Monthly Archives: April 2013

Finding a Needle in a Cactus Patch

Re: R.J. Lipton • Sex, Lies, And Quantum Computers Don’t know much about quantum computation, but my ventures in graphical syntaxes for propositional calculus did turn up a logical operator whose evaluation process reminded me a little of the themes … Continue reading

Posted in Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Cactus Graphs, Computational Complexity, Graph Theory, Logic, Logical Graphs, Minimal Negation Operators, Painted Cacti, Peirce, Propositional Calculus, Quantum Computing, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Revolt, Freedom, Passion

Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death — and I refuse suicide. I … Continue reading

Posted in Absurdity, Albert Camus, Existentialism, Freedom, Inquiry, Method, Nietzsche, Passion, Revolt, Sisyphus | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Absurdum Quid

I am thus justified in saying that the feeling of absurdity does not spring from the mere scrutiny of a fact or an impression, but that it bursts from the comparison between a bare fact and a certain reality, between … Continue reading

Posted in Absurdity, Albert Camus, Existentialism, Inquiry, Method, Peirce, Pragmatic Maxim, Pragmatism, Sisyphus, Tertium Quid, Thirdness, Triadicity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Infinite Uses → Finite Means

The idea that a language is based on a system of rules determining the interpretation of its infinitely many sentences is by no means novel.  Well over a century ago, it was expressed with reasonable clarity by Wilhelm von Humboldt in … Continue reading

Posted in Automata, Chomsky, Descartes, Finite Means, Formal Grammars, Formal Languages, Foundations of Mathematics, Infinite Use, Innate Ideas, Linguistics, Pigeonhole Principle, Recursion, Syntax, Wilhelm von Humboldt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Way The Cookie Uncrumbles Itself

I put down the cup and turn to my mind.  It is up to my mind to find the truth.  But how?  What grave uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself;  when it, the seeker, is also the obscure … Continue reading

Posted in Anamnesis, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Inquiry Into Inquiry, Madeleine, Memory, Proust, Time | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What It Is

Re: Gil Kalai If I remember my long ago readings well enough, Jimmy the Ancient Greek could lay odds as well as any modern bookmaker on the outcomes of Olympic contests, but that was not really the point of Zeno’s … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Heraclitus, Infinity, Logic, Mathematics, Motion, Paradox, Parmenides, Phenomenology, Zeno | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Slip Slidin’ Away

And you give me the choice between a description that is sure but that teaches me nothing and hypotheses that claim to teach me but that are not sure. — Albert Camus • The Myth of Sisyphus Re: R.J. Lipton … Continue reading

Posted in Albert Camus, Change, Infinity, Lewis Carroll, Logic, Mathematics, Meno, Modus Ponens, Motion, Paradox, Peirce, Phenomenology, Sisyphus, Syllogism, Zeno | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Meno Meno Tekel Upharsin

Re: Theodora Goss Can we ever become what we weren’t in eternity? Can we ever learn what we weren’t born knowing? Can we ever share what we never had in common? Lately I’ve begun to see that these ancient riddles … Continue reading

Posted in Anamnesis, Change, Communication, Education, Eternity, Innate Ideas, Learning, Meno, Tabula Rasa, Teaching, Time, Universal Harmony | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Present Is Big With The Future

Now that I have proved sufficiently that everything comes to pass according to determinate reasons, there cannot be any more difficulty over these principles of God’s foreknowledge.  Although these determinations do not compel, they cannot but be certain, and they … Continue reading

Posted in Causality, Certainty, Chance, Contingency, Determination, Determinism, Differential Calculus, Differential Logic, Evil, Free Will, Freedom, Hologrammautomaton, Infinitesimals, Leibniz, Preëstablished Harmony, Theodicy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments