What is broken?

On the eve of the U.S. national election that is considered by many to be symptomatic of a broken political system, I want to reflect on what it is that is broken. A consistent majority say they are unhappy with either major Presidential candidate. How could this happen? Why were they nominated? The one-liner “Washington […]

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Unlimited banks of explanation

In his 1869 Presidential Address to the Geological Society of London on the subject of Geological Reform TH Huxley said: Catastrophism has insisted upon the existence of a practically unlimited bank of force, on which the theorist might draw; and it has cherished the idea of the development of the earth from a state in

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Interpretation of math and science

There’s a common understanding that most writings need to be interpreted — especially those of a religious or philosophical nature. But mathematical and scientific writings are similar and need to be interpreted, too. Consider that mathematicians and scientists write as if they were creating a world. Mathematicians say things like, “Let there be a line

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Renaissance for today

What does it take for a renaissance? A willingness to go back and take another path. That is, a willingness to go back in history and take the words, thoughts, and actions of others as applying to the present. Ad fontes was the cry of the Renaissance, and later the Reformation, which looked to the

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Space and time expanded

Space-time is relativistic 3D space + 1D time. It obscures the 3D nature of time. The opposite is time-space with 3D time + 1D space, which obscures the 3D nature of space. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages. To avoid the disadvantage of obscuring 3D space or 3D time use 3D space +

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This political moment

It’s difficult not to say something about the political moment of the U.S. Presidential election. Earlier this year I wrote briefly about its symmetry. The media coverage has been mostly fantasies about what a king or queen would do rather than an actual president with enumerated powers. The low-information voter has almost nothing but fantasy

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Creation of ubiquitous light

The first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis 1, has attracted many commentators over the centuries. Recent scholarly work attempts to place it in the context of ancient Near East writings. (Near East is the European moniker for what Americans call the Middle East.) That however undervalues the unique, nuanced text of

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Synchrony conventions

Reichenbach and Grünbaum noted that “the relation of simultaneity within each inertial reference frame contains an ineradicable element of convention which reveals itself in our ability to select (within certain limits) the value to be assigned to the one-way speed of light in that inertial frame.” (John A. Winnie, “Special Relativity without One-Way Velocity Assumptions:

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