2012 « The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Friday, August 17, 2012

◊ The Artistic Illogic of the Transcendent

Art & Entertainment ... Brain / Mind ... Spirituality ...

The other day, I posted a blog about modern scientific attempts to debunk the idea of God with attempts to explain everything — absolutely every darn thing that might possibly exist — through a self- selection process involving random trial and errors. I explained my own problems with this, pointing to a possible reduction ad absurdum, the same absurdity that scientists accuse the “God theory” of having.

But the world of science is attacking the notion of God on another front . . . and that is “the quiet voice deep within”, i.e. the personal experience that makes one think that there is “something more” than we know in the immediate sense. This is also called “the spiritual experience” or a “religious experience”, and it seems to be quite universal. People of all sorts from many different lands and cultures seem to report similar experiences. Evidence, some might say, that there must be a God; even though humans still fight idiotic wars over what the nature of this God must be.

But the brain scientists are fighting back, performing studies and publishing papers on why our brains make us have such experiences and interpret them as “transcendent”. They have come up with a variety of factors » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:00 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

◊ God and the Multiverse, All the Way Down!

Religion ... Science ...

Scientists are on a tear these days to stamp out any rational reason for believing that there might be a knowing and almighty God or similar “higher power” as postulated by many of the world’s major religions. Over the centuries, science has broadened its jurisdiction over many areas of mystery where the ancients once thought God’s fingerprint might be found. E.g., humankind found out that we live on a limited sphere (planet) and not an infinite flat plane (or a limited island on an infinite ocean, as the Book of Genesis seems to imagine); then we found out that this sphere was not the center of the universe with all other heavenly bodies circling it; then we found that the forces of life are driven by ordinary chemistry and physics (and information processing), not by some spiritual “elan vital”; then it turned out that humans themselves evolved through these physical processes over time through trial-and-error processes, and not by any direct intervention from the divine.

In recent years, our physicists and cosmologists have made much progress in understanding the universe on both the largest and smallest scales. I.e., Big Bang/inflation cosmology (replete with dark energy and dark matter) rule the macro end, while quantum mechanics and the Standard Particle Model (and maybe soon, superstring theory) hold at the micro scales. Nonetheless, a problem has emerged over time for many of these physicists, when they realized that “it didn’t have to be the way that it is”. If ‘life, the universe and everything’ can be compared to a loaf of baked bread, scientists now realize that just a few tiny differences in some arbitrary factors governing matter and energy relationships could have left the universe as a gummy blob that never rose, or a stack of burnt crumbs after the primordial dough rose too fast and then blew to pieces. Things turned out as they did, with organized clusters, galaxies, stars, planets and living things (and then living things with sentient consciousness), because of an unlikely confluence of “just right” settings in the basic laws of the universe.

Now, obviously this seems to leave a door open for God to leave a fingerprint. So the scientists are working their minds overtime in trying to weld this door shut, with concepts of repeating “multi-verse” bubbles and parallel universes » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:00 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, August 12, 2012

◊ Bring It On, Congressman Ryan

Current Affairs ... Economics/Business ... Politics ...

As all the world knows, Mitt Romney now has a running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan, of course, is noted as the GOP point-man for fixing the federal debt crisis (or crisis-to-be; right now we’re getting by, lenders still want to loan money to Uncle Sam . . . but at some point, we could get into a jam like Greece, Italy and Spain are in with their unpayable sovereign debt and shrinking economies). And Ryan’s key target is the complex of federal entitlements, including the two biggest ones, Social Security and Medicaid. I haven’t seen all the details of the Ryan plan, but I understand that he wants drastic cuts in benefit levels for the average citizen, with no exemptions for Baby Boomer foggies like me who are counting on these programs for a comfortable but not lavish old age.

Of course, the big problem is the “Great Recession” that we are still not out of, despite the official declaration that the Recession ended in late 2009. The problem is that the economy is still growing much slower than it could and should. That has caused an appreciable net loss of national potential wealth, the wealth that these entitlement programs were counting on to stay afloat. So yes, it does seem reasonable to say that everyone has to share some of the pain, given that the pain is now unavoidable.

What I don’t like about Ryan and his cronies is that they seize on a real financial problem (which most leaders in the Democratic Party » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:22 pm Read Comments (3) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, August 5, 2012

◊ Fingers Crossed, Despite the Nattering Negativism

Outer Space ... Technology ...

The “space race” ain’t what it used to be in the USA. In the glory years of the 1960s and 70s, the USA put men on the moon and sent up the first orbiting space stations. But over the next 30 years, the dangerous-but-not-very-inspiring Space Shuttle soaked up most of the dwindling resources available for “exo-atmospheric” exploration, and ultimately left us at a dead end. For now, the only way for Americans to get into space is by hitching a ride aboard a Russian Soyuz vehicle (although NASA is working with Boeing, SpaceX and some other firms to get American manned vehicles back into earth orbit sometime before 2020 . . . or so they hope).

However, during these years, the USA had not done so badly in terms of sending increasingly sophisticated robot probes and vehicles to the planet next door, i.e. Mars. We’ve managed to get about 2 out of every 3 Mars missions successfully to the red planet, whether in orbit or to the surface via parachutes and rockets or bouncing air-bags. Now we’re kicking it up a notch with the Curiosity rover, a mission set to make a landing attempt in a few hours (around 1:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, Aug 6), eight months after launch from Cape Canaveral. This baby is almost 5 times the size of previous scientific rovers, and will be a scientific lab on wheels. It will move more than twice as fast as the Sojourner and 5 times the Opportunity, and have twice as many scientific instruments on board to probe the Martian surface. Sounds great, makes you almost proud once again of the American space program.

But one problem . . . first this thing has to land first, using a wacky “sky hook” arrangement » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:01 pm Read Comments (3) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, August 4, 2012

◊ Love Is Alive (let’s hope)

Photo ...

Street art on University Avenue, Newark NJ.

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:00 am Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

◊ OUCH!! is Not Nirvana. Or is it?

Brain / Mind ... Spirituality ...

I read an interesting thought recently in an article discussing medical science. It specifically applies to the question of how much testing and monitoring of the human body is desirable and ultimately beneficial, given the state of modern medicine (and in anticipation of the future state of medicine and medical practice). But I think it can apply to all things. Here is the quote:

Data is not Information
Information is not Knowledge
Knowledge is not Wisdom

Very interesting – four levels of human understanding: Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom. I won’t make a detailed attempt here to define these concepts. They obviously represent an attempt to bridge the gap between sensory inputs and the highest levels of mind-brain functioning regarding how we behave, how we make choices, and how we live our lives.

Actually, you could add “sensory inputs” as a level below “data”. I.e., you need to read a blood pressure meter with your eyes, or count your pulse through your fingers, before you have any “data”. And at the other end – » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:16 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, July 28, 2012

◊ Go Forth and Teach

Religion ...

At our zendo recently, one of the teachers made a comment during a “practice circle” discussion on how Buddhism does not have much “ism” to it, compared with other religions. For one thing, Buddhism does not tell of a god coming to earth to appoint a certain human with the responsibility to spread the cosmic truths to the rest of humankind. Nor does it include a personal force that tempts that certain human to seek human greatness and ignore this celestial calling.

Oh, wait, actually Buddhism does include those two things. After Siddhartha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, with all its oxygen emissions, the Shakyamuni Buddha was in no hurry to go off and spread the word. [There are various names for the founder of Buddhism, including Siddhartha, Gautama, and Shakyamuni.] But the Hindu god Brahma Sahampati soon came to Shaky and convinced him that he needed to teach the Dharma to others. Brahma Sahampati was the creator deity in Hinduism, so this was no small thing. Obviously, Shaky Siddhartha took Sahampati seriously and devoted the rest of his life to relating the Dharma to humankind. OK, so we have a conscious, non-scientific cosmic force here, one who knew that Siddhartha was on to the truth and who could talk and reason with him.

As to the tempter, that would be Mara, the devil-like force who often tried to foil Gautama on his search for the greatest truths. Mara provided beautiful women, fearful beasts, and finally played mind-games with the Big Shaky B, to get him off track. But of course, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:55 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

◊ A Real Motherclucker In The City

Personal Reflections ...

I’ve been working in Newark since late 1989 and for the most part, I commute by car (I take a train or bus every now and then). Most every day I find myself driving across a variety of urban neighborhoods. The suburban streets where I start and end my voyage each day are fairly sedate. Once in a while there’s a police car or some fire trucks to dodge, and the garbage trucks and school buses are always a nuisance. I’ve seen more than one idiot run a stop sign in front of me, in the nicest of towns; luckily I’ve always managed to stop in time. But on most days, the suburban portion of my drive is quite predictable.

But once I get into the Newark / East Orange zone, the situation gets a little more interesting. You have to be ready for things you wouldn’t expect living in the ‘burbs.

Over the years, I’ve seen cops on foot chasing a suspect running along the road; a guy arc-welding in the street (without shielding, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:02 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, July 22, 2012

◊ What Ever Happened to Cor-Ten Steel?

Photo ... Society ... Technology ...

In the 1960s, steel was still a big deal here in America. We made lots of it and we used lots of it. Our cars, refrigerators, beer cans, pipelines, guns and many buildings were made mostly of steel (unlike today, where such products have much plastic, aluminum, molded carbon, and other “composites” in them). So back around 1970 I noticed that US Steel was running ads on TV about their latest innovation, called “Cor-Ten” steel. Actually, Cor-Ten was invented in the 30s, but by the late 60’s US Steel felt it was ready for wide-scale marketing and production. Cor-Ten is now known as a “weathering steel“.

Basically, weathering steel was supposed to eliminate the need for paint. Most steel rusts away if not properly coated, usually with paint. But Cor-Ten supposedly rusted in a way that protects itself from further rust. I.e., when exposed to the elements, it creates a dark-red coating something like rust. But unlike rust, this coating keeps it from decaying any further . . . in theory. So long as you could put up with the rusty look to it, you didn’t need paint to keep the steel from frittering away . . . again, in theory. US Steel touted Cor Ten’s rusty look as somehow artistic or natural, something that people would like to see.

I was a big railroad enthusiast back in the 1970s, and I remember seeing new railroad cars made of Cor-Ten, complete with the “faux-rusty” look. But by the 1980s those cars disappeared. Could it be that Cor-Ten wasn’t the magic material that US Steel made it out to be?

Well, a quick web search confirms that notion. It turns out that » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 12:01 pm Read Comments (4) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, July 19, 2012

◊ Obamanomics, Part I: You Didn’t Build That?

Economics/Business ... Politics ...

President Obama did the country a favor the other day by making the following statement:

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

Of course, the Republican and conservative voices have jumped all over Mr. Obama for this, painting him as a communist. Well, that’s what they get paid to do. The important point is that the average citizen is [finally] being asked to do some serious thinking. As an aging “eternal student”, I’m all in favor of serious thinking. I definitely need to give Obama credit here.

In his pre-political life, Mr. Obama was a community organizer and a teacher. He’s obviously trying to teach the overall “community” that is the American nation, teach them an interesting and important lesson. And even if his curriculum is not entirely correct (but not as incorrect as his opponents claim), he is stimulating thinking on the part of people who actually need to think, but don’t think that they do. That’s what a really good teacher does; he or she does NOT indoctrinate, but causes her or his student to get interested and think it through on their own.

(Well, perhaps Mr. Obama IS trying to indoctrinate, given the political inspiration for his statement. Maybe he is NOT trying to stimulate a thoughtful debate regarding the future direction of the American political economy, i.e. towards more government involvement, investment and direction of the economy with safety-nets and » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 1:01 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

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