Link

My Second Life photo blog.

Archipelago Nation

Once you get there, if you’re wondering why, check out the “Why” link, top right.

Finite Infinity

I was having a conversation with two fellow bloggers (listentomethunder and IrishKatie) about infinity and I cited an example which I could not adequately illustrate in the comments section. So here it is.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the Koch Curve:

Koch Curve inside a circle.

I first saw the Koch Curve in James Gleick’s book, Chaos: Making A New Science. For the full technical explanation of its significance, check out Wikipedia’s Koch Curve article.  The image above is constructed by drawing an equilateral triangle inside a circle and then adding triangles ad infinitum as illustrated below:

Triangles added ad inifinitum.

I have always been puzzled by the seeming contradiction of a finite physical existence and an infinite universe (or soul or time or anything else humans have not been able to find the beginning and end of). All physical laws that I experience indicate that nothing is infinite except in the most poetic or mathematical sense. But the Koch Curve inside a circle convinced me that finiteness and infinity can co-exist neatly. It is a mathematical example, but for some reason it opened a door in my mind and I felt I could understand on an intuitive level the infinite processes of existence occurring within the finite space of my life. Maybe because it’s geometry. I always got geometry whereas trigonometry and calculus left me in the dust.

The multiplication of the triangles within the circle can continue infinitely, causing the outline around them to be infinitely long. Yet that outline will never cross to the outside of the circle. Infinity inside a finite space. Yup.

You may stumble, as I did, over the fact that the outline around the triangles at any given moment is not infinite. But the more I thought about it, the more I speculated that perhaps infinity is a process rather than a static state. Hee hee! Think about that for a minute. That means time is a necessary component of anything infinite, at least as far as human comprehension is concerned. If outer and inner space are indeed infinite, this implies that time is part of the substance of things. Part of matter. I could think about that for more than a minute.

I realize that most people will feel this proves nothing. Just to be clear, I believe everything, even reality itself, is unprovable. When it comes down to it, there is nothing that proves I am not hooked up to a machine somewhere that is feeding me the various stimuli that I think define my daily existence. I could be dreaming. All the time. Since my perceptions are the only reference point I have, I choose to function according to what they tell me, but that does not mean they are “real”.

Scientists posit theories about how the universe works, theories which for a while are accepted as fact. And then we go into space and discover things that move and shift in ways that defy those “facts”. So scientists posit new theories and we believe in those for awhile, until we discover some subatomic particle that behaves in a completely contradictory way. More questions. More answers. And then again, more questions.

I am not a scientist or a mathematician, but I am interested in what both have to say about my life and the world I live in. I try to understand the concepts even if I can’t understand the numbers. Because sometimes they light up my psyche and I experience an almost shamanic comprehension of the universe and my tiny place in it. The Koch Curve inside a circle granted me one of those moments.

I am a constantly increasing multitude of triangles in a simple circle. I will most likely never transcend my physical boundaries, but my experience of myself is infinite.

Hee hee!

More Gratitude

I’d like to greet the New Year with unbridled positivity, so here are some more things for which I am grateful.

Lesson Learned By Hurricane Lamp

I was one of the lucky ones. Hurricane Sandy did not take anything from me that I can’t get back by going to the grocery store (now that it has groceries again). Some of my friends and family weren’t so lucky and I want to say that what follows here is not meant to suggest that the hurricane was a good thing by any stretch of the imagination. It was terrible and I wish it had never happened. So many people are still affected that my life’s return to normal remains incomplete no matter how many lights I can turn on or warm showers I can take. But because my experience with Hurricane Sandy was not as traumatic as it could have been, I was able to learn some interesting things as I spent those few days without power and hot water.

Link

I’ve been wanting to write this particular song for years.  When I started messing around with the instruments, I had no idea it was going to turn into this song.  In fact, I had no idea what “this song” should sound like when I first got the idea.  But when I heard that strange little synth riff that sounds like a question, I knew it was time.

The video is still just the lyrics, but I’m finding that even simple words on a screen can have a big impact on the feel of the song.

I Can Hear You

Today

I cry for the world. I cry for myself. I cry for my friends who cannot find their tears. I cry for my friends who can. I cry for the people I don’t know and for those that I do. And with this weeping, I come eventually to the center. When I can raise my head and look out from this center, I see how I am encompassed in life. It is in me and out of me, simultaneously part and whole, substance and vibration.

Link

Blogrolling my Dad because he taught me much of what I know without requiring me to think like him.  He is the best kind of teacher.  Narrow minds, beware!

Headaches (Aspirin Won’t Help)

The Facebook Wars (or Why Soundbites Suck)

I just recently came back to Facebook after a long hiatus and found myself right in the middle of election season. Normally, I am blissfully unaware of the heated exchanges and hate-filled rhetoric because I don’t watch commercial television and rarely listen to the radio (preferring Netflix and Pandora One instead). So I’m suffering from a little culture shock being suddenly caught in the Facebook crossfire.

Ode On A Gin Martini

Here’s my fantasy. I start with 3 ounces of Tanqueray. Tanqueray is very dry. It has a little bite, but that’s good ‘cause it lets you know you’re drinking. I like Sapphire, too, but it’s delicate and a little sweet, like a summer evening on the lawn. Tanqueray is the woods at night.