Notes

Sunday 7 June 2020 - Saturday 13 June 2020

[Notebook: DB 84 Pam's Book]

[page 340]

Sunday 7 June 2020

The discussion last week suggests that it is difficult to devise a scenario for the origin of the universe either from an initial singularity or from its formal Christian equivalent, a completely simple god. It is easy to see why Plato, Aristotle and many others avoid the question of origins by postulating an eternal universe which has carried over into the Christian world by the postulation of an eternal, omniscient and omnipotent creator which contained the current universe in its mind and simply by saying "Let there be . . . " somehow made it real. However it began we know it is here and we know by the fact that the finite velocity of light makes it possible to look back in time that it has evolved. Further, the fact that our minds are made of matter tells us that there is no material impediment to the production of cognitive systems, nor is there any reason to believe that our minds are in any radical way unique, as traditional theology claims by telling us that our minds and the souls that they inhabit are immaterial entities specially created by god.

The methodology of cognitive cosmology is therefore quite simple: first we identify the physical features which make human brains intelligent, and then we identify these features in the universe as a whole. It would of course be icing on the cake to trace this intelligence back to the very beginning and this may serve as a conclusion to this essay, but it is not necessary to establish the main thesis.

Monday 8 June 2020

The internet and the Cold War — mutual assured destruction, predation and survival. Network atom [two sources and a channel], superposition and Feynman diagrams.

Inertial motion does not require an inout of energy to keep it going, and we assume that the notion of a photon is inertial insofar as it follows a null geodesic [orthogonal to space-time] and its velocity remains constant even though its energy is a function of the gravitational potential which it feels.

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Feynman states the rules of quantum mechanics and says there is nothing more to be known. We may see a clue, however, in the use of complex numbers which are periodic and computation is also periodic so we hang on to the guess that each cycle of phase, that is each quantum of angular momentum, is one step in a computation. Feynman, Leighton & Sands FLP III:01: Chapter 1: Quantum Behaviour

Matrix "ordinal type" Cantor

Synapses work on the neuron by superposition and yield an action potential on the axon when a certain level of stimulation, some are excitatory (positive) others are inhibitory (negative) like the positive and negative phases of a quantum amplitude. I write this while listening to Annie Lennox singing A Whiter Shade of Pale and wonder if my art is as valuable to the world as hers [both forms of solar energy]. Annie Lennox: A Whiter Shade of Pale

Tuesday 9 June 2020

The brain is a periodic system which incorporates many of the features of quantum mechanics. First the spikes (information potentials) that carry information are normalized, that is they are all identical. What counts is their spacing (or phasing) in time. Secondly The functioning of the neuron is a version of superposition. The synapses providing the input are timed by the phasing of the spikes that are input to the synapses. Some are excitatory, some inhibitory, and the neuron integrates (superposes, adds) them in real time and when the net effect reaches a certain level is fires a spike down its axom which is transmitted through branches to a new

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population of synapses on a new population of neurons. What we want is to map the brain onto a Hilbert space as a means to connect to quantum mechanics and the computer network. The question is what maps to what [perhaps we identify synapses with vectors, neurons with operators and spikes in axons with observations]? The computer network is the mathematical backbone in one form, the Hilbert space is the other. The Hilbert space is a set of orthonormal vectors and [operators] and the network a set of memories and processor. Looking for isomorphism, which is the key to knowledge from simple existence attributed to the classical god to the full concreteness of the universe, ie isomorphism across a spectrum of complexity [or resolution], from the first breath of love to a full life spent together. After a couple of days of relative silence a shape is coming out of the mist. How can I realise the things I feel and hear with musical instruments rather than power tools [and pens]? Action potential - Wikipedia

Match up the active ingredients: memory ↔ synaptic weight ↔ vector; processor ↔ neuron ↔ operator.

And the driving potentials: voltage ↔ sugar (ATP) ↔ mathematical mind.

Wednesday 10 June 2020

The only viable cultural unity must be based on the true nature of ourselves and our world and not on fanciful ideas like we are angels trapped in material bodies, strangers in a strange land being tested to see if we are worthy of salvation. Christianity went wrong when the empire politicized it, so that it abandoned reality for

[page 343]

popularity, political power and profit, substituting military power for moral power.

Evolution: genetic depends upon genome for reproduction and selection. Holistic depends on self-catalysis or, like electrons, for a tightly constrained niche where only one form ticks all the boxes. This may be true for all the fundamental particles which seem to form a spanning set of tools to build a universe. So we have seen in the last fifty years of particle physics whenever we come across a dead end a new particle is discovered to explain it, eg the neutrino to explain the range of energies of beta decay electrons.

Wik Vs Queensland Dean Gibson: Wik Vs Queensland, Gibbs C. J.: Eddie Mabo and others v. the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia s. 86/001.

Thursday 11 June 2020

The lust to write has deserted me, except to write about what are the conditions for action? Presumably the perception of a clear route to some desired goal. Always in the back of my mind is Zurek's paper on the breakdown of unitarity in quantum mechanics which says (to me) that a quantum event occurs when two systems [meet] and settle on a common code which makes the transfer of information possible. In the case of a conscious system like myself I am motivated to write when I can produce a concrete expression of something which has coalesced in my mind [what Descartes might call a clear and distinct idea]. This is an instance of a more generic decision to act, whether it be to go to bed or eat something What I see as my current task is to express this insight in three domains, quantum mechanics, neurophysiology and computer

[page 345]

networking to form the backbone of an essay on cognitive cosmology which I hope will serve as a framework for criticizing the response to the work I submitted in 2019 for my philosophy honours. I am feeling that my examiners missed the point of what I was trying to explain about the ontology of epistemology in the universe that has evolved such creatures as academic departments of science and arts. Wojciech Hubert Zurek: Quantum origin of quantum jumps: breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer and the transition from quantum to classical

My theology is really just a matter of definition: what is God? It does not really lead to new consequences like the theory of evolution [or relativity] for instance. It is just another way if looking at things. Ultimately it is a matter of how we treat one another and our world. This change of point of view can have major consequences, however, whether we survive in peace, health and prosperity, or not.

A calculation is a path from one point to another, from a set of inputs to an output, which is what a neuron does using chemical analogue methods which are at root quantum mechanical.

The world computes its way along and if we can understand how this works we can predict [at least some of] the future which is a very useful skill for survival. It would be good to be able to predict what the market is going to do tomorrow but there are too many real time inputs. It is like a big neuron which integrates millions of trades to produce an index which moves up and down reflecting the overall change in sentiment as the day goes on and traders react to the news and the gossip and their feelings.

Conclusion: what is the point of cognitive cosmology? It does not help much with the details of physical cosmology, but it does provide a framework in which to discern the meaning of our situation. The whole system is very human, running from quite rational to very

[page 346]

temperamental, a consequence of the many critical points which lead to unpredictability like "losing one's temper" or an "irreconcilable breakdown of relationship". So there comes a time in the life of certain stars when they become a supernova [and distribute the new atoms they have cooked up to the wider universe].

How are we to understand these events in computational terms? Do we need continuous functions to deal with them? Is every quantum of action a catastrophe?

Friday 12 June 2020

Coronavirus second strike market selloff. I sold too soon, I think.

A basic evil is error implemented by bad decisions motivated by ignorance or self interest backed by violence. Basic source of this evil is militarized religion using false doctrines to justify institutionalized murder. The theory if peace is a attempt to identify and correct the errors that lead to pain and suffering, ie ignorance and self-interest built into us by our evolutionary history. The foundation of any just campaign is a clear perception of what is the right thing to do which is not easy to decide. How do we tie this to increasing entropy, which is generally connected to falling temperature in the face of conserved energy, so increasing gentleness?

From some points of view strength if character is measured by one's ability to override natural instincts, usually in the interest of some corporate rather than individual [personal] goal.

Perhaps the radical issue in physics is the difference between

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space and time, past, present and future. Relevant to Feynman's idea that antiparticles are particles moving back in time and the relationship of time to causality and entropy. Space is in effect a periodic function in that it repeats time and time again, wave after wave [a form of memory]. Space is unmodulated time insofar as the only way we can distinguish different times is by their 'modulation' ie the events occurring in them. But the same seems true of space, since we define space by the marks within it. A bit of thought required here, since a fundamental theological issue is the distinction of the eternal god from the ephemeral universe. From the relativistic point of view, space and time are both coupled and differentiated by the velocity of light.

Action is bounded by possibility: one cannot do the impossible. Impossibility has two general forms. One is embedded in the notion of mathematical existence, so contradictions are not admitted, which is why non-constructive reductio ad absurdum proof is so important in mathematics. The other is embedded in reality. No-one (except Superman and his kin) can fly, it is just not possible (although there are many flight enabling prosthetics available now, from hang gliders to jumbo jets). This latter constraint prevents us from producing a theological picture which will change the world because I simply do not know how to do it, although I would like to. The best I can do is nibble at the edges by arguing that while it is not impossible in the mathematical sense, I do not really know how to build it in the practical sense. The frustration facing every would-be inventor. The parlous and rather primitive state of theology suggests that it should be easy to do better but the fundamental insight eludes me, although I am convinced that identifying god and the universe is the foundation of something, a practical theory of love, peace and creation, the insight that will convert me from a searcher to a prophet and evangelist. The root of my feeling is the way I was seduced into

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Catholicism by being indoctrinated with a pack of politically motivated myths. Such destruction is unfortunately much easier than construction. I am getting a bit personal here, but I do think that mental abuse is at least on a par with sexual abuse. Both forms of abuse have many thousands of years of history and it is indeed fortunate that the sexual abuse endemic to the Church is being outed, but its foundation lies in the intellectual climate of the Church which is a farrago of falsehoods. The only redeeming feature of the institutional church is concentrated in the lay people who take the commandment to love one another seriously [since the institutional church is simply a political machine working for the welfare of its management and shareholders]. Christopher Tyerman: The World of the Crusades

Waffle waffle: A bottom feeding grub wants to be a butterfly.

The thought of being drafted to fight in Viet Nam filled me with horror. I could imagine patrolling in the jungle just waiting to be ambushed and shot. My father advised me never go to war no matter what. Since then I have tried to understand and eliminate the need for war, which seems to have a basic economic motivation. Why sit still and die of starvation in hard times when it is more positive to stay alive by plundering resources from other people? The only answer, therefore, is abundance. The only problem, given the possibility of cooperative abundance is greed, free loaders. This was the message of the theory of peace based on Cantor's

[page 349]

transfinite numbers as a model of creating space fit many human spirits to live together in peace. Have I made any progress since then, 1987? The scenario is too simplistic but the general idea of increasing entropy is sound but very abstract, but given the layered nature of the universe, abstract means ancient and simple, a symmetry which has been around for a long time. The first symmetry of all is god, the initial singularity, the foundation of the first law of thermodynamics, energy and quantum mechanics. The second is creation, the increase of entropy, the interactions that break unitarity as we see in von Neumann's treatment of measurement. This much seems pretty solid and then we go on from there to create the universe in principle, at least, by communication, variation, and selection as I have described in snippets on my websites and it is all coming into focus, right or wrong it will make a consistent hypothesis. A theory of peace: Lecture 1: Mathematical theology, John von Neumann: Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

Saturday 13 June 2020

Sometimes it seems a brain is smarter than its owner. This is very clear in romantic matters, where two people, perhaps more or less against their conscious wills, become smitten with one another and then go through the proverbial hell and high water to be together against all apparently rational arguments to the contrary. In moments of despair such as recorded above I feel that I am subject to a similar phenomenon with respect to theology. Why, I wonder, am I so concerned with fundamental physics when I see my vocation as theology? The answer, it seems, may be a matter of some 50 orders of magnitude, the difference in scale between what we call quantum measurement and a human love affair. The link between these to phenomena is the scale invariant logical model that has been in my mind for decades, the transfinite (computer)(neural)(cosmic) network and the heuristic of

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simplicity which tells me that the not-and logical operation, the bosonic communication between two fermions and the spiritual communication between Father and Son in the Trinity are all instances of the same phenomenon whose theoretical basis is to some extent von Neumann's theory of measurement as the source of increase in entropy, that is creation.

The key to Einstein's general theory of relativity was his realization through the happiest thought of his life that he is physically a participant in the gravitational structure of the world rather than just a spectator as Newton saw himself, taking god's eye view of the world from the outside as it were. Using Gauss's approach to establishing an abstract coordinate system for the world and Riemann's expansion of this idea into 'inner' geometry in the form of a differential manifold, Einstein was able to put the general theory together.

The equivalent stance, as I see it, is to see the equivalence between quantum measurement and falling in love, both of which arise from two particles seeing something irresistable in one another. My first romantic instance, after I left the monastery, was instigated by a woman who overwhelmed me with he passion and went to great trouble to get me, eventually leading to marriage. In the second case, my own passion was the driving forcve which led to a long collaboration and two children. The third went the other way, a homeless woman turning up on my doorstep leading to a long adventure and a child now 25 years old. The last began about five years ago when I saw her in the street and it has yet to reach consummation after many vicissitudes. Stay tuned. However, I now turn to the theological consequences of this little history

which is the subject of a potential website and an essay which I hope to make into a doctoral thesis (so gaining the resources for a marriage) whose working title is Cognitive Cosmology.

So, like Einstein, I am in the measurement. Every breath I take is a measurement of my cosmic environment, a communication with it and I am, from this point of view, trying to make sense of the theoretical transition [between] quantum mechanical amplitudes and observable events and, just as important, vice versa, what the quantum mechanics call the preparation of a state: in some cases with a multi-billion dollar work of engineering called the large hadron collider, but which can also be done in the kitchen with a mixing bowl and an oven.

Quantum mechanics serves in effect to describe the relationship between mind and matter. We cannot see one another's minds except through the body language that the mind creates. Every move I make, every word I speak, every laugh and every tear are expressions of my mind and everybody who knows me uses these physical representations to gauge the state of my mind, whether I am happy or sad, angry or relaxed, and I, using my secret knowledge of my own mind understand the states of everybody else's mind by sensing their body language. The world too, has body language and quantum mechanics is our most fundamental means of understanding what makes the world go, from the shining sun to the slow changes in rocks to the evolution and functioning of life.

We know now that mind is a function of our brains and nervous systems supplemented by senses, muscles, and all sorts of chemical signals like pheromones and hormones. Our minds work in effect by by waves carried in nerves and processed by neurons and other cells and this processing is closely related to the processing of quantum amplitudes which are

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also waves.

Here ends PAM'S BOOK. The next volume is SCIENCE, DB 85, beginning Sunday 14 June 2020.

Copyright:

You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.

Further reading

Books

le Carre, John, Single & Single, Scribner 1999 Amazon editorial review: Amazon.com Review On a Turkish hillside, ex-Communist mobsters shatter the skull of a corrupt English lawyer. In a sleepy English village, the authorities ask a lonely children's magician how come £5,000,030 sterling just got anonymously deposited in his baby daughter's bank account. With machine-like logic and soulful literary magic, John le Carré links these two events in Single & Single, a stay-up-all-night thriller. . . . Ex-spy le Carré was there when the Berlin Wall went up, and his spy craft is legendarily realistic. His female spy/love interest is less so--the opposite of a femme fatale, she might be termed a "deus sex machina." But the book's crucial father-son relationship is quite real, because, like the irresistible villain of A Perfect Spy, Tiger is based on le Carré's own con-man dad. The cold war is over, but le Carré is hot. And he will endure.' --Tim Appelo  Amazon   back

Tyerman, Christopher, The World of the Crusades, Yale UP 2019 ' Throughout the Middle Ages crusading was justified by religious ideology, but the resulting military campaigns were fueled by concrete objectives: land, resources, power, reputation. Crusaders amassed possessions of all sorts, from castles to reliquaries. Campaigns required material funds and equipment, while conquests produced bureaucracies, taxation, economic exploitation, and commercial regulation. Wealth sustained the Crusades while material objects, from weaponry and military technology to carpentry and shipping, conditioned them. This lavishly illustrated volume considers the material trappings of crusading wars and the objects that memorialized them, in architecture, sculpture, jewelry, painting, and manuscripts. Christopher Tyerman's incorporation of the physical and visual remains of crusading enriches our understanding of how the crusaders themselves articulated their mission, how they viewed their place in the world, and how they related to the cultures they derived from and preyed upon..'  Amazon   back

von Neumann, John, and Robert T Beyer (translator), Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press 1983 Jacket: '. . . a revolutionary book that caused a sea change in theoretical physics. . . . JvN begins by presenting the theory of Hermitean operators and Hilbert spaces. These provide the framework for transformation theory, which JvN regards as the definitive form of quantum mechanics. . . . Regarded as a tour de force at the time of its publication, this book is still indispensable for those interested in the fundamental issues of quantum mechanics.'  Amazon   back

Papers

Clawson, Dan, "Tenure and the Future of the University", Science, 324, 5931, 29 May 2009, page 1147-1148. Science Education Forum: Infrastructure: 'Tenure has been eroded by structural pressures, but it remains vital to universities that value creativity'. back

Marx, Christopher J, "Getting in Touch with Your Friends", Science, 324, 5931, 29 May 2009, page 1150-1151. Science: Perspectives: Microbiology: 'Evolution of complex physical interactions between microbes promotes growth and enables behaviors that neither party can perform alone.'. back

Links

Action potential - Wikipedia, Action potential - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In physiology, an action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific axon location rapidly rises and falls: this depolarisation then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarise. . . . Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, called excitable cells, which include neurons, muscle cells, and endocrine cells, as well as in some plant cells. ' back

Annie Lennox, A whiter Shade of Pale, We skipped the light fandango Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor I was feeling kinda seasick But the crowd called out for more The room was humming harder As the ceiling flew away When we called out for another drink The waiter brought a tray And so it was that later As the miller told his tale That her face, at first just ghostly Turned a whiter shade of pale She said, 'There is no reason' And the truth is plain to see But I wandered through my playing cards And would not let her be One of sixteen vestal virgins Who were leaving for the coast And although my eyes were open They might have just as well've been closed And so it was that later As the miller told his tale That her face, at first just ghostly Turned a whiter shade of pale And so it was that later (Procol Harum) back

Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Retweeting through the Great Firewall, ' This report analyses a persistent, large-scale influence campaign linked to Chinese state actors on Twitter and Facebook. This activity largely targeted Chinese-speaking audiences outside of the Chinese mainland (where Twitter is blocked) with the intention of influencing perceptions on key issues, including the Hong Kong protests, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and, to a lesser extent Covid-19 and Taiwan. Extrapolating from the takedown dataset, to which we had advanced access, given to us by Twitter, we have identified that this operation continues and has pivoted to try to weaponise the US Government’s response to current domestic protests and create the perception of a moral equivalence with the suppression of protests in Hong Kong.' back

Bodean Hedwards, Fast moves in India-Australia relations pushing millions more into modern slavery, ' Australia should be ambitious for its friendship with India. We have a long-term interest in India developing as another prosperous, harmonious democracy. Standing in the way of that is India’s chaotic web of labour laws. There are hundreds at both national and state levels. They’ve long been a disincentive to trade and investment because of the compliance challenges for law-abiding foreign businesses. Yet those same laws are so loosely enforced domestically that dodgy and unlawful working conditions are rife. Indeed of India’s workforce of 500 million, it is estimated about 450 million are in the “informal sector”, with no minimum pay rates, let alone other benefits.' back

Carol A. Stabile, During Floyd protests, media industry industry reckons with long history of collaboration with law enforcement, ' “We want to see more,” Rashad Robinson, the executive director of the civil rights advocacy organization Color of Change, told The New York Times after the cancellation of “Cops.” “These cop reality shows that glorify police but will never show the deep level of police violence are not reality, they are P.R. arms for law enforcement. Law enforcement doesn’t need P.R. They need accountability.” ' back

Dean Gibson, Wik Vs Queensland, ' This landmark feature documentary surrounds the historical court decision in 1996 by the High Court of Australia granting native title to the Wik People of Cape York, and the demonisation that followed at the hands of politicians and the media. With unique access to key players of that moment in history, and featuring never-before seen footage of the two (then) young lawyers, Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton, Wik Vs Queensland tells a very personal story set against the backdrop of a tumultuous time in Queensland's history.' back

Divine right of kings - Wikipedia, Divine right of kings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The divine right of kings is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm, including (in the view of some, especially in Protestant countries) the Church. According to this doctrine, since only God can judge an unjust king, the king can do no wrong. The doctrine implies that any attempt to depose the king or to restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute a sacrilegious act.' back

Doyle McManus, Trump finds an unexpected center of resistance: the Pentagon, ' Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also weighed in, warning that the U.S. armed forces will not allow themselves to be used against nonviolent protests. Every member of the U.S. military swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution, he wrote his commanders, “including the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.” . . . A full-dress parade of retired officers spoke out as well. Milley’s predecessor as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, retired Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, warned that Trump’s threat to use troops would damage trust in the armed forces. “Our fellow citizens are not the enemy,” he wrote. It was an extraordinary moment — as if we were in a banana republic ruled by a would-be authoritarian, and the nation’s military leaders decided it was their job to preserve the Constitution. ' back

Farnaz Fassihi, A Daughter Is Beheaded and Iran Asks if Women Have a Right to Safety, ' Before he beheaded his 14-year-old daughter with a farming sickle, Reza Ashrafi called a lawyer. His daughter, Romina, was going to dishonor the family by running off with her 29-year-old boyfriend, he said. What kind of punishment, he asked the lawyer, would he get for killing her? The lawyer assured him that as the girl’s guardian he would not face capital punishment but at most 3 to 10 years in jail, Mr. Ashrafi’s relatives told an Iranian newspaper. Three weeks later, Mr. Ashrafi, a 37-year-old farmer, marched into the bedroom where the girl was sleeping and decapitated her.' back

Feynman, Leighton & Sands FLP III:01, Chapter 1: Quantum Behaviour, 'The gradual accumulation of information about atomic and small-scale behavior during the first quarter of the 20th century, which gave some indications about how small things do behave, produced an increasing confusion which was finally resolved in 1926 and 1927 by Schrödinger, Heisenberg, and Born. They finally obtained a consistent description of the behavior of matter on a small scale. We take up the main features of that description in this chapter.' back

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report, 'To view the report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, you can download the report in full or download a section of the report by clicking on the links below. You can also order the Commission's authorized and official versions of the report by clicking on your preferred option in the box on the right.' back

George T. Conway III, Trump's soulless nature has done the nation incalculable harm, '. . . it’s more than just narcissism that drives this failing, flailing president. However difficult they can be, even extreme narcissists can have consciences. They don’t necessarily cast aside behavioral standards or laws, or lie ceaselessly with reckless abandon. Trump’s behavior is conscienceless, showing utter disregard for the safety of others, consistent irresponsibility, callousness, cynicism and disrespect of other human beings. Contempt for truth and honesty, and for norms, rules and laws. A complete inability to feel remorse, or guilt. ' back

Gibbs C. J., Eddie Mabo and others v. the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia s. 86/001. , 'This action is brought by the plaintiffs, who are Murray Islanders, and who claim that they are respectively the owners by custom, the holders of traditional native title and the holders of usufructuary rights to particular areas of land on the islands of Mer, Dawar, and Waier, which are situated in Torres Strait and form part of the State of Queensland. The defendants are the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth.' back

Terra nullius - Wikipedia, Terra nullius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Terra nullius ( . . . plural terrae nullius) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one", which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty. Sovereignty over territory which is terra nullius may be acquired through occupation,[though in some cases doing so would violate an international law or treaty.' back

Kali Holloway, Your Confedarcy Is Burning. Its About Time, ' By the [Southern Poverty Law Center]’s last count, there are still somewhere around 780 Confederate markers—mostly in the South but also in places including Seattle, Rhode Island and the South Side of Chicago—celebrating the defenders of a government whose vice president declared “its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.” ' back

Marwan Bishara, Trump Almighty needs a miracle, ' Trump would like to have you rest assured that he will beat these "pathetic losers", "thugs", agitators and news fakers. Just as he "built the greatest economy in the world, the best the US has ever had", he is "doing it again!" After all, "God is on our side", as he told his political supporters at a megachurch outside Miami back in January. After all, he is the incarnation of the "Second Coming"; he is "the chosen one". Or is he now! ' back

Matthew Wills, Evolution: why it seems to have direction and what to expec tnext, ' Clearly, there is an apparent contradiction at the heart of evolutionary biology. On one hand, the mechanisms of evolution have no predisposition for change in any particular direction. On the other hand, let those mechanisms get going, and beyond some threshold, the interwoven ecological and developmental systems they generate tend to yield more and more species with greater maximum complexity.' back

Michael Tomasky, Wiliam Barr, Fascist, Sends Troops to Crush the Secularists, ' Donald Trump may have the instincts of a fascist, but it’s Bill Barr who’s executing that vision. This guy is a fascist, and a smart one. He’s read books. He probably has a bust of Franco somewhere in the house. I choose Franco because Barr’s brand of fascism reeks of Falangism, the fascist movement in Spain that was with Franco during the civil war and believed in the unity of church (Catholic) and state.' back

Narcissus (Mythology) - Wikipedia, Narcissus (Mythology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In Greek mythology, Narcissus (/nɑrˈsɪsəs/; Greek: Νάρκισσος, Narkissos) was a Hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty. He was the son of the river god Cephissus and nymph Liriope. He was proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis noticed this behavior and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus drowned. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself and one's physical appearance.' back

Shireen Daft, Tear gas and pepper spray are chemical weapons. So why can police use them?, ' The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia famously asserted in the 1990s that it is contrary to the basic principles of humanity and commonsense to prohibit weapons in international conflict but not in civil wars. What is inhumane in one, the tribunal said, must be inhumane in the other. The question, then, is how we can continue to draw a distinction for the use of riot control agents by police, especially when these weapons are being used not to stop violent criminals, but against people exercising their fundamental human right to protest.' back

Simukai Chigudu, As one of Oxford's few black professors, let me tell you why I care about Rhodes, ' Rhodes’ imperialism gave rise to a pattern of settler colonialism in Southern Africa predicated on racial domination in political, economic and social spheres. In Rhodesia, 8 million disenfranchised black people eked out a living at subsistence level or below it, while 250,000 white people, barely 3% of the population, owned more than half of the country’s available land, and virtually all of its business and industry, before independence from colonial rule in 1980. Education, healthcare and housing were all segregated, with white people enjoying levels equivalent to those in western Europe or the United States. Rhodes’ statue, then, is no mere physical artefact. It is imbued with a noxious history. ' back

Stanislav Vysotsky, What - or who - is antifa?, ' In my forthcoming book, “American Antifa: The Tactics, Culture, and Practice of Militant Antifascism,” I describe antifa as a decentralized collection of individual activists who mostly use nonviolent methods to achieve their ends. Their goal is to resist the spread of fascism. That word can be an inexact term, but generally antifa activists see fascism as the violent enactment and enforcement of biological and social inequalities between people.' back

Studdert, Miller & Wintemute, Coronavirus Could Make America's Gun Problem Even Deadlier, ' Last week we released results of a new study — the largest ever on the connection between suicide and handgun ownership — in The New England Journal of Medicine revealing that gun owners were nearly four times as likely to die by suicide than people without guns, even when controlling for gender, age, race and neighborhood.' back

Suzie Gibson, The Brandis effect on regional Australia? Just look at Bathurst, 'Apprehension over the Coalition’s recent decision to expunge $104.7 million from the Australia Council’s budget is understandable. It is especially worrying for regional towns such as Bathurst, who care a great deal about the arts and heartily engage in experimental theatre, proving the arts are not the exclusive domain of urban Australia.' back

Thalia Anthony & Stephen Gray, Was there slavery in Australia? Yes. It shouldn't even be up for debate, ' Prime Minister Scott Morrison asserted in a radio interview that “there was no slavery in Australia”. . . . Morrison followed up with “I’ve always said we’ve got to be honest about our history”. Unfortunately, his statement is at odds with the historical record. This history was widely and publicly documented, among other sources, in the 2006 Australian Senate report Unfinished Business: Indigenous Stolen Wages. ' back

Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, '14. This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism(124) and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.' back

Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Quantum origin of quantum jumps: breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer and the transition from quantum to classical, 'Submitted on 17 Mar 2007 (v1), last revised 18 Mar 2008 (this version, v3)) "Measurements transfer information about a system to the apparatus, and then further on -- to observers and (often inadvertently) to the environment. I show that even imperfect copying essential in such situations restricts possible unperturbed outcomes to an orthogonal subset of all possible states of the system, thus breaking the unitary symmetry of its Hilbert space implied by the quantum superposition principle. Preferred outcome states emerge as a result. They provide framework for the ``wavepacket collapse'', designating terminal points of quantum jumps, and defining the measured observable by specifying its eigenstates. In quantum Darwinism, they are the progenitors of multiple copies spread throughout the environment -- the fittest quantum states that not only survive decoherence, but subvert it into carrying information about them -- into becoming a witness.' back