a network of Universal Turing Machines is no longer the inert ground of Aristotelian physics, but the flesh of god.
'which may be of interest to a sufficient number of your readers to write a publication.'
. . .
We have a finite dictionary of 100 000 words but the dictionary of sentences is hugely bigger and all always remain hugely bigger than the dictionary of words.
[pag 225]
ALL OBSERVATIONS ARE TEXT . . .
An introduction to Quantum Computation and Information Hoi-Kwong Lo et al eds, World Scientific Lo, Spiller & Popescu
Monday 9 August 1999
5 features of quantum mechanics:
1. Superposition [of] states excludes the principle of ocntradiction in the complex world.
2. Entanglement, |φ> = a|0> + b|1>
. . .
Tuesday 10 August 1999
3. Reversible unitary evolution
4. Irrversibility, measurement + decoherence
5. No cloning.
[page 227]
Wednesday 11 August 1999
Modern name for SOTERIOLOGY is CYBERNETICS (Haight)
. . .
[page 228]Jesus Symbol of God is a book not of Christology but of Christologies. After pondering for a while I realized that the Jesus of my youth had himself been converted from a scientific person in history, a constant, to a variable. The symbol Jesus is a container for humanity that is instantiated in each one of us. An ordinary arithmetic variable contains an infinity of constants.
This conversion seems to be the result of two forces.
It is immediately clear from Haight's work that Christianity today is in a state of motion, searching far and wide for a unified understanding of its subject that will fit the evidence. Just hat the evidence is is a difficult question. This situation is reminiscent of the times in science from when it became clear that the old theory could not do the job until the new candidate was in harness and pulling the discipline along nicely. (Kuhn) Kuhn
. . .
[page 230]
To say my god is visible to me is not to say that the whole of my god is visibe to me. It is too big to be taken in by any individual. [This alone proves transfinity?]Love thy neighbour is the core of local Christianity. . . .
As we become entangled both our freedom and our security increase exponentially:
a) because of the exponential rule of combining Hilbert spaces
b) becasue of quantum information theory.
Symmetry with respect to complexity gives us a clue to the whereabouts of the hold grail.
We know that quantum systems carry enormous, possibly infinite, quantities of
[page 231]
information that are not accessible to us, We also know that we can use this hidden information to perform computations exponentially faster than classical computers, and that they use these computations in their own lives to guide themselves through their spaces. [?]
I rejected Catholicism as a unit.
Thursday 12 August 1999
Friday 13 August 1999
Saturday 14 August 1999
. . .
[page 234]
Reynolds and Tanner: The Social Ecology of Religion Reynolds & Tanner. . .
[page 236]
I feel that quantum mechanics forced a major reappraisal of methodology. Here was, in effect, a meaningless theory that worked like a charm. Meaningless because almost none of the structure can be adequately visualized or linked to everyday experience. Scientific methodology compelled the use of this theory because it worked. Here is a step beyond
[page 237]
heliocentrism, which is even easier to visualize than the complex system point of view induced by trying to put the earth as the centre and explain the motion of everything else.
Good response from THEO615 to the question:
Is there a future in the hermeneutic approach to ancient texts or can we take the same plunge as Galileo and start basing our religion on observtions of the world.
One must always criticize from a position outside the event criticized.
BOOK = DORMANT EVENT (PHOTON) awaiting ABSORPTION.
