Pi: The Whole is Greater than the sum of it's Parts

Pi is an obsession for some... did you ever wonder why?
 In the very popular movie, "Contact," based on the popular book by Carl Sagan, contact is made with alien's from another world. One thing leads to another and the aliens send a message about Pi. The main character and scientist from the movie, Ellie, does as the message say's and ends up decoding Pi. 

Pi has been the obsession of many people, scientists, mathematicians, and nerds in general since Geometry was first discovered.



If you are wondering why by this point it's because Pi is a very strange number. If you didn't already know or forgot, Pi is defined as the circumference of the circle and is rounded off to 3.14159 or just 3.14 for most things. It's really strange in quite a few ways but as far as the decimal is concerned Pi is infinite.

Pi, the circumference of a circle, repeats forever into it's decimal (3.14159 * infinity) as an irrational number. It is, so far as we can tell as a civilization, without logic and therefore unable to be understood or truly computed or measured. Isn't that strange?

So far, Pi has been calculated to more than a trillion decimal places with the use of computers but just about forty decimal is accurate enough to describe distances on subatomic levels, like in the nucleus of an atom, using mathematics.

Pi will work for any circle. The same number is always there out of millions, perhaps billions, of circles people and computers have measured.

Pi is also wholly irrational. This is largely the reason why people have become so obsessed with it. Pi has no pattern to it. It's decimal repeat's to infinite so far as anyone or any computer can tell and/as there is no pattern to it. If there was a pattern, or if we discovered a pattern, pi would no longer be irrational and we, as a civilization, could probably solve all physics and math problems to date. That is, the universe would basically be revealed to us. This could also be considered a technological singularity, due to the results it would produce. Unfortunately, as mentioned, no one has figured out Pi in the course of human history and civilization. 

Newton, Einstein, and computers are just three great intellects that have been unable to so far solve pi.

Most people who dedicate all or part of their lives to science do so because their core belief's center around the universe being logical, and therefore being able to be understood by humans. Science is essentially a system or method for determining facts. The system of science is and is based on logic (Postulates, theories, hypothesis, deduction, etc...) so it's somewhat embarrassing to have an irrational number such as pi.

The universe is supposed to be rational. If it wasn't how could we ever figure anything out? According to the rules of science, logic can be applied anywhere to figure out or solve a problem. But this hasn't worked with Pi. People have spent their whole lives trying to solve it in vain.

• Contradiction or Duality?
  

Can you imagine wasting a lifetime trying to solve this?:

A line is equivalent to a minimum of two points.

If you take a string (represented as a line) and fold into a circle then compare the distance around the circle (Circumference) with the original length of the line, then the circle's circumference will be approx. 3.14 (Pi π) times larger than it's diameter.

Unlike squares, triangles, and all angels in general, circles, or any curves for that matter, appear to be irrational in comparison.

If we take any measurable distance within the circle and try to divide it evenly into it's circumference, we will not get a whole number or the number we would expect to get with logic.

Common sense or logic tells us, when viewing the circle, that it can be divided equally into parts. However this is just simply not the case. The parts that we divide a circle into, no matter in how many different ways or combination's, never add up to equal the circumference of the circle.

Hence: The Whole is Greater than the Sum of It's Parts

All Pervading Energy Is Universal Duality

Energy is the same as information as you can't have information without energy. Energy is also heat, or at least one form of energy. Electrical energy is another. There are really many different types of energy that we classify but generally speaking, energy is a property of all matter in the universe. Essentially too, all matter is actually made of energy. The photon for example, is the smallest quantity of energy that can exist in the universe. The photon is extremely small to say the least but in importance it is second to none.

Energy is everywhere and everything. It is all around us, including within us. Energy is like the stuff of stuff; Photons as a result are constantly zipping around everywhere unbeknown to most people. This is because light is actually made up of photons [Vision and Sight: The Photoreceptive eye]. The photons are given off by the sun as light rays that travel millions of miles across space and dust until finally reaching our eyes. Did I also mention that the light is produced by millions of nuclear reactions (fusion) across the surface of the sun?

Energy and matter [duality] are said to be equivalent. I think it is more true to say they are like brothers or sisters; Two sides of the same coin. Both are very similar, with few slight differences. For one, matter tends to be positive as it generally composes the elements whose core components (Nucleus) is positive. Energy on the other hand, most commonly comes in the form of the negatives (-) like electricity, photons, (light) or even simple heat. Of the three, light is the most mysterious and studied. The physicist Albert Einstein for example spent the remainder of his life trying to figure how how light or electromagnetism (+ & -) could be used to solve and explain all problems in physics. That still hasn't been achieved unfortunately but Plant's use it (light) to maintain their life cycle through photosynthesis. And, if you don't get enough light, you can even get a vitamin D deficiency.

So what is energy?

Energy is flow.

And,

There are two types of flow. Each type is opposite to the other type but everyone disagrees on what to call it. In physics and science in general it's usually called either positive and negative or magnetic and electric [Energy of attraction - positive (+) and negative (-)] . In other disciplines it's different though like Yin and Yang being the qualities of Chi. Or you could be much simpler about it: Clockwise counter-clockwise (Spin); up down; right left.


A lot of people call this duality, myself included. Though I'm not really sure what it means, I'm certain it's somehow key to understanding life and consciousness.. and I guess others would be as well considering it's a key principle in all fields of knowledge I am aware of. It's amazing how many two's there are. Two of everything really, right down to the sub-atomic and elemtary particles.




The Full becomes Empty and the Empty Becomes Full:

Flow is the movement or transfer of substance, be it matter or energy or some other thing like time, from one location to another. The substance does this naturally, we are told, to reach equillibrium. I don't know if I always like using such a simple term for such a complex process, but it is a scientific law so form your own conclusions. Otherwise let's just say flow can occur for many many reasons most if not all of which may be ascribed to the end result of balance.

Interestingly enough flow travels in waves. No one really knows for certain why this occurrs but it could be due to the structure of existance itself, otherwise known as space-time. It is thought that since space-time is curved, and flow travels and rests upon space-time (that is, within the deminsions of Length, Width, Height, and Time), the flow should naturally take on a pattern other than a straight line. However that doesn't exactly explain why there are waves. This means things are obviously much more complex than we currently know or understand, especially if you consider the scope of flow. Flow, no matter what shape, form or texture -in all forms- behaves as a wave, be it particle, gas, light, or consciousness itself [e.g. Pi mystery].

The Difference in Physical and Non-Physical

Many people get tricked into thinking that things are physical because we can measure them It seems. Brain waves for example. We may measure the brain in terms of ECG's or electrocardiographs and MRI's. However what we are measuring or trying to perceive within the mind or brain is the energies of the mind or brain. The MRI or magnetic resonance imagine works because it is designed to read or pick up on energy. But what is energy? Do you believe it to be physical?

There are things around us which we can measure but cannot physically touch. Things which appear to have form but not substance. Space-time is a good example of this. But just because a thing can be measured doesn't necessarily mean it's physical.

Many people mistake physical for meaning 'real'. But, what is real? If a thing isn't known, a thing isn't known. CERN is discovering and producing previously unknown scientific results right now. Would you also say that because a thing doesn't yet exist or rather, knowledge of a thing such as proton particle collisions, then by virtue of not knowing or being able to observe directly it doesn't exist?

"If a tree fall's in the forest, and no one is around to see it, does it make a sound?"

To me, physical is substance. This usually equates to touch. However I cannot touch space-time, yet we still measure it. Space-time is decidedly non-physical, yet it still exists and is apparently a kind of medium, like air or water would be on earth, in which the entire universe resides in.

Space-time, I would say, is energy, where pure energy, is non-physical.

Furthermore, it seems true to me that what you call physical is just a phenomena or property of pure energy since that is what all matter in the universe is reducible to.

In a black hole for example:

The black hole is said to be the twisting of the non-physical substance, Space-time.

This is said to cause extreme gravitational distortions where 'extreme' is an understatement.

The "Gravity" of space-time is sufficiently strong to attract all known matter and energy in the universe. Nothing can resist it's power so far as we know.

However energy, in the form of ultra high intensity Gamma waves, are emitted from the black hole.

"Gamma rays (denoted as γ) are electromagnetic radiation of high frequency (very short wavelength). They are produced by sub-atomic particle interactions such as electron-positron annihilation, neutral pion decay, radioactive decay, fusion, fission or inverse Compton scattering in astrophysical processes."Gamma ray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


In the picture above, the sphere's composed together are said to represent matter while the waves emanating from them in the form of gamma ray is said to be non-physical pure energy.

The pattern of this energy, is represented by the wavy line. The line itself doesn't actually exist in any form, it's just what we would see if we could see it in a sense. Like the pattern the energy seems to follow or oscillate on. String theory for example, says that all matter is an oscillating string, which I think is pretty much the same as saying it's a wave but a wave is just oscillating energy that we detect by it's effect on physical matter that we "see" intimately.

Space-time represents itself as waves and folds in mediums. For example, the ocean is a medium or collection of salty water and has strong wave properties. Likewise, space is a medium of sorts that also has the wave property. A black hole for example, is the twisting of space in on itself and so has a wave or spiral pattern. Matter entering the black hole follows the course of this pattern, traveling down deeper into the black hole as it spirals around and around.

The pattern observed however, is apparently similar to this:


Which also looks a lot like these "ordinary" or common things:





When a scientist looks at a wave and determines that it is non physical energy, he is just as baffled as anyone who would do the same. There is no concise theory to explain the pattern observed on every level of reality called the wave or spiral as it is a complete mystery we have yet to solve.

All we know is that the wave is like vibrations or oscillations and that it is a property of all matter-energy known in the universe including human beings and human thought.

Thought or consciousness itself can be likewise considered a pure kind of energy whose various wave patterns or oscillations are attributed to different thoughts or ideas.

Mostly though, the point is that physics is really really strange that many times don't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. All the good theories used to explain is riddled with paradox's and contradictions so essentially, we can't really say we know much about anything. Physics is good, but it hasn't yet been able to solve or deal with these problems so we must also rely on other ideas and fields of study.

Oddly enough, the fields of study we typically rely on are perceived complements or even opposites of physics, like religion and philosophy.

buddhism physics - Google Search

Eventually, as a result, I expect that science and divinity will become unified in a sense... a kind of divine science if you will. Once minds are open/been made aware that is. I believe we are very close to achieving this as it is, we just need to "connect the dots".

Awareness Quotes

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

- Chinese Proverb -

Whatever is material shape, past, future, present, subjective or objective, gross or subtle, mean or excellent, whether it is far or near — all material shape should be seen by perfect intuitive wisdom as it really is: "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self." Whatever is feeling, whatever is perception, whatever are habitual tendencies, whatever is consciousness, past, future, present, subjective or objective, gross or subtle, mean or excellent, whether it is far or near — all should be seen by perfect intuitive wisdom as it really is: "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self." Zen Quotes by Buddha Gautama (born 563 B.C.) 


Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path. Zen Quotes by Bodhidharma (470-543)  


"Just think of the trees: they let the birds perch and fly, with no intention to call them when they come and no longing for their return when they fly away. If people's hearts can be like the trees, they will not be off the Way. " Langya


"When you're deluded, every statement is an ulcer; when you're enlightened, every word is wisdom. " Zhiqu
 
He who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor shrinking from the other — take it that such a one has attained Perfection. "Bhagavad-Gita"


The mind that does not understand is the Buddha. There is no other....Zen Quotes by Ma-Tsu.   


Neither is there Bodhi-tree, Nor yet a mirror bright; Since in reality all is void, Whereon can the dust fall?....Hui Neng (638-713). 


Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation....Tibetan Saying. 



I were a tree among trees, a cat among animals, this life would have a meaning, or rather this problem would not arise, for I should belong to this world. I should be this world to which I am now opposed by my whole consciousness and my whole insistence upon familiarity. This ridiculous reason is what sets me in opposition to all creation. I cannot cross it out with a stroke of a pen....Zen Quote by Albert Camus. 



You cannot describe it or draw it. You cannot praise it enough or perceive it. No place can be found in which to put the Original Face; it will not disappear even when the universe is destroyed....Zen Quotes by Mumon. 


When you pass through, no one can pin you down, no one can call you back....Zen Quotes by Ying-An. 


The reverse side also has a reverse side....Japanese Proverb. 


Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views-then the world will be governed....Chuang-tzu.  


God has no religion.....Mahatma Gandhi.


Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you....Sheng-yen.


The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached. We could have great financial wealth and be unattached to it, or we light have nothing and be very attached to having nothing. Usually, if we have seen through the nature of attachment, we will have a tendency to have few possessions, but not necessarily. Most practice gets caught in this area of fiddling with our environments or our minds. " My mind should be quiet". Our mind doesn't matter; what matters is non attachment to the activities of the mind. And our emotions are harmless unless they dominate us 9 that is, if we are attached to them)---then they create dis-harmony for everyone. The first problem in practice is to see that we are attached. As we do consistent, patient zazen we begin to know that we are nothing but attachments; they rule our lives. But we never lose an attachment by saying it has to go. Only as we gain true awareness of its true nature does it quietly and imperceptibly wither away; like a sandcastle with waves rolling over, it just smoothes out and finally Where is it? What was it? .....Zen Quotes by Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen    


 No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special. Zen Master Sawaki, in Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253 ), Instructions for the Zen Cook 


Ride your horse along the edge of a sword; hide yourself in the middle of flames....Zen saying. 


I cannot tell if what the world considers 'happiness' is happiness or not. All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong, grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd, unable to stop themselves or to change their direction. All the while they claim to be just on the point of attaining happiness....Chuang-tzu. 


 All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your own salvation with diligence....The Buddha's last words.


If yin and yang do not exist, the One (the Great Ultimate)" can not revealed If the One cannot be revealed then the function of the two forces will cease, Reality and unreality, motion and rest, integration and disintegration, and clearness and turbidity are two different substances. In the final analysis, however, they are one. - Chang Tsai, (1020-1078)
    
he negative and positive spiritual forces (kuei-shen) are the spontaneous activity of the two material forces (yin and yang). Sage hood means absolute sincerity (1) forming a unity with Heaven, and spirit means the Great Vacuity in its wondrous operation and response. All molds and forms in the universe are but dregs of this spiritual transformation. - Chang Tsai, (1020-1078)


The life of plants is based on earth [for their roots grow downward]. Their transition from integration to disintegration depends on the rise and fall of yin and yang. - Chang Tsai, (1020-1078)
Yang cannot exist by itself; it can exist only when it is supported by yin. Hence yin is the foundation of yang. Similarly, yin cannot alone manifest itself; it can manifest itself only when accompanied by yang. Hence yang is the expression of yin. Yang controls the origination and enjoys the completion [of things] while yin follows the way [yang produces] and completes the work of yang. Shao Yong, (1012-1077)


Yang is superior and spiritually powerful. Being superior, it can control the external world. Being spiritually powerful, it can preserve its unlimited efficiency. For this reason the Way creates heaven and earth and all things without showing itself. All these are patterned after the Way. Yang is the function of the Way, while yin is its substance. Yin and yang operate on each other. When yang is the function, yin becomes superior. When yin is the function, yang becomes superior. Shao Yong, (1012-1077)

“The empty body is dreadful, when the soul goes out from within. The burning fire of life is extinguished, and the smoke of the breath no longer emerges. The five relatives (the senses) weep and wail painfully, and waste away through the love of duality.” - Sri Guru Granth Sahib 

“While you are alive, conquer death, and you shall have no regrets in the end.”

“ I have done this, and I will do that - I am an idiotic fool for saying this! I have forgotten the Doer of all; I am caught in the love of duality. There is no pain as great as the pain of Maya; it drives people to wander all around the world, until they become exhausted.” 


“Within Maya, the poise of intuitive balance is not produced. Maya leads to the love of duality.”

“The ignorant worship the love of duality; in the Lord's Court they shall be punished. So worship the Lord, the Light of the soul.” 

“Those who do not understand the nature of sin and virtue are attached to duality; they wander around deluded.” 

“This world is deluded; You Yourself have deluded it. Forgetting the One, it has become engrossed in duality.” 

“Deep within, mind is soiled and stained by the love of duality.” 

“When egotism and duality are eradicated, one intuitively merges in peace.” 

“Forever and ever, You are the only One; You set the play of duality in motion. You created egotism and arrogant pride, and You placed greed within our beings. Keep me as it pleases Your Will; everyone acts as You cause them to act.” 

“By Guru's Grace, intuitive understanding is obtained; subduing the sense of duality, they are in love with the One.” 

“For the sake of Maya, they set the stage and dance, but they are in love with duality, and they obtain only sorrow.” 

“Give up your selfishness, and you shall find peace; like water mingling with water, you shall merge in absorption.”

“The waves of desire in the world-ocean are intoxicating wine. ”


“The purpose of Zen is the perfection of character” - Yasutani Roshi

“Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment.” - John Bradshaw quotes

“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”  - Shunryu Suzuki

“Surfing soothes me, it's always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I'm on a wave.” - Paul Walker


“Golf is a spiritual game. It's like Zen. You have to let your mind take over.” -  Amy Alcott

 “There is no Catholic Zen, Jewish Zen or Islamic Zen. It has no theology.” - Kenneth Byalin

 “Everything is self-evident.”  - Rene Descartes

Perceiving Reality

What is reality? Have you given the question serious thought? When we try to pin down reality, and seriously discern it's nature, we generally run into paradoxes and contradictions:

"Are dreams considered reality or would you say reality is only physical? If it's only physical then would you consider there is no reality to consciousness or the ability to think since thought is not physical...?"

The only definition I was able to decide on that will fit all other definitions of reality is that reality is perception.

Reality is what you Perceive beyond the immediate you called the 'self' or 'me'.

At our essence or core the only thing we can utter with any certainty of truth is the famous maxim,

"I think therefore I am"

(as first spoken by Rene Descartes)

A maxim is taken as an undeniable logic or truth about something. Most people wouldn't debate the quote as being true because it's considered self evident or self obvious.

Since all we are truly is our minds or our thoughts, then what we perceive is obviously our reality. The question then is:

Is what you perceive to be reality in conflict with other perceptions of reality?

The Importance of Sacred Geometry

When I first discovered Sacred Geometry, I didn't think much of it. It's easy to overlook it's significance, and most do. Sacred Geometry is not easily explained however there is one key feature that is present in all geometries that are said to be sacred: the key is called the ratio.
There are various ratio's and all of them are what you would call 'mysterious'. Pi would be my first example and the one you are probably most familiar with. If you can recall high school geometry for a moment, Pi is the circumference around a circle.

However Pi is very strange. As you might know, people sometimes become... obsessed with pi you could say. This is because, in spite of logic, Pi is wholly irrational. This really pisses smart people off sometimes who desire to know everything. To date, Pi is one of those things in existence which no one has been able to really explain.

Pi is just one ratio out of many but all the ratio's in sacred geometry, including pi, are direct explanations of the physical world. Basically, they represent patterns in nature. The circle for example, or Pi, is universal: All circles found in nature are similar and have the same ratio's.

The circle is generally overlooked in importance which is a shame. The few that do realize it's importance often become obsessed with it as well which is ironic however anyone can understand Pi or the circle because circles are everywhere.

Circles are a primary structure of reality. The sun, earth, and moon are circles for example. Machines often have circular parts as well. If you could understand the nature of a circle then you might better be able to understand how the wheel of a car turns.

A circle is essentially a line which have curved in on itself to become a loop. Other curved lines found in nature are generally referred to as logarithmic spirals.

Logarithmic spirals were first proposed by Rene Descartes. Rene Descartes was the guy who first said, "I think therefore I am." Personally I feel he is one of the most influential people in history and ranks higher than Da Vinci but you probably have your own opinions, if any but Descartes is definitely a recurring theme in my topics.

Logarithmic Spirals look like this:

This very pattern is found everywhere in nature, only typically we don't notice it. The pattern is represented by ratios. We can explain using geometry:

Thus we call it, Sacred Geometry: The Geometry of Life. Why life behaves this way or why things like entire galaxies or single conch shells find it most useful or natural to form themselves in this spiral pattern however, Is a complete mystery.

What I think is Enlightenment

I think Enlightenment is a return to the original self. This is ambiguous I know, but it's ambiguity is part of it's definition and is otherwise known as duality. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense to come right off the bat and say that but that's the only way I know how to explain it (Yikes!) in just a couple sentences. Duality, is like dual nature. Eastern people usually call this yin and yang. In physics, we say either positive and negative or electric and magnetic. Basically though, if you look hard enough at what you consider to be the world around you; as in, reality; then you will notice there is damn near two of everything. Additionally, the two complement each other. Like male and female for example.

The two comprise the world as you know it. All nature is reducible to the two. Discovering what the two is and mastering them within your own soul, is, I think, enlightenment.

 So what is a soul? A soul, I think, is what you are at your very most inner essence. Essentially, the core of your being. This is given most easily, as consciousness, though I'm not saying that's all it is. The state of being aware then is likened to knowing or experiencing your own soul. This is the basis for meditation. When we practice awareness, we begin to become ever more conscious or aware. If we meditate, the experience can be heightened however, to meditate, which is the practice of being aware, can be achieved at any time with relative results as it is not so difficult to practice being aware of the bigger picture.

Over time this builds character. We may begin to refine the self as we become ever more aware of not only the world around but also the world within. We may start to recognize certain thoughts that, after conscious consideration, may want to debate their validity. Over time, as conscious growth of the self is achieved more and more, we become closer and closer to what is known as enlightenment.

Enlightenment I think is like the perfect self or the perfect you. We work towards it because we want to fulfill our potential. By getting clarity through conscious awareness and development, we work towards fulfilling our potential in becoming the best we can be as conscious beings.

Pankration: The original MMA

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to going back to school and as I was looking into a local college I decided to see what what athletics programs they had.

I ended up doing more reading that I needed but found out something interesting in the process. Apparently the original mix martial art is called Pankration and it was invented by the Ancient Greeks.

Contests were regularly held at the Olympic games in particular. Pankration was considered an all encompassing fighting style that combined both boxing and wrestling also with emphasis on lower body strikes and others.

Pankration, like many Greek stories and ideas, also comes with it's own mythology. In Greek mythology was said that the heroes Heracles and Theseus invented the martial art.

For anyone who's ever seen the movie 300, you can get a pretty fair idea of how ruthless and violent the Greeks could be. There was one story I found in particular on wikipedia about the Olympics:

"In an odd turn of events, a pankration fighter named Arrhichion (Ἀρριχίων) of Phigalia won the pankration competition at the Olympic Games despite being dead. His opponent had locked him in a chokehold and Arrhichion, desperate to loosen it, broke his opponent's toe (some records say his ankle). The opponent nearly passed out from pain and submitted. As the referee raised Arrhichion's hand, it was discovered that he had died from the choke-hold. His body was crowned with the olive wreath and taken back to Phigaleia as a hero."

I would personally love to know how this fighter called Arrhichion was able to break his opponents foot while being choked out. That's sounds like the kind of shit that would put Kimbo Slice to shame. If the story is true, then I would also question did this guy really refuse to surrender? Like he wanted to win so bad that he refused to give up and instead gave his last energy not to signaling he forfeits but instead to break his opponent's foot, causing him to tap out.

What could make a man do that? These people must have placed a lot of value in what we might consider extremists viewpoints. My only question is, where can I find someone to teach me pankration and how to never give up and break foots!

What I Think is the Trick or Secret to Life

In hindsight of all my experiences, memories, etc.. I think the trick to life is balance.

Maybe this surprises you. Perhaps you weren't expecting someone to say the secret of life is balance.

I think I have some pretty good reasons for thinking this though. Allow me to explain:

Doing too much of any one thing is considered harmful or damaging. Virtues taken to the extreme, for example, result in vice. For example, courage can become recklessness.

The thing is, in order to find out when courage becomes recklessness, we actually have to do it ourselves.

That is, we must experience recklessness.

Once we have reched the point of recklessness, we learn and discover things about ourselves and our potential. Like what our limits are. By practicing virtue, we are balancing.

Likewise it's important to make mistakes.

No one likes to make mistakes though. Mistakes suck, especially when other people know about them. I find it's best to learn as much from mistakes as possible, that way you won't need to make them very often.

The fact is no one likes or wants to make mistakes, but everyone is, in hindsight, grateful for at least some of their past mistakes.

The goal is to be grateful for all mistakes. It's not easy, but it can be done, and you will at least notice improvement or betterment over time.

That's all it takes really. Time... and perhaps a bit of effort. If you have patience and other virtues that you practice, and you are in a position of balance, then you are on your way to mastering this ridiculous game called life.

Life is a journey through balance. You are a yin yang. A yin yang has many properties in duality: light dark; electric magnetic; north south - east west ; positive negative ; etc...

You are all of these things, and many more. Every idea fits somewhere in the category. You even have a left and a right side, a left brain and a right brain. You are then the scientist, forever experimenting with balance. You balance your life, your career, your checkbook, your personality. You balance all things don't you? So you must also discover new things to balance and new ways of balancing.

Balance yourself to happiness.

Or Balance yourself to enlightenment...

Balance your new job. Balance yourself into a higher salary. It can be anything you want, any thing you choose, so long as you know, the trick is balance :-)

Sensory Perception: Sixth Senses

I was thinking about the senses and what a sense is. A sense, I thought, is just a way to get information. We use eyes to get information about the world around for example.

It is said that there are 5 senses. If a sense is just a way to get information though, shouldn’t there be more?

Why not say imagination is a sense? Could imagination be a sixth sense?

Is reasoning a sense?

Saying that there are 5 senses is really quite stupid. There are obviously way more than 5 senses or ways for an intelligent person to gain information about reality.

I discovered something else too. Nikola Tesla apparently had some 6th senses. Here’s an excerpt from wikipedia:

“Tesla engaged in reading many works, memorizing complete books, supposedly having a photographic memory.[21] Tesla related in his autobiography that he experienced detailed moments of inspiration. During his early life, Tesla was stricken with illness time and time again. He suffered a peculiar affliction in which blinding flashes of light would appear before his eyes, often accompanied by hallucinations. Much of the time the visions were linked to a word or idea he might have come across; just by hearing the name of an item, he would involuntarily envision it in realistic detail. Modern-day synesthetes report similar symptoms. Tesla would visualise an invention in his brain with extreme precision, including all dimensions, before moving to the construction stage; a technique sometimes known as picture thinking. He typically did not make drawings by hand, instead just conceiving all ideas with his mind. Tesla also often had flashbacks to events that had happened previously in his life; this began to happen during childhood.”

All these different ways to gain information about things. Tesla was just one man. Who knows what others or even you or me are capable of doing?

I’m sure Tesla had to develop his qualities at least a little.

Maybe we all have 6th senses we can develop?

Maybe some of us have expert memories; can hear sound well; can visualize pictures; who knows what people can do!

It could be that we don’t even know what we can do. Who truly knows themselves after all?

The journey of life I think, is at least partly agreeable, that we are journeying to find out who we are.

You go to school when you are young and find out all sorts of things about yourself: What subjects your good at, what “Crowd” you fit in with, etc…

There’s really no right way to do things, you can go any number of routes.

Take any road. They’re all good roads that lead to interesting places.

List of Dualities

• Ancient/Spiritual
  

1.Ouroubourous - The snake swallowing it's own tail has been depicted in various forms since antiquity. It most commonly is used to represent infinity or circular nature.


2.Yin Yang - Pretty much the universal symbol of duality. Yin yang is one of those pictures truly worth a thousand words: Light-dark; attraction-repulsion; flow-spin; male-female; etc... Yin yang is a cornerstone of philosophy

3.Caduceus - Symbol of medicine, the caduceus consists of two serpents coiled around a staff into a double helix. The caduceus Reoccurring in many ancient mythologies and religions.

• Mathematics & Geometry

4.Binary - The language of computers composes just two elements. Arbitrarily, we designate them as 1 or 0, but they can be any two points of reference, such as 'A' and 'B'


5.Parity - All numbers are said to be either even or odd, this is called parity. Irrational numbers like Pi are said to be odd, while others which are perfectly proportional and knowable are said to be even. Most of the problems in mathematics have to do with odd integers. Likewise directions also come in pairs. We may have up or down, left or right, in or out, etc...

6.Circle - a folded line (two points). To go up in terms of a circle is the same as going down and vice versa.The circle is Pi, perhaps the most important and fundamental constant or ratio in all of science and engineering. Pi is also a mystery. It's decimal notation (3.14159...) repeats to infinity with no apparent pattern. It is considered wholly irrational and all attempts to solve or decipher it have been met in failure.

7.Fibonacci sequence - Similar to the golden mean, the Fibonacci sequence is also related to the circle or Pi. At best, the sequence seems to be a kind of mathematical constant that explains how the radius or size of a circle increases as you go out, however, to most people it makes no sense and, additionally, has yet to be fully solved, it being another irrational number like Pi. The Fibonacci sequence represents itself as the following numbers: 0, , 1 , 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144.... In this way, every number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers before it.

8.Golden Ratio - The golden ratio is the proportion between the numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence. As best we can estimate, the proportion or ratio between any two numbers in a Fibonacci sequence is about equal 1.6180339887. Since both are reflected on or have to do with the circle (Pi) then that makes them very useful and important numbers or ratio's. To give an example, consider the sunflower at right. The sunflower can be mathematically described using Pi, the Golden ratio, and the Fibonacci Sequence. None of this is very difficult for anyone to compute or figure out, so there is a kind of inerrant beauty and simplicity in the proportions in addition to their unknown or chaotic proportion.

• Physiology

9.Left Brain, Right Brain - There are two cerebral hemispheres which are distinctly different from each other with different capabilities. Each hemisphere rules or controls either the left or right side of the body, such as a person being left or right handed and is capable of doing different things. Generally, one side is said to be more logical while the other is more abstract, such as a person being either good at mathematics or language, but generally not both. This further equates to division in the body, being that you have 2 eyes, 2 armbs, 2 thumbs, etc... The path of the nervous system and all it's functions is divided and runs paralell down opposite sides of the body, effectively linking each hemisphere with control over either the left or right side of the body in turn.


10.DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is composed of two spirals forming what's called a double helix. The coded information that composes it's structure and parts is the instructions for life. Without those instructions in every cell in your body, you would not be able to function. DNA is like a road map for living that makes life possible in the first place, it being responsible for the growth and maintenance of the cells that make up life on Earth. It is extremely complex and was only discovered about 50 years ago and only began to be decoded within the last decade. Due to the large amount of information contained within this very tiny structure within your body, it ended up taking a long time to decode, even with using computers.

• Physics:

11.Electromagnetism - In electromagnetism, we still have the two basic principles. Physics may seem complex to many, but a lot of the reason for people think that, I think, is that most of the time physics is poorly explained in clear, rational terms, like what I have attempted in this list of phenomena. Everything on this list is complex and mysterious. It is also very practical knowledge in that it is fundamental and can be presented in simple terms.


Like Binary or Yin Yang, the oposites or polars of electromagnetism are only arbitrarily designated. In physics we may call them positive (+) and negative (-) but the terms are not mutually exclusive and we could easily substitute any two duality variables, such as ab or 01, and the equations would still work. That's basically because the equations are not describing something foreign from everything so far but rather they lead to a deeper understanding of life or the universe in general.

Physics is so esteemed then not necessarily because it's any more right or correct than any other theory, idea, religion, etc... of duality, but instead because it has produced such a great quantity of information about duality.

For example, In Electromagnetic research we have discovered:

-The electric field is the dual of the magnetic field.
-The electric displacement field is the dual of the magnetizing field.
-Faraday's law is the dual of Ampere's law.
-Gauss's law for electric field is the dual of Gauss's law for magnetism.
-The electric potential is the dual of the magnetic potential.
-Permittivity is the dual of permeability.
-Piezoelectricity is the dual of magnetostriction.
-Ferroelectricity is the dual of ferromagnetism.
-An electrostatic motor is the dual of a magnetic motor;
-Electrets are the dual of permanent magnets;
-The Faraday effect is the dual of the Kerr effect.

This is just a brief list of some of the information available through and by physics. In this way science is really just an effective means of gathering and recording information. For this reason, many believe that science should never be used as an ideology. They say it is strictly a tool to use for the mind, and shouldn't be associated with the heart as is instead more the job of a philosophy or religion.

12.Wave Particle - Is it a wave or a particle?

"Orthodox interpretations of quantum mechanics explain this ostensible paradox as a fundamental property of the Universe, while alternative interpretations explain the duality as an emergent, second-order consequence of various limitations of the observer.[1]" 


Wave particle duality is the notion or fact that all matter and energy within the knowable universe appears to behave both as a wave an a particle. According to the Heisenberg principle for though, an object such as an atom cannot be viewed simultaneously as both a wave and a particle; When we look through a telescope, we only see one or the other. It's as if the atom can take on two forms or natures, but only one at a time. Heisenberg was the first person to experimentally confirm this, hence why we name it after him, "The Heisnberg Principle."

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?



As a result of the Heisenberg principle, much speculation has come about. Perhaps the most famous reply to the Heisenberg principle, is the philosophical thought experiment called Schrodinger's cat. The main, but not the only, idea or concept Shrodinger's cat implies that since the wave and the particle cannot be viewed simultaneosly, as according to the physics of Heisenberg, then the very act of observation or consciousness (Being aware) is what commands the Electromagnetic wave to either become a wave or a particle. The conclusion was arrived at through logic, and most people, scientists included, accept it as a fact that we don't yet fully understand. However this hasn't stopped people making it known, hence it being somewhat famous. Presently, the idea that consciousness or conscious observation affect reality as according to Heisnberg is a foundation of philosophy and was/is a core idea of many works, fads, and projects including the "Secret", Buddhism or New age and religion in general, and the movie, book, and series, "What the bleep do we know?!" just to name a few.


13.Chaos Theory - Chaos theory is like the study of the whole in relation to it's parts; the study of systems. Chaos theory attempts to look at the relationships between objects to determine what effects they might have or cause within the system. For example, perhaps you've heard of it's other name, The Butterfly Effect:


"If a butterfly flaps it's wings in China, can it cause a tornado in the U.S?"

The Lorenz attractor is the relationship(s) between two particles. When we attempt to study this in science, computer models like the one at right, present us with something that resembles the wings of a butterfly.

The idea is that any disturbance within a system, no matter how small, has the potential to affect the system on a whole, due to wave nature, via it potentially being the cause or originator in a chain reaction. If you remember back to the circle and Fibonacci sequence, the value of any number in the sequence is the value of the two numbers before it. This is a kind of multiplication that looks a lot like, and is thought to be given  the immense evidence, a description of wave's or wave nature. 


If it wasn't already complex enough, our defining of chaos theory has now led us to a potential data barrier. Essentially, this just means that Chaos is another word for unknown variable. Because it's unknown, it's also unpredictable, hence a butterfly could potentially cause a tornado if the conditions were just right. In the study of systems on the whole, chaos or the unknown variables represent themselves into a kind of "weird-ed" out or messed up pattern, just like Pi or the Golden ratio. We can almost make out familiar circles, but when we attempt to measure and collect the data we fail miserably.

14.mind-body dualism 

Mind body dualism is a branch of philosophy concerned with linking and explaining the relationship(s) between mind and body. Sub categories also include: consciousness

Substance dualism - asserts that mind and matter are fundamentally distinct kinds of substances.
Property dualism suggests that the ontological distinction lies in the differences between properties of mind and matter
Predicate dualism -claims the irreducibility of mental predicates to physical predicates

Notable Mention:
Space-Time
Matter-Anti Matter
Electric magnetic
Light & Dark
The "force" in Star wars

Does it look familiar?

To me it looks like one half part of the yin yang symbol.

Light Wave Dynamics of Vision

"Let there be Light!"

Have you ever wondered how it is you are able to see? Our eye's only seem to work when there is light available. Without light, we are virtually blind to seeing. If you deduced the reason by now, it's because light is what enables us to see in the first place.
In order to understand how we see, we need to understand what light is. Most simply, light is energy, which means it has a wave nature.
  

•         Light's wave nature
  

The Aurora Borealis illustrates the wave quality of light as it streams across the night sky. But, did you know that light is actually composed of extremely small packet's of energy called quanta?

• Photon's
  

It's ok if you don't remember much of this, as I couldn't expect you to considering the complexity, but Quanta were first discovered and described by Max Planck, a famous physicist who, by discovering 4 equations on light, kick started modern physics, paving the way for Einstein, Quantum Mechanics, et al.

Planck presented his discoveries at the turn of the century so it's been a little over 100 years since those first steps in modern physics. Likewise, understanding Planck's constant is very useful in beginning physics as well. Otherwise, the Quanta light is composed of is the smallest unit of energy. As a result, it is small. Extremely small. I can't really stress that enough ha-ha, but basically the photon is the basic unit of energy to be absorbed and emitted as light by all things including photosynthesis in plants or sight in humans.

• Vision
  

What actually happens, believe it or not, is as the photons enter your eye they are scattered as they enter and travel through the nerve pathways. We need to remember here that energy is equivalent to information; that is, you cannot have information without first having energy, like the electricity being the information processing in a computer, the electricity of light is likewise entering nerves in your eyes which conduct the information.

To process light information, you have what's called photoreceptor cells. Photo is similar to photon, which is an alternate name for quanta (i.e. a light particle).

Additionally, you have two types of photoreceptor cells in your eye. Maybe you have heard of them, they are called rods and cones.

Our best measurements of the human eye indicate that each one has about 126 million rod cells and 6 million cone cells so the light can be broken down into over 130 million different parts or pixels. The same thing happens on computers. Images are built out of pixels which are tiny packet's of information. Typically the more pixels you have, the better image quality you also have. Although that quality is nowhere near what the human eye is capable of, Information Technology grows tremendously every year and it shouldn't be too very much longer don't you think? Otherwise, you can also use the example of televisions, as if you have ever had one you've most certainly seen what's called "snow". Snow, if you know what I'm talking about, is another word for bad reception. When it happens, all you see on the television screen is little gray and white dots that are constantly appearing and disappearing. The dots are pixels, or the bits of information that make up an image.

So now you know why or should I say how the human mind is more powerful than computers at least, but we still haven't gotten too the dual nature. Congratulations if you made it this far, but let's continue...

• Light Nature
  

Light has a wave-particle duality. This is a physics term. It just means that light behaves as both a wave and a particle depending on how you look at it. Wave-Particle duality is extremely important and fundamental in physics though. As a result it is a core idea in most fields of study, being the primary reason Quantum Mechanics was devised for example.

Quantum Mechanics was needed after Einstein to explain Wave-Particle Duality. Basically, Einsteins and others physics contributions like Relativity theory led to a heck of a lot of breakthroughs in science and technology. As a result, the physicist had better and newer tools or technology to work with because they just invented them with all their new theories. This may sound a bit crazy but it's quite true and happens quite often. Physics is actually very profitable. For example, many know this already but the internet was created by and for CERN by workers there including an engineer and physicist who were working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC was just recently completed last year (2009), becoming fully operational. It is expected and already producing many breakthroughs in physics and science, will lead to a lot of technology growth and innovation, and probably could/will pull the world out of financial downturn, &, with the job market it will most probably be stimulating starting this year. (Be Excited-It's the future)

In the fall of last year, for example, the LHC was sending protons, which are the primary or main components of atoms, hurling at the speed of light into one another. The collisions produced beautiful light displays, and the data collected on the computers will be taking a while to decipher, but a lot of new, and interesting results were definitely achieved.

The reason scientists accelerated protons to the speed of light is because in addition to being the smallest thing in the universe (quanta), light is also the fastest.

If that isn't enough, light is also has a relationship with time. According to relativity theory, the faster one travels and approaches the speed of light, the more time external to oneself speeds up. This is duality too. Since you could also say that it is the time of yourself that slows down. In a sense, you time travel. By changing speed, we can change time. The only problem with this is that we can't go that fast yet.

The speed of light is really really fast. Like the quanta being extremely small, too I can't describe enough too you how incredibly fast light is. To give an example, light can travel about 4 times around the earth in about 1 second; That's equal to about 186,000 MPH or 300,000 KM. How exactly light is able to travel so fast is still a mystery, but appears to have to do with the properties of light itself.

In many ways the shape of objects determines how they travel. A spear for example will throw much farther than a heavy book, even though they may weigh about the same. The same is thought of light, only light comes in my different flavors or types. There are literally an infinite number of frequencies or wave types that can represent light. Since each type of wave is different than any other, they each have different characteristics and behaviors. Some may travel faster or slower than others for example; or some wavelengths are seen as a red color, others may be green.

I always wondered how abundant light is in the universe. Possibly, could it really be the most abundant thing?

Mind Body

You know, if you talk to most any neuroscientist he or she will most likely have a lot to tell you about the soul and human consciousness.

The most popular reason is because the soul is or mind is evidenced as a collection of electromagnetic frequencies called brain waves which are activated and controlled by both conscious awareness or sentient control as well as automatically.

This may seem amazing, but the entire system of electromagnetic conductive systems in the body is referred to as the Central and Peripheral nervous system (CNS & PNS). The CNS is generally the part of you which is conscious while the PNS is automatic like breathing.

When we sleep the CNS, which composes the brain, the brain stem, and the spinal cord, changes but the PNS remains active and constant.



You see, In order to explain how the mind relates to the body, I actually don't have to use new theories or information. It can be done using existing and old ones. Some idea's on duality are old as human's themselves you know. Yin Yang, for example, has been around since, at the very least, recorded history or about 6 thousand years. Yin-Yang is a symbol of universal energy and duality.

Energy in the body is I think what fascinates us most. Energy propagates as waves through space-time which is directly indetectable as a substance or thing, however we can measure it's effects [Wave Nature]. As a result, we have discovered that there is a kind of symphony being played out in our heads. A note in this symphony can represent a thought or idea. At any one time, our brains are processing information when thinking about a subject. Much of the information is either already organized, or in the process of being organized, so, like a real symphony, there is a definite rhythm and flow to our thoughts.

Thought is essentially a collection of brain waves. Each time you produce a thought or think about something, you are sending impulses of information along nerve pathways. These impulses or brain waves are typically divided into four groups that represent a category which describes our state of being during the various brain wave frequencies. The frequencies of a normal human can be said to range between 0 & 40 Hz. but it is not altogether clear and definitions vary. Typically the categories are thus:

Delta
0-4 Hz
Deep sleep

Theta
4-7 Hz
Light sleep
Theta frequencies are supposed Associated with relaxation, meditation, and creativity. For many people and proponents of binaural's, theta waves are a favorite.

Alpha
8-12 Hz
Alpha is said to be the brain waves that are dominant in the relaxed or normal state of mind.

Beta
12-30Hz
Awake. Beta generally responds to the point when you actually feel awake in your day.

Gamma
30+hz
(?)
What happens in Gamma state? Is it unhealthy? Is it useful in any way? We simply don't yet know, as most ideas are hypothesis which don't have a lot of evidence. 

Wave Nature

Have you ever thought or wondered about waves?















It might not be immediately apparent but waves are pure energy. A wave is defined as an oscillating or vibrating disturbance in space-time. Space-time can be any medium, such as the air or atmosphere. If we create a sound for example, that sound at the very least exists or propagates in the air itself (Assuming you're on planet Earth that is :p). Normally we wouldn't notice since air is invisible, and we don't see sound, we hear it. In this we are limited by our perceptions, however there are thankfully some very nice tools and instruments in science that we can use to see these things that we couldn't see otherwise.

• Hearing Waves

The Cocklear is the part of the ear that picks up and interpret's sound waves. It's basically a spectrum: higher sounds are associated with one end, while lower sounds are heard at the other. When the sound waves enter the ear, they strike part of the cochlear. The sound waves themselves are like keys and the ear itself is the key hole. Only thing is, there are many different types of keys (Sounds) so in a sense you need a very complex key hole with many different key slots. And that's basically how the ear works: only certain sounds are able to strike certain parts of the cocklea. Since waves are really just pure energy, and energy is really just information after all, then the brain and ear can generall interpret most sounds by the effect they produce. So when you hear a sound, it's because the cochlear in your ear is vibrating which then sends the information to your mind which you interpret in a very small fraction of a second.

• Why?

If you think of energy or waves in terms of equilibrium, it shouldn't be too difficult to see why a wave is just energy expanding outwards. Equilibrium is the scientific term for balance you could say. If there is too much of a thing concentrated, like sugar in a water solution, it just means that when you apply energy by shaking it, producing waves, then the waves are going to attempt to evenly distribute the sugar throughout the water.


Each time a note is played, there is an object striking another object. When the objects meet or impact, wave energy is released from the objects. The same is true if you tap your finger on a wooden surface. On the moment of impact, energy is released, which you hear as sound.

The energy that is released, contained, and absorbed by objects produces vibrations which disturb and travel throughout the whole medium until they are all used up or absorbed by all the stuff in the medium. Basically, that just means that the energy of any thing or system will eventually disperse and be reabsorbed due to equilibrium or balance.

• Beyond Waves   

So far, we have a pretty good explanation of a wave, however there is a deep dark secret about waves that you should be aware of if you really want to understand what they are.

A wave is energy, but it's also non-physical. Matter is physical and we know that matter and energy are equivalent but a wave is a specific type of energy that does not contain a physical form. As an example of what I mean think of space and time itself. Space-time is the dimensions. They are:

Length,
Width,
Height,
&
Time


To explain what I mean, consider the dimensions. All are accepted as real, all have mathematical symbols to represent them and are used to describe reality, yet none of them have any concrete physical substance or form. That is, waves are unable to be directly detected. We only view them by their effects or relationships to matter or on other things. The wave is similar to space-time in this fashion in that space-time, or the dimensions of length, width, height, and time, are non-physical things.

And so, as far as anyone can tell, but no one, not even Albert Einstein could quite understand or figure out, the wave is exactly the same or similar too space-time, and is therefore given as a distortion in or through space and time. Waves are strange eh?