12/31/2023

    Happy New Year. Life and change is like the uncertainty principle of quantum physics. When you are aware of change you know your living and when you are aware of change time is suspended. When your experiencing time, change and your life experiences are less certain since you've suspended your awareness of life and change for those moments of reflection on time. In human affairs absent hypothesis testing using the scientific method all we know is change and life. Choice then is awareness of change, life, and our certainty of free will. But if life and change suspends time, choice also is in the philosophical mind bending uncertainty.

    The scientific method involves testing your hypothesis by gathering observations that can be verified by other independent observers and see if the data and hypothesis flow and support each other. I'm reminded of the hypothesis of phlogiston. "The phlogiston theory is a superseded scientific theory that postulated the existence of a fire-like element called phlogiston (/flɒˈdʒɪstən, floʊ-, -ɒn/)^[1][2] contained within combustible bodies and released during combustion. The name comes from the Ancient Greek φλογιστόν phlogistón (burning up), from φλόξ phlóx (flame). The idea was first proposed in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher and later put together more formally by Georg Ernst Stahl. Phlogiston theory attempted to explain chemical processes such as combustion and rusting, now collectively known as oxidation. It was challenged by the concomitant weight increase and was abandoned before the end of the 18th century following experiments by Antoine Lavoisier and others. Phlogiston theory led to experiments that ultimately concluded with the discovery of oxygen." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory

    E=MC2 (Energy a conserved force produces work, heat, light, etc.) (Mass is related to inertia and gravity) (C is the speed of light). it's discovery of nature written about in Einstein's paper ) The equivalence principle implies that when energy is lost in chemical reactions, nuclear reactions, and other energy transformations, the system will also lose a corresponding amount of mass. The energy, and mass, can be released to the environment as radiant energy, such as light, or as thermal energy. The principle is fundamental to many fields of physics, including nuclear and particle physics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence 

    This theory of Einstein has been verified so far in many different ways through experiments using the scientific methods. 

    Our perception of time, change, choice and free will are subjective experiences that when studied lead us to understand some of the human psychology that shows how much in error we are about reality as studied by the scientific method. Our memory system is very sophisticated in helping us navigate in our lives but as a system of showing true data that can be studied using the scientific method large errors are found in what we remember and what actually happened. Our perception of space (length, width, volume, etc) using Euclidean math works well in an ideal world of straight lines and unchanged space but the reality of these parameters is in error since spacetime (a scientific quantity is so hard to conceptualize) is influenced by mass, energy, and  time changes depending where you are looking (Einstein's General Theory of Relativity). For example, straight lines are hard to come by in our universe. 

    Our discussion group over this past year has grappled with these issues discussing our understanding of all sorts of topics. We all have grappled with the fact that our understanding and our decisions and choices in life have led us on our path where we now are situated and that many times our understanding and decisions were in error. Studying error has helped us learn from our mistakes when we've been lucky and cognizant but when we not been cognizant and want to hold onto error producing beliefs we've made continued mistakes while believing in our personal beliefs, narratives of the world, holding onto to nostalgia and errors of judgment knowing that in the game of life we're on the winning side and those believing otherwise are in error. 

    Well, in this blog I'm left with what I think and puzzle over. Rebecca, my wife, has been busy these last three days making artistic banners to go on a truck for the Lanikai Parade tomorrow advertising and honoring the Lanikai Mortgage Players. I look at the almost finished product created by her and her friend and smile. While they worked on these pieces my daughter and her good friend came over to share their experiences floating with the manta rays at night in the ocean off the island of Hawaii. Today my daughters artwork was shown to us by Rebecca created during her school years. I put on my headphones to play some pieces from Late Night Jazz struggling with the jazz difficult chords, timing, and expression while having difficulty seeing the notes clearly due to left eye retina problems. Earlier in the day Rebecca and I watched an orchestra and choral group perform a very moving new piece related to the Hamas massacre and hostage taking ( https://www.google.com/search?q=bring+them+home+homeland+concert+youtube&newwindow=1&sca_esv=594833718&sxsrf=AM9HkKkKgXQcDN4PDXwAeygCMyffA5b6jg%3A1704084387020&ei=o0OSZfFtlMDQ8Q-0mJOoDQ&ved=0ahUKEwixy7iEsbuDAxUUIDQIHTTMBNUQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=bring+them+home+homeland+concert+youtube&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKGJyaW5nIHRoZW0gaG9tZSBob21lbGFuZCBjb25jZXJ0IHlvdXR1YmUyBRAhGKsCSMw1UNIKWJEzcAF4AZABAJgB1wGgAcYQqgEGMS4xNS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICBxAjGLACGCfCAgoQIRigARjDBBgKwgIIEAAYgAQYogTCAggQIRigARjDBMICBBAhGAriAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:40664993,vid:1aIyZnFbOu0,st:0). We shared this with some friends and some tears were shed in watching.

    Our group has discussed these events with some consternation and opinions. The history leading up to this attack reveal many issues of poor leadership, misguided decisions, political maneuvering by  minorities whose actions contributed to the lack of peace, and enemies of Israeli and the Palestinians peoples driven by misguided religious zeal and antidemocratic intent. I'm sure that most readers have some maybe very strong opinions since our small group did. I'd like us to have peace and prosperity for all but others want this only for their group. 

    Well, this brings me to my latest interest in how the conflict and side taking are related to game theory a human interest we all have in which sometimes the stakes of the game become more life and death. Here's a long article related to this subject for those willing to read and puzzle over an aspect of human nature that may help explain our war like behaviors (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8838118/#:~:text=Several%20papers%20use%20game%20theory,to%20attack%20the%20different%20targets). Related to game theory in my universe celebrity worship deserves some consideration. We used to venerate heroes but modern times we gravitate to celebrities. Celebrities has to have fans who are devoted. Sports, musicians, athletes, entrepreneurs, and politicians have devoted fans some of whom are pathological worshippers (https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-somehow-made-celebrity-worship-even-dumber) and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_influence_in_politics). The related media phenomena of pseudo-events ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_event) discussed in my previous blogs described in Daniel Boorstin's book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America. Fake news, internet trolling, swatting, and the like have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. I've discussed these issues in my review of Jonathan Rauch's book The Constitution of Knowledge in a previous blogs (January 1 and 5, 2023).  Our small group discussions have discussed related falsifications attributed to the emerging Alternative Intelligence services. One of the latest examples is the Michael Cohen case (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/29/nyregion/michael-cohen-ai-fake-cases.html). Cohen and his attorney used Google Bard to write a brief to the court related to early release from court supervision that contained many fake citations and conclusions. Fortunately in our small discussion group we have an attorney who has an interest in constitution law helping us keep grounded in our constitutional law with its ambiguities and he helps us stop our partisan banter regarding court rulings such as the latest controversies over Trump's candidacy rulings in two states that have disqualified him from running for the next presidential election.   

    Well, it's getting near dinner time so Happy New Year to all.

Leonard

 

Iona “Oh, My Goddess” Hawaii Convention Center Honolulu 09/30/2023