Thank goodness for YouTube and Long Division!

Yup, this evening the inevitable happened... I turned to google to find a video that explains how to do Grade 5 long division.  Sure, I did Mathematics as part of my first studies at in a Bachelor of Science degree at WITS many, many, many years ago... And, yes, I devoted quite a substantial portion of one of the chapters of my doctoral research (in fact a critical part in the argument of my PhD) to a complex set of mathematical equations that have to do with Strong Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Neuroscience... Yes, yes, yes... 

BUT, these are different times!  The dendrites in my little old brain are calcifying and Mathematics is more difficult in the 5th grade than it was in my PhD... Ha ha, either that, or I have complete forgotten how to do Mathematics without a calculator!

The task was simple - write 1/8 as a fraction...  Mmmmmm... It took me a while to remember how to do that.  Of course the answer (which took me a while to work out) is this:

1/8 = 1/8 * 125/125 = 125/1000 = 0.125

I know some of you are laughing... But, when you pick yourselves up off the floor you might want to watch this little 'refresher' video long division (without a calculator) to help your kids get their homework done!

Seriously though, it is SUCH a blessing to help Courtney to catch up with her Maths after the 8 weeks she had off from the time of hear hospitalization, through her surgery, up to her recovery and return to school!

I do, however, praise and thank God for YouTube!

The matchbox that ate a forty ton truck - a.k.a Erwin Schrodinger will kill you like a cat in a box.

I love reading books that make the mysteries of 'the new science' accessible to a simpleton like me!  This book has just been added to my wishlist! Thanks BoingBoing for the heads up!  

Now, if only they had this book available for Kindle - by the way, you don't need to own a Kindle to buy and read Kindly books... Simply download the Kindle Application for your PC, Mac, iPhone, Blackberry, or Android phone. This is how I read most of my books these days.

Physics can seem a lot like a dirty trick. You spend most of junior high and high school being told that there are rules to this thing, that the Universe functions in predictable and rational ways. Apples always fall down from the tree onto Newton's head. Cars traveling at different speeds crash into each other with a force that you can sit down and calculate on a TI-86.

And then they pull the rug out from under you.

Suddenly, it's all photons, antimatter, and cats that are simultaneously alive and dead. Even the Universe itself might be just one of many, with every outcome that has ever been possible playing itself out somewhere. It's confusing. And into that gap in popular knowledge tumbles everybody who bought into What the Bleep Do We Know?

If you're lost, Marcus Chown can help. His book, The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck, explains how science got from the macro, everyday world of Newtonian Laws to the far-out, quantum reality we know today. More importantly, he makes the latter relevant, piecing together science history, sub-atomic particles, physical cosmology and everyday life. If you read one physics book after graduating from high school—hell, if you read one physics book while in high school—this should be it.  Read the rest.

If you're interested to have a look at a few my posts on quantum physics and related topics please see some of the posts here.

An auspicious week for Science (in history)

This week is quite special for the natural sciences... On the 4th of January we commemorate the birth of Sir Isaac Newton, the brains behind 'Newtonian physics'. Without it we would not be able to build bridges, dig tunnels or even drive motorcars.

In two of my books I discuss the significant role that Sir Isaac Newton played in the development of our understanding of the Universe. Some persons have challenged my positive view of Newtonian physics, questioning whether it has any relevance in the light of quantum mechanics and quantum physics.

My answer to them is quite simple - Newtonian physics is as valid and important to physical science as my childhood is to my adult life! Simply because one's knowledge and ability has complexified and increased, it does not mean that one completely rejects where one has come from, what one has gained from those early experiences, and even the manner in which one gained those experiences and insights. Value is a somewhat subjective measurement. For example is the song 'Jesus loves me this I know' less valuable than the magnificent Wesleyan hymn 'O for a thousand tongues to sing' (written by Charles Wesley in 1739)? Or, to state it differently, is the simple and sincere confession of faith by a 9 year old any less valuable than the complex and systematic confession of faith by say, John Calvin or ? No, each has unique and special value within its context, and each enriches the value of the other.

I discuss this notion of integrative, holarchic, interdependent value in my book 'Christ at the centre' - you're welcome to download a copy here, simply read from approximately pages 45 to 53. In short, one could ask whether a letter of the alphabet is more valuable than a page of a book? Well the answer is that neither is more valuable than the other in the context of a story - letters make up words, words make up sentences, sentences make up paragraphs, and paragraphs make up the narrative of a story on a page. Without individual letters of the alphabet one would not have any words, and without words (into which the letters are arranged) the letters themselves are not all that informative. So, one can see that each component is related to the others, both giving and receiving value through that relationship.

So, quantum physics is essential but it does not exclude the value of Newtonian physics. Try to build a bridge using only quantum physics and you may just find that it is not possible!

So, happy birthday Sir Isaac Newton!

Then, this week commemorates the death of the African American scientist George Washington Carver (5 January 1943). He did a great deal to improve our understanding of argriculture and alternative crops. What is particularly significant about his contribtion to science and the academy is that he was a significantly positive role model to counteract the stereotype of African Americans in the late 1800's in America. He did so much to show that any person, regardless of race or background, can make a significant contribution to scientific endeavour.

Well, it sure is a scientific week!

Is radical unity between God and creation (and created beings) New Age, or is it in fact a Biblical view of reality?

A friend emailed me a few days ago to ask a question about some research he is doing. I hope to be able to chat with him in person when he comes down to Cape Town. However, one aspect of our email conversation struck with me.

I have often been confronted (because of the nature and content of my own research) with the question about the quantum theoretical view of reality and fundamentally interconnected and interrelated and some elements of new age spirituality. In particular persons have asked me whether what I propose is not some form of new age spirituality - my response is quite simply NO! I believe that a view of reality in which everything lives, and moves, and has its being in Christ is the only truly Biblical view that one could hold with any Christian integrity (Acts 17:28)! Whilst God is wholly 'other' from creation (in the sense that God is creator whilst we are creation) does not suppose that we are separate from God! There is great unity in distinction! The mystery of the Christian Trinity is a testimony to 'otherness' in radical unity....

Anyway, here's a version of the email that I sent to my friend explaining some of my reasoning, and pointing to some things that I've written about this radical unity between God and God's beloved creation.

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This is a very interesting topic indeed! I have written a few things in this area, and done some research on identity, consciousness and the new science. Here are a few documents that you can download to see some of what I've written on this subject. I prefer to speak of quantum theory and integrative theory rather than pure quantum mechanics (which is a sub-field of quantum science, which in turn is a sub field of quantum theory - one of the things that we learn in the 'new science' is that the boundaries between science and spirituality, or for that matter identity and being, are quite thin, and often don't exist).

A) You can download a copy of my doctoral thesis here: http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/D%20Forster%20doctorate.pdf This has the most detailed discussions I've yet written on some of these ideas (quantum theory, identity, relationship and consciousness). In particular you may find the following of interest:

1. Simply search for 'quantum', 'tunneling effect', 'EPR', 'implicate' or 'Bohm' in the PDF and see what I've written about quantum theory.

2. There is a chapter devoted to your subject (Chapter 3 that is entitled 'Consciousness and the functioning of the human brain: A discussion of biological, physical and philosophical theories relating to individual human consciousness and the brain'. In particular section 3.4.3 is worth considering, the first part talks about computational models of the brain from the perspective of classical physics (i.e., Newtonian physics and Euclidian mathematics), and section two in that same subsection discusses quantum theories of the brain and consciousness in relation to identity - it is entitled 'A holographic model of the conscious brain: A perspective from quantum physics'.

3. Chapter 4 of the thesis is, in my opinion, much more radical than quantum physical (or quantum spiritual) theories of identity and conscious. In this chapter I present and discuss the incredible work of Ken Wilber the integrative theorist who is a brilliant scientist, philosopher, and a deeply spiritual person (Buddhist, not Christian... But we pray!) Section 4.3 is of particular interest, it is entitled 'Holistic consciousness in relation to Ken Wilber's four quadrants of reality'. In summary all of quantum theory would fit into the upper right and lower right of Wilber's four quadrants, then there are the upper left, and lower left which are largely not considered by even the most enlightened of quantum theorists!

4. I also do some work in chapters 5 and 6 on the relationship between all of this 'stuff' and African models of relationship and identity which are much more balanced than those of the dualistic 'West'....

So, that's enough for the thesis.... By the way, it is soon to be published as a book. The working title is 'Why you're not who you think you are: Adventures in neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and theology'

B) I have also done some work on the quantum stuff in one of my recent books entitled 'Christ at the centre - discovering the Cosmic Christ in the spirituality of Bede Griffiths' You can download PDF copies of the book here: http://www.spirituality.org.za/2008/04/copies-of-my-three-most-recent-books.html In this book I devote just short of a chapter to quantum physics (and micro biology in relation to the 'new science'), you'll find it at around pp. 34-52.

C) In my recent little book 'An uncommon spiritual path - finding Jesus beyond conventional Christianity.' you'll find a similar discussion around pp. 79 ff. You can also download a copy of that book in PDF format here: http://www.spirituality.org.za/2008/04/copies-of-my-three-most-recent-books.html

D) Finally, I wrote his paper which gives some insight into the relationship between quantum theory and the evolution of the cosmos from the 'gross' material level to the 'subtler' spiritual levels. This is quite a controversial paper in and of itself... Here I argue that the extinction of humanity may well be part of God's evolutionary plan for the perfection of creation... The problem with us humans is that we tend to centre all of reality upon ourselves (even God)! So, this may be one possible way of placing God at the centre of creation once again.... Anyway, it was more tongue in cheek than serious, plus it got published because it was so contentious! You can download the paper here: http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/Post%20human%20evolutionary%20cosmology%20Teilhard%20de%20Chardin.pdf

Well, there you have it... Since my understanding is clearly that quantum theory is one possible explanation of the breakdown of duality between spirit and matter, and so a measure of identity in which we come to discover the mystery of the person of Christ who draws all creation truly into himself (Ephesians 1:10), and the Holy Spirit who holds all things in constant, present, existence (Colossians 1:16-17), I do believe that there is value in appropriating and understand this new 'language' for the purposes of expressing and grasping the mystery of being fully alive in Christ. I do not think this is 'new age' in any way. I think is fundamentally biblical and scriptural! One of the HUGE problems with the characterization of such spirituality as 'new age' is that it is based more on Western dualism than scriptural unity. Most of the Bible (the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures) does not have the radical dualism between spiritual and profane, between religion and ordinary life, and between divine reality and the created order. This dualism was introduced INTO the New Testament through neo Platonists (of which the Apostle Paul was primary), and the Gnostics - Hebrew is the clearest neo-platonic dualism in scripture.... That is interesting in and off itself since it is supposedly the most 'Hebrew' of the New Testament books, yet it has the most impeccable Greek of all the New Testmanet writtings and displays a clear textual vorlage to the Septuagint and the Greek philosophical schools of the time... But. of you read the chapter listed under B) above you'll get quite a detailed discussion on how we went from Old Testament harmony between God and creation, interior life and exterior life, through the Greek philosophers, to Descartes, Netwon, Francis Bacon, and ultimately Western metaphysics. The point is quite simply that most of the Old Testament, and some of the most 'lucid' elements of the New Testament (which is the majority of the teaching in Christian scripture) proposed an integrated view of reality (which has sadly been lugged in with the 'new age movement' when in fact it is simply Biblical!), not the dualistic view of reality that conservative evangelicals have labeled as orthodox...

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Well, let me know what you think (if you have the mirth to wade your way through my scattered A.D.D thoughts!)

God's Mechanics: Vatican Astronomer reconciles religion and science

This very interesting commentary comes from Boingboing.net (see the link at the end of the post):

God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion" is the new book from Brother Guy Consolmagno, who is, in no particular order, a scientist, a Jesuit, a science fiction geek, an MIT alum and a Vatican Astronomer. Obviously, religion is a central part of Brother Guy's life, but so is technology, rationalism and science.

God's Mechanics is a relgionist's explanation of his faith, in terms aimed at showing techies how one of their own can simultaneously believe in supernatural phenomena and practice rigorous, materialistic science. The most interesting part of the book is an amateur ethnography of geek faithful, in which Brother Guy schleps up and down Rte 101 between San Francisco and San Jose, interviewing engineers, scientists and programmers about their practice of faith. Their answers surprise Guy (and they surprised me, too) with their variety and distinctiveness. There doesn't seem to be a single way, or even a small cluster of ways that technologists square up their religion with their science.

For my part, I'm a second-generation atheist. I think that our experience of the numinous is both undeniable and entirely biological: the state of spiritual peace is the result of tickling some evolved center of our brain, a bit of neurology that conferred a survival advantage on our ancestors whose numinous hallucinations of a higher order in the universe drove them to catch more antelopes, eat better, and have more babies. I have no need of, nor interest in a supernatural god or a supernatural universe.

But I'm not so blinkered that I believe all religionists to be deluded fools. There's clearly some serious value that smart, ethical people derive from participation in spiritualism and even organized religion. Brother Guy's exegesis on faith as a systematic way of organizing and exploring the human experience of the numinous was fascinating to me. It is is a thoroughgoing, charming, quick-paced trip through a wide variety of personal experiences of spirituality and religion.

The only place where this book lacks is in its exploration of atheism as an alternative to religion. Brother Guy delves deeply into the reason for faith, but skims lightly over the reason for its absence. At times, it seems like he's addressing straw men from my side, not our strongest argument. This is the beginning of a discussion, but it's not the whole discussion.

From Boing Boing.

If you're going to do it, at least enjoy doing it... She has curves in the right places! A creation spirituality.

To skip my diatribe and see the curvaceous, well rounded, beauty - scroll to the bottom of this post....

I am a theologian, but I am also a student of the natural sciences. Straight from school I spent some time studying science, and both my theology Masters, and my Doctoral work focussed on theology and science.

I have spent years trying to understand atoms, and sub atomic particles, trying to fathom the complexity of the EPR (that's Einstein, Rosen and Podolsky) 'tunneling effect', and how quantum theory can relate to the faith that I have in a God who holds everything in existence moment by moment.

I've just recently had to go through a whole stack of my foundational work in this regard for a book I've just finished writing about the Cosmic Christ (I'll post about that separately). I have a great appreciatoin for the minds that have formed the western scientific paradigm (by my mind the most important of them are), but they have also caused us some problems (which relate to the curves you'll see below):

• Plato who emphasized, in a clear philosophical system that material reality was distinct (although only a 'poor copy' of the truer spiritual reality it reflected). The positive development was the recognition of material reality as distinct, the negative element was the duality created between spirit and matter.
• Next, in my mind, was the philosophy of Rene Descartes (the famous 'I think, therefore I am' man. cogito ergo sum, although I have always thought it should be cogito, cogito, ergo, cogito sum (I think, I think, therefore I think I am...) Just kidding. Oh, and by the way, his name is pronounced "day car", NOT "des car tes"!). Descartes' philosophy of being developed the Aristotelian principle of 'matter' being an 'extension of mind' (res cogitans and res extensa). In short, he asked the question "How can I be sure that I TRULY exist?" i.e., how could he be sure that his body, the world, and everything else was not just a dream (like a bad episode of the 80's soap Opera Dallas when JR Ewing was shot - if you're too young to remember - google it! ). So, he couldn't sure that anything that he thought was real (i.e., material reality) could be truly trusted. The only thing that he could be certain of was that he was thinking (i.e., that he was a sentient, thinking being, thinking about what existed) - hence the statement "I think, therefore I am". The positive step in this was that it created an 'objective' and a 'subjective' reality (i.e., something that the res cogitans could observe, res extensa). The downside was that it further removed the sacred, spiritual, and sentience, from material reality - the duality between spirit and matter was widened.
• Next came the English physicists Sir Isaac Newton, under whose tree (you remember, the one from which the apple supposedly fell that started the whole 'gravity thing') I have stood under in Cambridge! I'll post the photo to prove it! Newton discovered, and suggested, that the whole of the material (objective) Universe could be objectively studied, and that when one did so one could determine clear and definable laws according to which it operated - these are what became known as the laws of physics. By understanding these laws you could thus understand all of material reality! This was quite a positive step for science! It is what made things like building bridges, flight, and car engines possible - engineering would be lost without it. However, the downside was that many people began to disregard, and doubt, the presence of God in in creation (if creation was more like a mathematically precise machine, than a living organism, then God's only role - if God existed at all, was simply to build the clock, wind it up, and watch it unwind).
• Next came another English philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon, he took Newton and Descartes theories a step further (by they way Newton and Descartes theories become commonly known as Newtonian - Cartesian logic). He suggested that 1) if material reality is separate from 'self', and material reality ran according to clearly deducible 'laws', then by discovering and manipulating these 'laws' one could control the destiny of material reality. The upside of this theory was that it held some truth! If you could work out how to harness the power of water to drive a turbine, to create electrical energy (something that only happened much later), you could get 'something for nothing' (or so it seemed at the time). The downside of this theory is that it is so devoid of any sense of harmony between humans and creation that it lead to the abuses of the industrial revolution, and almost all ecological abuse since! Certainly, America's unwillingness to sign the Kyoto protocol accord smacks of this kind of thinking "It doesn't matter what we do to the rest of creation, after all we're seperate from it! So, if the planet dies, it doesn't affect who and what we truly are - all that we need is to find ways to manipulate it to get what we want". Sad, but true. A further downside of this philosophical approach was that it ONLY VALUED those things that could be measured and quantified - read the works of the father of modern economics, Adam Smith, and you'll see that even people have a value attached to them... What you can earn and produce determines your worth. In the Baconian world, beauty, faith, happiness, and spirit had no value whatsoever because they could not accurately quantified, and because of that they could not be manipulated.
  
• For the first time in history material reality was seen as purely functional, completely devoid of God's sacred and loving power... And, so we abused it.

Now, that's the whole problem with the false dichotomy, and duality, that is created between material and spiritual reality! All of creation is God's creation! Sadly, because we no longer recognize that we think that the only place that we can worship is in Church!

Of course there have been MANY significant developments in science since then that show just how material reality is filled with God's divine power and presence. But you'll have to buy my next book to read about that! Ha ha!

So, here's the point that I was getting to when I started writing this post....

When God created the heavens and the earth, God said "It is good..." (Gen 1). Moreover, we are told in Paul's (or the Pauline author's) letter to the Colossians that "...by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col 1:16-17, emphasis mine).

That's what the Bible tells us, theology further shows us that God sanctifies created reality when he chooses to become 'incarnate' in it - the divine enters physical being! Moreover, have you ever thought that when Jesus ascended into the Godhead (Acts 1:9-11) he took atoms into the Trinitarian life! By this I mean, Jesus didn't leave his body behind, Jesus fully God, fully human, and Nicea Constantinople creed tells us, ascended into the divine Trinitarian life.

So, next time we abuse creation, or choose to disregard it - remember that God has sanctified it, and if you abuse creation you are abusing the God who has entered created, material reality, and taken that material reality into the divine life of the Godhead!

The point is that today I decided to take my 1967 Vespa to the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive through! It was a spiritual experience! As I rode that curvy, rounded, beautiful orange scooter, I experienced the joy of being alive to God in Christ. It could feel the goodness of God's creation! God created the air, the sunset, the plants, and let me assure you, God created MY VESPA!

(the one on the left is mine... I used to own the one on the right as well, but she has gone to a good home and been replaced with a beast).

So, my advice is, if you're going to live life, ENJOY IT! Find joy in God's creation, give God glory for what is around you. A creation spirituality, like all spirituality, is a discipline - it takes discipline to say "Lord, I CHOOSE to see you in the world around me, active, alive, keeping all things in being. And, as I see you, I praise and thank you for your beauty, power, and love!"

Oh, and yes, I do enjoy writing as much as I enjoy riding my Vespa! Any other Vespa riders out there who want to join me for an occasional ride in the Pretoria area?

Tecnorati tags: Spirituality, creation, Philosophy, Plato, Descartes, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, sexy, curves, Vespa