Platonic Forms This is a concise introduction to Plato’s use of the concept of “Form,” which many readers initially find to be puzzling, or even an egregious affront to common sense. The following is not intended to defend Plato’s theory as an adequate response to the problems it was designed to address. It is intended only to show that the theory is an intelligible and reasonable response to those problems. Plato assumes, following Parmenides, that what is real may be thought and what is thought may be said. In other words, reality may be known through rational inquiry or thinking and the resultant thoughts may be communicated propositionally. But how do linguistically expressed judgments convey truths about non-linguistic realities? Forms as class concepts. Much can be said in favor of this way of thinking. Forms as standards. Our knowledge of Forms. Reality.
Plato Quotes Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. The beginning is the most important part of the work. The more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm of conversation. Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike. Many men are loved by their enemies, and hated by their friends, and are the friends of their enemies, and the enemies of their friends. If a man can be properly said to love something, it must be clear that he feels affection for it as a whole, and does not love part of it to the exclusion of the rest. Was not this ... what we spoke of as the great advantage of wisdom -- to know what is known and what is unknown to us? The eyes ... are the windows of the soul. No evil can happen to a good man, neither in life nor after death. God is not the author of all things, but of good only.
The Imaginary (Sartre) The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination (French: L'Imaginaire) is a 1940 book by Jean-Paul Sartre that propounds his concept of the imagination and discusses what the existence of imagination shows about the nature of human consciousness. The Psychology of the Imagination (alternate title of The Imaginary) There are two important points Sartre stresses in the book. First, while some believe imagining to be like an internal perception, Sartre argues that imagination is nothing like perception. Secondly, throughout the book Sartre offers arguments against conceiving images as something inside a spatial consciousness. Sartre says that what is required for the imaginary process to occur is an analogon—that is, an equivalent of perception. Ultimately, Sartre argues that because we can imagine, we are ontologically free. The Imaginary Google Book search with access to book preview.
Outline of Argument from Recollection The Argument from Recollection: Phaedo 72e-77a 1. If a person is reminded of anything, he must first know that thing at one time or another. (73c 1-3) 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Therefore, 12. Science - Quantum Physics of Consciousness and Physical Reality by StarStuffs We may therefore regard matter as being constituted by the regions of space in which the field is extremely intense...There is no place in this new kind of physics for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality." Albert Einstein, with his general theory of relativity, opened the doors of science along with the mystical realities. Einstein theorized that space and time are intertwined and that matter is inseparable from an ever-present quantum energy field and this is the sole reality underlying all appearances. This theory challenged the basic assumptions about the universe and what it contained. Physicists found that the most basic atomic particles in the cosmos comprise the very fabric of the material universe. Physicist David Bohm, in his plasma experiments, at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory, Bohm found that individual electrons act as part of an interconnected whole. "A principle related to nonlocality is called Bell's Theorem. Superstring Theory: Unification Theory:
Quantum nonlocality Quantum nonlocality is the phenomenon by which the measurements made at a microscopic level necessarily refute one or more notions (often referred to as local realism) that are regarded as intuitively true in classical mechanics. Rigorously, quantum nonlocality refers to quantum mechanical predictions of many-system measurement correlations that cannot be simulated by any local hidden variable theory. Many entangled quantum states produce such correlations when measured, as demonstrated by Bell's theorem. Experiments have generally favoured quantum mechanics as a description of nature, over local hidden variable theories.[1][2] Any physical theory that supersedes or replaces quantum theory must make similar experimental predictions and must therefore also be nonlocal in this sense; quantum nonlocality is a property of the universe that is independent of our description of nature. Example[edit] Imagine two experimentalists, Alice and Bob, situated in separate laboratories. and P(b0|A1) = or
Quantum entanglement Quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently – instead, a quantum state may be given for the system as a whole. Such phenomena were the subject of a 1935 paper by Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen,[1] describing what came to be known as the EPR paradox, and several papers by Erwin Schrödinger shortly thereafter.[2][3] Einstein and others considered such behavior to be impossible, as it violated the local realist view of causality (Einstein referred to it as "spooky action at a distance"),[4] and argued that the accepted formulation of quantum mechanics must therefore be incomplete. History[edit] However, they did not coin the word entanglement, nor did they generalize the special properties of the state they considered. Concept[edit] Meaning of entanglement[edit] Apparent paradox[edit] The hidden variables theory[edit]
Physics News :: Earth's mantle helps hunt for fifth force of nature Interactions NASAElectrons' spin may give rise to a force that allows particles to interact over very long distances. In general, people tend to use the phrase "force of nature" loosely, as in "she's a real force of nature." But physicists are pickier--they reserve the phrase for just four separate, universal forces they call the "fundamental forces": gravity, electro-magnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces, which hold the nucleus together and are involved with radioactive decay, respectively. That doesn't mean physicists rule out the possibility that other forces exist. Since the models they have for explaining everything are incomplete, there's a fairly good chance that there's something else out there, pulling matter apart or pushing it together in a different way than all the forces identified so far. Scientists search for the 'unparticle'
"Is the Cosmos a Vast Computer Simulation?" New Theory May Offer Clues If the cosmos is a numerical simulation, there ought to be clues in the spectrum of high energy cosmic rays. Now more than two thousand years since Plato suggested that our senses provide only a weak reflection of objective reality, experts believe they have solved the riddle using mathetical models known as the lattice QCD approach in an attempt to recreate - on a theoretical level - a simulated reality. Lattice QCD is a complex approach that that looks at how particles known as quarks and gluons relate in three dimensions. "We consider ourselves on some level universe simulators because we calculate the interactions of particles by basically replacing space and time by a grid and putting it in a box," said Beane. According to MIT's Technology Review, "using the world's most powerful supercomputers, physicists have only managed to simulate tiny corners of the cosmos just a few femtometers across (A femtometer is 10^-15 metres.) Image credit: With thanks to Rex Features
Simulated reality Simulated reality is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation. This is quite different from the current, technologically achievable concept of virtual reality. There has been much debate over this topic, ranging from philosophical discourse to practical applications in computing. Types of simulation[edit] Brain-computer interface[edit] Virtual people[edit] In a virtual-people simulation, every inhabitant is a native of the simulated world. Arguments[edit] Simulation argument[edit] The simulation hypothesis was first published by Hans Moravec.[1][2][3] Later, the philosopher Nick Bostrom developed an expanded argument examining the probability of our reality being a simulacrum.[4] His argument states that at least one of the following statements is very likely to be true: 1. 2. 3. Dreaming[edit]
UNMAKEABLELOVE Indra's net "Imagine a multidimensional spider's web in the early morning covered with dew drops. And every dew drop contains the reflection of all the other dew drops. And, in each reflected dew drop, the reflections of all the other dew drops in that reflection. And so ad infinitum. That is the Buddhist conception of the universe in an image." Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls, from इंद्रजाल in Sanskrit) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of emptiness, dependent origination,[3] and interpenetration[4] in Buddhist philosophy. The metaphor of Indra's net was developed by the Mahayana school in the 3rd century scriptures of the Avatamsaka Sutra and later by the Huayan school between the 6th and 8th centuries. Huayan school[edit] Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. Proto-Sāṃkhya and early Buddhism[edit]