cosmic rapture

ooga-booga: what does it really MEAN?

Gödel and Einstein developed a close friendship – relativity is an important concept in different ways in the work of both men Can the incompleteness theorems of Kurt Gödel be extended to systems other than mathematical systems? If you don't know what I'm blathering about, here's a simplistic one-liner purporting to summarize Gödel's work: the correctness of statements in a system such as arithmetic can only be proved outside of arithmetic.

This post argues that there are few real differences or disagreements between people; that it is the incompleteness of language that results in people experiencing an illusion of difference. Or in other words, that Gödelian incompleteness theory also applies to language, as a formal system. Which leads to the conclusion that the absolute, non-metaphorical meaning of any language statement can only be established outside of language; ie the non-metaphorical meaning of words can only ever be established without words. (And the same applies to the truth or otherwise of this post itself! Self-reflexivity is a tricky, tricky thing!)

getting personal

1579 drawing of the great chain of being from Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana You've probably heard the expression "it takes a big person to apologise". But what does "person" mean, exactly?

This is not a hair-splitting, nit-picking scholastic debate of interest only to academics in ivory towers. Personhood is an important concept lurking beneath the relationships people have with each other.

In the early apartheid years in South Africa, for example, the Dutch Reformed Church rationalised the harsh treatment of "non-whites" via the proposition that they have no souls, and therefore should not be treated as people. This proposition was sometimes preached by Dutch Reformed Church ministers as part of their Sunday sermons to the volk.

singing the blues

Being a jaded, faded roué my tastes incline to the intense. I don't drink a double espresso, for example, but rather a quadruple. Catholic tastes, yes (though I hate that expression). Of course, most if not all tastes are acquired, including anger and drinking beer, frequently in combination.

Where cheese is concerned, I'm very partial to blue. The smellier the better---Gorgonzola, for instance. In fact, last night my partner made a great salad with a blue cheese dressing. Well, not so much a dressing, as a garnish sprinkled generously over the salad. I tucked in with gusto, shoveling great forkfuls down my gullet, relishing the piquancy of the cheese. Being the kind, gentle, thoughtful, supportive person that I am (ha!) I said to her, "Great salad! When did you get the blue cheese? There was only an old bag of that shredded Gouda in the fridge this morning."

"Blue cheese?" she responded, "what blue cheese?".

are we there yet?

Children have an instinctive understanding of complex metaphysical issues, such as causality, including whether there can be a first or a final cause:

PARENT: If you don't hurry up you'll be late for school.

CHILD: Why?

PARENT: Because you'll miss the bus, and I can't take you to school this morning.

CHILD: Why?

PARENT: Because I've got an early meeting that's very important.

CHILD: Why?

PARENT: Because I've got to help my boss prepare her presentation.

CHILD: Why?

PARENT: Because...

...you get the picture. If everything is a reason for something, and nothing can be or can happen without a reason, then there are no true reasons and no causality. Aristotle's four types of causality are of relevance here.

peeling the onion

painting by L.O.S. Artwork by our eldest daughter, L. It's not a self-portrait but almost could be. She's very talented, as is her sister, J. Here's some of J's artwork and poetry. Both of them have huge potential, in many areas. But each is her own worst enemy. As I am to myself, and then some! In fact, when I look back over the last several years, I'm amazed that any of us are left standing, astounded there are any survivors at all! The poem, dark sprite reflects the emotional landscape of the period in question. This family went through---continues to go through---some majorly tough times, but maybe the worst is over now. Hopefully not as it was for Napolean retreating from the Russian winter, or for the Germans in WWW2; both grim forced marches through hell to nowhere safe with casualties all over the place!

the stuff of stuff

LEGO blocks LEGO consists of interlocking plastic bricks or pieces that can be assembled to make toy buildings, vehicles and other objects. Reality consists of interlocking pieces of matter assembled to make non-toy buildings, vehicles and other objects. All LEGO objects are made of the same stuff: LEGO pieces. All real objects (including LEGO objects and LEGO pieces) are made of the same stuff: matter.

So what? So it means that "hot" is the same as "cold", "loud" is the same as "soft" and humans are dogs, as you will see if you READ MORE...

prey to slay today

Harry hated Harriet.
To her dismay, her hair turned grey.

'If you can't beat it marry it!'
Make her obey, no might or may!

Lassoed her with his lariat.
She screamed out, "Hey! Put that away!"

Honeymoon at the Marriott.
She heard him say that he would pay.

But like the man Iscariot
he did betray his love that day.

He stabbed; she couldn't parry it.
She was the prey that he did slay.

His guilt--he had to carry it.
On his soul it lay and heavy weigh.

Riding in death's chariot,
she heard him pray. That's all, OK?

the mystery of me

Ze isn't yet a wanker
but a wanker ze will be
when ze uploads the poem ze calls
"the mystery of me".

Ze isn't yet a dickhead
but a dickhead ze will be
every time ze says "...it's not
that easy being me".

Castles made of sand

What's the matter with matter? According to physicists, all non-dark matter is the same basic stuff. As the Walrus might have said to the Carpenter, the same stuff that forms a cabbage forms a King. Sealing wax is the same stuff as string. Exactly the same stuff. Identical in every material respect.

wake up call (# 666)

The problems (largely self-inflicted) facing humanity seem huge and insurmountable. The irony is that we have at our disposal everything we need to fix these problems and make sure they don't happen again.

Hunger? This problem is less about resources and more about distribution. There's more than enough food for every earthling. We just need to learn how to share. Climate change? We know what we must do to fix this problem, but we lack the will to do so. Solving this problem is all about learning to work with each other. War? Stop fighting, start loving. Financial instability? Don't get me started on that one. Loss of biodiversity? Stop destroying ecologies and habitats.

There are highly effective solutions to virtually every problem we face. But we don't implement those solutions for a variety of reasons, mainly to do with fear and greed.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! We have everything we need to make this world a paradise as it once was and will be again. I have to admit, though, that it sounds do-able in theory and in practice, but in practice may be much more difficult than anyone can imagine, as highlighted in the following cautionary tale: little odious vermin.

jargon in Copenhagen: a dialogue in zero acts.

Industrialised first world: Stop clearing your forests, mining your resources and building your factories. Digital televisions, personal motor vehicles, I—phones and microwave cookers will not make your people any the happier. Money can't buy you love. Trust us. We know from experience.

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