HumblyTheirs

Play This 2

2012-01-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Practice can make one's performance better. The recent bout with the computer playing Iagno, (a form of Othello, found on Debian Linux systems.).

The Stanford Prison Experiment

2011-08-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

I hope this may be done in compliance with copy restrictions, as I have no permissions for this post.

This page

1/8/97

CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (415) 723-2558

The Stanford Prison Experiment: Still powerful after all these years

I was sick to my stomach. When it's happening to you, it doesn't feel heroic; it feels real scary. It feels like you are a deviant.

Professor Christina Maslach, UC-Berkeley, to psychologists
gathered in Toronto, Aug. 12, 1996

The view through the doorway was too familiar like something she had seen in the international news sections of Life or Newsweek.

Several young men dressed in khaki uniforms and wearing reflector sunglasses that hid their eyes were herding a larger group of men down a hallway. The latter were dressed in shapeless smocks that exposed their pale legs and the chains that bound one ankle of each man to another. Paper bag blindfolds covered their heads.

Christina Maslach's stomach reacted first. She felt queasy and instinctively turned her head away. Her peers, other academic psychologists, noticed her flinch. "What's the matter?" they teased.

On that fateful Thursday night a quarter-century ago, Maslach would take actions that made her a heroine in some circles as "the one who stopped the Stanford Prison Experiment." Even her now-husband, Stanford psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo, referred to the UC-Berkeley psychologist as a hero when he spoke to a group of undergraduates in his introductory psychology class last spring. But Maslach, her professional and personal lives reshaped by that night, rejects the label.

Speaking at a symposium of the American Psychological Association last summer, she urged other social science researchers to consider the circumstances of her alleged heroics:

She had walked into the experiment late and therefore was more likely to be startled than those who had been planning it for months and observing it for five days, she said.
She was involved in a romantic relationship with Zimbardo, the experiment's principal investigator, and not working for him as a graduate student or colleague.

Yet she had difficulty resisting the group pressure to be enthusiastic about what was going on in the name of science.

"At that point, I felt there was something wrong with me, thinking here I am, I'm supposed to be a psychologist, I'm supposed to understand, and I was having a hard time watching what was happening to these kids."

In the prison-conscious autumn of 1971, when George Jackson was killed at San Quentin and Attica erupted in even more deadly rebellion and retribution, the Stanford Prison Experiment made news in a big way. It offered the world a videotaped demonstration of how ordinary people middle-class college students can do things they would have never believed they were capable of doing. It seemed to say, as Hannah Arendt said of Adolf Eichmann, that normal people can take ghastly actions.

Details of the experiment are well known. They are included in most basic psychology texts and in a public television psychology course, "Discovering Psychology," that Zimbardo wrote and narrates. Movie rights have been optioned, "60 Minutes" has filmed a segment on the experiment, and even a punk rock band in Los Angeles calls itself Stanford Prison Experiment. In summary:

On Sunday morning, Aug., 17, 1971, nine young men were "arrested" in their homes by Palo Alto police. At least one of those arrested vividly remembers the shock of having his neighbors come out to watch the commotion as TV cameras recorded his hand-cuffing for the nightly news.

The arrestees were among about 70 young men, mostly college students eager to earn $15 a day for two weeks, who volunteered as subjects for an experiment on prison life that had been advertised in the Palo Alto Times. After interviews and a battery of psychological tests, the two dozen judged to be the most normal, average and healthy were selected to participate, assigned randomly either to be guards or prisoners. Those who would be prisoners were booked at a real jail, then blindfolded and driven to campus where they were led into a makeshift prison in the basement of Jordan Hall.

Those assigned to be guards were given uniforms and instructed that they were not to use violence but that their job was to maintain control of the prison.

From the perspective of the researchers, the experiment became exciting on day two when the prisoners staged a revolt. Once the guards had crushed the rebellion, "they steadily increased their coercive aggression tactics, humiliation and dehumanization of the prisoners," Zimbardo recalls. "The staff had to frequently remind the guards to refrain from such tactics," he said, and the worst instances of abuse occurred in the middle of the night when the guards thought the staff was not watching. The guards' treatment of the prisoners such things as forcing them to clean out toilet bowls with their bare hands and act out degrading scenarios, or urging them to become snitches "resulted in extreme stress reactions that forced us to release five prisoners, one a day, prematurely."

Zimbardo's primary reason for conducting the experiment was to focus on the power of roles, rules, symbols, group identity and situational validation of behavior that generally would repulse ordinary individuals. "I had been conducting research for some years on deindividuation, vandalism and dehumanization that illustrated the ease with which ordinary people could be led to engage in anti-social acts by putting them in situations where they felt anonymous, or they could perceive of others in ways that made them less than human, as enemies or objects," Zimbardo told the Toronto symposium in the summer of 1996.

"I wondered, along with my research associates Craig Haney, Curtis Banks and Carlo Prescott, what would happen if we aggregated all of these processes, making some subjects feel deindividuated, others dehumanized within an anonymous environment in the same experimental setting, and where we could carefully document the process over time."

Jekyll and Hyde experience

Maslach walked into the mock prison on the evening of the fifth day. Having just received her doctorate from Stanford and starting an assistant professorship at Berkeley, she had agreed to do subject interviews the next day and had come down the night before to familiarize herself with the experiment.

At first, she said, she found it "dull and boring."

"I looked at the prison yard from the point of view of the video camera [that had been set up to monitor it] and there was not much happening. So I went around to the other end of the hall where some guards were waiting to start their next shift."

There, she had a pleasant conversation with a "charming, funny, smart" young man waiting to start his guard shift. Other researchers had told her there was a particularly sadistic guard, whom both prisoners and other guards had nicknamed John Wayne. Later, when she looked at the monitor of the prison yard again, she asked someone to point out John Wayne and was shocked to discover it was the young man she had talked with earlier.

"This man had been transformed. He was talking in a different accent a Southern accent, which I hadn't recalled at all. He moved differently, and the way he talked was different, not just in the accent, but in the way he was interacting with the prisoners. It was like [seeing] Jekyll and Hyde. . . . It really took my breath away."

Several prisoners engaged in a debate with John Wayne, she said, in which they accused him of enjoying his job. He said that he wasn't really like that, he was just playing a role. One prisoner challenged this, Maslach said, noting that the guard had tripped him earlier when he was taking him down the hall to the bathroom. No researchers were around to see the act, the prisoner said, which indicated to him that the act reflected the guard's true disposition. John Wayne disagreed, saying that if he let up, the role wouldn't remain powerful.

Later that evening, Maslach said, she suddenly got sick to her stomach while watching guards taking the prisoners with paper bags over their heads to the bathroom before their bedtime. Her fellow researchers teased her about it.

After leaving the prison with Zimbardo, she said, he asked her what she thought of it. "I think he expected some sort of great intellectual discussion about what was going on. Instead, I started to have this incredible emotional outburst. I started to scream, I started to yell, 'I think it is terrible what you are doing to those boys!' I cried. We had a fight you wouldn't believe, and I was beginning to think, wait a minute, I don't know this guy. I really don't, and I'm getting involved with him?"

Zimbardo was shocked by her reaction and upset, she said, but eventually that night, "he acknowledged what I was saying and realized what had happened to him and to other people in the study. At that point he decided to call the experiment to a halt."

Says Zimbardo: "She challenged us to examine the madness she observed, that we had created and had to take responsibility for."

Lives redirected

Maslach is one of several people whose life was redirected by the experience. Researcher Haney went on to earn a law degree from Stanford after obtaining his doctorate in psychology and became one of the leading legal consultants on prison reform litigation, as well as a teacher at UC-Santa Cruz of psychology and law and the psychology of institutions. Prescott, who was the research team's consultant on real prisons, had spent 17 years behind bars before the experiment. He stayed out of legal trouble afterward, taught at Stanford, hosted his own radio show and does community service.

Maslach married Zimbardo in 1972 and became a full professor at Berkeley, studying the processes of dehumanization. "I started interviewing prison guards, real ones, and also people in emergency medical care. Out of that grew a lot of the research I have done over the years on job burn-out," she said. Her work has looked at "how people who are responsible for the care and treatment of others can come to view those they care for in object-like ways, leading them, in some cases, to behave in ways that are really insensitive, uncaring, brutal and dehumanizing."

The first prisoner to be released from the experiment went on to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology, doing an internship at San Quentin. He became a forensic psychologist for San Francisco's city jail and is now a consultant who advises judges regarding motions for prisoners' release. Respected in his field, he requested that his name not be used for this story because "I don't want my name and face associated with this anymore. The first 10 years it was fun," he said, but now he feels "the media never gives up." Reporters and movie producers keep calling him in conjunction with the experiment, he said, because he became a prison psychologist. "I'm the gimmick that makes it cute, and Phil [Zimbardo] is totally unable to empathize with my position."

Zimbardo and Maslach say they feel an ongoing responsibility to communicate about and apply the research beyond the academic world, which is why they generally agree to do interviews about it.

For Zimbardo, the prison experiment also has led to research on a range of social situations that generate pathological conditions. He has studied the social psychology of madness and cults, shyness as a kind of self-imposed prison, and time perspective the way people come to be controlled by their overuse of past, present or future timeframes.

Zimbardo has testified before legislative bodies, courts and military corrections authorities. He is pleased that testimony about the research influenced Congress to change one law so that juveniles accused of federal crimes cannot be housed before trial with adult prisoners, because of the likelihood of violence against them. "Quiet Rage," a video that he and his Stanford undergraduate students produced from footage of the experiment, continues to be used in college classes and by civil, judicial, military and law enforcement groups to enlighten and arouse concern about prison life.

The experiment has not, however, brought about the changes in prisons or even in guard training programs that he would have liked.

In fact, prisons have been radically transformed in the United States in the last 25 years to make them less humane, Haney told the Toronto symposium audience. Voters have increasingly voted for politicians who take a tough public stance in favor of prisons as places for punishment, rather than for reforming social deviants. Long, determinate sentences are part of the new trend in policy, he said, as are an increasing number of prisons, like California's Pelican Bay, that put prisoners in long-term isolation.

"Psychology and other social science disciplines have been moved out of any kind of meaningful participation in debates over criminal justice policy," he said, urging the academics in his audience to "figure out ways in which we can re-involve ourselves in this debate."

In Zimbardo's view, prisons are "failed social-political experiments" that continue to bring out the worst in relations between people "because the public is indifferent to what takes place in secret there, and politicians use them, fill them up as much as they can, to demonstrate only that they are tough on crime. . . . They are as bad for the guards as the prisoners in terms of their destructive impact on self-esteem, sense of justice and human compassion."

Haney listed a number of lessons from the study that he said are largely ignored in American prisons as well as in other institutions of power today. The study demonstrated, for example, that "good people are not enough" to prevent abusive excess, he said. "Individual differences matter very little in the face of an extreme situation. . . . Institutional settings develop a life of their own independent of the wishes and intentions and purposes of those who run them."

Research ethics

And what about research institutions?

Zimbardo still has mixed emotions about the ethics of his experiment. His experiment has been criticized by some social scientists, as was the obedience experiment of his high school classmate Stanley Milgram, for its treatment of human research subjects.

In Milgram's 1965 experiment, the subjects were led to believe that they were delivering ever more powerful electric shocks to a stranger, on the orders of a white-coated researcher. Most were distressed by the situation, but two-thirds delivered the highest level of shock labeled "danger - severe shock." Like some of Zimbardo's guard subjects, some of Milgram's were anguished afterward by the revelation of their dark potential. When asked about the ethics of such research for a 1976 magazine profile, Zimbardo said that "the ethical point is legitimate insofar as who are you, as an experimenter, to give a person that kind of information about oneself. But my feeling is that that's the most valuable kind of information that you can have and that certainly a society needs it."

He told Stanford Report that he believes the pendulum now has swung too far toward protecting research subjects at the expense of new knowledge that could help society. "Our study went though the human subjects committee then because they didn't know in advance, nor did we, that anything would happen. . . . Now [review committees] assume everybody is so fragile, that if you propose to tell a research subject he failed a test, it will damage his self-esteem forever. So most research now is paper and pencil tests. We ask people things like 'Imagine you were a guard, how would you behave?' "

He would prefer, Zimbardo said, that human subjects review committees at universities "allow some controversial things to be done but in a highly monitored way. Videotapes should be checked every day, and there should be the option of an independent overseer blowing the whistle at any time."

He told the Toronto symposium audience last summer that the prison experiment was both ethical and unethical.

It was ethical, he said, because "it followed the guidelines of the Stanford human subjects ethics committee that approved it. There was no deception; all subjects were told in advance that if prisoners, many of their usual rights would be suspended and they would have only minimally adequate diet and health care during the study," which was planned to last two weeks.

It was also ethical for him to continue, he said, in that more than 50 people came to look at the study in progress and did not register any objections before Maslach registered hers. Among those who did not intervene were parents and friends of the students who came to see them on the prison's visiting nights, a Catholic priest, a public defender, and "professional psychologists, graduate students and staff of the psychology department who watched on-line videos of part of the study unfold or took part in parole board hearings or spoke to [the study subjects] and looked at them."

But it was unethical, he said, "because people suffered and others were allowed to inflict pain and humiliation on their fellows over an extended period of time."

"And yes, although we ended the study a week earlier than planned, we did not end it soon enough."

-30-

By Kathleen O’Toole

Play This

2010-08-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

This is a snapshot of moves in a recent game between me and machine. How would you finish this game?

2010-05-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken recently with a compact digital camera. (More to follow)

What time means to me

2009-11-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

Time is an odd thing. It is said to come and go, but it is never really anywhere, or everywhere as some believe. I know that time is a construct based on observation of the periodic functions of a local universe. Yet even this hypothetical description has no meat on no bones. Time both is and is not. It is only a measure of an awareness of existence by intervals of attention. November 22 was Thanksgiving when I was younger. Thanksgiving always came on November 22. Just as Washington's birthday, Lincoln's birthday, Christmas, and so on. New changes to old ways never seem to make life much better. The term, "state of the art" sums it up, since it transcends the warping of time as a standard by the crafty minds of experts.
Clocks have become more and more accurate since their invention and general use. Yet one common factor in all clocks remains to be their variation when compared relatively over time as an absolute. (Supposing it to be so) Thus, if time were to be better defined it would be a record of successive approximations to an absolute which is it's own negation.
No clock is more accurate than one which does not exist.

Fractured Wittgenstein

2009-10-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

Having fun with text processing can produce some intersting results.
For example, I took some lines from, "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus", by Ludwig Wittgenstein. (I got a free copy.)

Then ran the lines through a processing application, and here're some results:

Written into picture reality is a model sum total of the world.A situation that occurred in picture presents a sort of states that are independent and non logical in the space of the existence of affairs.A situation in a picture would seem to ourselves presented as facts, while determining that which existing states and non existence in the totality of affairs do not exist and could already be the possibility of logical space.Any few words of a sentence with a sense of reality constitutes its truth, disagreement, agreement, or falsity.What constitutes truth is disagreement or agreement with falsity in order to tell whether a picture is true or its sense false. So, we must compare it with reality.

And another subtended by a quote from a TV series with source credit.

What I confirm is by the fact that every proposition possesses one of its truth-conditions. Logic is not necessary in order to make an
inference from existence and non-existence. That man possesses the ability to construct languages capable of translating each pthematic
proposition of mathematics must go without saying. The method of determining the sense of the form, Thou shalt... Is laid against reality
like a space of possible states of affairs. It is impossible to infer that it signifies an object, but rather of the propositions that stood
if the true proposition is language. A tautology leaves open for its construction what is exactly at the same time; that is to think of the
same thing, as the same thing; to wit nothing.
The determinate way in which I consider two expressions connected by the fact that we use it and that some thing is in fact completely
congruent, and is only in default of certainty--if our knowledge of the most general form of an operation is the description of the variable
and becomes a proposition. It is unthinkable that its arguments shall have imposed a unified form on the other side of the constituents-- by
the configuration of simple signs, and so on. Objects contain the possibility of each individual case disclosing something about the world
as a variable. A proposition must already contain the verb. Every proposition is not possible, therefore, to introduce a new sense of The
correct explanation of the inference.
Indeed, it exists in one-dimensional space in which the propositions alone, (still less signs for relations), are Truth-functions and are
not primitive signs leading to arguments of the apparent logical constants also occuring in the negative sense.
Can we set up a form of a specific notation so that The fact that the symbol in p and not f(a,b) yields Pa = b? They contradict one another,
and We call the existence or non-existence of another or not another.
"Rubbish I say. Pure and utter rubbish." -The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, ©BBC Worldwide Ltd 2002

Algebra as a complete philosophy

2009-10-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

As I was wondering about the principles taught in today's schools in the domain of mathematics as algebra, I stumbled across this seeming illogical part of the fundamentals of it's rules.

It concerns the use of zero as a value in solving equations. Depending on how one defines zero, there are these obvious possibilities.

1) Zero is a place holder for an empty set.
2) Zero is a valueless quantifier.
3) Zero is actually an unknown since "nothing" is not rationally knowable except by delusion or absence.

I can remember the statement, "You are comparing apples and oranges."
Yet this is not an irrational not illogical premise.

Both apples and oranges are fruits. If in the set (domain) of fruits there are apples and oranges, and in a sample there are only apples, does that mean that oranges have no existence as an empty set?

Possibly conceivable. The set of all birds is a subset of flying creatures.

Pterodactyls and gooney birds are on record as having had an existence, but cannot be found in even one living example, thus nullifying the condition of being able to fly.

In the same sense, a stone thrown from and invisible source can be said to fly, but as far as we know it cannot fly by its own volition.

So, getting back to practical versus theoretical algebraic math, the reality of zero in a statement is valid by condition of definiton, and is not absolute in the sense of having a real existence, but merely an imaginary one.

Not too crazy since solving quadratic equations often produces imaginary roots. Do imaginary roots exist? Rationally yes. Existentially by common sensual verification only upon amplification have been verifed.

The best example of this I can think of now is the use of electromagnetic energy for communications. When radio was discovered by searching for evidence of invisible or undetectable effects under amplification and detection of electrical energy, Faraday did it by proving he could move something detectable over a distance without any evidence of a medium.

It was known that sound seemed to travel mysteriously through space, but the mechanism was not clear until sympathetic resonance was actually produced.

Chasing the mathematical logic of unseeable events became a favorite pastime of the curious, and oddly enough showed a glimmer of light in the imaginary and complex roots of quadratic equations.

However, zero remains an enigma in algebra and philosophy because it requires a relative construct to define it.

To exist or not to exist. That begs a question.

This is one question it begs: Does a false conclusion (answer, result) from a false equation (argument, formula) when it is in agreement within its range and domain of truth value, make a false conclusion valid in truth value?

In other words, is it possible to make something false appear to be true by relative agreement? Or, is it possible to replace true and false in a set of statements and remain a valid argument?

Oddly, yes. It is possible to say that false is true. We accept the value of "false" as self contradiction by assuming false to be true.

For example. "Is it true that the moon is made of green cheese?" If you say yes, you are not replying in truth. If you say "no", "That the Moon is not made of green cheese, then you are replying in truth by agreement, even if you still think the Moon might be made of green cheese or not.

Agreement is not a guarantee of the truth value of an argument in all cases, because we have to accept "false" as true.

To think that something is true or not must by necessity require a third value, "unknown". This is the existential argument for the existence of God in the Bible, that God does and does not exist, depending on the evidence to support the claim, which is faith.

It is written in the New Testament that Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God. Why? Because his being in existence did not nullify the argument of whether God exists or not.

The existence of any unknown is based on an assumption. How that assumption is formulated in thought or deed, is an approximation of its expected value.

Christianity thrives because the belief of the reality of the existence of Jesus is a best fit example of what God is. By any other name, the personification of an unknown or set of unknowns, remains valid only by consistent persistence over time. And also the fact that Jesus was accepted as human consistent with specifics; not a mere imaginary being. He had real flesh. bone and blood. Is matter equivalent to energy?
Energy equals mass (matter) multiplied by the square of the speed of light. Thus, if God is light; for God to become mortal, the value of the square root of the energy necessary to equivocate the existence of the mass of a mortal at the speed of light has to be in existence. That is, a 150 pound man multiplied by the speed of light, is about 27,900,ooo pound-miles per second. The Roman pantheon was named after planets as was the Greek. The Judeo-Christian Theos is a unitary, (or triune) spiritual entity.

What validates the assumpton is the Resurrection.

41:008:035 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
41:008:036 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
41:008:037 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

58:004:011 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
58:004:012 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Religion is best understood, (to me) by searching its metaphysics compared to everyday life. If it succeeds it is true. If it fails, it is also true.

True and false are both true possibilities. True or false are a choice.

The moral values of truth and false named as good and evil, provide two more parameters for evaluation of statements and arguments.

A statement can be false and evil to be good and/or true, but true cannot be false, false can be true, (in that it is false), and good cannot be evil.

Thus, evil, even if true or false, cannot be good.

With this I thought, "what about black holes and the big bang?"

It occured to me that heat as energy is a more significant parameter than time in the extrapolation of event horizons.

Thus the big bang is nonsense and black holes are "colder" than absolute zero. This does not nullify the possibility that catastrophic events must occur. They do.

Tine and light are by definition an inseperable pair. No light, no time.

Heat and EMF (electromotive force), and gravity are products of the experience of life. No life, no humans, and no word for light or time.

Thus consciousness of light and time are relative to human existence. And as we can often assume that the perception of time, energy, gravity, and motion are common to life, the harmonies of their existence are common. Fish, for example, seem to suddenly become aware of air, lack of buoyancy, changes in the dynamics of a different medium compared to their familiar habitat.

Amphibians and reptiles (also birds) have their range and domain of function, yet outside of that set, a different set of parameters changes what is perceived.

I cannot assume that human consciousness will ever be a perfect and absolute child of the universe, yet the possibility of that, seems very plausible.

Comparing recent and current events with Biblical rantings and ravings

2009-10-01T03:28:00.000-07:00

If you are following the news media, you are probably aware of the turmoil in the world as it struggles to keep up with itself in the face of unpredictable natural catastrophe notwithstanding.

From the Old Testament Book of Haggai are the following concerns of the time...

Book 37 Haggai

"37:001:006 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
37:001:007 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways."

Tragedy of the Commons and associated consequences

2009-09-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/sotp/commons.dtl

For those predisposed to psychological treatment by hip-hype gnostics, consider this suggestive scenario...

The hypnotist says to the patient, "Imagine you are in a room. There are no lights, no windows and no doors or any ways in or out."

The patient obediently accepts the suggestion, settling into an imaginary repose of sensual handicap with a slight apprehension of entrapment.

The hypnotist then asks the parient, "How did you get in?"

What would be your response, if you were the patient?

Simple Budget tools

2009-09-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to get academic about keeping a simple budget balanced, but some math tools make the counting easier. Knowing the lingo makes it easier.

Tool list

Paper and pencil. Eraser if you know the truth.
Calculator or skill in addition-subtraction, multiplication-division, percent, fractions.
Calendar to keep track of time.
Confidence in your ability to be honest with yourself.
Know that computer equipment and software is expensive. Libraries, schools, and rich friends may let you compute in cyberspace if you don't own.
Keeping running records of income, expenses, and current balance is the bottom line.
Keeping a positive balance on your account record is the goal.
Shop for insurance, a bank you can trust comfortably for your account level, and a safe place to keep copies of your records in case the dog eats your work.
Matching your records with the records of those you do business with is how trust (and credit) are maintained. Excuses come in money, contracts, friends more or less, even habits. There are a lot of people in jail over money problems.
Being human is having an ability to be responsible. Confidence is different from pride, and pressure sales people are good doubletalkers.

The Rules

The rules are in terms that are conducive to trust.
The Terms are the objects of the rules.
A bank sells services related to money. Who's money? Yes.
The goal of keeping the rules is the sane use of money.
Time is real where money is concerned.
You can earn your own money; receive it as a gift or benefit to spend; and you can save money for money and later. Savings accounts pay interest on the principle (sum deposited).
Obligations of citizenship include taxation. (A feudal vestige of the early days of civilization.) Better to pay taxes than to suffer losses due to wild justice.
Insurance is cheap emergency aid as well as a restriction to obtain priviledges like vehicle ownership and operation.
Money makes a great gift. What you know about what it's for is common.
If you have the misfortune of being summoned to court for a judgment, you have the priviledge of paying money to cover the due process instead of paying by wasting time in jail.

The Mathematics

Both the keeping of savings and the lending of loans are paid for by interest. Interest is a fee in percent of some sum of money called Principle or Balance. The bank pays you to put money into a savings account; you pay the bank to borrow. Interest is calculated in terms of Principle and Time.
EnCalc.com has provided the following calculator for compound interest...

Encalc The Free Online Scientific Calculator

Your browser does not support iframes.
Visit Encalc Online Scientific Calculator for the full calculator.

Here are some more links:

www.mathsisfun.com/money/compound-interest-derivation.html

www.simpleinterestformula.com/compoundinterest.php

www.math.com/tables/general/interest.htm

Recources

2009-09-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

The search goes on

http://www.freebyte.com/

The fountain of ancient wonder has become the uncertainty of today's truth.

Luke 1:037 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

(yet "nothing" exists)

What is "safe browsing?"

http://scroogle.org/

BBC News low graphics

http://news.bbc.co.uk/low

Weather

http://weather.unisys.com/

New York Times

http://nytimes.com/

The link below has free software but you have to pay to become a member.

Completely FREE Software - CFS Program Review

More Software

(from Russia with love)

http://www.greatis.com/#bot

I like "File Hippo.com"

http://filehippo.com/

(Read the disclaimer in, "Terms and Conditions")

To know or not to know is not a question

2009-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Luke 24 15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

From the Book of First Corinthians: (46th bookof the KJV, 8th chapter, first verse)

46:008:001 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
46:008:002 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
46:008:003 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

"There is no proof of ignorance more common than conceit of knowledge. Much may be known, when nothing is known to good purpose. And those who think they know any thing, and grow vain thereon, are the least likely to make good use of their knowledge."-Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1Cor8:1

"It is poetic imagination, not science, which presents Time as despotic lord of the world, with all the irresponsible frivolity of a child. It is mysticism, too, which leads Heraclitus to assert the identity of opposites: "Good and ill are one," he says; and again: "To God all things are fair and good and right, but men hold some things wrong and some right."

Much of mysticism underlies the ethics of Heraclitus. It is true that a scientific determinism alone might have inspired the statement:"Man's character is his fate"; but only a mystic would have said:
"Every beast is driven to the pasture with blows"; and again:
"It is hard to fight with one's heart's desire. Whatever it wishes to get, it purchases at the cost of soul"; and again:
"Wisdom is one thing. It is to know the thought by which all things are steered through all things."[1]"

Courtesy: -Project Gutenberg's Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays, by Bertrand Russell, [EBook #25447]

Verses containing the word faith or some form of.

2009-09-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

I went through the KJV and did a word search for, "faith". If you know search engines, they are different; some find whole words, some word parts, some both.

Here is the result:

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it

To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?

The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully.

Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;

But wait, there's more...

For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

That's two pages' worth so far. There's three more...

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague

He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren.

That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;

And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

That's out of the whole KJV!

How was faith defined in the Bible?

2009-09-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hebrews Chapter 11

Hebrews
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

It Could be Scary

2009-08-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

I chose the title from things I have heard people say over time. I won't supply the context in which it was passed to me, because I want to use it as a key in understanding changes in life.

When the Old Testament folks got a bit too complacent in their prosperity, indulgences, neglect, or pride of life, they would realise in due time that a curve ball was being pitched to wake them up.

In this thing we call life, some attributes of its character can compared to a ball game. Let's assume any major sporting event as a microcosm of human life only with specific rules for the players and observers.

And, anywhere within the domain of the event, there will be action and reaction. The event as a complete thought is also subsetted by smaller or shorter events. Man kicks ball, crowd moans. Man bats ball out of park, crowd goes wild. You may have seen these kind of headlines on the sports page of a newspaper.

Of course, the best and the worst have their chance to perform. The rest is in between. So, how does this example demonstrate some fact of life? The pattern of it is a recurrent abstract phenomenon with minor variations.

Look at this webpage for another example:

cyberspace security

From the edu domain in the address you can see this is an educational website. The rest of the address is a locus of the page on the system server where the page resides on a computer memory, somewhere in internet web cyberspace.

The gist of the comments are a recap of the title of this blog in that the conveniences of life have a dark side. A man builds a house part by part. He clears the land. He makes preparation for a foundation. He starts with the foundation. Then the walls, doors, rooms, windows, maybe another story, a roof, some extended accomodation to the adjacent environment, water, waste, power, heat, cooling, storage, furniture, appliances, etc. The list goes on.

Over time the house gets old and needs maintenance. Consumables have to be replenished. Consumed has to be managed for displacement. And so on, over time the system becomes more complex. With the complexity comes the increase in probability of error. Error in any form is defined as the undesireable onset of variation of expected value in event process.

The weather may turn stormy and the rain find a way into the inside. A leak, a neglected heat source, a break, are only a few examples where error starts to show up. The degree of damage that error does is proportional to the loss of value it changes. It can be all, or some.

Thus where one may think of nonconsumable items as being of a fixed value, the variation of the value is itself a variable. When the wisdom of the past tries to hand the keys of a life of good value to new beings, how those keys are used determine the effects of having keys.

There's a story of a man living in the first development project for housing workers in New Jersey. Most of them working in more than one state, but needing similar accomodations. The houses look very similar, strung together on look alike streets, and all having different door locks.

A worker stays out late one night, has a few spirits to ease his fatigue, and makes his way home. He gets disoriented, tries his door key in several doors before he realises he is on the street.

How emabarrasing for him when his neighbors turn cold thinking him to be a burglar. Today he would be confronted by the police if they see him or are called. The point is simply that he ran into trouble with the best of intents. Tarrytown, NJ is still there.

So, the point of the potential of fear and error is a wake up call for the compulsive perfectionist

19:127:001 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that
build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh
but in vain.

How serious was vigilance in the days of old?

26:033:006 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the
trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and
take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

28:009:008 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a
snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of
his God.

Oh, it got worse...

33:007:004 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper
than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation
cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

And why?
24:051:012 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch
strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the
LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against
the inhabitants of Babylon.

25:004:017 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our
watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.

Ok, so what is the purpose of the Son of Man?

26:003:017 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them
warning from me.

26:033:001 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

26:033:002 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto
them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the
land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their
watchman:

27:004:013 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a
watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

Nebuchadnezzar's dream...

27:004:017 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand
by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living
may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the
basest of men.

35:002:002 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make
it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

35:002:003 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it
shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

35:002:004 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but
the just shall live by his faith.

Now to the New Testament...

40:014:021 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside
women and children.

40:014:022 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a
ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent
the multitudes away.

40:014:023 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was
there alone.

40:014:024 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with
waves: for the wind was contrary.

40:014:025 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them,
walking on the sea.

Here's watching again in terms of the Son of Man...

40:024:035 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away.

40:024:036 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of
heaven, but my Father only.

40:024:037 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be.

40:024:038 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark,

40:024:039 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40:024:040 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and
the other left.

40:024:041 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be
taken, and the other left.

40:024:042 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come.

40:024:043 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in
what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and
would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

40:024:044 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh.

40:024:045 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath
made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due
season?

40:024:046 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall
find so doing.

Creation. Chance, Design, or Choice

2009-08-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

Get K-Meleon browser
Get eXPert pdf Reader

41:010:006 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and
female.
41:013:018 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.

41:013:019 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from
the beginning of the creation which God created unto this
time, neither shall be.

41:013:020 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh
should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath
chosen, he hath shortened the days.
45:001:020 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse:

45:001:021 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

45:001:022 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

45:001:023 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things.

45:001:024 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies
between themselves:

45:001:025 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for
ever. Amen.

Origins of the word, "authority".

2009-08-17T01:56:00.000-07:00

This a partial study, since the work is not finished.

"authority"

1.	the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine.

2.	a power or right delegated or given; authorization: Who has the authority to grant permission?

3.	a person or body of persons in whom authority is vested, as a governmental agency.

4.	Usually, authorities. persons having the legal power to make and enforce the law; government:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/authority

The word, "authority" has been a contentious subject for a very long measure of time. In fact it still remains an unsettled concept in most of the world. We can ask, in logic how are "authority" and "sovereign" related to "freedom".

A synonym of the word, "authority", is "sovereign".

From the Dictionary we found, "... Origin:
1250–1300; ME soverain (alter. by influence of reign ) < OF soverain <

VL *superānus, equiv. to L super- super- + -ānus -an

Related forms:
sov⋅er⋅eign⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. emperor, empress, potentate. 3. government. 5. regal, majestic,

imperial, princely, monarchical, kingly, queenly. 7. chief, paramount,

principal, predominant. 10. effective, effectual. -http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sovereign

Why is God sovereign? Because people are not absolute, but relative to their existence.

In the Bible we find:

20:023:029 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath
babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of
eyes?

20:023:030 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed
wine.

20:023:031 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his
colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

20:023:032 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an
adder.

20:025:006 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand
not in the place of great men:

20:025:007 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither;
than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the
prince whom thine eyes have seen.

20:025:008 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do
in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

20:025:009 Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not
a secret to another:

20:025:010 Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy
turn not away.

20:028:002 For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof:
but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof
shall be prolonged.

20:028:003 A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain
which leaveth no food.

20:028:004 They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep
the law contend with them.
20:029:009 If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage
or laugh, there is no rest.

21:003:011 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath
set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the
work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

(Book 21 is Ecclesiastes It's my belief that Jesus' wandering in the wilderness and the temptation are the analogy in syllogistic reality of the book of Ecclesiastes.)

21:004:007 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

21:004:008 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath
neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his
labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither
saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good?
This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

21:004:009 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for
their labour.

21:004:010 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to
him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to
help him up.

21:004:011 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can
one be warm alone?

21:004:012 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a
threefold cord is not quickly broken.

21:004:013 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish
king, who will no more be admonished.

21:004:014 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is
born in his kingdom becometh poor.

21:007:008 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and
the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

21:007:014 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of
adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the
other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

21:012:012 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many
books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the
flesh.

23:009:006 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.

23:009:007 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end,

23:029:016 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as
the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it,
He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that
framed it, He had no understanding?

23:029:017 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned
into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be
esteemed as a forest?

23:029:018 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and
the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of
darkness.

23:029:019 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the
poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

23:029:020 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is
consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:

23:029:021 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for
him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a
thing of nought.

23:041:010 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am
thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

23:041:011 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be
ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they
that strive with thee shall perish.

23:041:012 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that
contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as
nothing, and as a thing of nought.

In the time line of the Old and New Testaments, two sources of authority seem to have emerged.

Judgment and Power by advancement. However, caution is advised here because the perspective shifts between lead and follow.

Old testament leaders were obeyed and preserved. New Testament leadership is also advocative but sacrificial. The common issue is the sovereignty of truth in love, and the choices determining the resolve of the process of the cost. A greedy king can break a nation, and an unjust judge can break the people.

The critical progress from the old to the new was (and is) literacy. To incorporate literacy into the experience of virtual maturation.

More on this when the time is appropriate.

News, gossip, boasting, bragging, statements, etc.

2009-08-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

20:025:025 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far
country.

40:004:023 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people.

44:005:030 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and
hanged on a tree.

44:005:031 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins.

44:005:032 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

44:005:033 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took
counsel to slay them.

44:005:034 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named
Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the
people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little
space;

44:005:035 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves
what ye intend to do as touching these men.

44:005:036 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be
somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined
themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him,
were scattered, and brought to nought.

44:005:037 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the
taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished;
and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

44:005:038 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them
alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will
come to nought:

44:005:039 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be
found even to fight against God.

But look at the action the crowd took in their (mis)understanding of the argument.

Premise: if this counsel or this work be of men,
Conclusion: it will come to nought:

Premise: But if it be of God,
Conclusion: ye cannot overthrow it

http://www.yourdictionary.com/win-win

win-win. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

Retrieved August 14th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/win-win

44:005:040 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles,

and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in
the name of Jesus, and let them go.

As to bragging, ambiguous statements, ambivalence, or homonymic doubletalk, you are left to do a little study on and in the language of your choice.

42:008:015 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and
good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth
fruit with patience.

An example of the ground breaking work of testimony is partially described here:

44:006:008 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and
miracles among the people.

44:006:009 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the
synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

44:006:010 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by
which he spake.

44:006:011 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

44:006:012 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the
scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to
the council,

Synopsis?

45:012:014 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

45:012:015 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that
weep.

45:012:016 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things,
but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own
conceits.

45:012:017 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in
the sight of all men.

45:012:018 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men.

45:012:019 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place
unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will
repay, saith the Lord.

45:012:020 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give
him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on
his head.

45:012:021 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

45:013:001 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

45:013:002 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation.

Sacrificing the knowledge to worship the proof

2009-08-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

Education as an institution like all things has a dark side. The presumption of the "blank slate" of mind is to blame for the failure of the necessary transference of evidence for truth as evidence of truth. Not unlike a Modus Ponens syllogism;

Facts are true.
Truth is facts.
Therefore, facts are truth.

No, not so. Facts are facts. Truth is truth.

Looking for the facts of the truth, I lost the truth for the facts.

Looking for the truth, I found the facts.

I have knowledge of facts, but truth remains to be determined.

2.22 What a picture represents it represents independently of its truth or
falsity, by means of its pictorial form.
2.221 What a picture represents is its sense.
2.222 The agreement or disagreement or its sense with reality constitutes
its truth or falsity.
2.224 It is impossible to tell from the picture alone whether it is true or
false.
3.031 It used to be said that God could create anything except what would
be contrary to the laws of logic. The truth is that we could not say what an
'illogical' world would look like.
4.46 Among the possible groups of truth-conditions there are two
extreme cases. In one of these cases the proposition is true for all
the truth-possibilities of the elementary propositions. We say that
the truth-conditions are tautological. In the second case the
proposition is false for all the truth-possibilities: the
truth-conditions are contradictory . In the first case we call the
proposition a tautology; in the second, a contradiction.

4.461 Propositions show what they say; tautologies and contradictions show
that they say nothing. A tautology has no truth-conditions, since it is
unconditionally true: and a contradiction is true on no condition.
Tautologies and contradictions lack sense. (Like a point from which two
arrows go out in opposite directions to one another.) (For example, I know
nothing about the weather when I know that it is either raining or not
raining.)

4.46211 Tautologies and contradictions are not, however, nonsensical. They
are part of the symbolism, much as '0' is part of the symbolism of
arithmetic.

4.462 Tautologies and contradictions are not pictures of reality. They do
not represent any possible situations. For the former admit all possible
situations, and latter none. In a tautology the conditions of agreement
with the world--the representational relations--cancel one another, so that
it does not stand in any representational relation to reality.

4.463 The truth-conditions of a proposition determine the range that it
leaves open to the facts. (A proposition, a picture, or a model is, in the
negative sense, like a solid body that restricts the freedom of movement of
others, and in the positive sense, like a space bounded by solid substance
in which there is room for a body.) A tautology leaves open to reality the
whole--the infinite whole--of logical space: a contradiction fills the
whole of logical space leaving no point of it for reality. Thus neither of
them can determine reality in any way.

4.464 A tautology's truth is certain, a proposition's possible, a
contradiction's impossible. (Certain, possible, impossible: here we have
the first indication of the scale that we need in the theory of
probability.)

4.465 The logical product of a tautology and a proposition says the same
thing as the proposition. This product, therefore, is identical with the
proposition. For it is impossible to alter what is essential to a symbol
without altering its sense.

4.466 What corresponds to a determinate logical combination of signs is a
determinate logical combination of their meanings. It is only to the
uncombined signs that absolutely any combination corresponds. In other
words, propositions that are true for every situation cannot be
combinations of signs at all, since, if they were, only determinate
combinations of objects could correspond to them. (And what is not a
logical combination has no combination of objects corresponding to it.)
Tautology and contradiction are the limiting cases--indeed the
disintegration--of the combination of signs.

6.2321 And the possibility of proving the propositions of mathematics means
simply that their correctness can be perceived without its being necessary
that what they express should itself be compared with the facts in order to
determine its correctness.

6.2322 It is impossible to assert the identity of meaning of two
expressions. For in order to be able to assert anything about their
meaning, I must know their meaning, and I cannot know their meaning without
knowing whether what they mean is the same or different.

6.43 If the good or bad exercise of the will does alter the world, it can
alter only the limits of the world, not the facts--not what can be
expressed by means of language. In short the effect must be that it becomes
an altogether different world. It must, so to speak, wax and wane as a
whole. The world of the happy man is a different one from that of the
unhappy man.

6.1251 Hence there can never be surprises in logic.

6.126 One can calculate whether a proposition belongs to logic, by
calculating the logical properties of the symbol. And this is what we do
when we 'prove' a logical proposition. For, without bothering about sense
or meaning, we construct the logical proposition out of others using only
rules that deal with signs . The proof of logical propositions consists in
the following process: we produce them out of other logical propositions by
successively applying certain operations that always generate further
tautologies out of the initial ones. (And in fact only tautologies follow
from a tautology.) Of course this way of showing that the propositions of
logic are tautologies is not at all essential to logic, if only because the
propositions from which the proof starts must show without any proof that
they are tautologies.

6.1261 In logic process and result are equivalent. (Hence the absence of
surprise.)

6.24 The method by which mathematics arrives at its equations is the method
of substitution. For equations express the substitutability of two
expressions and, starting from a number of equations, we advance to new
equations by substituting different expressions in accordance with the
equations.

6.362 What can be described can happen too: and what the law of causality
is meant to exclude cannot even be described.

6.363 The procedure of induction consists in accepting as true the simplest
law that can be reconciled with our experiences.

6.3631 This procedure, however, has no logical justification but only a
psychological one. It is clear that there are no grounds for believing that
the simplest eventuality will in fact be realized.

6.36311 It is an hypothesis that the sun will rise tomorrow: and this means
that we do not know whether it will rise.

6.37 There is no compulsion making one thing happen because another has
happened. The only necessity that exists is logical necessity.

6.371 The whole modern conception of the world is founded on the illusion
that the so-called laws of nature are the explanations of natural
phenomena.

6.4312 Not only is there no guarantee of the temporal immortality of the
human soul, that is to say of its eternal survival after death; but, in any
case, this assumption completely fails to accomplish the purpose for which
it has always been intended. Or is some riddle solved by my surviving for
ever? Is not this eternal life itself as much of a riddle as our present
life? The solution of the riddle of life in space and time lies outside
space and time. (It is certainly not the solution of any problems of
natural science that is required.)

-Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
by Ludwig Wittgenstein

This answered me.

2009-08-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Milk and honey,
Blood and money.
A new day dawns,
And all is sunny.

23:007:015 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the
evil, and choose the good.

016:017 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing
of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

034:001 Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
18:034:003 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
18:034:004 Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what
is good.
18:034:033 Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it,
whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I:
therefore speak what thou knowest.

19:025:012 What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in
the way that he shall choose.

20:001:029 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of
the LORD:

23:066:004 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears
upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I
spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes,
and chose that in which I delighted not.

YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE (from the legal notice accompanying the document the verses are quoted from.)

18:021:013 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to
the grave.
18:021:015 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what
profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
20:002:011 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
20:002:012 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man
that speaketh froward things;

21:005:009 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself
is served by the field.

The curse for making it worse...

24:016:011 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have
forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods,
and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have
forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

24:016:012 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk
every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they
may not hearken unto me:

24:016:013 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye
know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye
serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you
favour.

40:004:010 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve.

What was Jesus executed for? He cursed the authorities, judges, and enforcers of the law for failure to fulfill the promise of keeping the law.

40:023:024 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

42:022:027 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that
serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as
he that serveth.
42:005:038 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are
preserved.

New wine represents new life. New bottles are respect for the difference between clean innocence and filthy indulgence.

You can raise a child in a pig pen, and you can say pigs are fun, but you can't stop the child from playing with pigs.

You are what you are.
You are not what you will be.
You cannot be what you were.
You are not what you think you are.
You are not what you pretend to be.
If God is truth,
You are what both you and God know you are, knew you were, and will be.

Does God know how this is?

20:014:015 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh
well to his going.

20:014:022 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be
to them that devise good.

20:008:005 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an
understanding heart.

20:007:007 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the
youths, a young man void of understanding,

19:116:006 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he
helped me.

20:001:022 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the
scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

45:016:017 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions
and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned;
and avoid them.

45:016:018 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but
their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive
the hearts of the simple.

20:001:032 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

45:016:019 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad
therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto
that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

41:011:022 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

41:011:023 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and
shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have
whatsoever he saith.

40:021:032 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye
believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed
him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that
ye might believe him.

40:027:041 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes
and elders, said,

40:027:042 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of
Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe him.

40:027:043 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have
him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

40:027:044 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same
in his teeth.

40:027:045 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour.

41:009:042 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that
believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

41:005:036 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto
the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

41:009:024 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said
with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

41:011:024 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when
ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

41:016:008 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for
they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to
any man; for they were afraid.

41:016:009 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he
appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast
seven devils.

41:016:010 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they
mourned and wept.

41:016:011 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been
seen of her, believed not.

41:016:012 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as
they walked, and went into the country.

41:016:013 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed
they them.

41:016:014 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and
upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they believed not them which had seen him after he was
risen.

41:016:015 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature.

41:016:016 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned.

41:016:017 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

41:016:018 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover.

41:016:019 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received
up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

45:016:020 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly.

04:006:024 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

04:006:025 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto
thee:

04:006:026 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace.

Grab this before it's gone

2009-08-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

Here is a clip from the above page to whet the appetite:

"

For example, consider the proposition Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos (literally: 'for whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell'. This is also known as Ad Coelum.

A legal reductio ad absurdum argument against the proposition might be:
Suppose we take this proposition to a logical extreme. This would grant a land owner rights to everything in a cone from the center of the earth to an infinite distance out into space, and whatever was inside that cone, including stars and planets. It is absurd that someone who purchases land on earth should own other planets, therefore this proposition is wrong.

(This is a straw man fallacy if it is used to prove that the practical legal use of "Ad Coelum" is wrong, since Ad Coelum is only actually ever used to delineate rights in cases of tree branches that grow over boundary fences, mining rights, etc.^[3] Reductio ad absurdum applied to Ad Coelum is, in this case, claiming that Ad Coelum is saying something that it is not. If anything, the reductio ad absurdum above argues only against taking Ad Coelum to its fullest extent - which in fact nobody ever does anyway.)

In a strict logical sense, this is a reductio ad incommodum rather than ad absurdum - in logic, the term 'absurdity' applies only to impossible self-contradiction, not the merely undesirable consequence we see here. It is only in everyday (or legal) usage that this could acceptably be called a reduction ad absurdum."

Microcosm of all History and Law

2009-08-12T03:54:00.000-07:00

"...in general, the validity of an inference does not guarantee the
truth of the statements in the inference. The validity only assures us
the truth of the conclusion assuming that the premises are
true."-http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Modus_ponens_and_Modus_tollens

I heard mention of a new witch hunt cutely named, "The Difficult Neighbor Problem". Amazing is it not that human sin has not changed in over 10,000 years. A kind of chronic peripateia. In that the persecution of undesirable neighbors has been a central issue of most conflicts and the propagation of a choking volume of legislation seems too coincidental to ignore.

Psychology would suggest that the offended is a projecting neurotic, blaming the undesirable for not being a slave to the offended's claims, justified by the assumption that all must do for the common good, while denying the responsibility of helping in respect of a greater good for all because the offended is not considered as being offensive. "That's not junk. It's lawn art."

Who is the offender? Claimant or defendent? If negligence is an offence, then both are guilty under the law. The first (claimant) for denying the first sufficient assistance to satisfy the claim, the second (defendent) for lack of maintenance. Burden of proof problem.

Our Constitution was born out of a conflict over undesirable neighbors, and how to best negotiate the due by process of rule of law. Oh boy, is that where we have descended to, or from?

If a flag and gun toting zealot were to clean up property not his own, who would say he had done it wrong? He did it wrong by the method he used if a flag and gun were involved. (It's difficult to work a pump or a shovel while holding a flagstaff or a semiautomatic rifle.) There were few reports of helpful assistance rendered by the armed militia preventing looting as residents struggled to save lives and property during hurricane Katrina. Older times also included sharp instruments of division of fleshly parts, or simply stabbing the offensive object to cause death by hemorrage. Modern times include Eminent Domain and bulldozing. Witchcraft, voodoo, sorcery, specific extortion, and nonspecific aggravation.

Rational thinkers not. Irrational human beasts more likely. And isn't it odd that the beast claiming to be offended, offends as a beast?

agent provocateur is defined as: n. Person employed to detect suspected offenders by tempting them to overt action.

Agrarian agorophobics I say

33:002:004 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and
lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly
spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he
removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

35:002:006 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a
taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that
increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that
ladeth himself with thick clay!

40:013:037 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
is the Son of man;

40:013:038 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

40:013:039 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end
of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40:013:040 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world.

40:013:041 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them
which do iniquity;

40:013:042 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.

40:013:043 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

40:013:044 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a
field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy
thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
field.

40:013:045 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls:

40:013:046 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all that he had, and bought it.

40:013:047 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast
into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

40:013:048 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

40:013:049 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

40:013:050 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.

40:013:051 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things?
They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

40:013:052 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is
instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old.

Real example of a logical analysis of legal record.

2009-08-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

In attempting to analyze a legal document for it's logical properties, a summary and evaluation needs to preceed. The issue I have chosen is, McCulloch vs. Maryland, a Supreme Court decision made in 1819.

I picked some sites from a search on the subject for background information: http://www.landmarkcases.org/mcculloch/background3.html

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/documents/docpages/document_page21.htm

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/McCulloch+vs.+Maryland

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1801-1825/marshallcases/mar05.htm

http://www.cinenet.net/~daven/documents.html

The conclusion to me is, that according to the Constitution, the power to wage war was reserved to Congress. However, waging war is very expensive and requires monetary recources, so voila, a central bank. But, be careful here, because the conflict of wording is crucial. Power and right are not synonymous nor equivocal. Right implies justification, power implies means.

Thus if, the rights to Congress are given by the Constitution, but the power to use those rights must be gleaned from the economy of all the people in the form of taxation, and trust in delegated authority, where is the burden of proof in the justification of decisions resulting in law?

Sovereignty of jurisdictional domain is always in danger of conflict. Typical case is stated as the issue of two neighbors adjacent but separated by a fence to mark the property line. A storm rolls in and topples a tree. The tree is rooted on one side of the fence, but topples over the fence. Which neighbor has the right to the wood if the issue goes to court?

When John Marshall gave the summary of the Supreme Court's decision, he included this reason:

"The difference is that which always exists, and always must exist, between the action of the whole on a [17 U.S. 316, 436] part, and the action of a part on the whole-between the laws of a government declared to be supreme, and those of a government which, when in opposition to those laws, is not supreme."

More transcript from the case:

"M'CULLOCH
v.
STATE OF MARYLAND et al.

February Term, 1819

No political dreamer was ever wild enough to think of breaking down the lines which separate the states, and of compounding the American people into one common mass. Of consequence, when they act, they act in their states. But the measures they adopt do not, on that account, cease to be the measures of the people themselves, or become the measures of the state governments.
-MARSHALL, Ch. J., delivered the opinion of the court.

The objections to the constitution which are noticed in these numbers, were to the undefined power of the government to tax, not to the incidental privilege of exempting its own measures from state taxation. The consequences apprehended from this undefined power were, that it would absorb all the objects of taxation, 'to the exclusion and destruction of the state governments.' The arguments of the Federalist are intended to prove the fallacy of these apprehensions; not to prove that the government was incapable of executing any of its powers, without exposing the means it employed to the embarrassments of state taxation. Arguments urged against these objections, and these apprehensions, are to be understood as relating to the points they [17 U.S. 316, 435] mean to prove. Had the authors of those excellent essays been asked, whether they contended for that construction of the constitution, which would place within the reach of the states those measures which the government might adopt for the execution of its powers; no man, who has read their instructive pages, will hesitate to admit, that their answer must have been in the negative. -Marshall

The government of the United States has itself a great pecuniary interest in this corporation. Can the states tax this property? Under the confederation, when the national government, not having the power of direct legislation, could not protect its own property by its own laws, it was expressly stipulated, that 'no impositions, duties or restrictions should be laid by any state on the property of the United States.' Is it supposed, that property of the United States is now subject to the power of the state governments, in a greater degree than under the confederation? If this power of taxation be admitted, what is to be its limit? -Webster

It has also been insisted, that, as the power of taxation in the general and state governments is acknowledged to be concurrent, every argument which would sustain the right of the general government to tax banks chartered by the states, will equally sustain the right of the states to tax banks chartered by the general government. But the two cases are not on the same reason. The people of all the states have created the general government, and have conferred upon it the general power of taxation. The people of all the states, and the states themselves, are represented in congress, and, by their representatives, exercise this power. When they tax the chartered institutions of the states, they tax their constituents; and these taxes must be uniform. But when a state taxes the operations of the government of the United States, it acts upon institutions created, not by their own constituents, but by people over whom they claim no control. It acts upon the measures of a government created by others as well as themselves, for the benefit of others in common with themselves. The difference is that which always exists, and always must exist, between the action of the whole on a [17 U.S. 316, 436] part, and the action of a part on the whole-between the laws of a government declared to be supreme, and those of a government which, when in opposition to those laws, is not supreme.

But if the full application of this argument could be admitted, it might bring into question the right of congress to tax the state banks, and could not prove the rights of the states to tax the Bank of the United States.

The court has bestowed on this subject its most deliberate consideration. The result is a conviction that the states have no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by congress to carry into execution the powers vested in the general government. This is, we think, the unavoidable consequence of that supremacy which the constitution has declared. We are unanimously of opinion, that the law passed by the legislature of Maryland, imposing a tax on the Bank of the United States, is unconstitutional and void." -Marshall

Webster's defense:

"3. If, however, the states of this Union have surrendered themselves in this manner, by implication, to the congress of the United States, and to such corporations as the congress, from time to time, may find it 'necessary and proper' to create; if a state may no longer decide, whether a trading association, with independent powers and immunities, shall plant itself in its territory, carry on its business, make a currency and trade on its credit, raising capitals for individuals as fictitious as its own; if all this must be granted, the third and great question in this cause presents itself for consideration; that is, shall this association come there with rights of sovereignty, paramount to the sovereignty of the state, and with privileges possessed by no other persons, corporations or property in the state? in other words, can the bank and its branches, thus established, claim to be exempt from the ordinary and equal taxation of property, as assessed in the states in which they are placed? As this overwhelming invasion of state sovereignty is not warranted by any express clause or grant in the constitution, and never was [17 U.S. 316, 338] imagined by any state that adopted and ratified that constitution, it will be conceded, that it must be found to be necessarily and indissolubly connected with the power to establish the bank, or it must be repelled. The court has always shown a just anxiety to prevent any conflict between the federal and state powers; to construe both so as to avoid an interference, if possible, and to preserve that harmony of action in both, on which the prosperity and happiness of all depend. If, therefore, the right to incorporate a national bank may exist, and be exercised consistently with the right of the state, to tax the property of such bank within its territory, the court will maintain both rights; although some inconvenience or diminution of advantage may be the consequence.

Corporations are but means. They are not ends and objects of government. No government exists for the purpose of creating corporations as one of the ends of its being. They are institutions established to effect certain beneficial purposes; [17 U.S. 316, 326] and, as means, take their character generally from their end and object. They are civil or eleemosynary, public or private, according to the object intended by their creation. They are common means, such as all governments use. The state governments create corporations to execute powers confided to their trust, without any specific authority in the state constitutions for that purpose. There is the same reason that congress should exercise its discretion as to the means by which it must execute the powers conferred upon it. Congress has duties to perform and powers to execute. It has a right to the means by which these duties can be properly and most usefully performed, and these powers executed. Among other means, it has established a bank; and before the act establishing it can be pronounced unconstitutional and void, it must be shown, that a bank has no fair connection with the execution of any power or duty of the national government, and that its creation is consequently a manifest usurpation." -Webster, for the plaintiff in error,3 stated, U.S. Supreme Court
M'CULLOCH v. STATE, 17 U.S. 316 (1819)

Here's the dilemma: Does right prevail over power, or does power prevail over right?

Abuse of power is not a right. Violation of rights is infraction of law. If the law is at logical fault due to error, then power and rights cannot be justified.

In Geometry this similar to a problem of finding a rectangle and a circle of exactly the same area.

(I know that seems remote)

From the KJV Bible regarding similar issues:

45:012:004 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have
not the same office:

46:010:017 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all
partakers of that one bread.

46:012:012 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the
members of that one body, being many, are one body:

43:007:051 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what
he doeth?

20:013:010 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is
wisdom.

20:017:013 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his
house.

20:017:014 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water:
therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

018:019 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and
their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

56:003:009 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions,
and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and
vain.

How old are you?

2009-08-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Do you remember these?

Post WWII four engine transport and commercial aircraft named the C69/C121 Constellation.

Maximum of 44 passengers.

Built by Lockheed, it was Air Force One for President Eisenhower, renamed "Columbine III"
by the President's wife.

Details courtesy of: http://www.theaviationzone.com/factsheets/c121.asp

Not even good things last forever.

Maybe this will help

2009-08-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

"Most programming languages, even those that do not have an explicit

Boolean type, have support for Boolean algebra operations such as

conjunction (AND, &, *), disjunction (OR, |, +), equivalence (EQV, =,

==), exclusive or/non-equivalence (XOR, NEQV, ^), and not (NOT, ~, !)."

C

To this day, Boolean values are commonly represented by integers in C

programs. The comparison operators (' > ', '==', etc.) are defined to

return a signed integer (int) result, either zero (for false) or

nonzero (for true). The Boolean operators (&&, ||) and conditional

statements (if, while) in C operate on integer values, with the same

interpretation. For example, the following C code

int t = (x > y);
if (t) { printf("True!\n");}
else { printf("False!\n"); }

is equivalent to

int t;
if (x > y) { t = -1; }
else { t = 0; }
if (t != 0) { printf("True!\n"); }
else { printf("False!\n"); }

However, since the C language standards allow the result of a

comparison to be any non-zero value, the statement if(t==1){...} is not

equivalent to if(t){...} or to if(t!=0){...}.

Since C standards mandate that 0 be interpreted as the null pointer

when used in a pointer context or cast to a pointer, one can test

whether a pointer is non-null by the statement if(p){...} instead of

if(p!=NULL){...} — although some code styles discourage this shorthand.

One can also write if(x){...} when x is a floating-point value, to mean

if(x!=){...}.

For convenience, many programmers and C header files use C's typedef

facility to define a Boolean type (which may be named Boolean, boolean,

bool, etc.). The Boolean type may be just an alias for a numeric type

like int or char. In that case, programmers often define also macros

for the true and false values. For example,

typedef int bool;
#define FALSE 0
#define TRUE (-1)
...
bool f = FALSE;
...
if (f) { ... }

The defined values of the TRUE and FALSE macros must be adequate for

the chosen Boolean type. Note that, on the now common two's complement

computer architectures, the signed value -1 is converted to a non-zero

value (~0, the bit-wise complement of zero) when cast to an unsigned

type, or assigned to an unsigned variable.

Another common choice is to define the Boolean type as an enumerated

type (enum) allows naming elements in the language of choice. For

example, the following code uses the English names FALSE and TRUE as

possible values of the type boolean. In this case, care must be taken

so that the false value is represented internally as a zero integer:

typedef enum { FALSE, TRUE } boolean;
...
boolean b = FALSE;
...
if (b) { ... }

Again, since a true result may be any non-zero value, the tests

if(t==TRUE){...} and if(t), which are equivalent in other languages,

are not equivalent in C.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_datatype#C

Ok. So, is there agreement, contention, or conflict?

2009-08-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

Another logic evaluator gave these results:

Ludwig 0.6.4 - Truth Table Constructor
(c)2002-2003 Diego Padula
{ -, &, /, %, >, =, ! }
e.g. 1: ((p&-p)>q)
e.g. 2: ((-a&-b)=(a!b))

Formula: a/b

(a/b)
1. FFF
2. FFT
3. TFF
4. TTT

[Elapsed total 0.0000]

Formula: a%b

(a%b)
1. FTF
2. FFT
3. TFF
4. TTT

[Elapsed total 0.0000]

Formula: a&b

(a&b)
1. FFF
2. FTT
3. TTF
4. TTT

[Elapsed total 0.0000]

Formula: a>b

(a>b)
1. FFF
2. FTT
3. TFF
4. TFT

[Elapsed total 0.0000]

(Unfortunately the above author's website has disappeared, and the program is not readily available. It was written in C. )

So, examining the above results, how would you define the operators by their symbols, and compare the evaluation of the "ludwig" system with "Logical Formula evaluator"?

"Logical Formula evaluator" is currently available at SourceForge.net

There are other logic evaluators from the past (in DOS) namely, "Bertie" and "Twootie". Which also serve as tutors.

More Tricky True-False

2009-08-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

I Hope You Like to Read

For: (a OR b) AND (b OR c) IMPLIES a OR c

Value, a,b,c
True,T,T,T
True,T,T,F
True,T,F,T
True,T,F,F
True,F,T,T
False,F,T,F
True,F,F,T
True,F,F,F

The term "Value" means the validity (Truth value) of the statement as a whole. The other three, (one for each variable), are True or False values of the variables. The premise for the statement is, "If (a or b) and (b or c) are true or false, is (a or c) Truly or Falsely implied?

Thus, (a or b) and (b or c) implies (a or c) if and only if all the Values (operators and the varables) in the table are met. The value of the statement operator ' implication' is True for all but one condition; a=False, b=True, and c=False.

The statement can also be written as: a or b and b or c implies a or c.

This is not a finished work since the truth vaues of the other operators are not evaluated. "AND, OR" can also vary invalue making the table more complex. Example: Find the Truth values of the following...

OR, AND, IMPLIES, a, b, c

are six elements to evaluate. Three operators and three variables.

So, a truth table can get very complex.

A program that approaches this on a computer can be found (downloaded)

from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/logicaleval/

More Recources on the Web:

http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/

http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/

What actually is government?

2009-08-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

go' vernment n. (More modern word for) GOVERNANCE;

go' vernance n. Act, manner, fact or function, of governing, sway, control.

go'vern v.t & i. Rule with authority, conduct the policy, actions, & affairs, of (State, subject) despotically or constitutionally; regulate proceedings (corporation etc.; ~ing body, managers of hospital, school, etc.; be in military command of (fort, town).

-The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Fowler & Fowler, 5th Ed., Oxford University Press, Amen House, London E.C. 4, New York, 1964

True or false?

2009-08-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

The truth table for a simple true-false formula is as follows;

a AND NOT b IMPLIES a EXCLUSIVE OR b This formula governs the table values.

Truth table:
Value, a, b

False, T, T If a is true and b is true, the statement is contradictory and false.
Not both a and b can be true.
True, T, F If a is true and b is false, the statement (by the rule) is true by agreement.
True, F, T If a is false and b is true, the statement is true.
False, F, F If a is false and b is false, the statement is false.

The key operator is => IMPLIES. (a AND NOT b IMPLIES a EXCLUSIVE OR b)

The implication of the formula is agreement or disagreement. The statements must agree to disagree to be true.

Religious theories; rational choice

2009-08-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

One of several religious theories is proposed here with some verses from the King James Bible.

The belief that sin is the source of affliction
profaned by Jesus for the salvation of any that be-
lieve on Him.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_religion#Rational_choice_theory

40:004:023 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people

42:009:006 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the
gospel, and healing every where.

42:009:011 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he
received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and
healed them that had need of healing.

44:004:022 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of
healing was shewed.

44:010:038 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and
with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

46:012:004 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

46:012:005 And there are differences of administrations, but the same
Lord.

46:012:006 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same
God which worketh all in all.

46:012:007 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to
profit withal.

46:012:008 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to
another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

46:012:009 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of
healing by the same Spirit;

46:012:028 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,
then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues.

46:012:030 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do
all interpret?

66:022:002 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the
river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of
fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Here I turn to the Old Testament...

24:014:017 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes
run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for
the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great
breach, with a very grievous blow.

24:014:018 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the
sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are
sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go
about into a land that they know not.

24:014:019 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion?
why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we
looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of
healing, and behold trouble!

24:030:011 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I
make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee,
yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct
thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether
unpunished.

24:030:012 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy
wound is grievous.

24:030:013 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound
up: thou hast no healing medicines.

24:030:014 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I
have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the
chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine
iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

Why is Feudalism no longer valid?

2009-08-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

As the world becomes more populated and communications more pervasive, older elements of human social systems become tested under the weight of sustainability.

A very good online course is offered at Fordham University via their website. The following medieval history course offered in 1998 is an example of a garden plot of issues confronting modern changes to older ways.

See: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medieval.html

So what can anyone offer for an argument that Feudalism is losing validity as an authority in modern life under modern law?

Chapter 18 titled, "Class 18 Secular Society: The Aristocratic Culture and Peasant Life", is somewhere in the meta temporal region where the American Constitution broke away from the empires of Europe leaving choices of government open to the sources of past success and failure.

The one advance in theoretical thought that predicted the mathematics of future development, was Harmonic Series Analysis, (or so it is my belief).

See: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~efc/classes/biol710/timeseries/timeseries1.htm

How is this my belief? http://www.math.niu.edu/~rusin/known-math/index/43-XX.html

It was stated somewhere that the troubadors of the Old World were responsible for altering the views of feudal courts.

Music is a product of a harmonic system, and can be analysed by Fourier Transforms. Both music and Fourier transforms of harmonics have been in existence for a thousand years or so.

If the failure of intuition to come to a valid deductive conclusion leads to error, what is assumed to be a remedy?

The rise of Hedonism is an example of a harmonic series transformation resulting in an oscillation.

In the theories that make radio work, the destructive aspect of harmonics (sympathetic frequencies) become feedback loop screeching.

Thus, the boom and bust aspect of human life resembles a symphony of harmonics that can have meaning or simply be mean.

Extremism, compromise. radicalism, socialism, feudalism, etc. are descriptive terms of process.

If they (events of process) are subject to series analysis as deductive reasoning, can they inductively and accurately predict in time?

Broadcasting is not shouting in the same sense of the word meaning to raise one's voice. Yet the amplification of sound by electrical energy as alternating current is no new phenomenon.

What does a megaphone do that an amplified audio system does not and how are they different?

I think it has to with rates of rates.

Ever wonder?

2009-08-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

I clipped the following as an an example:

"Find and Compare prices on large free us map at Smarter.com.

www.smarter.com"

Whaddya stupid?

Startrek TV series

2009-08-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

In 1968, the third season of "Star Trek" ran an episode called, "The Enterprise Incident". It begins with a recap of the changes in Capt. Kirk's moods and personality. Kirk then orders the ship directly into Romulan territory without permission or orders from Starfleet command.

When captured, the ship's crew notices that the Romulans have adopted Klingon ship designs in their fleet as well as a revelation of a new "cloaking device" making Federation vessels vulnerable.

As the plot progresses, an exchange of personnel (two for two) and orders to self destruct if attacked, leave Lt. Cdr. Scott in command while the conflict is negotiated aboard the Romulan flagship.

During an argument between the Romulan captain, Kirk, and Spock, the issue of the value of truth emerges. Spock says, "Hiding the truth does not make it a lie."

The plot then takes different turns as the characters are led and tempted to the conclusion of the episode.

The point is the statement made by Spock regarding the value of truth. Absence of evidence does not invalidate an inductive conclusion.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

2009-08-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

Post Hoc fallacies are growing not only in mere number, but actually account for bad laws which are falsely justified by unsound reason. Judgments in courts have been known to be a result of this fallacy sending innocent people to punishment. False judgments have acquitted the guilty.

Literally, Post Hoc means after the fact therefore the cause of the fact. Sometimes this is true. Cause and effect are common in everyday life. However, multiple causation, pure coincidence, and corellation do not always cause the effects they are stated to effect. The arts of magic are based on this fallacy. Advertising, propaganda, rumors, tall tales, gossip, are even more examples of Non Causa, Pro Causa, as some forms of extortion and purgery can be.

However one should take metaphor, similie, syllogism, parable, allegory, etc. with careful thought since they are only models of process or principle, and not real facts.

See:http://www.livescience.com/culture/090525-obama-cheney-claims.html

See: http://www.fallacyfiles.org/posthocf.html

Also: http://www.drury.edu/ess/Logic/Informal/Post_Hoc__Ergo_Propter.html

On logic and truth tables:

http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e11a.htm

Implication as correllation also remains questionable when concluding cause and effect.

From the U.K. - http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

Critical reasoning is the only recourse to jumping to conclusions.

In the KJV Bible we find:

Luke (42:)024:011 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they
believed them not.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before
honour is humility.

18:13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and
shame unto him.

18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded
spirit who can bear? 18:15 The heart of the prudent getteth
knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great
men.

18:17 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his
neighbour cometh and searcheth him.

18:18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the
mighty.

18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and
their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

Luke (Book 42)

42:008:016 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a
vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a
candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

42:008:017 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest;
neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come
abroad.

42:008:018 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him
shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be
taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Verse 18 He is referring to truth as conclusion from valid reason.

1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be
wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be
wise.

Here's one in terms of Economics. Timely if not incessantly recurring.

http://accounting.suite101.com/article.cfm/three_common_economic_fallacies

Questions

2009-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

If a=b and b=c, does a=c?

Most would say, "yes".

Yet it begs a question.

If all these are equal, what is the use of an alphabet

to contradict the definition of equality?

1=1, not 1=2

Or,

a, b, and c are different letters (symbols).

One vowel and two consonants.

We know that a vowel and a consonant are not the same.

So, does that not imply (=>) a contradiction?

a=a, b=b, c=c

What is missing is the "rule" that changes the "rule".

Letters of an alphabet are used to represent (symbolize) specific unknowns.

Remaking the rules redefines the process.

To validate or justify the argument, the statements as unknowns are symbolized.

An example of this is also a fallacy

Known as the "Texas Sharpshooter" fallacy,

A man shoots a number of holes in the side of a barn.

Then he paints a circular ring target around the center of the cluster of holes.

When the paint dries, he claims his marksmanship.

Good argument bad argument

2009-08-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

A fallacy is roughly defined as bad reasoning.

See: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fallacy

Types of fallcies at:

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/index.html

Download a copy of Fallacy Tutorial

http://www.macinmind.com/

Examples?

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/fallacies.html

Caution: You may lose your friends for being a "smartass".

What's symbolic logic got to do with it?

2009-08-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

For (a => b) ^ (b => c) Where (=>) = "implies", (^) = Boolean AND (&)
For (+)=XOR, (v)=OR

Value,a,b,c,
True,T,T,T
True,T,T,F
True,T,F,T
True,T,F,F
True,F,T,T
True,F,T,F
True,F,F,T
True,F,F,F

What's the point? To analyze the "truth" value of statements in an argument, propositions and conclusions must agree. (Even the notation must agree consistently!)

"A tautology's truth is certain. A proposition's truth is possible. A contradiction's truth is impossible."
-Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Vienna, 1918

More of the same shows how complex an analysis can become...

For (a=>b)^(b=>c)+(avb)=>c

Value,a,b,c,
True,T,T,T
False,T,T,F
True,T,F,T
False,T,F,F
True,F,T,T
False,F,T,F
True,F,F,T
False,F,F,F

Epistemology

2009-08-06T01:02:00.001-07:00

Two Kinds of Time

2009-08-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

TEMPORAL TIME IN WHICH EVENTS CAN BE RECKONED

ETERNAL TIME IN WHICH EVENTS CANNOT BE RECKONED, BUT DO OCCUR

40:017:020 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily
I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

40:019:023 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

40:019:024 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God.

40:019:025 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed,
saying, Who then can be saved?

40:019:026 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is
impossible; but with God all things are possible.

40:024:023 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not.

40:024:024 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

41:009:023 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth.

42:017:001 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that
offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

42:018:026 And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

42:018:027 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are
possible with God.

44:002:022 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves
also know:

44:002:023 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain:

44:002:024 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death:
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

44:002:025 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not
be moved:

44:002:026 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

44:002:027 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

44:002:028 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make
me full of joy with thy countenance.

44:002:029 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day.

44:002:030 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with
an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to
the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

44:002:031 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption.

44:002:032 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

44:002:033 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

44:002:034 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand,

44:002:035 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

45:012:005 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one
members one of another.

45:012:006 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is
given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to
the proportion of faith;

45:012:007 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that
teacheth, on teaching;

45:012:008 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him
do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that
sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

45:012:009 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil;
cleave to that which is good.

45:012:010 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in
honour preferring one another;

45:012:011 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

45:012:012 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant
in prayer;

45:012:013 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

45:012:014 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

45:012:015 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that
weep.

45:012:016 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things,
but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own
conceits.

45:012:017 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in
the sight of all men.

45:012:018 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men.

45:012:019 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place
unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will
repay, saith the Lord.

45:012:020 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give
him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on
his head.

45:012:021 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

45:013:001 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

45:013:002 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation.

45:013:003 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is
good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

45:013:004 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do
that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in
vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Along Came Leonhard Euler

2009-07-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

"You can drink from the river without drying it up as long as you don't stop the rain or snow upstream"

Perhaps a simple analogy of balanced economics, but one must realise that credit is debt, and investment is asset. Is this all there is to it? What does work have to do with it? Gravity pulls together, heat transforms. Conservation of matter and energy claims that the system is closed. Work is defined as moving mass by force over distance and time. Not necessarily a product of pathetic fallacy, yet termed that way for convenience of agreement.

Convergence and divergence of finite and infinite series has been a sort of backbone to the body of modern technology seeking to determine its own existence by modifying an analysis of process.

Science News

"...the series of absolute values is the harmonic series, which has been
known to diverge since the 14th century (at least)."
http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/analysis.htm#targetsum

"...it is always possible to add enough terms of the series to make up for
any (positive or negative) difference between the current sum and the
target S. That's because the series of the absolute values is divergent
(so both the series of negative terms and the series of positive terms
must be divergent, or else the whole series would not be convergent)."

"...simple convergence does not tell you much about the limit. The limit of
continuous functions may not be continuous..."

"Worse, the integral of the limit may not be equal to the limit of the
integrals..."

"This is why the notion of uniform convergence was introduced: We say
that a sequence of functions fn defined on some domain of definition D
converges uniformly to its limit f when it's always possible for any
positive quantity e to exhibit a number N(e) such that whenever n is
more than N(e), the quantity |fn(x)-f(x)| is less than e, for any x in
D. (Note that a "domain of definition" is not necessarily a "domain"
in the sense of an open region, ita est. Whenever it's critical, make
sure to specify which meaning of "domain" you have in mind.)"

"Uniform convergence does imply that the integral of the (uniform) limit
is the limit of the integrals. It also implies that the (uniform)
limit of continuous functions is continuous. Since you have a
discontinuous limit here, the convergence can't possibly be uniform..."

"The above settles the question, but you may also want (for educational
purposes) to show directly that it's not possible for a given (small
enough) quantity e>0 to find an N such that fn(x) would be within e of
its limit for any x whenever n>N. "

http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/analysis.htm#targetsum

Why fly?

2009-07-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Simulations for meta processes in civilized life

2009-07-30T00:41:00.000-07:00

Concepts such as economics, politics, empire building, or development are disciplines of human dynamic life. Recent events in the news have spawned a rise in documentaries in the media not defined as simply children's entertainment.

There are number of freeware applications for the personal computer running Windows, Linux, or Apple-Mac software. Yet the realtime processes these programs represent, run on different parameters.

As teaching tools they are as good as text books, only easier to keep more information in and faster at doing the math than most people ability by natural means.

The trade offs are an increase in recource demand, frequency to re-evaluate the results, frequency to change the inputs as older output becomes subject to change.

Thus, as someone once said, "We can't predict the past, only point to a possibility that it happened." The future fares no better. Inductive reasoning runs behind deductive reasoning in accuracy of conclusion.

If any progress remains sustainable, it must follow a path of close approximation to all truth, whether it is affecting it or not.

I found a real tidy open source simulation during a search for freeware simulations and games.

The name of it is, "LinCity", and can still be downloaded cost free from SourceForge. Here's the link to the page: http://lincity.sourceforge.net/

I have more applications like this one that run models on a personal computer as do most users that play and collect games.

Another I can think of with some value as a teaching tool is Sim-Dilemma. Available for download also at SourceForge.net Here's the website link: http://simdilemma.sourceforge.net/

The year was 1922

2009-07-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Reasons:

Article Preview
HOW TWO AMERICANS PLANNED TO SETTLE NEAR EAST PROBLEM; Second Part of Long-Hidden Crane-King

Report Put Forth Definite Suggestions. CUTTING UP OLD TURKEY Powers Warned of the Dangers of

Selfish Division and Exploitation. PLAN FOR SEPARATE ARMENIA In Which by 1925 Armenians

Themselves Would Control--A Separate Constantinople.

December 4, 1922, Monday

Page 12, 27176 words

"The method of inquiry, in making our survey of the Asia Minor portion of our task, has necessarily differed from that followed in the study of Syria. For our ultimate duty, according to our instructions, is "to form an opinion of the divisions of territory and assignment of mandates which will be most likely to promote the order, peace and development" of the peoples concerned."

HOW TWO AMERICANS PLANNED TO SETTLE NEAR EAST PROBLEM; Second Part of Long-Hidden Crane-King Report... [PDF]
December 4, 1922 - Article" -Search query NYTimes archived images 1851-1980

The file of the archive is a pdf image; 98792934.pdf

If you want a copy, register as a member with NYTimes.com

Recent article on a speech by Homeland Security spokesperson, Secretary of the Bureau.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/us/politics/30security.html

An archive search (above)in The NYTimes.com website turned up an article on the Near East crisis of the time.
turned up an archived NYTimes article published in 1922 concerning the Near East. It had references to the above article in policy mood regarding foreign policy and security issues.

“The consequences of living in a state of fear rather than a state of preparedness are enormous,” she said.

The 1922 article about this post Wilson document contains many refrences to the Near and Middle East as the year was historically between two major world wars. Submarines were already a menace. Diplomacy apparently walked a narrow path between securing recource rights in a world market, and local civil unrest due to trespass and intervention of developing nations seeking empire as a form of political dominance.

Amazing math

2009-07-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm fascinated with chaos theory in mathematics. I don't really understand it all, but the results of some computations in the theory are quite unusual.

The Compulsive Imperative Tense

2009-07-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

English as a language has a language all it's own. Grammar is a codification of the usage of the terms that words assume in sentences. Sentences are statements. Thus, terms are parts of sentences or statements. Questions are interrogative statements, whereas sentences are propositions or affirmations.

A good link to grammar was found at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm.

Assuming language as the water of culture, the structure of the expression of life in that water is the grammar used to express a thought or idea.

In grammar, the term "mood" is used to indicate a modification of usage by emphasis indicating some emotional amplitude in the statement. Perhaps a sense of urgency or relief. Even denial or affirmation.

Thus, how statements are phrased by term usage indicates something else about the statement than mere subject, predicate, object, modifier, article, etc.

The study of the logic of statements attempts to take into account all the elements (terms) of the set of statements that come to some conclusion.

By examining the logical process of the reasoning that leads to a conclusion(s), and comparing the premise(s) (initial statements) with the conclusion(s), a truth value of the set can be determined.

Products of logical analyses about an argument(s) are, negation or affirmation of the truth value(s) of the statement(s) and the commission of fallacies, (known false arguments).

However, truth or falsity are not exhaustive of possibility. Simple or subtle changes of any term of an argument can change the values of literal meaning, while still implying an opposite.

Truth Tables are tabulated values of statements in a typical logical argument ("proof").

If, for example one changes the value of truth into its negative, "lie" or NOT true, what happens to the truth value of the argument as a whole?

Or if we state: true=false, and make a truth table of an argument which is assumed to be true, "All men are Socrates", then one might believe in frustration that all men are Socrates.

Here's the table: All Men are Socrates=true, but true=false, so all men are not Socrates.

Expanded with another statement; Socrates was a man=false. (Cannot be proven, Socrates of Greek antiquity is not living and cannot be examined for gender.) But, false=true so Socrates was not a man by reason of logic, but by reason of faith. Do you personally know Socrates the Greek philosopher of ~500 B.C.E.? Faith=acceptance of testimony as valid.

Ah ha, so if All men are men=true, and Socrates was a man=false, All men are socrates=true because true=false. Not only that, but the truth of "All men are men" is also in question. The Bible implies that "men" (the word) is not gender specific as it is used to refer to all members of the species. You would be expected to have a difficult time trying to prove the argument if the definitions are not tautologically simplified as spade=spade.

Tricky logic is an algebraic nightmare. Just as a plumber or electrician might reverse the on/off positions of valves and switches, the confusion requires some analysis as to the validity of the logic as a predictor of truth. Archives from the films of the thirties show all sorts of strange situations for the sake of comedy. The 'Three Stooges' being no exception.

What is the Meaning of LIfe?

2009-07-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

The Golden Mean [Golden Ratio] (1+sqrt(5))/2

"Professor Sever Tipei sent this in response to a student who asked about the Golden Ratio in music:
The golden mean ratio can be found in many compositions mainly because it is a "natural" way of dealing with divisions of time. One can find it in a lot of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc., etc. It is a question if it was used in a deliberate way or just intuitively (probably intuitively). On the other hand, composers like Debussy and Bartok have made a conscious attempt to use this ratio and the Fibonacci series of numbers which produces a similar effect (adjacent members of the series give ratios getting closer and closer to the golden mean ratio). Bartok intentionally writes melodies which contain only intervals whose sizes can be expressed in Fibonacci numbers of semitones. He also divides the formal sections of some of his pieces in ratios corresponding to the golden mean. Without going into much detail, Debussy also does this in some of his music and so does Xenakis (a composer who writes exclusively by using stochastic distributions, set theory, game theory, random walks, etc.) in his first major work, "Metastasis". The idea is not new, already in the Renaissance composers used it and built melodic lines around the Fibonacci sequence -just like Bartok's "Music for strings, percussion and celesta".
See also Erno Lendvai Bela Bartok : Analysis of His Music
Dr. Sever Tipei, Professor of Music Manager, Computer Music Project of the University of Illinois Experimental Music StudiosUrbana, Illinois 61801, USA" -http://www.hep.uiuc.edu/home/karliner/golden.html

So What?

2009-07-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

For openers, I would like to quote Bertrand Russell. The work dates back to 1917, about the time of the First World War. This horrible conflict, optimistically but falsely labeled, "The war to end all wars" left many nations of the modern era in tatters of social and physical ruin. So why is the work of a philosopher from that period of time significant? Probably depends on whether war is a natural or artificially contrived phenomenon.

Bertrand Russell:

"Four questions thus arise in considering the truth or falsehood of
mysticism, namely:
I. Are there two ways of knowing, which may be called respectively
reason and intuition? And if so, is either to be preferred to the
other?
II. Is all plurality and division illusory?
III. Is time unreal?
IV. What kind of reality belongs to good and evil?
On all four of these questions, while fully developed mysticism seems
to me mistaken, I yet believe that, by sufficient restraint, there is
an element of wisdom to be learned from the mystical way of feeling,
which does not seem to be attainable in any other manner. If this is
the truth, mysticism is to be commended as an attitude towards life,
not as a creed about the world. The meta-physical creed, I shall
maintain, is a mistaken outcome of the emotion, although this emotion,
as colouring and informing all other thoughts and feelings, is the
inspire of whatever is best in Man. Even the cautious and patient
investigation of truth by science, which seems the very antithesis of
the mystic's swift certainty, may be fostered and nourished by that
very spirit of reverence in which mysticism lives and moves.

I. REASON AND INTUITION[3]
Of the reality or unreality of the mystic's world I know nothing. I
have no wish to deny it, nor even to declare that the insight which
reveals it is not a genuine insight. What I do wish to maintain--and
it is here that the scientific attitude becomes imperative--is that
insight, untested and unsupported, is an insufficient guarantee of
truth, in spite of the fact that much of the most important truth is
first suggested by its means. It is common to speak of an opposition
between instinct and reason; in the eighteenth century, the opposition
was drawn in favour of reason, but under the influence of Rousseau and
the romantic movement instinct was given the preference, first by
those who rebelled against artificial forms of government and thought,
and then, as the purely rationalistic defence of traditional theology
became increasingly difficult, by all who felt in science a menace to
creeds which they associated with a spiritual outlook on life and the
world. Bergson, under the name of "intuition," has raised instinct to
the position of sole arbiter of metaphysical truth. But in fact the
opposition of instinct and reason is mainly illusory. Instinct,
intuition, or insight is what first leads to the beliefs which
subsequent reason confirms or confutes; but the confirmation, where it
is possible, consists, in the last analysis, of agreement with other
beliefs no less instinctive. Reason is a harmonising, controlling
force rather than a creative one. Even in the most purely logical
realm, it is insight that first arrives at what is new.
Where instinct and reason do sometimes conflict is in regard to single
beliefs, held instinctively, and held with such determination that no
degree of inconsistency with other beliefs leads to their abandonment.
Instinct, like all human faculties, is liable to error. Those in whom
reason is weak are often unwilling to admit this as regards
themselves, though all admit it in regard to others. Where instinct is
least liable to error is in practical matters as to which right
judgment is a help to survival: friendship and hostility in others,
for instance, are often felt with extraordinary discrimination through
very careful disguises. But even in such matters a wrong impression
may be given by reserve or flattery; and in matters less directly
practical, such as philosophy deals with, very strong instinctive
beliefs are sometimes wholly mistaken, as we may come to know through
their perceived inconsistency with other equally strong beliefs. It is
such considerations that necessitate the harmonising mediation of
reason, which tests our beliefs by their mutual compatibility, and
examines, in doubtful cases, the possible sources of error on the one
side and on the other. In this there is no opposition to instinct as a
whole, but only to blind reliance upon some one interesting aspect of
instinct to the exclusion of other more commonplace but not less
trustworthy aspects. It is such one-sightedness, not instinct itself,
that reason aims at correcting.
These more or less trite maxims may be illustrated by application to
Bergson's advocacy of "intuition" as against "intellect." There are,
he says, "two profoundly different ways of knowing a thing. The first
implies that we move round the object: the second that we enter into
it. The first depends on the point of view at which we are placed and
on the symbols by which we express ourselves. The second neither
depends on a point of view nor relies on any symbol. The first kind of
knowledge may be said to stop at the _relative_; the second, in those
cases where it is possible, to attain the _absolute_."[4] The second
of these, which is intuition, is, he says, "the kind of _intellectual
sympathy_ by which one places oneself within an object in order to
coincide with what is unique in it and therefore inexpressible" (p.
6). In illustration, he mentions self-knowledge: "there is one
reality, at least, which we all seize from within, by intuition and
not by simple analysis. It is our own personality in its flowing
through time--our self which endures" (p. 8). The rest of Bergson's
philosophy consists in reporting, through the imperfect medium of
words, the knowledge gained by intuition, and the consequent complete
condemnation of all the pretended knowledge derived from science and
common sense.
This procedure, since it takes sides in a conflict of instinctive
beliefs, stands in need of justification by proving the greater
trustworthiness of the beliefs on one side than of those on the other.
Bergson attempts this justification in two ways, first by explaining
that intellect is a purely practical faculty to secure biological
success, secondly by mentioning remarkable feats of instinct in
animals and by pointing out characteristics of the world which, though
intuition can apprehend them, are baffling to intellect as he
interprets it.
Of Bergson's theory that intellect is a purely practical faculty,
developed in the struggle for survival, and not a source of true
beliefs, we may say, first, that it is only through intellect that we
know of the struggle for survival and of the biological ancestry of
man: if the intellect is misleading, the whole of this merely inferred
history is presumably untrue. If, on the other hand, we agree with him
in thinking that evolution took place as Darwin believed, then it is
not only intellect, but all our faculties, that have been developed
under the stress of practical utility. Intuition is seen at its best
where it is directly useful, for example in regard to other people's
characters and dispositions. Bergson apparently holds that capacity,
for this kind of knowledge is less explicable by the struggle for
existence than, for example, capacity for pure mathematics. Yet the
savage deceived by false friendship is likely to pay for his mistake
with his life; whereas even in the most civilised societies men are
not put to death for mathematical incompetence. All the most striking
of his instances of intuition in animals have a very direct survival
value. The fact is, of course, that both intuition and intellect have
been developed because they are useful, and that, speaking broadly,
they are useful when they give truth and become harmful when they give
falsehood. Intellect, in civilised man, like artistic capacity, has
occasionally been developed beyond the point where it is useful to the
individual; intuition, on the other hand, seems on the whole to
diminish as civilization increases. It is greater, as a rule, in
children than in adults, in the uneducated than in the educated.
Probably in dogs it exceeds anything to be found in human beings. But
those who see in these facts a recommendation of intuition ought to
return to running wild in the woods, dyeing themselves with woad and
living on hips and haws."
-Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays, Bertrand Russell,
PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTICISM AND LOGIC
EBook #25447 Available from http://www.gutenberg.org/

Since scholarship is too often very complex, the discussion will continue as convenient but not necessarily necessary. Posted this 4th July 2009