Bill's Blog

Are We Witnessing Just the Beginning of 21st Century Political Revolutions

2011-01-31T02:34:00.000-08:00

I wonder what all the various rulers around the world are thinking about after Tunisia and now Egypt. Some of them are probably pretty damn scared and thinking, "Is my country next?" I would think that depends on how corrupt their country is. Have they just made it easy for the rich to get richer? Have they ignored the rising food prices? Have they taken care of all the people or just their friends.
Time will tell. I for one am happy that corrupt leaders are finally getting what they deserve.

How to Beat Facebook (Take Note, Mark Zuckerberg)

2011-01-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

    It use to be that entrepreneurs would try to dream up ways to beat Google. Now Facebook has passed Google as the most visited Internet site.
    However, it is possible that Facebook, having reached the top, is headed downhill. Don’t get me wrong; these two sites are powerhouses. I still use both of them. I have 1700 friends on Facebook (although most are of course not close friends, but just part of my Internet Community). I still do my searches on Google. I still post to Facebook, but I am frustrated. Hence this article, “How to Beat Facebook.”
    Both Google and Facebook are just INTERFACE DEVICES. Google is an interface between you and all the web content out there, and Facebook is an interface between you and all your electronic friends (or online community) and their content knowledge base.
    So content is still important, but not king. There are two other vital ingredients. In a Digital World, the content has to be served up electronically, which means Computer Programming. However, one can be the greatest programmer in the world, and can have the greatest Content in the world, but if it is not served in a fashion Usable by us Homo Sapiens, it is, well, unusable. Look closely at the teapot in this classic photo on the cover of Don Norman’s book. It could contain the greatest tea, it could be made of the very best metals, but if the Usability is poor, no one will buy it.

   So, 1) Content, 2) Programming, and 3) Usability are all equal partners, and one cannot exist without the others. Google and Facebook, as I said, whether they realize it or not, are fancy just Usability Devices, organizing our information and our friends and they do a passable, but not great job of it. (Apple is the only company that somewhat understands usability; they design for a three-year-old!)
    Right now, Facebook uses relatively primitive, linear, 2-D textual layouts. However, there is no reason why Facebook could not use circles, or concentric circles (or even spheres). After all, we talk about our “circle of friends” and our “inner circle” of friends. There are underlying cognitive reasons we use these terms. (See my website for articles on geometry, and note the name: www.Earth360.com.)
    There is no reason that we could not simply drag and drop our friends’ pictures into a circle of our choosing. Also, there is no reason that artificial intelligence could not suggest new circles to us, or automatically organize our circles base on interest and frequency of contact. “Hey Bill, 75 of your friends like “Astronomy.”
         Bill Lauritzen has been monitoring the usability of devices for 37 years, since he received a master’s in Human Factors from Purdue University.

The ABC Wheel and The Symmetrical Alphabet

2010-11-20T04:25:00.000-08:00

By Bill Lauritzen

The Symmetrical Alphabet and Circular Projection Alphabet (or Alphabet Circle or ABC Wheel) incorporates psychological principles of learning. Psychologists have long known that we should "chunk" information in order to remember it easily. Thus, our phone numbers are chunked into a 3-3-4 pattern, our social security number is chunked into a 3-2-3 pattern, etc. The limit to one chunk has been found to be around 6 items.

Of course having a "visual map" of information helps to also anchor and organize the information in the student's neural system. Placing all the letters in a circle allows one to see all of them at once. The circle allows one to associate (link) the letters immediately and easily. In other words, one can at once see that any letter can associate (link) with every other letter. Imaging the circle as a kind of billiard table helps to visualize this. The billiard ball could hit any two consecutive letters. One does not have to "mentally" rearrange the letters in order to associate different letters (as with the traditional Linear Projection Alphabet or A, B, C, D, E...) In other words, the permutations are quite evident.

Using a circular model is more in harmony with reality as most of the universe uses circular or spherical shapes. Gravity pulls spherically inward, while radiation flows spherically outward. Our eyeballs, our brains, the Earth, the moon, the sun, etc., are mostly spherical and they circle around the Earth, or sun, or the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, etc.

By dividing the 360-degree circle into 24 equal spaces, we get the most symmetrical (and easily remembered) pattern and shape. The universe also splits things into 24 as shown by stop-action photography: when a drop of liquid falls into a pool, 24 tiny fountains spring upward and outward in a circle. Twenty-four is also part of an important series of numbers that I call "versatile numbers" (also called "highly composite" numbers). These numbers (2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 120, 240, 360...) are sort of the opposite of primes as they have a relatively large number of factors (more than any smaller number).

By removing 2 letters of the 26 letter English alphabet, and placing them on a horizontal line, we allow the remaining 24 letters to occupy the 24 spaces (15 degrees for each letter).

The remaining letters then chunk into an easily remembered 444-444 pattern. Thus we have 6 sectors or 24 spaces. An easy way to describe the circle is as a 444-2-444 pattern.

Unfortunately, the traditional "alphabet song," by which most students learn the alphabet, has the following chunks: 43453322. This lacks any symmetry or meaningful pattern. It should be easy to compose a song which uses the Circular Projection Pattern of 444-2-444.

The ABC wheel could be for English what the periodic table is for chemistry. Most people don’t know that chemistry’s periodic table actually flows in a circle (hence its periodic nature) but for ease of printing it was made into a table form. The vowels could be colored in special fashion like certain chemicals are colored.

Some possible learning activities might be: tracing the letters, coloring the various sectors, filling-in blank circular templates, cutting out the circle, correctly arranging removable letters on the circle, building a ABC "wheel" out of "Lego’s" type shapes, watching the teacher spin a large, wall-mounted ABC wheel while calling out the letters, etc.

A spelling game could be made in which someone has to spell a word without crossing a line to the next letter. An ABC roulette wheel could be made. A large roll out mat could be put on the floor of the classroom so that the students could stand and represent each of the letters. This mat could also be made big enough for use on the gym floor. A large circle could be drawn on the concrete of the playground and PE teachers could devise games, which used it.

Do these activities over the course of a year; I hypothesize that learning rate will increase, retention will improve, learning disabilities will diminish, etc. Over time, I would also expect improvements in spelling, word formation, and general creativity. These benefits may also occur in adults (native English speakers) who study and use the ABC circle map. Having a circular, cognitive map (that mimics to some degree our brain's own "neural networks"), and allows for easy inter-association of letters, can be of great benefit.

The ABC song could easily be rewritten to integrate with this new structure.

We have, perhaps for the first time, organized the alphabet.

Sherlock Holmes Comments

2010-11-19T01:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day, 212-B Baker Street, London England. Outside the window snow floats gently down into the street below and a brisk fire warms the room. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson have just finished dining, and Holmes lights a pipe:
--I am sorry Watson, I will not go with you and that is final.
--But Holmes, aren’t you the least bit curious?
--No, I am not.
--But Holmes, it is a movie about you!
--It is not about me, Watson. They have taken my name, I grant you that, and...and...used it to create an action hero! An action hero, Watson!
--But you do sometimes use action, Holmes.
--That is not the point. I am not a hero, and I rely on deduction, not action as my primary method, Watson. You should know that, of all people.
--But Holmes, they spend millions on this picture!
--Then they have wasted their money and swindled the public. What they should have shown in this movie is how the science of deduction, along with an encyclopedic knowledge of past criminal cases, can often lead quickly and easily to a satisfactory solution to a criminal case. To dress everything up with explosions and fictional exploits, is...obscene! So I will boycott the movie, and stay here by the fire and read this remarkable book, The Invention of God by Lauritzen. Have you read it Watson?
--No. But it seems perversely appropriate on Christmas.
--Exactly, Watson. Lauritzen traces back the origins of all religion to volcanic resurrection and the search to understand the chemical fuel of life, oxygen. And quite frankly, humanity would be better off without the mystical and supernatural...and most Hollywood movies.

Confessions of an Alien Abductee

2010-10-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

Last year while I was substitute teaching at Culver City High School, I received a message on my mobile phone from the Director of Human Resources to call her immediately. I gulped, and at lunchtime, made the call. My suspicions were confirmed when I discovered that she wanted to know if I had been telling students that I had been abducted by aliens and teaching them “alien numbers.”

This story began when I was substitute teaching in 1990s, for Los Angeles Unified watching the students add and subtract three-digit numbers, and wondering if there could be anything more boring. Driven to desperation, I decided to dig deeper into the material (354 - 278 = ?), looking for new insights.

I began to wonder if there were perhaps a better way to write numbers. After all, just five hundred years ago we were using Roman numerals, and then we switch to Hindu-Arabic numerals. These were brought to Europe by the Arab traders from India, where perhaps some Indian savant had thought them up.

I like getting down to the basic of things and this seemed to be one of the most basic things in mathematics. I had spent many hours in a failed attempt to solve Fermat’s Theorem, so I thought that if I could not contribute to mathematics at a high level, perhaps
I could contribute at this fundamental level. So I spent about the next year researching and developing what I thought was a better system of counting.

I felt some consternation at the fact that it looked like a base twelve system was superior in most ways to a base ten system with the most obvious reason being the greater number of factors. I also experimented with a base 60, 360, and 2520, which also have relatively large numbers of factors.

Could I really persuade people to switch from a base ten to a base twelve system? By now I was harboring delusions of grandeur. What artist has had their images used more often than any other artist in the world, but that ancient and anonymous Indian savant? (Actually, the numbers evolved slowly through use, but someone had to get the ball rolling.) At first I tried to make the base ten system work, however, my intellectual integrity won out, and I plowed ahead with both my new base and new symbols.

I was helped in my development of the symbols by a previous job I’d had in the Air Force designing cockpits for a high speed jet--the F-15. I was technically known as a “human performance engineer,” and our team was charged with making sure the pilot could operate the aircraft while taking in the multitude of information available to him. We designed his displays to be clear, simple and obvious. Mistakes could be catastrophic.

Also, I was helped in my work by reading Buckminster Fuller’s work, whose extensive geometrical explorations provided me with additional reasons for using a base twelve rather than a base ten system. For example, in a plane exactly six spheres fit around a central sphere of the same size, with twelve in the next level out, and so on. Also, in three dimensions, twelve spheres fit around a central sphere, and so forth.

(In fact, for years I used to carry around a large bag of drinking straws and string, and, as I went from school to school and class to class, I would show the students how to make various shapes out of them such as the five regular polyhedra.) I would tell the students that nature uses twelve, not ten.

I began to show these to students (in grades 2-12) and explained that we had gone from Roman Numerals to Hindu-Arabic, why could we not go further? Also, who is to say that Hindu-Arabic numbers were the perfect? Finally, if history was any guide then shouldn’t we expect our numbers to evolve further?

At first the students argued with me. “Look how far we have come with what we have!” they would exclaim. However, I persisted and began to spread the numbers throughout all the schools. I’ll never forget one day when I walked into a seventh grade class and one of the girls there already knew the numbers, having been taught by her older sister!

In general, I thought that this presentation was good for the students because it got them: 1) to see what another base system might actually look like, 2) to examine some interesting geometrical concepts, and 3) to maybe learn to think outside the box. I would sometimes show them how to add and subtract, etc., and show how the newer numbers had less repeating “decimals” (or dozenals, in this case). I would test them by showing them an “alien number,” and asking them what it would translate to in “Earth numbers.” I would try to lead them to an understanding of place value and ultimately to the understanding that the properties of numbers were independent of the number system used.

After a while some students even demanded to learn the numbers. They had heard about them at lunch from their friends and wanted to know about them. Many students began to know me as the “numbers guy.” Students would see me in the halls or quadrangle and say, “Hey! The Numbers Guy!”

One time, after I presented the numbers to the class, they were all just sitting there sort of stunned, looking at the strange symbols on the board, and one precocious-looking boy said curiously, “Were you ever abducted by aliens?” and we all laughed.

However, after that, I began tell classes that I had been abducted by aliens and they and sent me back to Earth to teach the people of Earth how the rest of the Galaxy counted, so that Earth could begin to trade with them. The aliens had chosen me, as a substitute teacher, because they knew I could reach many students.

Of course many times the students would just laugh when I would say that, at which I would also laugh and wink, or say, “Let’s pretend.” Other classes would have different reactions. Some students would get fearful as they thought that I was crazy to think this. Also, sometimes the bell would ring unexpectedly, due to a special schedule that I had forgotten about, and the students would all start to leave class, and I would frantically try to explain that I was not really abducted by aliens as they were walking out!

My familiarity with science and astronomy (I graduated from the Air Force Academy and one of my advisors there wrote the Dover classic textbook on Astrodynamics), made it easy for me to describe various plausible alien spaceships, etc. Also, sadly, the math and science education level of the students often made them easy to fool.

At the end of class, I would ask how many people had believed me and how many had not. Then I would launch into a discussion of “critical thinking,” and explain that, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and (a corollary) ordinary claims require ordinary evidence.” We would then discuss ordinary claims, ordinary evidence, extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence, and what might be extraordinary evidence for an alien abduction. I would try to lead them to the idea that a piece of material from the spacecraft, or a strand of DNA (from under my fingernail), that scientists had never seen before and could not explain in any way, would be considered extraordinary.

Sometimes they would then look at the numbers and say, “Well, where did those numbers come from then?” I would laugh and say that no matter how extraordinary the numbers were, they were not hard evidence, and that I had thought them up myself.

During the 1990s, I taught these numbers to about 9000 students (I use to keep a tally). During 2000-2005, I worked at a community college teaching psychology as an adjunct. During this time the new numbers remained dormant, but they were soon to reawaken and find a home on the Internet. For eventually I went back to substitute teaching. One day, while in Glendale, after going through my schtick to some eleventh graders, which they particularly enjoyed, one of the students suggested I make a some videos and put them on YouTube.

So I made some videos. I was surprised at how many people believed them, but perhaps I should not have been. At least one person began to make videos about me. Also, I found that there were many others like me on YouTube, who had put up abduction videos, and I remember one young woman claiming to have been abducted who was crying, etc., and I thought what a good actor she was.

I realized that I had a responsibility as a teacher and scientist, and so I began to make the videos silly, thinking that people would now know that they were fake. I put a tin foil hat on my head, etc. This helped, but some people were persistent believers! Eventually though, I made the ninth and last video called “Critical Thinking.” Some people were rather upset with me when I confessed the hoax.

You can access the videos by Googling “Alien Numbers. I have to say that there was a temptation for me to claim that the “abduction” was real. If I felt the class knew I was joking, I would sometimes not explain that I had made up the numbers. However, then they would go tell their friends that their “sub had been abducted by aliens,” and these students would come to the classroom to ask about it. I had to explain that I was not really abducted.

I also had several high school student tell me that I should take down the Critical Thinking video. They said that I could eventually get on Oprah, and make piles of money. I told them that my conscience would bother me.

In my experience, the fifth graders were the most skeptical. (Do you remember when you were that age and someone would say something outlandish, and you would demand, “Prove it!”) Perhaps they by that age they have learned how to think abstractly and logically, but have not been fully indoctrinated yet into a culture of fortunetellers, new agers, and a multitude of Hollywood movies about aliens, ghosts, spirits, reincarnation, etc.

In the third grade classes, age nine, I found that the students were just beginning to be able to think critically. For this grade, after discussing the “alien” numbers, I would sometimes ask how many of the students believed in Santa Clause. On average, I would guess about a third would believe, a third would not, and a third would be uncertain.

I would then ask the believers what kind of evidence they had that Santa Clause really existed. (I also wondered if I was crossing the line into family matters of religious or ethical beliefs.) They would give evidence like they had “set out some cookies the night before and when they got up in the morning they were half eaten,” but others in the class would dispute this rendition of events and say that their “parents had eaten them.” That would start a lively and very interesting debate with many personal stories. I remember after one debate like this I asked if everyone still believed in Santa Clause, and one young girl said quite frankly, “Well, I did, but now I am not so sure.” That made me feel gratified, but I also wondered what is the legality of debunking Santa Clause to a third grader in a public school?

After my abduction presentation, many of the high school students would ask me how I came up with the numbers. At first I had no answer. Eventually I realized that they were asking about creativity. What makes someone creative? Now I try to explain that, to me, creativity involves having have a rather broad and deep knowledge base. One could then draw on this knowledge base and combine elements in new and interesting ways.

So what happen with the Culver City Administrator? I told her that yes, I had told some students that I had been abducted by aliens, and that I had thought that they knew I was joking. She said she had heard good things about me, that the students liked me, and that she was looking at my videos as we spoke. She said it seemed like I was just using a fun way to teach, and I assured her that that’s what I was doing. Then she wondered aloud what she could do if I had really thought that I was abducted by aliens. Meanwhile, I wondered to myself if it were ethical to lie to someone if the result was that they became more scientific and skeptical in their thinking.

The “alien numbers” seem to be spreading somewhat. The other day I was at an elementary school and a first grader came up to me on the playground and said, “I saw you on YouTube,” and then walked off leaving me standing there somewhat stunned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L60rPpwu3G0

Trigonometry So Any 3rd Grader Can Understand It

2010-10-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

Similar triangles could be called Zoom Triangles. Here you see labeled the Long Side, the Far Side (far from the angle of interest) and the By Side (BY the angle of interest). FOL would stand for the Far side Over the Long side, or the sine ration, etc. so you would have BOL for cosine ratio, LOB, LOF, FOB, and BOF as the only six ratios. Knowing these ratios for one triangle allows you to calculate them for any similar triangle of any size (think galaxies or atoms). Using the easy terminology allows you to remember and think with trigonometry. Trigonometry gives us a powerful tool.

For more information Click Here.

Paleolithic Summer Diet

2010-08-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Bill Lauritzen's PALEOLITHIC SUMMER DIET Published for the first time! : ) I eat a lot of fruit during the peak summer weeks, and I thought I would document it here for anyone interested. Mostly I try to eat completely raw and whole foods, although some cooked chicken, salmon and raw egg whites were included for additional protein. Also, raisins and dates were included to increase muscle glycogen immediately after a hard workout. Notes: All water used was distilled water. All workouts were swimming. Also, I fast on distilled water for 36 or 24 hrs, every week or two weeks to get the health benefits of intermittent caloric restriction.

DAY 1 Smoothie: 3 oranges, one half celery bunch, 2 tablespoons flax seeds, distilled water. (1 Hr workout hard.) One whole medium sized watermelon 10 pounds, some lettuce, one half pound dried dates, two boxes of raisins. Whole chicken (no antibiotics, no salt), kefir 32 ounce, pasta sauce with no salt.

DAY 2 Smoothie 3 oranges, half celery bunch, 2 tablespoons flax seeds. 1 pound grapes organic 1/2 pound dried dates just before workout (1 Hr workout.) 1/2 avocado chicken sandwich. Tuna salad Lara bar

DAY 3 1/2 Watermelon, 1 banana, 1box raisins. (1.5 Hr workout very hard.) Strawberries 1/2 lb. 1/2 Watermelon Carrot juice 12 oz. 1 Sausage Energy bar Figs 1 lb. Figs 1 lb. Smoothie: mango 2 egg whites, red leaf lettuce, 2 tablespoon flax seeds, 22 oz total. 1 banana Salad: Lettuce, 2 Roma tomatoes very ripe, Blanched almonds, 1 tbs. Homemade Dressing: 1 Roma tomato, 1 banana, 2 egg whites.

DAY 4 Smoothie 3: oranges, celery, flax seeds, distilled water. 1 lb. grapes. (Ocean swim, 1 hr16 min, 67 degrees.) 2 boxes raisins. 1/2 large watermelon. Mango. Raisins 1 lb. grapes. Banana. Peach. Salad greens, tomatoes. 1/4 of watermelon.

DAY 5: 1 lb figs 1/4 watermelon 1 Mango (40 minute ocean swim.) 1.4 lb. grapes 3 bananas 1 box raisins 16 oz carrot juice 1 whole chicken, no salt, Pineapple Ginger sauce no salt. 17 oz Greek strained zero fat yogurt.

DAY 6 Smoothie: 3 oranges, celery, flax seeds, water. 2 boxes raisins 1 lb. grapes (Workout 1 hrs hard.) Smoothie 2 mangos, 2 bananas, red leaf lettuce, 1 tbs sunflower seeds raw. 1 pint strawberries. 1 pint blueberries Smoothie: 2 mangoes, red leaf lettuce, 2 tbs flax seeds, 4 raw egg whites. Salad: lettuce, avocado, tomatoes.

DAY 7 3 boxes raisins (1.5 Hr swim moderate) Mango Banana Smoothie: 3 oranges, celery, flax seeds, water. Smoothie: 2 mangos, lettuce, 4 raw egg whites, 2 mangos. Smoothie: 2 mangos, celery. Wild salmon steamed.

DAY 8 Citrus smoothie as before. 2 bananas (1 hour swimming.) 15 medjool dates 16 oz. raspberries 2 bananas 16 oz. carrot juice Smoothie: mango, 2 bananas, celery, 4 raw egg whites, 1 raw whole egg. Salad: Avocado, lettuce, tomato; Dressing: avocado tomato, raw egg white. Wild salmon, steamed.

DAY 9: Citrus smoothie: 3 oranges, green leaf lettuce, flax seeds. 6 medjool dates. 4 Bananas. (Ocean swim 53 minutes) Mango, banana, grapes. 14 oz Greek strained zero fat yogart with 1 mango. 3 bananas.

DAY 10 Grapes 1 lb. (Ocean swim 55 min.) Grapes 1/2 lb, 2 mangoes 8 medjool dates Smoothie: mangoes, with lettuce, and flax seeds, 3 raw egg whites, water. Salad: lettuce, with 2 bananas and 1 mango.

DAY 11 1/2 large watermelon Figs 2 bananas 16 oz carrot juice 1/6 of large watermelon

DAY 12 Fasting day: distiller water only (Smart Water)

DAY 13 Grapes Watermelon smoothie: watermelon, celery, no water. Citrus smoothie: oranges, celery, flax seeds, 1 egg white. Smoothie: 3 mangos, celery, 4 raw egg whites. Smoothie: mangoe, 1/2 avocado, green lettuce. 1 Banana Salad: lettuce, 1/2 avocado, tomatoes, blanched almonds.

DAY 14 Citrus smoothie, oranges, celery, flax seeds, egg white, water. (Ocean swim) 4 mangoes Mangos smoothie: 2 mangos, kefir, lettuce. Whole chicken, with Pineapple Ginger sauce. Salad: 1 avocado, lettuce, tomatoes.

"Uploading" our Brains?

2010-07-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Many Transhumanists want to "upload" their brain or personality when they die, and live forever in cyberspace. "Uploading" implies going to a "higher" place. "Up there." When we "download" a computer program we get it from a "higher" place--"up there." Perhaps if we have lead an evil life, when we die we will be "downloaded" to a cyberjail or cyberhell!

However, notice that we sometimes "download" a virus. Maybe we did something bad and it was sent from "up there?"

I think more correct, neutral terms would be "outloading" and "inloading" from your computer. Or outloading and inloading from the Cloud or Global Brain. Using these terms you could "inload" a program to your computer, or "outload" a photograph to Facebook, or accidentally "inload" a virus. Then perhaps when you die, you can "outload" yourself to cyberspace!

More Original Content from Bill's Excellent Blog!

Visual Calculus and Theoretical Astrophysics

2010-07-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Mamikon Mnatsakanian

Perhaps one of the greatest living (and relatively unknown) scientists is Mamikon Mnatsakanian.

Professor Tom Apostle, who taught calculus at Cal Tech for almost 50 years said, “I was stunned to learn that many standard problems in calculus can be easily solved by an innovative visual approach that makes no use of formulas." Using Mamikon's approach, Apostle continued, we obtain "a result that is not only simpler than the original treatment by Archimedes but also more powerful because it can be generalized to higher powers."

Mamikon developed his calculus methods in Soviet Armenia in 1957 at the age of 17. He showed them to Soviet mathematicians, but they said, “It can’t be right—you can’t solve calculus problems that easily.” He went on to get a Ph.D. in astrophysics and became internationally known in that field.

Meanwhile, he continued to develop and refine his geometric methods. He came to this country as part of the Armenian earthquake-preparedness program about 1990, but was stranded here without a visa after the fall of the Soviet Union. He eventually managed to obtain status as an “alien of extraordinary ability.”

For ten years he lived in the Sacramento area, and for a time taught his techniques at a Montessori school in Sacramento. He loves to tell the story that took place about 1996, of some of the parents who doubted his abilities. They said, "If you're so smart why aren't you at Cal Tech." He then packed his stuff in the trunk of his car and drove to Cal Tech, where he showed some of his work to Apostle. Eventually, they began to collaborate there, and have now written many papers and won and award from the Mathematical Association of America.

Some of Mamikon’s ideas are controversial. He says some of his fellow scientists have perpetuated a myth with their “childish” talk of “Black Holes” and the “Big Bang.” He claims these terms are oversimplifications, and he has developed a theory, a “Generalized Einstein Theory,” which explains astrophysical phenomena without the use of “Black Holes” or the “Big Bang.”

Recently, he was nominated by Caltech for Victor Ambartsumian International Prize, $500,000, "for his contributions in the field of Theoretical Astrophysics."

Meditation is Natural Biofeedback

2010-07-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

People usually meditate to relax. Why? Because apparently the nerves can get into a state of over-excitement, and are unable to relax easily on their own. You can buy biofeedback machines that help you relax by feeding back to your brain biological information such as your heart rate or brain wave pattern. Traditional meditation provides a natural biofeedback.

Touching the thumb and forefinger together used to seem a trivial part of the meditation procedure to me. However, I recently realized that if you look at the huge amount of brain area devoted to the thumb and index finger, this procedure takes on a much greater significance.

By touching these body parts together during meditation, one is in effect creating a powerful two-way, biofeedback loop that allows for a dampening of the overexcited nerves. For example, let us say some overexcited complex of neurons in the body (and thus motor cortex area of the brain) is overexcited and twitching. This is sensed by the forefinger, which uses the forefinger sensory cortex area of the brain, to dampen it down. Likewise, and in reverse, some overexcited sensory neurons, hyper-vigilant, may be fed into the thumb area of the cortex, and dampened, etc.

In general, you are connecting the back half of the brain, concerned with sensory input, with the front half of the brain, concerned with motor output.

Now in the usual meditation posture, crossing the legs and turning them back into the body (with the palms of the feet touching the thigh, so that they are sensing the body), one again creates a biofeedback loop. This loop takes the nervous impulses of the legs and lower trunk and feeds them back into the body (and brain) by way of the thigh. This also can run the reverse direction so that the bottom of the feet senses any over-excitement in the thigh.

In this last case, the area of the brain devoted to these areas is not as large as for the finger and thumb, but it is adequate to function as a dampening biofeedback mechanism.

Also, now you are not only connecting the front and back areas of the brain, but you are connecting the left and right half of the brain, as the left foot crosses over to the right thigh, etc.

Putting the hands together in the lap may provide some left-right connection. It might be beneficial to connect the left thumb to the right index finger and the right thumb to the left index finger.

Two Books on Healthy Eating

2010-07-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Every summer I try to read at least one book on nutrition or diet. Last summer it was the book, Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever. Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil teamed up with Dr. Terry Grossman to present the available scientific research on eating, exercise, and stress. Kurzweil takes up to 200 pills a day in order to take control of his body chemistry. He plans to live long enough to take advantage of the newer genetic technologies and nanotechnologies that are coming. His goal is to live forever. Actually, there is nothing theoretically impossible about this, as the body is composed of tiny machines that can be replaced or repaired indefinitely.

This summer I happened to read a book that is on the opposite side of the spectrum from Transcend. Douglas Graham states in The 10/10/10 diet that 80% of our diet should be from fruits, 10% from vegetables like tender greens, and 10% from fats such as avocados, nuts and seeds. Graham says that humans evolved to eat fruit, that that is what we find most tasty and appealing. When we look at a cow, we don't say, "Ummm, yummy." When we look at fruit we do say that. He makes a very good case for this citing a lot of scientific evidence. He says that if you eat on this diet you will not need any supplements.

Personally, I find that I can eat 80% fruit in the summer, but I am not so sure about the winter. However, maybe this winter I will try it. In the meantime, I am still taking fish oil supplements, flax seed, and vitamin E, although I may try to reduce or eliminate these if I can. I would recommend both these books, which will allow you to tailor your diet individually, until more detailed genetic information about yourself is available.

Fundamentals of Education

2010-07-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

After some thirty years as an educator, and some twenty more years as a formal student, I can say with some confidence that there are four fundaments that apply to all education or study, whether formal, informal, book-based, Internet-based, and maybe even education that jacks directly into our brains. Where education fails I think it often fails because one or more of these fundamentals is missing.

I call these CWIZ (Trademark), for Concrete, Words, Interest, and Zone.

1) Education needs to be concrete as well as abstract. The reason for this is in our evolutionary backdrop. Words in a book are very abstract, whereas learning by doing is very concrete. Many classes I have observed are completely abstract, which forces rote learning or memorization. There is a continuum: concrete swimming, to virtual swimming, to a 3-D movie about swimming, to a 2-D movie about swimming, to an audio presentation about swimming, to a picture book about swimming, to a book with no pictures about swimming, to a book with no pictures about other swimming books, with many points in between. Much of education leans toward the abstract because of cost. It is cheap to print some books with no pictures and then hire an inexperienced teacher to force students to memorize the book and then test students to see if they have memorized the book.
(Congratulations! You graduated!)

With the rapid proliferation of images and videos and virtual worlds on the Internet, one will be able to offer a much more concrete experience to anyone who has an Internet connection.

For example, when I am reading an article on the Web, I can have the words read aloud to me simultaneously at a very rapid speed using my Macbook. I hear a paragraph at a time and stop to clarify things if needed.

  2) The words have to be understood. Many teachers still teach students to try to figure out the meaning of words from the context. I have tested this many times in classrooms. While a student is reading aloud, I stop them and say what is the meaning of _____?

If they or no one in the class knows, I ask them to guess at the meaning. I write down the guesses on the board. I would say 95-99 percent of the guesses are wrong. I teach them to look up words they don’t know on the Internet or in a dictionary, and I show them the four dictionaries I have on my iPhone.

Also, in the Safari browser one can just right-click the word to look it up in the dictionary/wikipedia. This is why I use Safari when I read on the Web.

 3) The subject matter should be of interest to the student.

Interest might be as lowly as, “I am interested in the class so I can graduate high school,” or it might be a deep and sincere fascination with the subject matter.

I forgot where I heard the quote, “When a subject becomes obsolete they make it a required course.” There is some truth to this. Nowadays with the math programs and calculators we have, many math topics no longer need be required, except for the most devoted student.

Also, students today are very interested in technology, but it is rarely taught. I had one math student who was more advanced than the others and interested in computer games. I got him a book on computer games for teenagers, with a practice game CD, and he dove into that faster than a fund manager into a subprime mortgage.

The materials provided should be within the zone of capabilities of the student using available technological tools, or the zone of the student when assisted by what I call a knowledge manager (formerly a teacher) or by an artificial intelligence knowledge manager. With too difficult materials the student becomes overwhelmed; with too easy materials the student becomes bored. In between, there zone in which he/she feels challenged and can achieve competency.

CWIZ: Concrete, Words, Interest, Zone. The student must know these fundamentals, the knowledge manager must know these, educational technology must be designed with these in mind, and all educational programs must include these to be successful.

South of the Border

2010-07-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

I just saw Oliver Stone's documentary, South of the Border, in which he interviews the presidents of several South American countries. He tries to show how the U.S. media, Fox News in particular, portrays these leaders in a very biased fashion. I enjoyed the movie except for one thing: I think Stone should have used a professional narrator instead of narrating the movie himself. His voice is not the voice of an trained actor.

There were several references in the movie to the IMF or International Monetary Fund, which I would not have understood if I had not just read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." Although I do not agree with everything in it, the author certainly makes one think and for me the book made a lot of sense.

Anyway, I recommend the book and the movie for those of you interested in different view of world politics than is presented in the mainstream U.S. press.

Twelve Guidelines for a Good Life

2010-06-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

by Bill Lauritzen

1. Be honest.
2. Be financially responsible.
3. Get enough sleep.
4. Eat healthy foods.
5. Exercise regularly.
6. Respect family values.
7. Be active socially.
8. Study.
9. Live in harmony with nature.
10. Be generous.
11. Seek out healthy environments.
12. Be content.

Be honest. I am fair in my dealings with others and myself. I know that personal integrity is essential to my body’s integrity. I know that if I cheat or harm someone that I will carry a memory of this event that will blind me to potentially harmful events surrounding me.

Be financially responsible. I provide for myself and my family, and plan for the future. I will improve my financial literacy throughout my life.

Get enough sleep. I strive not to build up a sleep debt, and if I do I pay it off quickly. I do not attempt to stimulate my body to stay awake with food, caffeine, chocolate, salt, alcohol, drugs, herbs, medicines, or activities such as simulating entertainment, when what my body needs is sleep.

Eat healthy foods. My body has been genetically designed over billions of years by natural selection to eat foods that are raw, ripe, and organic. It was not designed to eat processed and packaged foods. Fruits, greens, seeds, and nuts in proper amounts are good for it. I do not put poisons such as salt, alcohol, or various drugs into my body. I fast on distilled water at least 21-24 hours each week.

Exercise regularly. I know that my body was genetically designed to move, not sit. I know that exercise improves the body’s immune system, leads to longer life, and improves my mood.

Respect family values. I do not let the mass media turn me away from the importance of family. I know I will feel content in later life if I have nurtured a family. I will strive to earn the respect of my children and other family members.

Be active socially. I know that honest and open interchange with others is essential and that laughter is refreshing and healing.

Study. I investigate new technology and how it can help to extent my humanity. I seek to understand issues of importance to my environment. I cultivate critical thinking skills. I look up every word in the dictionary that I do not understand. I seek out and read original source material.

Live in harmony with nature. I respect the hours and the seasons. I rise refreshed when the sun comes up, and begin to relax when the sun goes down. I strive to eat local, in-season foods, knowing that they are the best for me. I strive to use the wind, the sun, and/or other natural resource for energy. If necessary, due to stress, I meditate, pray, and/or stretch my body.

Be generous. I volunteer some of my time and/or my money to help others or society as a whole. However, I do not foolishly give to people who abuse me. I cooperate with others who cooperate with me, and do not cooperate with those who do not cooperate with me.

Seek healthy environments. I seek friends who are healthy and follow these guides. I seek environments that nurture me in healthy ways. I avoid unhealthy people with bad habits such as taking drugs or dishonesty. I report dishonest activity. I avoid advertising (in any medium) for processed foods, alcohol, most medications and unnatural substances, knowing that natural eating, exercise and intimate friends will often be enough to keep me healthy. I avoid unhealthy entertainment that merely titillates or distracts from my values, family values, community integrity, and humanitarianism. I am open to genetic information about myself or family that may help me to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Be content. I take time to be grateful for what I do have. I cultivate relationships with people I like. I take time for play and for healthy entertainment. If I get depressed or lonely, I contact someone I like and tell them.

Swimming with Dolphins

2010-06-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica, California

August 14th, 2008, 11:30 am

It was a hot and hazy day at the beach when I got there. The American flag lazily wafted in the breeze from the lifeguard tower. The water had been unusually warm, above 72: almost Hawaiian. The sparse clouds were high and cottony. I stripped off my clothes and put on my swimsuit under my large beach towel. I applied some sunscreen to my nose, cheeks, and shoulders. I fitted my red cap onto my head. The red color makes it easier for the lifeguards and boats to see me.

The usual stay-at-home moms were putting sunscreen on their kids, a few retired people were reading the paper, and several people were body surfing. Most surfers had left already, as the rising wind was making the waves rough. Brightly colored beach umbrellas stood in front of the vast blue ocean, which stretched out before me, circling all the way round to Hawaii and then Japan.

It usually gets kind of lonely swimming in the ocean, mostly just pelicans and seagulls and a very occasional sea lion popping their head up, but this day would be different. I jogged very slowly south for about a mile to the breakwater. I now had a nice swim long swim to Santa Monica pier of about two miles, and then back south for another mile to where I started.

I told the lifeguard in the tower by the breakwater, that I was going to swim around the rocks and then on to the pier. He said that they didn't really like people swimming around the rocks because they couldn't see the person. I said I would swim out a bit, so he could see me, and he said OK.
When I swam behind the rocks, a lone pelican glided by, very low over the water. Suddenly, I noticed the fin of a dolphin. I put my head underwater and made a feeble attempt at a dolphin squeal. To them I probably sounded like a dog trying to speak English. However, to my delight a hi-pitched “Ziiiiiip” (getting higher as it progressed) came immediately back at me.

I now saw several more in the pod, maybe eight or ten all together. These dolphins had been back in the area for a couple of weeks now, and I had had several glimpses of them, and here I was in their midst.

They were heading the same direction I was. Although sometimes they move really fast, today they were kind of lolligagging along, as they sometimes do. I decided to see how long I could stay with them. I thought even five minutes would be extraordinary.

I was able to match their pace, which was just slightly slower than my usual pace, so sometimes I would do breaststroke and just observe them. I keep a respectable distance from them at first, about five yards, as I didn't want to spook them. However, as we progressed up the beach, I think they got use to me, and I got used to them, and I moved closer. I kept waiting for them to split off from me but it didn’t happen. We just kept swimming along the beach together, and now I was only a couple yards from two of them. I saw about ten people lined up on the beach watching us go by.

After about fifteen minutes, I swam suddenly and unexpectedly into a loose kelp bed. I had to stop and swim around it. Suddenly two dolphins darted right past me, crosswise, only about two feet away. Younger ones, I thought.

But where were the rest? They had disappeared. I looked back and saw them at the kept bed, checking something out underwater? Feeding on some fish? Or just curious? I waited, thinking that this was the end of our journey together, but soon the dolphins were heading north again and I along with them.

While breathing to my side, I tried to see some difference between the various dolphins, but they all looked the same to me. Except perhaps some were slightly bigger. And some seemed more frisky, swimming off on their own once in awhile.

I had been swimming alongside what I thought were the two oldest ones, as they seemed to keep the most steady pace. They were on my right with a couple of others, while a few were on my left. After careful scrutiny, I noticed that the fin on one of them was distinctly different that the others--sort of with a little curve or hook in it, but that was the best I could do to tell them apart.

Now we glided by a group of about five surfers just sitting on their boards. The dolphins graceful up and down, rhythmic motion, was almost hypnotizing in its beauty. The surfers pointed at us as we went past.

With each breath I took in the scene around me. The sand, the houses and apartment buildings along the beach, the pale blue sky, the murky blue water, and of course the dolphins. Every so often I would hear them squealing to each other and I would chirp in, which sounded to me like a horrible rendition of their speech.

Then suddenly one of the dolphins to my right came completely out of the water and slapped its tail rather violently on the surface and then repeated this three times. I thought it might be a signal of some kind to the others, and I waited expectantly for several minutes but nothing changed.

I kept waiting for the lifeguard boat to show up and say something to me though their megaphone about not harassing the local indigenous species, but it never happened. Later, when I told one of them about swimming my adventure, he thought it was “very cool.”

Suddenly, my friend Michael appeared in front of me. “Come on,” I said. Michael is not as strong a swimmer as me, but he fell into formation just behind me. I worried about how the dolphins would react to this new swimmer. Would they now take off? But nothing changed.

I flipped over and swam backstroke. I could now see the four dolphins to my left, toward the shore, coming slowly out of the water, breathing, pssshhhh, and then rolling down again. All synchronized together now. About four more dolphins were to my right, while Michael was about ten yards behind me. It must have been quite a formation we made. Michael suddenly stopped, and so I stopped too. He said he was getting tired, but added, “This is too good to leave!”

Suddenly I heard another loud Ziiiiiip! I stopped and so did Michael. He shouted, “A couple just swam right past you!” Must have been the same frisky ones as earlier. I can’t keep up with these teenagers, I think to myself.

Back to rhythmic swimming with the older ones. After a while I noticed Michael was no longer behind me. Meanwhile the dolphins and I were all headed straight into the pier!

I veered off toward the tip of the pier but none followed me. So I followed them, trusting their dolphin sense of their whereabouts. Then, a minute later, they all veered toward the tip. As we approached the it, they all just disappeared, completely! I called in my best underwater dolphin squeal. I looked all about for about five minutes. I had swam with them for an hour and three minutes by my watch!

I started swimming back, wondering if all my communication and bonding with them was just my imagination. I was getting cold and tired now and just wanted to get back. I missed my dolphin friends, but I swam now furiously trying to stay warm. After about ten minutes, quite loud and clear, I heard the loud familiar Ziiiiiip again! I burst out laughing, and stopped.

Behind me, about fifteen yards away, were several of them. Just sort of circling. Did they want me to follow them north of the pier? Or were they curious about what had happened to me? My hands were now all wrinkled, and I was tired. I swam back to Tower 26 and trudged out onto the sand.

The Development of Knowledge and Religion on Planet X

2010-06-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

On a rocky planet in the Milky Way Galaxy, let’s call it Planet X, a species evolved that was capable of higher-order abstract thought and of manipulating its environments with tools. This was an alive, geologically-active planet, and so this curious species noted and examined the volcanoes and planet-quakes and came to believe that some kind of living, very powerful creature lived beneath the ground.

They saw liquid fire flow out of the ground, cool, and form into new land. They naturally felt that this powerful Creature had caused this to happen. Plants and animals eventually came to inhabit this new land. So the intelligent species also decided that this powerful creature was the Creator. They gave this Creator a Name. They were grateful to It, and so some of them made sacrifices to It.

They also noted the motion of the lights in their Heavens and came to believe that their Home Star and the other heavenly Lights were also very powerful Creatures. Their Home Star gave them warmth and light. Food grew when It was present, and did not grow when It was absent, and so they were grateful to It too.

However, they incorrectly thought that their Home Star moved around their planet. They also mistakenly thought that their Home Star and their Heavens “refreshed” themselves with the liquid fire when they “set in the West” and “traveled beneath the ground,” to “rise again in the East.” So they thought the Lights in the Heavens and the Light beneath the ground were somehow connected.

This planet, like many, had gases surrounding it. These contained about 21% of element 8. Most life forms on this planet used this element as fuel for combustion, and thus motion. Since element 8 is invisible, this species thought that there was another very powerful invisible Creature present in the gasses, which gave them and other life forms motion and life. They called It the Spirit or Great Spirit.

They knew that when a body was burned it would somehow disappear into the air, leaving only a few ashes. So, they thought that this Spirit somehow inhabited them (after all, they were made of 65% element 8). They also knew that this Spirit had to be present for fire to exist. Thus, they imagined that this Spirit reached upwards, all the way to the Heavenly bodies of fire!

They also saw that the water of the planet would sometimes disappear upwards into the Spirit. At other times it would fall down from the Spirit. So, some of them saw that fire, air, water, and ground were connected into one Whole (Holy), and they said there was really only One powerful Creature, which they also gave a Name.

Of course many variations of this basic development happened during the history of this planet, and many Names were given, but from these roots of fire, air, water, and ground, knowledge expanded and grew like an immense tree, with some branches of knowledge flourishing, and many more withering away. Some of the early branches are known now as mythology, and out of those branches grew new branches that are today called religions.

Eventually, one of the branches of this knowledge tree identified the elements of the universe and various natural laws of the universe, and this branch was called science.

Focusing or Multitasking on the Web

2010-06-12T21:09:00.001-07:00

There have been lots of thoughts about the Internet's effect on our brains. (See the two books to the left.) Does all the multitasking cause us to be shallow thinkers? Does it prevent deep thinking of the kind that was possible with books?

I did an experiment recently. I had to study for the California Science Subtests, I and II. These are tests that all teachers must past, and since I was thinking of teaching science, I decided to take both of these tests (on the same day). I had about 2 weeks to study.

I decided to not use any books of any kind, including test prep books. I would study using the test guidelines (which were online) and using only what material I could find online.

I found that I was able to focus without any problem, having paid for the tests, and having a deadline.

My procedure: I would take a concept from the test guidelines, look on Wikipedia, look on Google images, look on Google Videos, then look on Google images again for "concept maps" on the topic. For example, if the concept was the "water cycle," I would search this term on Wiki, on Google images, on Google Videos, and then I would search on Google Images under "water cycle concept map." I would also go elsewhere from any of these searches if it looked like it would help me to understand the concept better. I would also go back and forth between these different searches, etc.

I was trying to cover the concrete, the abstract, and everything in between. I was also looking for concept maps which helped to place things in proper relationships.

I spent about 3 hours a day doing this for about 10 days and then I passed both tests with a superior score. So not only did I find I could focus easily, I also found that I had access to the entire world of the web such video. B.I. (or Before Internet), I think this study would have taken about 2 to 3 times as long.

So now, with the huge amount of information available, we have the situation of a farm boy who has learned to read by the fire, with one dictionary and one or two books, all of a sudden going into the big city university and finding a huge library. For a few weeks or months he is going to be overwhelmed by all the books and he might have trouble focusing for awhile, but eventually he will see where all the books are, and what's available to him, and get down to his studies.

So two factors may be operating here. 1) lack of deadlines may be causing some multitasking and shallow thinking, and 2) the newness of all the information may be causing some adjustment on our part as with the farm boy in the city library.

I think eventually we will get back to deep thought, if we ever really got away from it.