Gaia: The Poet with the Soul of a Scientist - Fundamental stuff

Interesting hypotheses.

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:18:07 GMT

Just a hypotheses I've devoted thought to over the years. It was triggered by a theory of Hawking's I read in one of his books.

Hawking's theory was basically a Horton Hears a Who type of theory. If we are made up of small spheres, is it not possible for our larger spheres to be the smaller spheres of perhaps even larger spheres that build up a completely different universe.

Thinking about this led me to thinking about infinity, and how many different worlds, with completely different laws of physics there could be, as your perspective of everything enlargened... Which of course led to the thought of infinity. I was thinking that perhaps, to solve the problem of a universe that constantly has to be growing(and the problem of "What happens if you travel faster that the rate the universe is expanding at, past the edge?"), the universe is not infinite in a conceivable sense, but that when your perception expands enough, the universe itself exists within every atom, or indeed, every "smallest" sphere, which of course would be a null term, if this were correct. Pi would probably have a large part to do with this, since it describes a sphere, and circle, and this is a loop itself.

To expand on this, I later thought that perhaps gravity was caused because the universe pulled on itself through this loop, which would also cause the spherical shapes that gravity tends to pull everything into when it's strong enough. Which leads to an interesting thought I had when studying the phases of the moon... I know that the same side of the moon faces the Earth because it's more dense on that side, but I was thinking... Since down is always down to anything in the Earth's gravity, but there are no directions in space, is the moon's orbit around us not similar to something passing over a flat plane? If you were to unfold the Earth, and have the moon pass over it, the same side would of course be facing the Earth, unless you gave it spin. So does the moon actually rotate, to keep this side facing us? Or does it stay stationary, and only our perception of direction created by the Earth's gravity change?

I've tossed this idea to a few friends before, but no one has had any feedback on it really. After reading some of your thoughts in these threads, I was wondering what you have to think about it.

Re: Fibonacci sequence

http://dbroadwell.gaia.com — Sun, 27 May 2007 23:42:20 GMT

And I,
I negated i() by integrating e^(i*PI) di.
And that made a world of difference.

(poet=>engineer)?

http://dbroadwell.gaia.com — Sun, 27 May 2007 23:38:26 GMT

And of the scientist,
who happens to posses,
the gift of crafting words,
with feeling?
Is this also a place for us?

Several Technical Words

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 10:38:50 GMT

have not a large personal vocabulary of newly minted words that point to nearly indescribable (English-challenged) states or qualities or other descriptors. They come to me when they come to me, and that is when they usually come to me. Once I was given the Secret Word by none other than His Holiness Sri Sri Camelot, my babyboy. I cannot yet reveal the Secret Word, but tell you what I can do. I can reveal the Secondary Secret Word, and it is a doozey, as German philosophers used to say when receiving enemas or engaging in other sensual indulgences peculiar to their culture.

So the heading for this blog entry is entirely (if not partially) wrong or incorrect and I am here to correct it after the fact.

Here - without further ado - is the Secondary Secret Word:

UBU

I didnt say that I was going to explain the meaning of the Secondary Secret Word. But what the hey, I m gonna anyway. You re welcome.

UBU was originally named after what that producer guy at the end of that sitcom said to his doggie to get him to sit or it might even be the said doggie's name. UBU is usually uttered as a exclamation of surprise but it is also indicative of a deep state of Love that denies lesser states of Love that is not in themselves, UBU.

UBUB (a variation of UBU) is "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH WORDS OF ANY LANGUAGE TOTALLY LIKE TOTALLY FAIL ME!!!"

It is a Power Word, or as they say in countries like Hong Kong, Powell Werrd, heh, and not to be used lightly nor seriously. Thank you.

Re: Make Sense, Make Believe

http://gakkaiguy.gaia.com — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 04:16:24 GMT

True - new "languaging" is needed.

Re: Mitochondria

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:32:41 GMT

Josh: the separation of spirituality and the physical realms (Stephen Jay Gould uses the word magesteria and says the two are non-overlapping (Rock of Ages)) was a cultural necessity during the Protestant Revolution. Because of this divergence, the scientific method could be explored and developed. This culminated in the Modern Era, during which the trend was developing artifacts as far removed from nature as possible. Life as we know it today could not have arisen if the division of spirit and the physical world had not happened.

So when you think about a physical proof taking away from spiritual validity, you arenèt being incorrect, historically.

Me, I think we have to integrate the two again in order to save the future.
By knowing where life energy comes from--actually, not metaphorically or metaphysically--we can continue on what effects that could have.

Re: Mitochondria

http://lostandfound.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:32:37 GMT

"Mitochondria provide the energy needed to vibrate. "

What gives mitochondria its engergy needed to vibrate?

Re: Mitochondria

http://lostandfound.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:31:12 GMT

Perhaps its my ignorance on the topic of spirituality, but how could a physical condition be the grounds for spiritual work? Would not proving this actually take away from spirituality in a way?

Perhaps I am not thinking of spirutality correctly, but I always thought it delt with that which is beyond the physical. Is that not so?

Europa

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 15:21:46 GMT

I like Europa for the next most likely place life could exist in the solar system. The necessary parameter for life is water at 0.1 Celsius at 1 atmosphere of pressure (sea level in our gravity well). There may be other stable states of matter at significantly higher temperatures, but the necessary transformation of energies needed for life would involve magnitudes of entropy as well so this is unlikely.
There may be highly specific conditions available in a colder environment, but there isn't enough energy to transform.
There are not three states of matter with water. There are at least five and probably more. Super cold ice is a superconductor. Super hot steam is a universal solvent. Liquid hydrogen hydroxide has specific properties of fluidity, viscosity and conductivity all of which are vital for life as we know it. Nothing else has all these properties, otherwise it would be chemically and physically the same as water, so it's water. This seems like sloppy argument, saying that water has all the properties needed for life, so if it's not in water, it's not life. That's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is water provides the best medium for the reactions needed for life to begin autocatalyzing itself, and that Nature, being lazy, will use the best medium and not much else. Still not convinced water is the best medium for life? Ice floats and subsequently insulates. Water vapourizes, concentrating impurities to chemically interesting proportions. It goes on.

So, understanding that liquid water is needed as the medium for life, we can look into the solar system for the likeliest places. For a while, there was a theoretical band around Jupiter where the atmospheric pressure compensated for the wacky temperature and liquid water could possibly form, but this was dismissed. Europa, however, seems to be a ball of water, ice on the outside and probably liquid inside (being subjected to Jupiter's gravity well as a source of movement).

Re: Mitochondria

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:16:37 GMT

Hey, Josh. Synergy (the whole being greater than the sum of the parts) is of vital importance here. As is symbiosis (two or more species mutually assisting each other). With mitochondria, the merging took place over 800 million years ago (give or take an epoch or two) and this allowed for multi-cellular organisms to develop.

There is nothing here that negates the need for competition (and yes, it is unrealistic to declare this unnecessary). What seems to happen a lot is a few species co-exist together, competing among themselves more than with other species, and the whole ecology ticks along nicely. And there will always be predators and parasites to contend with once in a while, and that's competition, too.

Keep in mind that I'm developing the spiritual aspects of this as we go here. I've been scanning book indexes (indices, using an older pluralization) for anyone else who has thought of mitochondria as life energy in a spiritual way and so for I'm the only one I've found. It's rather lonely, which is why I'm sharing these ideas at Zaadz.

Re: Mitochondria

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:00:16 GMT

I fully admit the idea of soul is wishful thinking. I was an atheist for a while until I stopped defining myself by the lack of something (a-theos = no God, for those into etymology) but I didn't know what that was until I came across my current appellation, and lo, the Etceterist unfolded.

What I wish is that whatever "I" am, I resonate at a frequency that has harmonies all the way up and down the magnitudes of existence in an "As above, so below" way, or using fractal geometries if you like. A cosmic "chord" to maintain the metaphor. My sense of awareness will never happen again, but I wish that my experience revivifies the harmonies of existence that allowed me to be.

Mitochondria provide the energy needed to vibrate.

Re: Mitochondria

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 02:10:28 GMT

I do think "mind" and "soul" are different: mind is the process of the brain; soul is wishful thinking. Before my body developed, I wasn't. After it stops working, I won't be.

It's a tough worldview, but it strikes me as the only one that's honest. And it's the one that makes me most likely to live each day fully, to be as kind as possible to those around me (if I screw this up, I won't get another chance!), and to be truly grateful for the opportunities that my short time here offers.

Re: Mitochondria

http://lostandfound.gaia.com — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:06:30 GMT

This is all very interesting, and im not sure what to make of it. Are we what the mitochondria form with or are we the sum total of the all the parts, including the mitochondria.

Aristotle said that we are more then the sum total of our parts. I wonder how this is relevant here.

While unrealistic, I do like the idea that its possible that we can all co-exist rather then compete.

Re: Mitochondria

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 13:55:42 GMT

Hey, thanks for the positive feedback! I've been struggling in my head, wondering if maybe I was shouting at my own echo here. I'd started growing fond of the tumbleweeds.

I've only read A Wrinkle in Time, but you're the second person to reference L'Engle, so now I gots to read the rest. Be interesting to find out her take on mitochondria.

I don't know that "soul" exists either, even though it's in my pod name. Finding out is the reason I'm here at Zaadz (and possibly here on Earth). The mitochondria are certainly what the alchemists called "spirit" or life energy; that which animates us. Soul is (at my current phase of thought) a pattern of energy that endures beyond the meat, having come from a time before the meat was formed. So, yeah, it's just a nice idea.

Still trying to decide if "mind" and "soul" really have any difference.

And inclinations? Nah, just doesn't have the same punch.

Re: Mitochondria

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 02:02:46 GMT

Hey, Etc.,

I totally dig this. Hubby was impressed that you got the scientific info right, too (he doesn't expect that from zaadsters).

I take it you've read the L'Engle trilogy? I can't remember which book it's in, but in one of them the mitochondria are part of the plot. Very cool.

They are clearly the source of our life energy...I don't know that "soul" actually exists, or how or why such a thing could or would manifest as molecular beings in our cells, but it's a nice idea, I guess.

Maybe you should call the pod "Poet with the Inclinations of a Scientist," then you wouldn't be attached to the concept of "soul."... (cackle).

HONC if You're Alive

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 03:55:00 GMT

Some more on phosphorus.

This element is called life's bottleneck. This means that for any biome, of all the elements needed for life, phosphorus is the one that runs out first. Hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon (some call them the CHON elements, but I like calling them the HONC elements) are all plentiful on Earth (and must be plentiful for life as we know it to happen).

Lack of phosphorus, until recently, stopped growth within the biome. This, mind you, was essential for the biome to evolve. If there is no free phosphorus, you have to take it from where it's bound: in another lifeform. That lifeform will be not only be reluctant to give up its phosphorus but is also interested in obtaining your phosphorus for its offspring.

Lack of phosphorus would still stop growth with the biome, but we are now capable of mining it and converting it into fertilizer and laundry detergent and washing it into our oceans.

So there is more phosphorus in the global biome than ever before, so growth is easier for everything that exists. This means evolution is slower now than in the pre-Industrial world.

Re: Mitochondria

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 16:23:22 GMT

The more I think about this subject, the more I'm convinced I'm heading in the best direction for full integration of science and spirituality. Today, I feel a little glum regarding this calling that has found me, since those firmly entrenched in either side seem to out-right dismiss the other. I find myself spanning the middle. This is not an unusual place for me, but that doesn't make my chore any easier.

I admit to hoping that someone, somewhere has done some work on mitochondria as the source of spirit (as the alchemists called life energy, which they saw as different from soul), but there is a noticeable dirth.

The work must fall to me, it seems, and I have to come to terms with that.

For starters, check out this assertion that no one knows how the symbiosis began: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tr76/reviews/symbiosis/symbiois_review.pdf

Re: Make Sense, Make Believe

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 17:19:04 GMT

When I learned how to play bridge, I did so with my (then) best friend. We never learned the conventions, so we are basically (to mix my card metaphors) euchred when it comes to playing with anyone else.

So, Five nudge-wink.

Re: Make Sense, Make Believe

http://gakkaiguy.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:01:06 GMT

Tricky! Four Diamonds.

Re: Make Sense, Make Believe

http://etceterist.gaia.com — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 19:31:30 GMT

Ahh, yes, yes! I was stuck on 'making a bed' (which is very important every day (unless you're allergic to dust mites) so your subconscious knows it has somewhere to sleep tonight).

This may be the difference. One makes sense like one makes book and one makes believe as one makes a trick.