BRYAN JONES

Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method Essay

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:50:00 +0000

In a place known as Utopia, each individual human being has an epistemological system that is entirely his own. He is the sole engineer “of judging well and of distinguishing the true from the false (which is, properly speaking, what people call ‘good sense’ or ‘reason,’” (1) by reflecting upon his own life experiences, his own doubts, his own mind, and his own beliefs. What is more, he does not impose this personal formula upon his fellow Utopian citizens.

However, this is not the case. We often make poor judgments based on others’ opinions and beliefs and, in turn, impose all of this fallacy upon everyone around us. Like most philosophers, Rene Descartes, tried to rectify this situation by devoting himself “exclusively to the search of truth.” (18) In Discourse on Method, Descartes tells us that by starting completely anew and abandoning the “study of his letters” (5) and all notions previous, he is able to develop his own way of seeking truth, his own code by which to live. Descartes is a rationalist. He finds a human being’s first-hand experience to be invaluable in discovering a common truth. In order to know anything, one must know it via experience, careful consideration, and a check-off system of sorts, this check-off system being his method.

Similar to Descartes’ experience, we are attended an institution that is more liable than not to instill certain notions into our minds, whether we want them or not. The tired question, “What is Art?” that we are conditioned to a specific answer at this school. A specific, artsy-fartsy answer is expected from us at the drop of a hat. As for Descartes, he was expected to know the scholarly response to everything, having gone to schools of high academic achievement and standing. For me, most of my answers involve, “I have no idea. None.” Descartes was also confused so he “completely changed [his] mind. For [he] found [himself] confounded by so many doubts and errors that it seemed to [him] that [he] had not gained any profit from [his] attempt to teach [himself], except that more and more [he] has discovered [his] ignorance.” (3)

I think Descartes makes a good point by when noting, “It is true that, so long as I merely considered the customs of other men, I hardly found anything there about which to be confident…” (6) I interpret this to mean that it is difficult for one to have confidence in his beliefs and thoughts when there exist so many that oppose his. Whose are correct? And who is to make the judgment? Because Descartes’ means of knowledge is original and thorough, he has every right to be confident in his own customs.

Descartes is very scientific and methodical in this philosophical pursuit, saying that he “delighted most of all in mathematics because of the certainty and the evidence of its reasonings.” (4) Because he recognizes that when morals or laws are “devised by a single individual, they all tend toward the same end,” (7) that they are thus too partial, and that “the multiplicity of laws often provides excuses for vices,” (10-11) Descartes sets out only four main and simple rules to follow in his method. He wants his rationale to be absolutely thorough and by applicable to everything.

In his first rule, Descartes says that we must not make any hasty judgments, judgments worthy of “no occasion to call it in doubt.” (11) In the second, he says we must break each piece of information into separate parts. By doing this, all components can be better examined. This third rule states that we much be organized. We must begin analysis with the simplest parts and end with the largest and most complicated. This way we avoid getting ahead of ourselves. And I think Descartes best explains his fourth rule in his own words. “And the last, everywhere to make enumerations so complete and reviews so general that I was assured of having omitted nothing.” (11)

I find the most important message of Discourse on Method is Descartes’ proving the existence of God. Stemming from the well-known phrase, “I think therefore I am,” Descartes breaks down all of the pieces to the puzzle in the most logical order. The fact that one chooses to doubt the validity of something in and of itself validates the subject in doubt. In other words, we can say we “simply stopped thinking,” (18) but we are merely reflecting upon the notion. Thus, we are still thinking. Descartes says that as human beings, we have the idea of perfection innately ingrained in our minds and it is against this perfect ideal which we base all of our other judgments. It is the source of our doubt. However, this ideal had to be set there by a higher force, God. God was able to instill this concept of perfection because he is perfection. We doubt, and so we cannot be perfect. Therefore, God does exist and is the sole foundation of all human minds.

I find Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method to be a very valuable source of philosophy because of the broad and general grounds upon which Descartes bases his epistemological system. In addition, his method really does aim for a neutral point of view. And in a perfect world, we would all be this sound in our ways of finding truth.

Works Cited

Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1985.

Bryan Jones

Midterm Essay

Jason Fox

2008

User Experience | How to Change Your Tire

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:27:00 +0000

Hans Magnus Enzensberger & the Consciousness Industry: born 1929, written in 1970, poet & thinker

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:42:00 +0000

Repressive use of media:
Centrally controlled program
One transmitter, many receivers
Immobilization of isolated individuals
Passive consumer behavior
Depolitization
Production by specialists
Control by propert owners of bureaucracy

Emancipatory use of media:
Decentralized program
Each receiver a potential transmitter
Mobilization of masses
Interaction of those involved—feedback
A political learning process Collective production
Social control by self-organization

Arduino Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:32:00 +0000

the beginning

8 relays equal 8 switches that can be controlled with arduino board

about to test

making a container to go around everything

final 16 relays switch box that can control multiple things via kinect

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000

"...But when our reality comes into contact with terrorism logic and reason don't apply because to us we are in a simulacrum. Genuine power does not exist; it is all about appearing authoritative."

-Jean Baudrillard

Some Science notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:32:00 +0000

History of Experimentation

-School of Athens painting

-Plato points toward the heavens: form, Gods, Platonic sense

-Aristotle points toward earth: believes in observation, experience

-Natural Philosophy- no formalized way of recording

-reason triumphs experiments

-alchemy

-moving into the 17^th century: “experimentation begins to occur (even though it’s not called this at the time)

Experiment: looking for a cause and effect

-Independent variable (conditions) are usually artificially controlled

-Independent variable: the factor that might hypothetically influence or cause the behavior or interest

-Dependent variable: what you are trying to explain or learn about

-control variable: things that remain constant

-most are observed and recorded (temperature?)

Measurement

-Louis XVI commissions Lavoisier and others to create a unified system of measurement

-create the SI system (System International) from late 18^th century

-accepted globally except for the US, Liberia, and Burma

-it’s an easy system because everything is in multiples of 10

Types of Experiments

1) Controlled- compares results from control test and experimental test

2) Natural (observational)- no intentional manipulation by the experimenter

3) Field- mainly used in social sciences

-no control over any aspects

-good because it’s in a natural, real-world setting

Electricity: from Latin work for amber

-Make a list of all possible ways we use electricity. Record in journal.

Lightning is the most common source of electricity

Return Stroke- the light we see from lightning going from the ground back up to the cloud

Electric charge, electric current, electromagnetism

4 Fundamental forces: electromagnetic force, gravity force, strong force, weak force

Gravity: attraction between masses, for masses much larger than 2 atoms

Electromagnetic: electric and magnetic forces

-motions of electrically charged particles

-electrons, protons, neutrons

Current: movement of electric charge, measured in amps

Faraday:

-electromagnetism- an electric current will produce a charge

-direct relationship between electricity and electromagnetism…how can this be utilized? Faraday will experiment with this idea

The Earth Magnetic Field: produced by the flow of current, can increase strength depending on the flow

Permanent Magnets: can’t increase strength

Yves Klein:

IKB- International Klein Blue (first patented color)

-Klein was captivated by ultramarine pigment during the 6^th century

-pigments lose their brilliance when mixed with painting medium

-plastics become popular in the mid 20^th century

-artists become very interested with acrylic paints

Edward Adam and Klein work for a year to get the perfect color

-Polyvinyl acetate (1912) therma plastic (polymer liquid when heated, dry, hard, shiny) think white glue

Anthropometry- series of paintings using nude models and IKB

-chemical processes are usually pushed by money, if there’s the money to build it, it will advance

-titanium dioxide- most common white pigment used in sunscreen, makeup, paper…etc.

-an opacifier, brightest white we can manufacture

In journal: observed the world around us for 15 minutes and record every color we see…use emotional context

In journal: write about our opinions of natural color vs artificial color.

Science and Chemistry of Photography:

Optical / Light microscope

-light goes through object to magnify it

Microscope

-micro = small

-to look or see

-Greek origin

Scanning Electron Microscope

-more detailed

-3D images

Optical

-simple, single lens (magnifying glass)

-compound, 2 lenses

Glass used as magnifies and glass ware in 2^nd century

Early glass used as spectacles

-lentil shape glass helps magnify

-water realized it has a magnifying property

16^th century- spectacles produced

-how can technology advance any further?

Opthemolic glass- small magnifying glass

17^th century

-Janssen Compound Microscope – put two lenses on top of each other in tube

-almost stumbled upon the modern microscope

-still not great magnification (only 10 – 20x)

Galileo

-Ocholino- 1609

-Galileo was just experimenting with one convex and one concave mirror

-1^st instance of the term microscope accounted for my Galileo

Hooke Microscope (1670)

-getting closer to seeing closer

-lens technology kept limiting the microscopes abilities

Von Leeuwenhoek Microscope

-late 1600’s

-developed method for grinding lenses that are tiny

Triggs Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Fundamental notions of function and aesthetics are challenged.

Constraints of convention are released.

Daniel Friedman: Is a system of operations or a series of changes or actions in the production of a result?"

-Process doesn't have to be formulaic.
-Inform strategies and methods.
-Challenging accepted conventions and developing new "ways of seeing"

Brion Gyin and William S. Burroughts (1959)
Were experimental in the ways words and language were deconstructed to create a fragmentary no-linear approach to the contemporary narrative form.

Typographic language
Experimental type design: Looks at how the individual letter forms are constructed; it also involves the systematic application of these elements across a set of characters.
Experimental typography: Soon transposed itself from realm of 'radical' into the arena of an ostensible accepted visual language.

Layering questions legibility.

Contemporary Typographic experiments exploration:
(1996) Rick Poyner: oddly shaped columns of type, the multiple layering of information and the questionable legibility of typefaces had fostered a backlash against swiss modernism.
-Owes it's development to the historical 'isms' of the 20th century: Futurism, Constructivism, Dadaism, and Modernism.These movements acknowledges an age of significant scientific and technological discovery, where modern industry and commerce were radically transformed.

Overshadowing the pragmatism of function.

Synoptic declamation: translated into visual terms therefor expanding the reading of words( using: speed, rhythm and tone of speech.)

The only way to break typographic rules is to first know them.
Weight, scale, repetition, distortion intensified the dialogue.
Ortho-Type: based on grid structures, like bitmap fonts.

Advant Garde, inherently 'insecure position' and its boundaries constantly changing as it searches for the newest 'new' thing
Critiques of the mainstream, challenging accepted conventions and developing new ways of seeing.

Computer Technology: Offered new aesthetic possibilities but also a greater democratization of design and print production.

Thematic approach that tackled typography and design in relation to issues borne out of contemporary culture and society.

ZED (1994-2000) real world design: the Role of the Experimental (1995) explore the function, practice and context of experimental typography, for example with regard to professional practice.

Emigre Designer Zuzana Licko
Effectively managed the low-memory capabilities of the first computers by keeping the font data small.

The Nature of a Client's Brief - the amount of developmental time offered, the types of production processes used are the social, political and cutural context in which the designer or typographic is operating, will affect the way a designer approaches the experimental and, consequently, the end product.

Letterror-Erik van Blokland and Just Van Rossum:
Use programming technology and language to experiment with different ways of producing dynamic fonts. For them, the computer is a means of exploring new and playful ways of working: By understanding the software, they do not feel in danger of becoming "slaves to their digital tools."

Stanley Morison
Designer of times new Roman said stir new design toward having a specific purpose: arranging the letter, distributing the space and controlling the type as to aid to the maximizing the readers 'comprehension of the text'

Massimo Vignelli reading

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:30:00 +0000

Stimulating and enriching the mind.

Solve all questions posed by the problem.

Combat the titillation posed by the ephemeral media.

Design reflects cultural and ethical values.

Responsibility to improve the world around us.

Stimulate cultural reactions in the viewer.

Convince industry/government that design is more then last second embellishments.

Continue relevance of the Modern movement as the cultural mainstream of our century.

Combat the ideology developed by industrialization.

Katherine Mccoy reading

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:24:00 +0000

-Growth, further increasing your knowledge will further your skill to communicate.
-Abandoning the ambiguous intuitive (Fine Arts).
-Functionalism.
-Philosophy of ethics
-personal set of values and criteria.
-individual interpretations.
-Problem Solving.
-Search for new Communication theories and visual language.
-To question accepted forms of graphic design.
-Discipline, clarity and cleanliness.
-New permission to employ historical and vernacular elements.

Peter Bil'ak

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Experiment is often synonymous with the design process itself.

Experimentation in this sense is an empirical approach to knowledge that lays a foundation upon which others build.

Melle Hammer insists that "Experimental typography does not exist, nor ever has."

David Carson: Experimental is something I haven't tried before ... something that hasn't been see and heard.

Designers suggest that the nature of experiment lies in the formal novelty of the result.

Kurt Schwitters proclaimed that experimenting is "to do it in a way that no one has done it before."

Proclaiming novelty today can seem like historical ignorance on a designer's part.

A design experiment that is rooted in anti-conventionalism can only exist against the background of other — conventional — solutions.

Anti-conventionalism requires going against prevailing styles, which is perceived as conventional.

Type design that is not bound by convention is like a private language: both lack the ability to communicate. Yet it is precisely the constraints of the alphabet which inspire many designers.

An experiment in this sense has no preconceived idea of the outcome; it only sets out to determine a cause-and-effect relationship. As such, experimentation is a method of working, which is contrary to production-oriented design, where the aim of the process is not to create something new, but to achieve an already known, pre-formulated result.

Japanese History Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:36:00 +0000

08/27/09 – THURSDAY

These are notes from the video we watched, “The Japanese Way”. I wrote down some of the ideas from it:
- Have problems expressing themselves, so it comes out in places like love hotels. (Different “themes” of love hotels).
- What is modern/western? Many people think of everything as Japanese.
- Though Japan is becoming more “westernized/modernized”, the essentials of Japanese culture haven’t changed much.
- Things are brought from all over the world and “hatched” as something Japanese.
- Western forms of these things may look superficial to westerners.
- Teamwork – a reason that Japanese claim for enjoying some western films. (Such as cowboy movies, etc.)
- Every detail is important, every action is learned from a master, learned the Japanese way.
- Endless choices – consumerism gone wild.
- They believe their strength is racial purity.
- Japanese make rationale for the things they take from other cultures. Borrow everything and then sort it out.
- People in the modern era are making up for 1,00 years of the same thing.

Some important things that can be gleaned from this video is the importance of the “group” in Japanese
society (seen during the cherry blossom festival in the video, and make of the other activities), and how
they have adapted western ideas to fit Japanese tastes.

09/01/09 – TUESDAY

- Entire country is about the size of Montana.
- 4 main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu
- Ainu have been genetically isolated before they encountered the Japanese.
- It is cut down the middle by a mountain range, filled full of volcanoes. (About 500).
- No pastoral land in Japan, or very many large animals.
- 14.3% of Japan can be cultivated. As the 3 major plains expand, they take over arable land.
- 3 main plans: Kanto, Nobi and Kinai.
- The longest river is 227 miles long.
- It rains a lot and gets foggy in Tokyo.
- 55% of the land grows rice, which probably came from the south.
- Koku – 5.1 bushels of rice. Enough rice to feed an average adult male for one year.
- One of the most forested countries in the world.
- However, not a lot of natural resources. Japan imports 99.9% of its oil. Mythological Origins
- The sky separated from the Earth, and 5 deities appeared.
- Izanagi and Izanami.
- Stirred the ocean with a spear, created Japan, and with it, many other demons.
- Izanami gave birth to the fire god, Amaterasu-okami, and burned her uterus.
- Early Japanese clans claim to come from these gods:
- Okukinushi/Ninigi
- Waka-mike-nu
- This leads to Jimmu tenno, the first Japanese emperor.
(Just a side note: Hal wasn’t very pleased with the way he described early Japanese mythology, so you
might want to look over our main textbook for more information on this. I think it’s in Chapter 1.)

Early Japanese periods
- Jomon Period – first period in Japan.
- Coiled pottery happened during this period.
- The Yayoi Period brought new pottery, and urns to put the dead in.
- Early Japan buried servants alive with important figures, like clan leaders. They decided later to replace people with clay figures called “haniwa”. (These are probably taken from the Chinese).
- 57 AD – The first records of Japan in China. They say that Japan had a queen named Himiko.
- Early society had an animistic period – No difference between animate and inanimate, everything had a spirit.
- They never did animal sacrifices, but may have done human sacrifices for awhile.
- Matrilineal society – according to Chinese records. Early government
- Called “matsuri”, which also means festival. “Festival Government”.
- Social cohesion, group activity. Japan likes to enforce the group.
- Uji – word for clan.
- Uji no kami – Clan god, perhaps the mythological founder.
- Clans do occupational specialties: pre-masticators (for young and old), armor makers, etc.
- People with occupations that “pollute” you end up being outcasts.

09/03/09 – THURSDAY

- 270-290 AD – Su Jin – the first real emperor of Japan, followed by O-Jin, and then Keitai. (Who everyone agrees actually existed).
- Different families will control the rule.
- Central authorities are trying to gain control of larger Japan.
- Constant problem between clans and central power.

- Gets its writing system from China in the late 400s-500s, as well as the Confucian Analects.
- Confucianism and Buddhism are always important. Came within 70 years of each other.
Buddhism – aesthetics, art, poetry.
Confucianism – Society

Confucianism
- Confucius: Scholar/sage who wandered and taught philosophy.
- Conservative. Looks back in time, at a time when things were more perfect than they are now.
- Sage Kings: Yao, Shun.

When they lived there was harmony and balance. Things have gone downhill.
Can get back to where we were if we pursue certain kinds of moral values.
Rectitude, reform if we practice the right values.

- The world is build on family relationships. The father is to the family like the emperor is to the people.

Confucian world – Ultimate achievement is to become a “jen” (a full fledged human being). In order to do this, you need a few things, examples being:

Li – rites
Yi – sincerity
Hsiao – filial piety
Hsin – human heartedness

Te – willpower, self discipline
- If all of us do these things there will be balance.
- Written code of moral values, becomes popular in Japan.
- Intermixes with Buddhism because Japan is an eclectic society.
- Deals with everyday life and family structure.
- Shotoku Taishi’s constitution is made of Confucian values.

Buddhism
- Existence is misery, and all misery is caused by desire.
- Offers tough discipline through religion.
- We can get rid of desire by getting rid of ego, and we can extinguish ego by following the Eightfold Path.
- Amida Buddhism – Must ask for salvation.
- Bodhisattvas – Achieved enlightenment, but stay behind to help you reach Nirvana.
- Self knowledge and self mastering.

- Shinto – not organized and has no formal structure.
More animistic, not really any theology.
No guilty, just shame.
- Shame society – values are rooted in society and in social group.
Important not to be shamed publicly.
- Buddhism challenged the Shinto gods, and clans try to use Buddhism as a muscle against clans that are Shinto. (Not as progressive, using “technology” as a political weapon.)

- Mandate of Heaven is borrowed from China. Doesn’t work well in Japan because of the hereditary system. Becomes divine monarchy.

09/10/09 – THURSDAY

- Aketsu Mikami and Arahito-gami: words used to describe the emperor’s “god like” status.
- Emperors, for the most part do not rule, they just reign.
- Validity in Japanese society = approval of the emperor.
- Marriage is also a way to get control, marrying into the Imperial family.
- The Fujiwara family had many daughters and therefore married them into the Imperial family to gain
status. “Marriage politics”.
- Central government has to deal with families (clans) on the rise who want control of the imperial family.
- The government is moving from place to place and trying to solidify itself. People are trying to gain the
system for their own advantage.
- Japan goes to China for it’s institutions.
- Heian period could be called the Fujiwara period—dominated during this period.
- Nakatomi no Kamatari, founder of the Fujiwara Clan, tried to put in a government they brought in from
China. (Had penal laws, legal systems.)
- Borrowed the idea of the court and the “vermillion brush” from China.
- There were three ministers: left, right and center. They cover different government agencies. (Borrowed about 8.)
- Shoen – land and manor.
- Amount of rice that comes in stipend can come from different shoen.
- Dajo daijin – Chancellor in control at all the government agencies.
- One of the worst punishments is to be forced to be exiled, forced out of the group.
- Don’t use the law as much as they do social cohesion.
- Aristocrats look to the peasants as if they’re not even human. Just enough to keep them alive and
producing rice.
- People who can’t take it abscond.
- Japanese gridded out all of their towns. Borrowed city plans from Chinese.
- Divide all of Japan on a map into 66 provinces. Thinking of the future.
- Counties have townships, and a head of household. Rice work all done collectively throughout the
households and village.
- How can the state get control of lands occupied by clans?
- The first established tax base shrinks because people know how to gain the system. They get their land associated with a tax free manor.
- Sekisho – checkpoints, barriers developed all over Japan.
- 1784 – Nara may have had 200 thousand inhabitants.
- Different sects of Buddhism come in (Horyuji, Todaiji) and create lots of new buildings.
- Heian houses are built off the ground. They are dark, and people don’t see each other often.
- Men and women are separated by screens.
- Early Nara period – painted houses in bright colors, but became more natural in color later.
- Literature takes off. Hiragana and katakana are invented.
- All of the great novels are written by women. (Such as the Tale of Genji).
- Kokinshu – collection of about a thousand poems.
- Write about nature. The basic core of Japanese aesthetics gets laid down. It still has an animistic quality,
there is a overlap in the living and dead, animate and inanimate.

09/15/09 – TUESDAY

Aesthetic
- Heian court aristocrats set the Japanese aesthetic.
- Superflat, simple, early minimalism. “Mono no aware” – The sadness of things. Buddhist element, nothing lasts.
- Fleeting, gossamer, evanescent. Nothing is permanent.
- Astringent – art, poetry.
- Like suggestion, deplore directness. Japanese language is indirect.
- Animism – Comes from Shinto, there are gods in everything.
- Things don’t last in nature. Love symbols from nature (moon, trees, insect sounds, etc.)
- Fall is a special time—things are more beautiful before they die. (Beautiful in a Buddhist sense?)
- Hate generalities, love specificities. (A sparrow landed on the roof vs. a bird landed on the roof.)
- Japanese love diaries. Good for people who are very formal and can’t communicate with each other. It’s hard for them to talk about things, so diaries allow them to get behind the mask of formality.
- Love contrast, which is seen in nature all the time.
- Suicide became popular in the 1930s for lovers to jump together into volcanoes.
- A way of laying responsibility/getting back at the group.
- Can be an act that shames.
- Suicide was far less prevalent during war time than after Tokugawa. Probably because war was not as
common.
Buddhism
- Monks go to China during this period.
- Saicho – went to China.
- Began to debate Buddhist ideas and split into different sects.
- All of aesthetic will go into Zen Buddhism, which becomes the favorite of the samurai. “You can effect your own outcome through action.”
- They overcome their fears as warriors through meditation.
- Ku Kai (Kobodaiji) – Buddhism brought back Shingon (true word).
- Early medicines show up in Shingon.
- Argue that there is a great illuminator that described Buddhist the best.
- 3 mysteries: body speech and thoughts.
- Early beginnings of Amida Buddhism—repetition will give you salvation.
Rise of Shoen
- Dissolution of the borrowed Chinese system. Foreign ideas that are going to become “Japanized”.
- Shoen – land and manor.
- People make deals with tax free land owners (court aristocrats and Buddhist temples), so that they pay
less or no tax on land.
- No army or police force in countryside.
- The court has to rely on the people in the countryside, these people eventually become the samurai.
(These people will also later realize that they don’t need the court.)
Poetry
- Waka – 32 syllables, popular form of poetry at this time.

09/17/09 – THURSDAY

- 1180 – Rebellion breaks out on Kanto plain. Court asks Minamoto for support.
- Taira and Minamoto will have a war—Minamoto prevails.
- 1180-1185 – Genpei Wars. First war between samurai families, who feud as they contest for Japan.
- Earlier period had an emphasis on horse and bow combat.
- Battle of “Don no Ura” – takes place in inland sea. A naval battle.
- Yoritomo (a political genius) and Yoshitsune (a military genius) were cousins who wiped out the Taira clan.
- Bakufu – “camp government”, samurai government was established.

Warfare
- Battles will break down into groups of individual contact, but that comes later on. Right now, they like riding horses and shooting bows.
- Most armor is made of lacquer.
- More individual, less coordinated.
- Dying in battle is what you want to do. Committed to loyalty.
- Failure in battle will lead to suicide.
- Develop 8 or 9 different schools of swordsmanship.
- The warrior Buddhist monks are the ones who take up martial arts.
- The Portuguese bring the gun to Japan, to Tanigashima. This becomes popular because anyone can use it. It is an egalitarian weapon, unlike the samurai sword which requires a long time to master.

Terminology

- Sei-I Tai-shogun – Means “Barbarian subduing Generalissimo”. The head of the military clans.
- Insei – When an emperor would retire early and put a child in control to see if he could go and gain
political power.
- Reign titles – Every time an emperor retires or dies, they change the name of the era.

09/22/09 – TUESDAY

- Sei-i-tai-shogun: barbarian subduing generalissimo.
- There are three powerful families at this time: The Fujiwara, Minamoto and Taira.
- Fujiwara – Family that dominates the court (they married their daughters off to the court). They learn
how to control the court through regency—not the Shogunate. Once the family began having more boys than girls, they weren’t able to gain power as effectively as before.
- Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) work for the court, subduing rebels and pirates.
- Taira are using boats, getting rid of pirates.
- Taira challenge Minamoto for the court, want to come to power.
- The revolt of the Taira against the Minamoto—want to come to power.
- Battle of “Dan no Ura” – 1185. Two clans fight, and the Taira are eliminated.
- They have “branch families”, and therefore do cutoffs. The bottom cannot support the top if the top’s too
big. Too many aristocrats, so they will send some off to the countryside.
- Clans will have control of the rice, and therefore control of the land.
- The court can punish rebels, but it has to be done by another clan, who then has to be rewarded.
- The samurai class ends up working for their own interests, and not the court’s.
- Samurai call out their lineage and search for someone at the same level to face in combat.
- Romanticize warfare, make it heroic and bold.
- Hachiman – the Shinto god of war.

09/24/09 – THURSDAY

- Warrior monks practice and train, but don’t fight over doctrine or which sutra is correct. It’s all about
power and taxation.
- They fight about succession.
- They will raid other monasteries and burn them down (since everything in this period is made out of
wood).
Bushido
- “Bushi” means knight or warrior.
- Through training and meditation, the samurai practice the “art of advantage”.
- There are different schools of sword fighting and every sword makes each school different.
- Zen Buddhism encourages self-discipline, which makes yourself better and helps you to come over fear.
- One way to overcome fear is through self-discipline, repetition and meditation.
- They also cultivate fine aesthetic sensibilities during this time. Killing as an “art”, the art of war.
Genpei Wars
- “Gen” comes from Genji (the Minamoto clan), “Pei” comes from Heike (the Taira clan).
- Mochihito – thinks he’s in line to be Emperor, but Antako is put on the throne, who is only three years old.
- Kiyomori and the little emperor go to Itsukushima and leave town.
- Mochihito goes to the Minamoto and they take the chance to rebel.
- They go to the monasteries, who are oppressed by the Taira, and also ask them to join the rebellion.
- Taira no Kiyomori sends a smell group of people to deal with the small force the Minamoto have, and
meet at the Uji River.

**09/29/09 – TUESDAY****

- The midterm has been moved to October 13th, Tuesday.
• Read through page 85 in Premodern Japan.
• Read through page 13 in Japanese Warrior Monks. (Should cover the Genpei Wars/Kamakura
Period).
• Read the handouts handed out in class.
• You should know all the Japanese periods.
• Study “big topic” things like:
o The military/rise of the samurai.
o Buddhism.
Video: The Illustrated Hand scroll – Tale of Genji
- Describes the life of 11th century aristocrats.
- Made in hand scroll format with alternating illustrations and text from the book.
- Sections existing began from Chapter 15, with Genji’s romantic affairs.
- The story discusses the transitory nature of humans and human relationships.

11/03/09 – TUESDAY

Here’s a bit of what we discussed about the two movies that we watched, Kagemusha and Seven Samurai. Try to think about what the movies showed you about Japanese lifestyle between the higher aristocracy and the peasantry shown in the two movies.

Seven Samurai
- Socialist film—peasants are the real winners.
- Could argue that it was the end of the samurai, as there are not really any real battles after Sekigahara.
- Love affairs are a problem in a compartmental society (between Shino and the youngest samurai). When Shino starts to sing at the end of the movie, she accepted the fact that she was a peasant.
- Sense of village life comes across in this film, as well as agricultural life.
- Peasants never really completely trust the samurai—only at the end do they offer sake and dumplings. (The samurai were right in guessing that they had these all along, and simply didn’t trust them enough to share.)
- Peasants would be okay if the bandits and samurai didn’t interfere with their lives.

Kagemusha
- Formality is emphasized—sitting and listening to someone talk, mannerisms before speaking to another character, etc.
- Families are fighting for the capital.
- Shingen controls the provinces in the mountains, and in order to be able to get through to the other side of Japan, you have to get through Shingen.
- Future of Japan depends on aesthetics.
- Emphasized cavalry—Shingen’s cavalry = mobility through the mountains.
- A powerful anti-war movie, consider the last scene.
- A father has an idiot son.
- Shingen’s strategy is that “the mountain doesn’t move”, but when his son takes over and moves the mountain is when the family falls.
- Psychology of “can you become someone else?”
- When he gets his self confidence is when he gets himself in trouble.

**11/05/09 – THURSDAY**

- Weak leadership in Shogunate in Kamakura.
- Defeat of Hojos, followed by Ashikaga Takauji.
- Nambokucho – North South War.
- Succession disputes, based partly on issues of multiple marriage.
- Mafioso aspect to the Japanese history – families betray one another.
- Revolt in Japan—junior aristocrats rebel against senior aristocrats.
- No rebellions from the bottom, revolutions are almost always amongst the aristocracy.

- Kammu Restoration – Godaigo takes off to south on key peninsula.
- Ashikaga never have control over all of Japan—only home front and a few shaky alliances.
- Not as interested in political power.
- Appointed constables to oversee taxes and shoen, but those people later take over the land for themselves.

- Agricultural revolution in the way land is owned and farmed.
- There is a lot of trade with Korea and China. Not just luxury trade anymore—they are also exporting things.
- Development of real money economy. Begin to mint coins.
- Bills of exchange—unbelievable tax rate.
- More food on the bottom for peasantry.
- Start building mass armies—recruit peasants to fight. (Ashigaru are foot soldiers, often times peasants.)
- The period is an economic transition for Japan.

- There are independent rebellions.
- Some of the strong families: Shiba, Hosokawa, Hatakiyama.
- Also the Yamana family in Northern Kyushu.
- The Ashikaga never moved the Shogunate from Kamakura, so that they can keep a close eye on Eastern Japan.
- Used key families in other parts of Japan to do their bidding—it was hard to come up with rewards for this.

11/10/09 – TUESDAY

Think Papers
6-7 piece paper about an aspect of samurai theme that you want to explore. You can look at art history, architecture, specific wars and battles, samurai women, women victims of samurai values, just for some starter ideas.

Art/Aesthetics
- Ginkakuji – Thatched roof, much more subdued.
- Kinkakuji – More formal, like an extended teahouse.

- Noh Play – All about minimalism, movements and gestures. The actors wear masks, and the stage is a hardwood floor, with an occasional pine tree as a prop.

- Japanese homes have shoji sliding screen doors. Rooms have utility—Zen idea. Tatami floors. The emptiness of a room is what’s important.
- Ikebana – flower arranging. Arranging flowers with sticks.
- Tea Ceremony – 365 movements, very ritualized. Sometimes referred to as a “warm coming together of friends”. Extraordinary formal—can formality be warm?
- Zen – inwardness, contemplation, concentration. To intuitively grasp a final kind of reality.
- Japanese love indirectness, incompleteness.
- Indirect, partial exposure that makes things beautiful.
- The calligraphy brush is much like the samurai sword—have to be done quickly. Perfect the idea in your mind before executing it. Focus and formality.

- wabisabi – Wabi means age, numbness, serenity. Sabi means subjectivity, inwardness, a search within self. It is the imperfections that make things beautiful/perfect.
- shibui – astringent.
- Japanese garden – nature perfected. Nothing necessarily “natural” in it. Rock and sand gardens are more like the ocean. Islands within waves of water.
- Yugen – comedies and plays.
- Japanese love chronicles – poems, succession stories, etc. For example, the Manyoshu is a collection of poems. Manyoshu means “10,000 leaves”, which is simply referring to a large number of poems, not necessary 10,000.
- Buddhist schools taught kids to read and write.
- Japan had one of the highest basic literacy rates at the time.

- Bon Dances/Bon Festival – became popular with the peasants.

- There is also a high degree of Buddhism despite political turmoil.
- Ikko – One direction.
- Takes over the entire province of Kaga and half of Echizen.

Restoration
- 4-5 major families around Kyoto dominated Kyoto, but not the rest of Japan.
- Matsunaga Hisahide – dominates the Shogunate in this period.
- Major families: Uesugi, Takeda, Hojo.
- Minor families: Oda, Matsudaira (intermarried with the Tokugawa)
- The minor families will end up ruling Japan. Major families will take each other out, and the minor families will “play 52 card pick up”.
- Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu—unifies Japan.
- Oda and Toyotomi will take on the Buddhists. Nobunaga kills 16,000 on Mt. Hiei.
- 1573 – Yoshiyaki (Ashikaga Shogunate) fled to the Mori family because he felt the pressure of Oda Nobunaga.

11/17/09 – TUESDAY

- 1573 – revolt. Yoshiaki fled.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Nobunaga – trapped in monastery and commits seppuku.
- Hideyoshi – anti-Buddhist. Could be cruel to monks. Buried 150 alive who
did ceremonies for Takeda Shingen when he passed away.
- Rose from the very bottom – Hideyoshi was a peasant from Owari.
- Made himself the kampaku (dictator, authority) and dajo-daijin (below
shogun).
- 1592 – Invaded Korea. Not only wanting to unify Japan, but has an idea of
a greater Japan.
- Generals Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa helped invade Korea.
- He tried to disarm the peasantry (Taika Sword Hunt) 1588.
- Ways of trying to put a clamp on what has happened for the last 100
years.
- Peasantry got weapons by collecting from dead/dying samurai.
- He was worried about protecting the samurai.
- The aristocracy is too big for bottom of Japan to support.
- He surveyed the land for tax base and had a regulated tax. 50% of crop
went for taxation, sometimes 70%.
- Peasants rarely ate rice—mostly barley.
- The daimyo cannot intermarry.
- No military alliances could be made between the daimyo.
- The daimyo could not move provinces.
- Controlled the export of gold and silver.
- No warrior monks.
- All three unifiers liked trade, and wanted to control trade and make sure
they got a lot of profit. Trade booms with China and Korea.
Castle Building
- Mounds of dirt were covered with rock, and they would build the castles on
top of that.
- Famous castles: Azuchi, Himeji, Fushimi (one of Hideyoshi’s)
-The Kano Gold School – made screens with elaborate use of color within the
castle walls. (Kano Eitoku)
- In 1570-1615 a lot of castles got burned down.
Culture
- The tea ceremony becomes even more popular.
- Sen-no-Rikyu – Tea master of this period.
- Shino – pottery, apex of Japanese kiln tradition.
- Raku Firing – Never know what colors would come out of the kiln.
- It was a ceramic paradise in the 1500s.
People from the west
- 1549 – St. Francis Xavier lands in Kagoshima.
- Japanese take to Christianity.
- Possibly because it gave peasants hope, but so did Nichinen Buddhism.
- Samurai class was interested too.
- 1569 – 1500 converts and 2 daimyo.
- The unifiers were interested in Christianity, because it brought new things:
telescopes, globes, weaponry, guns, cannons, ability to sail ships long
distances. Interested in technology, navigation and astrology.
- Hideyoshi however, begins to retract, and no longer allows preaching in
Osaka.
- 1596 – Nagasaki (center of Christianity in Japan) – 26 are crucified.
- Dutch arrive in the early 1600s, tell Japanese that “behind the church will
come the conquerors”.
- 1614 - Christianity is outlawed. Can be no new conversions, and asked the
priests to leave in 20 days.
- 1622 – Burned Christians.
- 5,000-6,000 Christians were tortured and executed between 1614-1640s.
- Shimabara – Amakusa island is completely Christian. Decide to revolt
against the government. 37,000 Christians are massacred.
- 1639 – Buddhists are also gone.
- Japan declares an isolationist policy, and all foreigners are banned from
Japan.
- Deshima – The only place the Dutch can come. They can trade with the
Dutch, the Koreans and the Chinese.
- Deshima is the only eye to the world. From 1639-1850, Japan is the most
secluded place on earth.

11/19/09 – THURSDAY

Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sekigahara

- Succession dispute.
- 1598-1600 – Contest between Ieyasu and daimyo loyal to him, and those to Mitsunari (organizes the western army).
- Eastern Japan vs. Western Japan.
- Not clear that everyone is going to join the fight or change sides during the battle.
- The Mori and Satsuma clans did not join. If they attacked Ieyasu, he might not have won.
- Ieyasu viewed 30,000 heads on pikes after the battle.
- He became the first master of all Japan—at least militarily.
- Divide the Daimyo up in Japan to those who supported him before Sekigahara, and those he gained after.
- Shinpan – Related by blood.
- Fudai – Supported before the battle.
- Tozama – Those who opposed him.
- Smaller daimyo who opposed him are probably going to lose their fief.
- More provinces than there are daimyo—some of them share provinces.
- Tokugawa – 7.2 million koku, about 5 provinces around Tokyo.
- Everyone is going to be on a fixed income. Inflation will become a problem. Lower ranking samurai will get other jobs to support themselves.
- 1600-1650 – 120 daimyo families lost their fiefs.
- Many lost their fiefs because they have no male heirs.
- Tokugawa house law – high degree of similarity between samurai family. Tokugawa enforces his laws on all houses.
- Ieyasu has lots of ninja spies.
- Morimura Ashigaru – expecting rewards (footsoldiers).
- Hatamoto – banner men. 5,000 just in the Tokugawa households and they got a stipend.
- Gokenin – Housemen, 17,000 who also got a stipend.
- 83% of vassals were on stipends.
- How to keep people loyal?
- Sankin kotai – All daimyo had to reside ever other year in Edo.
- You can bring your family with you, but leave them behind when returning to your province.
- It shut things down politically.
- They have to build villas, cannot be fortified, cannot wear a sword.
- If you go home and misbehave, you put your family at risk.
- Ieyasu wants to put a lid on the warring daimyo.
- When daimyo move, they have to walk and stop in locations for the night. It starts to build towns and roads. There is a construction boom.
- Builds a market – ryokan, gambling, houses, brothels, tea houses, restaurants.
- Building small towns and cities, castle towns.
- Chonin – develop a whole new culture of city people in Japan.
- Japan is building an infrastructure.
- 1600-1700 – Critical for Japan’s modernization.
- Genroku period – Chonin have flowered. City people are going to get money, spend it on conspicuous consumption. Wine, women, song.
- Yoshiwara District – Pleasure quarters. Restaurants, bars, brothels.
- Woodblock prints come out during this time.
- Kabuki theater – Has a koto band and a shamisen.
- New, vibrant Japan.
- Haiku poetry – 17 syllables.
- Bunraku – puppet plays.
- People will go on pilgrimages – travel.
- Can stay at inns, visit famous shrines. “Early tourism”.

12/01/09 – TUESDAY

Twilight Samurai
- Characters are victims of society – no range of free choice.
- Difficulty with communication—strictures of society.
- Everything is stratified by society—koku. His wife came from a 150 koku
family to a 50 koku family and could not make the transition.
- Romanticism of bushido.
- Samurai in rebellion—but rebellion starts at the order of the clan.
- The main character is the “reluctant participant”—would rather be a farmer
than a samurai.
- Warm, human samurai.
- Individual happiness is not the important thing—both Tomoe and Seibei
give a lot up to fulfill the wishes of the family.
- Duty, obligation.

12/03/09 – THURSDAY

Confucianism
- School of ancient learning/school of natural learning – want to go back and
look at ancient texts.
- Bakufu bought into Chu-Hsi philosophy.
- Japanese discovered the emperor once ruled—in a dying Tokugawa
shogunate this is bad news.
- Discover the original myths: that the Emperor descended from the gods.
- Japanese nationalism has its origins in Buddhism.
- Try to decouple Confucianism from Buddhism—make Confucianism pure.
- “China has been the older brother, Japan has been the younger brother” –
The Japanese have borrowed a lot from China and learned.
- Fujiwara Saika, Hayashi Razan – early Tokugawa.
- Argued that all things were governed by Li. Physicalness was governed by
Ch’i. All things were governed by ether.
- Taiga Meibun – Doing one’s duty.
- Ansai – Advocated these kinds of things.
- Shinto values are part of Confucianism.
- Suika Shinto – Shintoists who combine Confucianism with Shinto.
- Mind is li – Nakae Toju (1608-1648)
- These are the people motivated by Wang Yiang Ming Confucianism, wanted
to look at older documents.
- National Learning School – rediscover myths.
- Province of Mito – Tokugawa Mitsukuni.
- Undertook a project – Dai Nihon shi – The great Japanese history.
- Kamo-no-Mabuchi – blamed all of Japan’s problems for borrowing
Confucianism from China originally.
- Things would be better had they relied on native ideas.
- Through its nationalism it blames its problem on somebody else.
Nationalist schools will elevate Japan.
- Want to look at myths of Kojiki.
- Also against the Tokugawa Bakufu which is declining—lots of people who
lost at Sekigahara simply went along to get along.
- Ando Shoeki – Argues that taxation rate is too high, peasants are being
treated unfairly, and everything happening in the cities is at the expense of
the peasants.
Culture
- Vibrant middle class.
- Money and rice economy.
- Conspicuous consumption – arts, entertainment district, Yoshiwara
pleasure quarters.
- The “floating world” – ukiyo-e.
- Kabuki plays – deal with impossibility of love within the system.
- Japanese love literature in a first person perspective, it’s more equivalent
to a diary. They are looking for communication and authenticity.

12/08/09 – TUESDAY

Study Guide Terms
These aren’t all of them, just the ones we went over in class.

Tokusei – debt forgiveness
Godaigo – Southern Court, Emperor
Ando Shoeki – The great egalitarian
Dainihonshi – Great history of Japan
Haiku – 17 syllable poetry
Kinkakuji/ginkakuji – Retired emperor’s pavilion, golden & silver pavilions.
Ryoanji – Rock and sand gardens in Kyoto
Sumi-e – Ink painting, black and white
Basho – Great haiku poet of 1700s
Shino, oribe, raku – types of ceramic firings
Ihara Saikaku – writer
Sen-no-rikyu – Tea master and zen Buddhist priest
Hokusai – Famous woodblock printer, 36 views of Mt. Fuji

Essays
Some example essays.

The Japanese love to discuss bushido—the samurai spirit. What is it and how does it manifest itself historically?

Trace the development of samurai warfare, strategy, tactics, development from 1185 (Dan no Ura) to the fall of Osaka Castle.

How did a religion like Buddhism help spawn a warrior class and warrior monks?

What did Ieyasu do politically to prepare for modernization? (Sankinkotai)?

Contemporary Japanese aesthetics shaped by classical traditions: Ashikaga and Genroku period. Aristocratic/court art vs. middle class art, compare and contrast. (Sumi-e vs. ukiyo-e, noh vs. kabuki). The Japanese call them both classical, but distinguish between the two.

The Christians arrived in 1542: what did they bring and how did they change Japan after 1542? Look at Shimabara (Christian rebellion) or how the samurai eliminated the Buddhists from 1500-1600s.

Learning Community (disorganized)

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:20:00 +0000

Abnormal Phycology: Midterm review

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:04:00 +0000

Midterm review:

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Psychiatric Disorders) used by psychiatrists. (can administer medication) uses MEDICAL MODEL. Psychiatrists focus on changing your brain chemistry through medical means. To be a psychiatrist it takes 4 years of undergrad study and 4 years of medical school. Requires an MD.

DSM has 5 axis
(1) Clinical/Psychological Disorders - These can come and go. (Depression, Anxiety, etc…)
(2) Personality Disorders – These are inherent in the person (Narcissism, Self Obsession, etc…)

(3) Medical Issues – Illness and Depression…. If illness is fixed (thyroid for example) depression that is caused by the illness could go away

(4) Psychosocial Stressors - (Family, work, housing, etc…)

(5) GAF Scale – Global Assessment of Functioning – 0-100 scale 0= most extreme symptoms, 50=serious symptoms, 100=superior functioning, no symptoms

DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL – used by psychologists – Deals with MOOD – dopamine, serotonin, noreprinephrine, SSRI’s = nuerotransmittors. Psychologists focus more on helping people cope with their internal feelings and emotions– Requires a PH.D

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL – very common way to talk about disorders – thinking that there are multiple reasons (INTEGRATION MODEL) of biological factors, social factors, psychological factors all play a role in human functioning in terms of illness.

STRESS DIATHESIS MODEL – some genetic predisposition to develop a disorder, but there
has to be some kind of trigger. Combines learning theory and association with genetics. Predisposition to develop a psychological problem. Early childhood trauma can have a more damaging effect because personality is not completely formed until the age of 3. Maybe for Allen ‘Play It Again Sam’ something embarrassing happened to him during childhood (stressor) that triggered him to have anxiety, this can stick around for a lifetime.

ADJUSTMENT DISORDER - depressed feelings, anxiety, or both can come from a stressor. Emotional or Behavioral symptoms. See the disorder occur in a short time frame from when the stressor occurred (3 months). If it doesn’t go away within 6 months of oncome it will usually be re-diagnosed. See this in Calvin from ‘Ordinary People’. He is a fairly stable person who has both good stress tolerance and coping skills – but with the death of his son and suicide attempt of his other son Adjustment Disorder type of depression is seen in him. Probably getting close to going past Adjustment to a full on Depression diagnosis.

SYMPTOMS AND CAUSE OF ADJUSTMENT DISORDER –It is caused by marked distress that is in excess of what would be expected from exposure to the stressor, or a significant impairment in social, occupational, or educational functioning.

VARIOUS TYPES OF ADJUSTMENT DISORDERS – 1)Adjustment disorder with depressed mood, 2)with anxiety, 3)with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, 4)with disturbance of conduct, 5)with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct, 6)unspecified.

MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER – Consumed by negative emotions and unable to alleviate them through normal coping mechanisms. This illness is characterized by depressed emotions so intense they dominate a person’s life.

SYMPTOMS AND CAUSE OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER – associated with depressed mood and a loss of interest of pleasure in daily activities. Sleep, eating habits, appetite, concentration, motivation, self-esteem, and energy level are areas most often affected. In a
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE delusions and hallucinations can accompany these other symptoms.

HOW MANY SYMPTOMS ARE NECESSARY OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME FOR A DIAGNOSIS TO BE MADE – If chronically depressed moods, low self-esteem, and feelings of pessimism, despair, or hopelessness are present for two years without suicidal thoughts or limitations in functioning, the diagnosis of DYSTHYMIS DISORDER is made.

WHAT SYMPTOMS DID THE CHARACTERS IN ‘ORDINARY PEOPLE’ DISPLAY – (Conrad)suicide attempt, guilt, inattentive in class, distant with classmates, some PTSD symptoms,(flashbacks and nightmares) anger, depression, anxiety, withdrawal, indecisive, denial, agitation, loss of appetite, self-esteem, energy levels, sleeping issues, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, feelings of worthlessness (Beth) denial, aggrivatible, superficial, lack of love, rationalization (Calvin)anxiety, depression, bereavement, sadness

ANXIETY DISORDERS -

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER – A lot of free floating anxiety. A lot of worry about everything, even very little things. Can usually tell they have a lot of anxiety – highly reactive to their environment. ‘Tense’ or ‘Intense’. Get very tired from all the worry they feel all the time. Pretty early onset (20’s). Walk around with a sense of apprehension that can make them very unhappy, which is debilitating to them. Requires that worry and anxiety be present more days than not.

PTSD – (POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER) – “shell shock” soldiers coming home from WWI. Sleep disturbance, appetite disturbance, general anxiety symptoms. Numbing of emotions, even happy ones. Flashbacks (Person is right back at the point where the traumatic instance happened.) Nightmates. Easily startled. Hypervigilant, hyperaware. A lot of anger reactions, or anger outbursts. Poor concentration. Typically a reaction is going to occur due to a trigger. Occurs after exposure to traumatic events that the person witnessed or experienced firsthand and responded with “intense fear, helplessness, or horror” Traumatic event is then re-experienced by the individual in the form of nightmates, recurrent recollections, and flashbacks. Sleep disturbance, irritability, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilence, or an exaggerated startle response. Veterans of war, for example, usually wouldn’t go see 4^th of July fireworks because the sound could trigger a reaction. Treatment would be individual therapy, group therapy, and medical therapy.

SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER OR SOCIAL PHOBIA SYMPTOMS – Can occur very young on – even in childhood. Usually are very quiet people that have performance anxiety especially in social environments. Fear of being scrutinized – fear of being embarrassed. Self esteem issues. Feeling that they are going to be judged negatively. New situations are very scary for them. Intense and persistent fears of criticism and rejection. Disorder is related to common phenomena such as performance anxiety, stage fright, and shyness. Sometimes experience panic attacks due to extreme anxiety.

TYPES OF PHOBIAS – (a phobia is an irrational fear of something – fear is disproportionate to the threat) SOCIAL PHOBIA (being around people) SITUATIONAL PHOBIA (bridges, elevators) – ANIMAL PHOBIA (dogs, insects)– NATURAL ENVIRONMENT PHOBIA (storms, water) – BLOOD AND INJURY PHOBIA (medical procedures)

WHAT DID ALLEN, LINDA, AND DICK SHOW IN ‘PLAY IT AGAIN SAM’ – Showed mostly social phobias, but Allen also had mild symptoms of PTSD due to his wife leaving him – would have flashbacks of his wife and was very easily startled. Creates a man who only he can see, Humphrey Bogart, a hallucination. Uses a lot of medications and alcohol as coping mechanisms to social phobias and meeting new people.

WHERE DID CONRAD FIT IN THIS CATEGORY OF DISORDERS – had definite signs of PTSD with the flashbacks and nightmares. Loss of appetite, sleeping issues, loss of interest in activities, suicide attempt – major depressive and anxiety disorder symptoms. Self aware, insecure

PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS – severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs, such as thinking that someone is plotting against you or that the TV is sending you secret messages. Hallucinations are false perceptions, such as hearing, seeing or feeling something that is not there.

NEUROSIS – reality is intact

PSYCHOSIS – break from reality

EROTOMANIA - Delusion Disorder – Thinking that someone famous is in love with you and that you will be together someday. Jana in ‘House of Fools’ believed that her and Bryan Adams were engaged and would have hallucinations of him singing “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?” to her.

SCHIZOPHRENIA – In order for a person to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, certain symptoms must be present. There must be continuous signs of the disturbance for at least six months, and during one month (the active phase) two or more of the following must be present: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms.

Negative Symptoms – social withdrawal (absence of social interest), flat affect (won’t show any emotions – emotionless) poverty of speech, poverty of thought. (Not talking or thinking about anything.) Avolition – no sense of drive or determination – Would not seek out any kind of treatment

Individual’s ability to function in work, social relations, and self care decreases during the active phase and rarely returns to the individual’s pre – level of achievement. Followed by marked social isolation or withdrawal, and marked impairment of role function

WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS TYPES – Schizophrenia is categorized into five types: Paranoid, Disorganized, Catatonic, Undifferentiated, and Residual.

WHERE DO THE HOUSE OF FOOLS CHARACTERS FIT – Jana definitely had erotomania, Vika had paranoid schizophrenia, Lucia has disorganized behavior schizophrenia, one patient had catatonic schizophrenia behavior

GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER – incongruence between one’s anatomy and one’s gender identity. Inherently they feel as if they have been given the wrong anatomy assignment. (Wrong genetalia) Uncomfortable with their anatomic sex and believe they are trapped in the wrong body. Also the strong desire to replace their genitals with the genitalia of the opposite sex. Usually originates in childhood.

CHILDHOOD SYMPTOMS – 4 of the following features have to be present – 1) repeated expression of being the opposite sex or wanting (desire) to be the opposite sex 2)preference for wearing clothing meant for the opposite sex (for him flamboyant dresses, heels, and makeup. His long hair) easier for girls to pass as boys then boys to pass as girls. 3) Fantasies about being a member of the opposite sex and role-playing in make believe (Pam’s Barbie world – Ludo’s way of coping. Taking on the role in play that would usually be meant for a member of the opposite sex) 4) desire to play with toys that are meant for the opposite sex (there are many boys that grow up playing with barbie’s that do not have gender identity disorder, same with girls playing with trucks – does not necessarily mean anything, but can) 5) preference for playmates of the opposite sex (usually it is different, most children tend to hang out with children of the same sex)

ADULT SYMPTOMS – Adulthood Diagnostic Criteria – (usually talk about having all the childhood criteria, just now want to absolutely pass as a member of the opposite sex, and get the surgery to “fix” them) 1) persistant discomfort with one’s anatomy 2) no ambiguous genetalia 3) emotional distress and decreased daily functioning

TREATMENT – (sex change) surgical treatment of transsexuals. Transexualism occurs more often in biological males than in biological females, and many more males apply for conversion surgery. The core issue is one of sexual identity, not sexual behavior. About 3 males to 1 female will get this surgery.

Philosophy of Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:58:00 +0000

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy comes from 2 greek word -philo and sophia

philo -like or love
sophia -wisdom

”ology” -logos -which means “reason or word”

Philosophy has been divided into 4 parts since antiquity :

metaphysics -theory of reality -a theory of what is what exists -theory of what is real.

Materialism -One claim is that what is real is simply matter, some simple and some complex(materialism). -Only matter is real
Dualism -there is the material component but then there is another component to use that isspiritual/mental/nonmaterial. -Both matter and non-matter is real
Idealism -The only things that exists are non-material things exist -everything that is, is part of theappearance, not part of the reality.
if these are the only options available, then one of them must be the right answer, but it seems thatscience cannot prove which one is true, you have to use philosophy to prove which one is true.
Philosophers look at arguments to prove something is true -justify the claim in question -look at argumentsand make arguments
argument is something to do to get to the truth.

Epistemology -Study of knowledge -if I know something how do I know it?

Empiricism -must use senses to figure out what you know
Rationalism -just use your mind to figure out what you know
Value Theory -Values -moral, political, aesthetic -value of beauty and ugliness
Logic -applied to the rest of disciplines -allows you to think clearly
Philosophy of Technology involves looking at things in each section -Doesnʼt fit into just one of the 4 parts.

Look at claims and then figure out which claim is the best -see if other claims couldnʼt be just as fine.

The Machine and the Robot

Endorsement and suspicion -2 important ideas
Asmov endorses Artificial Intelligence
also thinks that itʼs inevitable -we have made it so that we will always be driven by technology
Our nature seems to technological
Robots are just the latest development
He doesnʼt give us an argument
He is raising the issues but is not actually giving arguements
He thinks that we should support technology even if it leads to our end
If we arenʼt fit enough to compete with our own creation, then too bad.

Argument -Sound argument {

Socrates is a man.
All men are mortal.
Socrates is mortal.

} all statements are true and are linked

Kline Article

Technology is vague
According to him, can mean 4 things:
Hardware / Artifacts -non natural objects -manufactured by humans
Sociotechinical System of Manufacture -people, machinery, resources and processes
Knowledge, technique, know-how -Process, knowledge, the act, technique and technology have somethingto do with each other in terms of the history of words -a certain technique is needed to make the technology(material / artifact)
Sociotechinical System of Use -combo of hardware and humans

Philosophers that hold the endorsement stance usually are endorsing the hardware idea -the hardware itselfdoesnʼt have harmful affects.
Philosophers that hold the suspicion stance -look at the other ways -technique and manufacturing and use -lookat technology as a whole system.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Idheʼs Technology:

3 Parts to Technology:

Must have a material component
Must enter into some set of practices in which humans make use of these components
relationship between the humans that design, use, make.

Proto-technology -what he calls technology when animals use it
He is claiming that to be human is to use technology
If a human was to not use technology, they would not be classified as human even though they would begenetically human.
Technology modifies or amplifies our modification of local environments
Technology has either a positive or negative impact on the environment
Technology is not neutral / has no neutral impact
Modern Science didnʼt happen until 16th Century
Philosophy in the west -began in Greece 2,500 years ago
Is technology applied science?

Technological Revolutions

Time
Space
Language

Time Technologies

Not all cultures have the same sense of time -Current way of telling time didnʼt come about till the 11th century with the invention of the clock (machine)
Time is a “recent” invention

Space Technologies

Maps -representations of space: Both maps and clock provide standards for us

Language Technologies

Writing -These technologies lead to a transformation of seeing (perceiving)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

No such field of Philosophy .T. till about 3 decades ago

Technological Culture and its problems

Living in a Technological Culture -Excerpt from
Is there something unique about something living in a technological culture? -Our culture is dominated bytechnology -does not allow us to look at the human quality of technology -de-personalized technology
Is Technology itself an autonomous self-driving system? Optimism -will say no -Pessimists will say yes
Technology as a system -beyond our control and has mechanism to generate itʼs own things -swept up in the system
Technology simply as a tool that we use -is a tool that can be used by good or bad people
History of the Philosophy of Technology (pg 3) -the power of reflection
Sometimes it is hard to hold courses in P.T. -because there is a long standing view that technology is simplyan applied science
Philosophy of Science -got a lot of attention between 15th and 16th century (Scientific Revolution)
After Scientific Revolution we had the industrial Revolution -I.R. did not create Philosophers of Technology =
Misconception -if you understand science enough then you understand technology enough
Idhe -before the revolution, there was technology that existed -therefore T. does not piggy back on science, itis seperate
Conflicting Visions of Technology
Technology causes more problems than it solves -Technology can be a double edged sword

2 views about the value of technology

We should be optimistic
We should be pessimistic

• Not one piece of technology, but technology as a whole

• Optimist -defined as value neutral -passive tools that can be used for good or bad

• Technology is not inherently good or bad, but rather depends on human use (and abuse) to make it so.

• Intrinsic

• To think of technology the way that the optimist do it to have an instrumentalist view of technology. -the ideathe technology is simply a tool -technologies are tools

• A hammer or saw are not good/bad -they are just tools that are used to build something -the thing built willcarry to good/bad label

• Technology is simply a collection of tools

• The visions of optimism goes back to the time of the scientific revolution -Frances Bacon

• He was a promoter of science and technology during the revolution

• In his view of optimism, we are in control of the technologies we produce

• There are certain mechanisms of control that are integrated into our lives and we have no control of theaddition or removal of them from our lives (TV with Monitor, A/C Controller)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Hickman -Professor at SIUC

• Pragmatism -Important in this philosophy movement

• hasnʼt gotten enough attention as it deserves

Tuning up Technology by Hickman

Divided into 2 parts

• 1st Part -Parsing Technology

John Dewey -Hickman references

• 1st thing he talks about is how strange the word technology is

The word technology has 2 greek roots -Techne --Logos (ology)
Logos -Study of
Techne -techniques or productive skills together with the tools and artifacts that are required for their expression.

• Why technology as the study of techne never got off the ground with the ancient greeks

Theory -philosophy/science
Practice -politics
Arts and Crafts
All of the emphasis was given to the Theory and Practice, so Arts and Crafts was not focused on
Person who pursues Arts and Crafts -very dirty lifestyle -low end socially
Hickman suggests maybe itʼs time for us to pursue Techne now
Pg 12 -New definition of Technology -Technology in its most robust sense, then, involves the

invention, development, and cognitive development of tools and other artifacts, brought tobear on raw materials and intermediate stock parts with a view the the resolution of perceivedproblems.

Inspired by John Dewey
Cognitive -Thinking -Not instinctual -self aware -not habitual
Perceived Problems -Technology exists to solve the problems that come up in our life
Pg 12 -Where doubt does not occur, technology … does not intervene within technical practice
We must stop thinking of Technology as only an artifact, but now an inquiry (when reading Hickman)

• Technology is an inquiry of Techne

• This didnʼt come into existence until the Scientific Revolution

Hickman is an optimist -optimist FOR technology

• 2nd Part -Naturalizing Technology

Locating technology within the evolutionary history of human development
Technology is something we cannot do without

• All Human activity can be placed within 4 categories

Technological Activities -Activity that uses BOTH artifacts and cognitive processes -Artifact does nothave to be physical ; can be just conceptual -Ideas can be tools
Technical Activities -Donʼt use cognitive process -habitual -Donʼt involve active thinking -Also use artifacts
Non-Instrumental Cognitive Activities -In cases of this sort a need is identified and then satisfied bythe use of something non-artifactual that is immediately at hand -perhaps even by the hand itself Thinking involved but no tools involved
Non-Instrumental and Non-Cognitive Activities -May include perceptions and unconscious habitual responses -no tools involved -no active thinking involved

Trying to analysis and break down into components
In the world in which most of us live there is continual reciprocal movement between the technical and thetechnological. In other words, the technical and the technological are phases of our experience.Technology is what we use to tune up the way we experience the world, and the way we experience theworld is increasingly technical.

Monday, September 21, 2009

• Group Led Discussion #1

Language is the key to the evolution of technology
1st question brings up the topic of humanity = to use technology

• 2nd question our definition of technology

Hickman -uses language to define technology
Hickman defines it more and it becomes a more useful definition
Is it society that drive technology or is it technology that drives our society
Technology moving us forward

Are thoughts technology? Mathematical equationsMonday, September 28, 2009

Autofac

• Pessimistic view

• Burkeʼs Video -The Trigger Effect

Pessimistic view -we are inept because of the technology that is around us -Elevator is an example given inthe movie.
Thinks that we set up a trap for ourselves everyday in dealing with technology
If anything surrounding the city (which is a system) fails, the city itself becomes a trap
If technology fails us, we still have to go back to the beginning to the most simplest form of technology and thecycle begins again

• Conflicting Visions of Technology by Mary Tiles and Hans Oberdiek

Ellul -dominant pessimist -French philosopher

• Technique -enslaves everything -art, family life, economics, science, and leisure

• consists in the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency in every field ofhuman activity

Ellul is not really concerned with technology as artifact or hardware
He is more concerned with the technique that happens in the societies that have a lot of this hardware
There is something very unique about 20th/21st century -technique invades every part of life
These are the things that are imposed upon us and there is no way out from under neath it
Technology in a system cannot be gotten out of a system
You canʼt escape technology because itʼs closed nature -itʼs a close circuit
Pessimists -technology is totally out of our control
Optimist -technology is completely in our control
Autonomy -freedom; individuality
It really comes down to this idea of freedom

Should we talk about the whole of technology or just a specific piece of technologyWednesday, September 30, 2009
Exam -Essay or Essay Questions -Short Answer Questions -Connect the view to the definition/connectPerson with view
Hiedegger -one of the most important philosophers

Myths -Hickman

Why does he open up the reading by talking about myths?
a myth is just a story -doesnʼt have to be false
We should tell ourselves a story about how to use technology
Myth are not dead just because we live in a tech-scientific world.
Technology has to do with inquiring into problems and way of figuring out problems
there is a relationship between problems and the solution to the problem
this is how Hickman believes life itself functions
We should be responsible problem solvers
The best myth we can tell ourselves are ones about responsibility.

Hope -Ellul Advocates

Ellul has a religious take on how to solve technologies ills
Technology = Loss of control

• Dominance of technique

• rational methods and efficiency

Talks about hope as a way to overcome the problems of technology
Hope is the “solution” as it stands outside of the technological system
Hope -form of questioning? -The Story of Jobe is used as an example of hope -god? -irrational method?

Salvation -Heidegger

• talks about the prospects of human kind in a world that dominates

• 2 scenarios

• Technology destroys itself and perhaps human kind • opening to Being is discovered and taken

Hickman doesnʼt understand Heidegger
“Only a god will save us” doesnʼt really mean a god -but weʼll find out more later

• Why does Heidegger write in such a strange way?

He is german, but this is not the reason
He thinks that language itself is a problem -Language creates philosophical disturbances andmisunderstandings
What is the meaning of Being? -Major question he asks
We need to delve deeper into this -Questions the particular meaning of dasein -mean “there being”
We should basically think about the human being being dasein -this is his word for human being.

• “I Think therefore I am” -Descartes

exist -being
unsatisfactory answer
he is saying his mind exists and his body is something he has to address later
To say that the mind and the body are broken into 2 separate things is to say that reality is broken into 2separate things.
Descartes is giving an answer about the nature of reality but it is unsatisfactory
How do I live in the world -link this question to the meaning of being
Technology is part of our very existence
Beings that are informed by a technological world

Our conceptions of what is real and what is not real • • • • • •

• Responsibility

There is something about Hickmanʼs depiction of Ellul and Heidegger is fishy
Relationship between life and technique
When things break down -only one or 2 things break down
When they break down, we will solve the problem
There isnʼt loss of control -only parts of systems break down and parts of systems are controlled by various people
This is one reason to be optimistic about technology •

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Comte

Positivism/ the positive philosophy = science
Theological - religious rituals
Metaphysical
Positive - Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Sociology come from
Work to be done in the founding of the science of sociology
Religious rituals donʼt work for us sometimes so we need science - science of the human being
Unity Science, understand the method of science
a general scientific outlook needs to be honed - can use that knowledge in technology
what is the lingering theological influence
Optimism
Utopianism
Progress which is inevitable
It is a human impulse that we will have control of the world around us
science is the maturity of the human race
rationally and scientifically driven

• Introspection

Monday, October 19, 2009

• Thesis?

There is no predominant view about technology
what is primary: humanity or technology?
Our notions of technology are historically derived
The relevance of history to our understanding of technology

These three relationships with technology are historically situated.
Is our own notion of technology historically situated?

• Ancient Skepticism

Classic Greek Philosophers - Thinkers that began philosophy
2500 years old
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle …
Technology as the study of technique is a dangerous thing to do
Why should we be wary of using technology - because the protagonist in the mythsend up in a bad way
You put your trust into the techniques not in god
When you put your trust in technique you alienate yourself from god
Technology will also lead to a social break down because you will no longer strivefor excellence - it will be too easy for you
Technology was a way through arts and crafts to look at what was wrong with nature - if you have to make too much you could end up saying that nature is tooinsufficient
To make too many objects is an insult to nature / god messed up

• Aristotle - Things that have an end or a goal or a purpose that are eternal to them are important and only natural things have this -Telos

Our goal is to use reason to find the good life
Human and man-made objects donʼt function the same way - we create the

purpose when we make the object

Ancient Critique of Technology on page 494

• Enlightenment Optimism

18th century
Main Points on Page 498
we are created in godʼs image and he is a creator, therefore; we are a creator to create is to create artifacts and technology
even if you didnʼt believe the bible you could use it to validate something •

• Romantic Uneasiness

Love hate relationship
There are some questions that should not be answered

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Heidegger part II

Why does he write in such a strange way? - He is concerned with various associationswe will make - wants us to seperate ourselves from words we are used to - create a new vocabulary that you understand after you read it over and over - a new way of using words

Basic Issues

• Being and Time - wants to raise a certain question, What is the meaning of being?

This is the theme that runs through out all of his work
Being - existence, that which is, that which is real
Being shows itself in a variety of forms

Ways/ Modes of being -ways in which things appear to us and by which we interpret them

• Things show up as technically ready to hand -tools

• Ready and on hand for our use

They also show themselves as Scientifically present-at-hand -scientific objects- thing with properties

• Appear to us in different ways than tools - abstract existence

• Believes that these two ways of being have become the dominant way in which things are though of

• These two ways of being have become dominant and pushed out other ways of being - that is other ways that things appear to us as real

• Our uniqueness comes from our capacity to understand what is real

• Creates the notion of the importance of reality - We treat these two modes of being such importance that they become the more real meaning of being

Using a hammer - hammering a nail - go on to the next nail and so on - not considering the hammer as anything other than an extension of your arm imagine that the hammer breaks - your relationship to the hammer changesand you are no longer using the hammer you are investigating the hammer there is a problem that needs to be solved - therefore you are looking at it as a scientific object - it is a scientific object because it is a thing with a property - it appears to you in a different way There are other ways of being that are not scientific or tool orientated - the other ways have been marginalized by the other two dominant ways

What we think of as the most important values - Use and Objectivity
Definition of Technology - a means to an end.

• Have to understand the essence of technology - Essence - the ground the enables

The ground the enables technology

Modern technology is unique in that it is a certain kind of challenging
Technology is a mode of revealing that challenges
Technology that has come before us is technology that is more en sync with nature
There is a big difference between modern and pre-modern technology

Modern Technology allows us to treat the world a standing reserve

Standing Reserve -Another way about talking about thinking of something as a stock pile - something on call as a use -Bestand
Always there; always on call; always there for use
Everything that modern technology touches becomes a stockpile
Also something being handy for further use
Becomes available for manipulation

Cell phones are able to signal the position of user - GPS or system - Highways arenow using tolls - rental cars have GPS to nab speeders - Dog/Children have chipsimplanted under skin

Location Technology - His concern is not that this will happen - that the tide of technology will begyle us - they will become the only way of thinking
Dominate way in which we conceive both the world and ourselves
Other ways of thinking about things are not able to reveal themselves to us
Heʼs not saying this is bad - he is saying be aware of it
The world - natural resource

He thinks we donʼt see the bigger ontological (the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.) thing that is going on - that is why he is writing this
Treat things as disposable equipment

• Gestell - Enframing

• To determine beings (things) in their being (in their existence) as nothing but resources

• This is the danger in our present epic

• Enframing is a certain mode - in which beings only show up as bestand - standing resources

• Gas Station - there is no resource for them other than being a gas station

• The essence of modern technology

Monday, November 2, 2009

• Standing reserves - disposable equipment

Stuff that is there on hand - stuff that is handy
Available for manipulation

• Enframing - determining all beings as nothing by standing reserves

• to be at all is to be nothing but bestand - to be nothing more than a resource

• A mode of disclosure which determines the character of interpretation such that to be is to be nothing but a resource

• This is the danger of modern technology - thinking that we are nothing more than a resource

We can built a free relationship to technology once we figure understand technology
There is a problem with the essence of technology not technology itself
Do we look at the world from the point of view of enframing?
Slave is a living tool - Aristotle

• What is the danger of gestell?

We lose track of what it means to be human - we will treat everything as a resource, even ourselves
A danger of leveling or reducing -reductionism
Reductionism - the view that we can get at whatʼs going on with reality by knocking things down from where they might appear to a level where they are just X - X being atoms … etc. - Reductionism of being - leveled to being seen as just a resource
Wants us to appreciate the multifarious ways things can be
He has no problem with bestand but when it becomes only bestand this is what hehas a problem with

Efficiency - the basis of bestand
Human beings ek-sists - we will lose grips with this? - not sure what this is about?
We need to first realize the problem and then live differently
Das man - means the one/they

• 2 Ways Enframing is Dangerous

We will think of ourselves as nothing more than resources - when we think about ourselves existing, we will think we will only exist as a resource - being efficient
We will think of everything else as a resource

• poiēsis - bringing forth

• Poiēsis is a type of revealing - There are 2 different kinds of bringing forth

• aided bringing forth

• Techne - fine art and crafts unaided bringing forth

• physis

there is another way of revealing that does not fit into this - Modern Technology

• modern technology does not bring forth - itʼs sway is different - ascending upon

- challenges nature to be an efficient resource - itʼs challenging NOT bringing forth

Consider technology as something we are living through and consider this as our condition
Take it in and then act on it
Technology as our destiny not our fate - destiny - determined to do
Dissatisfaction - living through your satisfaction and use it to our advantage - be ableto live through and then see other ways things fit into this other mode

• Tea Cup example

Styrofoam cup - meant to be used up and thrown away

• Porcelain cup - sentimental value

The way in which the Japanese understand how the styrofoam cup can stand next to the porcelain cup
Both have modern technology but understand technology model different

Thomas Kuhn

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:49:00 +0000

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions – 1962 U of Chicago Press

Old views of science:

science develops by the addition of new truths to the stock of old truths

or the increasing approximation of theories to the truth

Standard View = Positivism

science was seen as the way to get at truth,

to understand the world well enough so that we might predict and control it.

It operated by laws of cause and effect that we could discern if we applied the unique approach of the scientific method.

Kuhn’s View:

What is a Paradigm?

According to Kuhn, paradigms are essential to scientific inquiry, for "no natural history can be interpreted in the absence of at least some implicit body of intertwined theoretical and methodological belief that permits selection, evaluation, and criticism."

Indeed, a paradigm guides the research efforts of scientific communities, and it is this criterion that most clearly identifies a field as a science.

Most scientists are conservative: Kuhn also maintained that, contrary to popular conception, typical scientists are not objective and independent thinkers.

they are conservative individuals who accept what they have been taught and apply their knowledge to solving the problems that their theories dictate.

Most are, in essence, puzzle-solvers who aim to discover what they already know in advance

According to Kuhn the development of a science is not uniform but has alternating ‘normal’ and ‘revolutionary’ (or ‘extraordinary’) phases.

Revolutionary phases are stimulated by anomalies

Rather, anomalies are ignored or explained away if at all possible

It is only the accumulation of particularly troublesome anomalies that poses a serious problem for the existing disciplinary matrix.

A particularly troublesome anomaly is one that undermines the practice of normal science.

an anomaly might reveal inadequacies in some commonly used piece of equipment, perhaps by casting doubt on the underlying theory.

If much of normal science relies upon this piece of equipment, normal science will find it difficult to continue with confidence until this anomaly is addressed. A widespread failure in such confidence Kuhn calls a ‘crisis’ (1962/1970a, 66-76).

This failure in confidence is important

Science is not just about what kinds of discoveries can be made but how they are justified

Response to crisis:

All crises are resolved in one of three ways.

Normal science can prove capable of handing the crisis-provoking problem, in which case all returns to "normal."

Alternatively, the problem resists and is labeled, but it is perceived as resulting from the field's failure to possess the necessary tools with which to solve it, and so scientists set it aside for a future generation with more developed tools.

In a few cases, a new candidate for paradigm emerges, and a battle over its acceptance ensues - these are the paradigm wars.

The most interesting response to crisis will be the search for a revised disciplinary matrix,

a revision that will allow for the elimination of at least the most pressing anomalies and optimally the solution of many outstanding and unsolved puzzles.

Such a revision will be a scientific revolution.

Kuhn wrote, "Successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science." (p.12)

How to decide how to resolve a crisis:

According to Kuhn however, there are no rules for deciding the significance of a puzzle and for weighing puzzles and their solutions against one another.

The decision to opt for a revision of a disciplinary matrix is not one that is rationally compelled, nor is the particular choice of revision rationally compelled.

For this reason the revolutionary phase is particularly open to competition among differing ideas and rational disagreement about their relative merits

Any replacement paradigm had better solve the majority of those puzzles, or it will not be worth adopting in place of the existing paradigm.

Examples of Paradigm Shifts

Ptolemy to Copernicus

Newton to Einstein

Agents of change helped create a paradigm-shift moving scientific theory from the Ptolemaic system (the earth at the center of the universe) to the Copernican system (the sun at the center of the universe), and moving from Newtonian physics to Relativity and Quantum Physics. Both movements eventually changed the world view. These transformations were gradual as old beliefs were replaced by the new paradigms creating "a new gestalt" (p. 112).

Umberto Eco:

There may be “two different kinds of abduction: the former starts from one or more surprising particular facts and ends at the hypothesis of a general law (this seems to be the case of all scientific discoveries), while the latter starts from one or more surprising facts and ends at the hypothesis of another particular fact which is supposed to be the cause of the former (this seems to be the case of criminal detection) … One can say that the first type concerns the nature of universes and the second one concerns the nature of texts. I mean by ‘universes,’ intuitively, worlds such as the one which scientists use to explain the laws, by ‘text’ a coherent series of propositions, linked together by a common topic or theme” – 204

“If abduction is a general principle ruling the whole of human knowledge, there should be no substantial differences between these two sorts of abduction … I think that the general mechanism of abduction can be made clear only if we assume that we deal with universes as if they were texts and with texts as if they were universes. In this perspective the difference between the two sorts of abduction disappears.” – 205 This also explains why what poets tell us now, scientists will tell us later.

“[A]bduction … is the provisional entertainment of an explanatory inference, for the sake of further testing, and [it] aims at isolating, along with the case, also the rule.” – 206

“Creative abduction [occurs when] [t]he law must be invented ex novo. To invent a law is not so difficult, provided our mind is “creative” enough … [T]his creativity involves also aesthetic aspects. In any case this kind of invention obliges one to make … a meta-abduction. Examples of creative abductions are found in these “revolutionary” discoveries that change an established scientific paradigm (Kuhn 1962).” – 207

“The same aesthetic criteria ruled Copernican intuition of heliocentrism in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Copernicus felt that the Ptolemaic system was inelegant, lacking harmony, like a painting in which the painter reproduced all the members without composing them into a unique body. Then the sun ought to be, for Copernicus, at the center of the universe, because only in this way could the admirable symmetry of the created world have been manifested. Copernicus did not observe positions of planets like Galileo or Kepler. He figured out a possible world whose guarantee was its being well structured, “gestaltically” elegant.” – 216 Gestalt!

Thomas Kuhn questions science. He raises of purpose behind decisions in science. Why should a change in fundamentals be called a revolution? He makes a similarity between politics and science; the reason paradigms are needed to be changed is that the old one is not functioning properly anymore. If a new paradigm begins but does not replace anything it is not considered a revolution. In the political sense, revolutions depend highly on events that occur outside of the political institution. Competing paradigms cannot harmonize together because they each represent polar opposite ways of doing something. Each paradigm defends itself. But how does one paradigm get picked over another? You have to look at how it would impact the situation and which is more logical, and consider the persuasive argument tactics used by the presenter.

The introduction of paradigms can have different impacts on society. Some will shatter pre-existing concepts others will just make connections between other theories. There are three types of phenomena where a new philosophy could be developed.

1. Well-understood explained by paradigms.

2. Nature has signaled but not fully understood. (scientists usually explore this one)

3. Objects or theories that give no explanation.

When changing a paradigm, the supporting explanations of the theory being replaced also need to be changed. Unless it is being ‘up-dated.’ As society evolves and problems change, so does the point of view on scientific subjects. “No wonder that some historians have argued that the history of science records a continuing increase in maturity and refinement of man’s conception of the nature of science.” But since no paradigm solves all the problems, with competing theories each one solves different problems. So which problem is more important to be solved at the time?

Globalization Class Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:42:00 +0000

Kiva.com-‐ and micro financing (small loans)

Capitalism-‐ creative destruction

Capitalism= freedom? With the exception of the Nazis, no two democratic/capitalist countries

have gone to war.

Paradigm change-‐ little things effecting everything in large ways –now quickly and interrelated

October 1929-‐1930 America was calling back loans all over the world that no one could pay,

citizens wanted their money back, the banks couldn’t pay, and so failed, inflation soared

The Panic Routine-‐ everyone panics, things happen fast and often toward the wrong direction

Bulls and Bears-‐ upward and downward market trends –symbolic beasts of finance

Marx-‐ capitalism-‐ exploitation-‐ steps up

Rust Belt-‐ from a mechanical age to a digital age in the 1980s and its effects on the Midwest

Adam Smith (page 9) the “invisible hand” of capitalism-‐ capitalism will drive itself – Scottish

Enlightenment -‐1776 TheWealth of Nations -‐1st economist –laws of supply and demand –

controlling prices –lead to specialization -‐10 is better than 1 (increase the output) –a model of free

capitalism

Book: (Lexus and the Olive Tree) –page 11

Radical resistance by a small number of people to globalization for their fear of loosing their

identity “innovation replaces tradition” and its scary, a new identity.

3 worlds:

1st world (developed)

2nd world (Communists now gone)

3rd world (Developing nations)

Defensive Modernization-‐ Japan, Thailand, and Turkey –all secular states

Turkey- Muslims wanted to get into the UN but decided that they could not, so they simply

gave up.

Japan-‐ challenged modern tech, decided they did not stand a chance against it, and were

happy to modernize, but they wanted to keep their identity, yet the modernization of one object

changes the entire system (example=guns)

Keynes-‐ British economist, 1919, came up with deficit financing –use federal money to front load

programs to stimulate the economy –boot strap economy

Smith-‐ capital takes risks –some financial institutions took too great a risk

Schumpeter and Grove-‐ economists who want to unleash capitalism –a globalization idea

3 Balances of Globalization

Between nation states and nation states

Between empowered individuals and nation states

Between global markets and nation states

Also see Lexus and the Olive Tree –page 12

Race, Gender, and Class all matter in the struggle for power

Lexus and the Olive Tree –page 22

6 points of view in Globalization

financial markets

politics

culture

national security

technology

environmentalism

we cannot multitask too much, instead we need to focus and form a team to collaborate on all

subjects to fully understand all six and see the connections.

lumpers-‐cross disciplinary, and –splitters-‐ look carefully at every little detail and analyze it -‐more

splitters than lumpers -‐lumpers build the structure and splitters tear it down piece by piece in

examination

we have to trust other’s research to get anything done. In order to sort through this research there needs to be a standardization of everything, yet everything is different: language, computers, money, law, measurement.

Fall of the Berlin Wall–the Painful Birth of Globalization:

1953 Rebellion of East Berlinner.

1961Wall is built to that they cannot escape.

1989 Nov 9, the wall is opened and finally torn down.

Without the major powers going at each other’s throats and looming over every one all the little

countries began going after each other. (dictators emerged, ethnic cleansing occurred)

THE BOMB –if it was not used in Japan at the end ofWWII, would the US have used it in Korea?

-‐created an incentive to not have international warfare at heightened levels

-‐a trump card for total annihilation

Environment

Global intergration, everything migrates, example: zebra snails, Asian carp, killer bees, and plants

Generalists win over specialists-‐ Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Globalization has made it harder for endangered species. More generalized species will survive

easier and push others out.

Ode to Joy and Freedom

German point of view divided since 1945, unified in 1989, setting up the fall of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union falls two years later.

WWI first great empire killer, WWII leaves only the US and the SU, 1989 left only the US.

Slavery and human trafficking, both stolen and refugees –cheap labor is commodified, imported

International law-‐ no one enforces it, no one can agree to it, thus no international law

Golden Straightjacket-‐ one can only play the game if they play be certain rules set by those in

power

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)-‐ a military alliance without a mission, est. 1949

Arbitrage-‐ simultaneous buying and selling to take advantage of differing prices for the same asset

Junk bonds-‐ high-‐yield, high-‐risk security, issued by a company seeking to raise capital quickly in

order to finance.

Wikipedia-‐ self published-‐ accuracy? Filter system is now obsolete –we are now individually

responsible for information.

Communication-‐ are we building new walls with iPods, facebook, texting –leaving ourselves alone

all the time –diversity vs. the shared experience –creating tribes all over the world who can only

contact each other via technology –is globalization making nationalism weaker or stronger?

International language-‐ which one? Who is in power? That power changes every century or so.

Mega cities may collapse-‐ soon 75%of the people on earth will live in urban areas –infrastructure

cannot keep up with the population –people migrate toward opportunity –though this is better for

the environment in ways

“There are no islands anymore. There is just the world” –Nico Lopez, page 68, TLatOT

1850s Revolution-‐ trains, telegraph, cotton gin

1920s Revolution-‐ electricity, automobiles, telephones, airplanes, standardization

now-‐ Globalization!

High tech farming –technological revolution, can feed the world

–hybrids that are disease resistant.

Henry Wallace Sr. Secretary of Agriculture for Harding and Coolidge-‐ invented hybrid seed corn

Henry Wallace Jr. Secretary of Agriculture for Roosevelt, Vice President, and Secretary of Congress

DDT-‐ a vaccine of WWII to prevent germs being carried all over the world boosted another

increase in production in ag (esp. in Asia) Asia could feed themselves, increasing economy, became

Asian Tigers

1959 Silent Spring-‐ Rachael Carson found that DDT does not discipate in living cells, but builds up

before causing damage

Penicillin-‐ cured some and made other diseases worse (examples of progress with

ramifications)

Volume is what matters in the modern world

Globalization has brought prices down

1492-‐ The New World opened up the food market all over the world –people became dependant

on it –globalization has been around for a long time and people have profited from it

Infinite varieties, and people want them!

Autocracy-‐ singularly independent in all things within your own country (doesn’t work)

Entrepreneurs-‐ take chances, capital investors split $5 mill. Between 25 people, 1 will make it big

and pay back the investor x10 fold, or so –an element of greed is involved (the market will always

break, when to stop?) –it builds up the system by keeping the money working

Equity-‐ the value of a mortgaged property after deduction of charges against it

Appreciation-‐ (blue sky) an increase of monetary value

Equity and appreciation –partial inflation, but equity is retired capital

Assets-‐ buildings and land (collateral) and endowments

Page 99-‐ more with less –“doing more things with less people” –increase in productivity and

profits –loss in benefits

“Lobsters, lobsters, all go Beijing.” Inflation and prices go up in Beijing effecting prices everywhere.

Junk bonds-‐ high interest rates with fault rates.

Business= no paper –publishers and book stores are going under.

Potato chip wars-‐ buy shelf space –must sell at low margin in great volume to make money.

Culture changes from the top down-‐ management sets the tone. I disagree.

Transparency-‐ don’t deny info –sunshine laws (cannot take business outside of the office) –stocks

and bonds do not work the same all over the world.

When the herd stampedes it starts locally

Page 122-‐ dealing with commodities –weather reports and unconventional trends affecting the

economy.

Short horn cattle-‐ many private investors all over the world –influence the market

Long horn cattle-‐ investors for companies also all over the world

Quants-‐ quantifiers, make a lot of money, brought the system down by looking only at the symbols

($) and not the companies themselves.

More than one economic theory –none predictable, nor inclusive Argues that deregulation and lower taxes are a good thing.

Can a nation-‐state effectively regulate an economy?

Samuel P. Huntington argues globalization is “a war of civilizations”

Quran-‐ a direct transmission from God to Muhammad memorized and passed down

Bible-‐ different interpretations of God written by different people

There are not as many divisions of Islam, yet there are many different sects of Christianity –all

have their mysticism.

A defensiveness, a loss of identity, when it comes to modernization –and defensive modernization

does not work –it feels threatened by everything from the outside.

The Ottoman Empire was a great empire that started to fall around 1550

Both Islam and Christianity try to convert people to their religion (proselytize) –

Islam expanded in the 7th and 8th C. to France, in the 9th they tried to go to Italy, around 1492 they expanded toward China, Africa, and India, but were defeated in the West by being expelled from France, they moved up the Danube in the 1300s until they were stopped by defeat in 1683 in Vienna –they used river highways for conquest until they traveled the wrong one and met Vlad the Impaler whom would crucify them.

Friedman’s idea-‐ If other countries think America has too much power, how will they like it when

America has too little? America is policing the world now, but will we like who’s next, -‐if anyone

steps us?

Limitations –what if America says, ‘you’re on your own” No one else has the money or the army to

really protect themselves.

What is going away from the modern world?

Books-‐ replaced by the digital book. Printing press changed life completely in Europe in less than 50 years. Everyone is going “paper free”

Newspapers and magazines-‐ cater to niche markets that cannot sustain themselves

Movies and their DVD technology-‐ theatres and rental are being bypassed

Post office-‐ replaced by the Internet and FedEx/UPS –federal agencies can tap into funds that

Private industries cannot –they are not as efficient or under the same pressures.

Family farms –water and space shortages, too much competition

Warfare-‐ cyber warfare combined with military action is the future (already Estonia, Syria, and

Georgia have come under digital fire)

Piloted aircraft are replaced by drones, both military and public

Power-‐ coal and oil will be replaced by either wind and solar or nuclear and natural gas

Autocracy-‐ dependant only upon their own country –the US cannot become energy independent –

only buy 12% of American oil from the Middle East –mostly from Mexico, Canada, Norway, and the

UK.

Water and land wars for natural resources -‐leads to the collapse of megacities

-‐living in a migration revolution from the country into the city which will not be able to sustain

itself –How many people can the planet sustain?? –capitalism is based on a growing consumer

base –the key to globalization is to have a smaller number of children per household in order to be

sustainable, it is an economic takeoff point –future wars may include the Arctic, the Antarctic, the

Moon, even Mars

Cohort analysis-‐ depending on the birth year it can shape who a person grows up to be

(generations and their likeness)

Kiva-‐ a capitalist solution to government problems.

Braddock, PN –outsourced to China

NGOs-‐ Heart to Heart-‐ sending food all over the world

Political Revolution-‐ throw them out! –with more info available the people of America are more

empowered than ever

Business Revolution-‐ no more management

Economic Revolution –checks and balances –independants want gridlock (apposed to moving

toward European system –manufacturing is coming back, proof of stopped development

Kleptocracy-‐ more corruption in the government than not

Does the electronic herd have a say in capitalism, especially sweatshops?

Kleptocracy is very prevalent in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia (counterfeiting, stealing

rental cars)

Junk bonds-‐ any corporate bond with a low rating and a high yield, often involving high risk –

bundle junk bonds through a buyer, own a portion of the bond through a bond holder

Buying oil on the Spot market, internationally, from anywhere in the world without any idea

where it is coming from

Property rights-‐ books, painting, music, and houses –no one argues who owns the house

How much GOP can the government control before the economy is dragged down? -‐safety

networks that move to a stalled economy -‐35% is good, 50% is too much –in order to work it has

to have as little regulation as possible, but still a little

S&P 500s-‐ a way to index the market –standards that represent the market and average it –like a

hedge fund against loss

Globalization has strengthened the nation-‐state with the use of the Golden Straightjacket, pushing

out kleptocracy.

A flood of money into developing countries causes inflation –when deflation and exporting are on

the rise, imports become more expensive, yet exports are a solution to national debt

The global system wants standardization and predictability, it is hurt when countries go into

recession, focusing only on themselves.

Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world –even in China –decades ago religion was

shut down because the government thought it was a threat to the totalitarian government.

Capitalism produces freedom and choice? Is a new form of totalitarian capitalism emerging?

Is the world moving toward democracy through capitalism?

Education and judgment are not the same thing.

Totalitarian governments do not have free press (Iran, China, Cambodia)

Globalization opens up the Europe trashes itself twice in the same century -‐did integration destroy

them? –is America so different that it will not happen to the US in the same way?

Shapers and adapters –everyone is reluctant to make the transition to a new system

A new standard of measurement from GNP to bandwidth, “Power equals connectivity” PCs per

household, megabits per capita, priorities of investment

Global government, international law, but no enforcement –everyone has respect for sovereignty

(those in control of their people and their border

United Nations have to sign international human rights documents, if cheated they can forfeit their

sovereignty –collective security (an attack on one is an attack on all)

Western military uses shock infantry (head to head, concentrated and disciplined)

After great wars people try to figure out ways to not let it happen again.

The world is moving back to regional power bases -‐1823 Munroe Doctrine (new independent

states were hands off in South America) –China is trying to do this in the S. China Sea through

expansion –Vietnam is talking to the US because they are afraid of China.

The world is divided into spheres of influence which has been changed after every big war (most

recently 1945 and 1991)

19th & 20th Century Nationalism pulled countries together, now it is pulling them apart through

geopolitical change and ethnic demographics.

Mid 1400s Muslim rule was very large (middle east, Africa, and up the Danube River) –used to be

superior to Europe, got comfortable, viewed the outside as infidels with nothing to give –ottomans

are used to winning, but don’t adapt to new technology.

1492 Europe was collecting gold from the America’s –gold= money= power -‐technology was

produced in the military revolution of the West, also mass armies, and artillery –guns kill more

effectively, at range, called the Great Equalizer (anyone can fire one)

Late 1500s Francis Xavier lands south of Japan, 50 years later there are 100,000 guns in Japan

The Austro-‐Hungarian empire is expanding in the 11th and 12th centuries opposing the Muslims

until 1919, WW1.

Russia starts to expand in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

1699-‐ Carlowitz-‐ treaty between the Austrians and the Ottomans –Otts have to recognize that the

Kaiser is an equal ruler to the Ott. Sultan

Otts. Start to ask What Went Wrong? No outside embassies, British and Dutch had one there –

British and Dutch do not like the Russian or Austrian expansion so they support the Otts, selling

them arms and lending them advisors to train the army.

1710-11 Otts defeat the Russians twice north of Turkey.

1718 Otts loss to the Austrians.

1730 long war between Otts and Persians ends.

1768-74 Otts loss battle to Russians.

1783 Russia annexes the Crimean Penninsula, north of Turkey.

1780s and 1790s Otts see they need change –begin to send embassies to those close to them and

send their students to study ‘overseas’ bringing new ideas back to the Ott Empire, they get

Dragomans-‐translators who act as their window to the West (mostly Greek with a lot of power)

1804 Napolean conquers Egypt and it takes the power of the British Navy to push him out (it takes

a European power to defeat a European power)

1812 Napolean invades Russia, bringing the idea of Nationalism across Europe.

1820s Russians defeat Iranians.

1821-‐29 Greeks revolt against the Otts and win their independence.

Ottomans write memorial books to the Empire to make change and compete in this new world –

military, economy, administry organization –yet changes do not occur until later, afraid of risk and

failure

Ottomans become “the sick man of Europe”

Mutadi-‐ “those who have found and followed the path” –foreigners who came to the Ott Empire to

help them, paid well.

Plessy vs. Ferguson –separate but equal case (segregation) –Europe’s solution to Muslims –US is

used to pluralism (intergration), liberty, a set of understood principles, and a balance of power

that everybody follows, no matter what ethnicity –others around the world just start ethnic

cleansing eachother

French Revolution –first European act of liberty, equality, and brotherhood with no attachment to

religion –the first seperation of church and state the Otts ever experienced

WWI was the Destroyer of Empires (France, Britain, and Russia) vs (Germany and the Ottomans) –

Germany had just gotten its independence as a state in 1871, unified under the Prussians

China {

China: visit by Geoff Babb

Books: China in the 21st Century, The Art of War, and The Three Faces of Chinese Power

Schools of thought, not religious, still in revolution since 1911.

Imperialism and the mandate of heaven: heaven, emperor, people

US and China complete opposites

Communism–Marx–Lenin–Mao–Nationalism

China vs. India-‐ who will benefit from globalization

1. Urbanization, marketization, and globalization.
2. Reassuring the military is not a threat.
3. Keeping global relations good.

Politics-‐ only elect the best and brightest, ruled by elites

Confucianism- not a religion –about official business, trust, no overspending government, respect

for the farmer and their crops

Communists have no moral and ethic standard

120 million migrant workers moving to the urban areas of China, weak consumer spending,

expanding middle class (unbalanced economy)

Problems-‐ human rights, protests, corruption, closed media, Tibet, Muslims

Needs-‐ influence, energy, resources, capital, tech, and markets

Anti-‐Japanese, yet American and China are allies, we are their market, yet also allied with Japan

Advantages: modernization, rising middle class, transportation, hospitality, language, changing

culture, no recession.

Can make decision quickly, democracy is slow and messy.

Rural china is extremely poor.

}

Three things the Otts. did not want to deal with:
1.slavery
2.non-believers
3.women

Slaves brought from all over the area, especially Africa and Russia.

People of other religions are welcome, but it is a capital offense to try and convert away from

Islam, had to pay a special tax, otherwise left alone.

1840 Britain outlawed African slavery, Otts. Agree but still get slaves from elsewhere, Saudi Arabia

is the last to outlaw slavery in 1962.

Most slaves in the Middle East were house slaves and had some rights and were treated better

than in the American South.

Women had property rights.

After WWI the Ott. Emp. Was split between the winning European powers.

Turkey was taken over by the Young Turks –tried to model themselves on the Japanese -‐1868

Meiji Restoration (equality realized with the British, a Western Power) gaining modernization –

later Japan defeat the Russians and Turkey sees that they can beat the whites at their own game –

they had a constitutional monarchy and Turkey saw this as the solution –yet, Japan had begun

modernization in the 1600s and already had education, urbanization, and transportation down

(an infrastructure) –not able to be copied in such a short time for the Otts.

What Europeans look for in power:
1 religion
2 nationalism
3 military power
4 state solutions

European centralized power vs American separated power

Any power not specific to the fed govt. in the constitution is given to local govt. (protection from

the mob and centralized govt.)

Separation of church and state –not so for Muslims (Am. Muslims have to give that up) secular law

trumps religious law in the US.

Europe tries separate but equal, Muslims live in communities with their own Sharia law

Cannot divorce religion from culture, difficult to turn on tradition

Islam reform –fast enough to avoid conflict?

Clocks, road markers, borders, even standardization (key to modernization), Western inventions,

Muslims did not want them.

What Went Wrong

The Middle East is behind -‐Ottomans self-‐satisfied and uninterested in theWest, into denial and

holding themselves back.

Can there ever be a modern Muslim state?What can be done to bring the Middle East into the

Modern World?

Middle East = Wild West, like the Indian Wars –the only history of American counter-‐insurgency

9-11 and Pearl Harbor-‐ surprise, brilliant tactically, strategic failure.

Paradise and Power

US-‐ hard power (military) and soft power (executive) -‐wants to deal with countries that are more

structurally established –structure works against the people, if it is not working Democracies can

have revolution, Communists cannot.

Britain stepped down from power in 1947 and gave it up to America because no one else will take

care from everyone -‐nobody won WWI, Europe was weakened, afraid, and paranoid for security –

US might keep it, but it is stepping down, which might just be temporary –US protects the

commons (sea, air, under the sea, space, and cyber space)

America and Europe have drifted apart –those who have power see the world different than those

who do not.

Russia, Ottoman, German, Austria-‐Hungarian, and Spanish Empires fall in twenty-‐one years

Kelly Brian Pact-‐ every war since 1929 has been illegal of the countries who signed on -‐1783-‐1949

no American military alliances

America and Europe had very different experiences in the last century, America has been

triumphant, Europe has been a graveyard

Cold War –restrained by the bomb (MAD-‐mutually assured destruction) –power went to the US

and the USSR –European Powers were weak and could not pay for their defense.

People underestimate America’s ability to project power in the world.

Europeans went on military holiday and cut defense spending to let the US defend them, yet US

cannot get many allies unless they are already insecure.

America does not act under international law-‐ infringement on sovereignty and action

Europe is getting less important geopolitically, only want to use soft power, transcending

nationalism and wanting to create a European Army (peace keeping actions), European Union,

European Government, European President (more honorific than power)

European Union-‐ economic future and protection –expanding –no borders, everyone is moving to

a better place.

Technology-‐ drones and smart bombs –less collateral damage, better at getting targets, stealth –

cyber warfare –robo-‐suits and camoflage

Europe and America are moving in different directions with different goals.

Cold war end –Soviet Union fallls –causes breakup of theWest

Natural drift back to America’s traditional foreign policy

Liberal democracy won out in the West

Europe wants the US to move multilaterally with the UN, but the US moves unilaterally. The UN

doesn’t like it that way, even if it agrees with the policies (any action must be according to

international law)

Europe-‐ Kantian World America-‐ Hobbsian World

America has to deal with all the dirty jobs, while Europe lives in their own little paradise

Terrorists are outside of these rules because they do not belong to any state or government (need

a set of rules that apply to all) terrorism is less in America because Muslims are more integrated

into American society than they are in Europe –globalization works to the terrorists benefit –

harder to keep track of every one, a single person can cause limited havok anywhere.

The world is returning to 19th C. where we have 4 or 5 major powers competing.

American Open Door Policy 1840-‐1891 –no territorial ambitions with China, competing

economically with no restrictions.

America built on cheap energy, cheap labor, and cheap capital.

Inflation-‐ good for people who owe, bad for people with a fixed income –decline in housing and

private property prices.

Protectionism-‐ not allowing imports because it drives up costs of more expensive local products –

put tariffs on it to drive up foreign import prices and protect American industry.

Free trade-‐ market prices should determine real prices –no tariffs –no one goes to free trade

because of special interest groups.

After WWI America did not want to take responsibility.

Washington warned against entangling alliences, the US doesn’t like to get involved with

European politics –no plan to stay after wars, no commitment, no connections

19th C. unilateral action, free trade, and no military involvement –France and Britain defaulted on

their WWI loans with America.

Contracts are strong under American law

West was held together with WWII and the Cold War until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

–with no enemy anymore, there was no more dependence on American protection –it was a new

world.

Europe believes America has too much power, who will guard against their guardian? US does not

have to worry about them.

America has 150 years of international law –moving toward being the Central Power of the world

Canada is an asset (safe), even though they often side with Europe on foreign policy

Transfer of power has been solved in the US, smooth elections since 1788 –a big middle class

helps –continuity of American policy

1938-‐isolationist America

1941-‐our last war

1977-‐ our last treaty

can only negotiate through strength and credible threat levels (nuclear)

Treaty of Westfalia 1648 -‐International law, everyone must accept sovereignty -‐Everyone has to

be let in, no matter what they do in their own country –a state in control of its borders and people

is diplomatically recognized.

Rise in importance of human rights from 1873-‐1931 –in 1932 Hoover refused to recognize a state

off China (Mantugal?) –due to human rights violations.

When does on forfeit sovereignty –when is it legitimate to act against another nation.

Unipolar world –the US is the only super power in the world right now –this upsets Europeans,

they want a veto for American actions.

Limited international law –who is under this law? Who enforces it?

US is the revolutionary power –inherited these ideas from the enlightenment, wanting to change

the bad guys and make them like us

Europeans turn inward, away from the rest of the world, trying to support themselves.

Sovereign states want a larger sphere of influence, like in the 19th Century

Failed states are the problem, especially in Africa –does the rest of the world have an obligation to

deal with it, or will they turn inward? –depends on the values of the country –universal human

rights only exist if all sovereign states agree with each other, but most do not

Power and responsibility –US has great power, what is their responsibility, their mission in the

world? Being liberal and universal – we are political missionaries

US interest –not to alienate allies, but to keep US interests as well

Do democracy and capitalism really go hand in hand? Can totalitarian capitalism exist?

Hybrid seed corn –American agriculture surplus –problem –dip in the market –sell it overseas,

foreigners cannot compete -‐the largest grain traders are private cooperation’s

Price support-‐ government will buy any crop at market price, sold for less just to get rid of it –

based on 1910 prices and adjusted according to inflation

Crop insurance-‐ cheap to get, diversifies crop development

Problems-‐ flood plains and drought –tripling production rates creates a surplus and prices go

down especially in the international market –big countries are subsidized, underdeveloped

countries fall

1972-‐ farmers made money selling to Russia –subsidizing the enemy

infrastructure-‐ many country roads, railroads to get to market, electricity and dams to get it,

aqueducts for water, rivers for navigation.

problems with storage and refrigeration, instead drying goods with salt and smoke, both of which

need resources not much safe water, microorganisms, chemicals, livestock waste –breeding malaria and anemic dysentery.

aid-‐ a complex problem, market problems in price and distribution, and international competition

civil war in Ethiopia –food becomes a weapon of war, so is rape, the two contribute to too many

people and not enough food –siege warfare.

corn is easier to cross breed, wheat is not.

diversified farming –from subsistence to selling on the international market.

for the exam:

Friedman’s intellectuals argue on how to use the system and break them instead of solving global

solutions or problems. Can technology solve this problem and help the poor? Answer from all

books.

Are there cycles of globalization? Industrial revolution 1800s-‐1914. Open trade and travel.

High farm prices. World is open. International trade. Globalization 1 lead to WWI, Globalization 2 lead to WWII, will G3 lead to WWIII? With china?

What are the promises of globalization for the Core (horn of Africa, and the Middle East)? The gap

is widening from developed to under developed countries and failed states. Top down aid in the

rulers own benefit. Things were done for asia and not Africa, that is why they are behind.

Read Enough 1-‐50, and Lewis’ conclusion for solutions for failed states and ideology vs. politics.

The last 4 presidential administrations all posited capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. Yet

in 2010 is seems as if Russia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam may be developing

totalitarian capitalism. What reasons would push you to that conclusion? Human rights are put

down, cutting presence on the internet, wanting territory that is not theirs, detaching them from

the rest of the world.

Very few thought when the soviet union collapsed in 1991 that it might be a harbinger for the

dissolution of theWest.

Paradise and Power (last 2 chapters). Is there still a West? Ripple effect.

What is it? What has it been? Modern industrial countries based on the enlightenment.

We are going in opposite directions for the right reasons. US focused on other places than Europe.

If there is a Korean War the Africans will loss out, US with focus on East Asia.

Why was the green revolution in Africa and first time unsuccessful? Read Enough 1-‐100.

The underside of globalization? Growing gap, trafficking, drugs, illegal immigration, countries

impacting one another, unforeseen economic consequences, animal trade poaching,

environmental hitchhikers (killer bees, asian carp, zebra snails) generalists survive while

specialists are doomed. Overconsumption and its consequences. Globalization is global, cannot be

contained by anyone, rules can be kept by some and not followed by anyone else.

History of Mathematics

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan Jones) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:12:00 +0000

1-24-11

-Math has been around since at least 30,000 years ago.

-> Bones, pieces of wood, stones found with cut marks, similar to tally marks.

-> Probably used to keep track of days to map the seasons and migrational patterns.

-Prehistoric people had little use for abstract mathematical concepts.

-They lived an empirical life in close, intimate groups.

-Many cultures had words for the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and after that, only “many.”

-“Many” was expressed through words like herd, school, flock, etc.

-The first symbols for numbers were literally representative: one mark for “one”, two marks for “two”, etc.

-We don’t see the beginnings of theoretical math until Greece.

-Most mathematical groupings are based on our anatomy.

-Prehistoric peoples often grouped things into twos, fives, tens, and twenties, based on our number of limbs and digits.

How many vs. How much

-Division into separate units. -Used in commerce- how much of this for that?

1-26-11

Algorithm – a series of calculations.

-Prehistoric math has a strong oral tradition and a weak written one.

-Systems of mathematics which could be taught were beginning to be developed.

-Only a privileged group of people would have been learning new mathematical concepts.

Mesopotamia

-Possibly the world’s oldest civilization, Babylon being the most well-known and adopted as a general moniker.

-Situated in the fertile crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

-Hallmarks of civilization

-National political loyalty.

-Official religious pantheon.

-Bureaucracy.

-National army.

-Stable middle class.

-System of writing.

-Used for financial accounting by the government.

-Writing was mostly incised on clay tablets.

-Lots of math is recorded on these kind of tablets.

-Utilized numerals for the numbers one and ten.

-Their mathematical system was based on groups of 60.

Egypt c. 3100 BCE

-Civilization developed along the Nile.

-Little direct evidence of Egyptian mathematics.

-The Rhind papyrus c. 1650 BCE

-Obvious geometric shapes are drawn and labeled.

China c. 1500 BCE

-Solid evidence of Chinese civilization c. 1600 BCE.

Shang dynasty Oracle Bones

-Probably used for divination rituals.

India c. 2000 BCE

-Earliest evidence of math is found in a civilization based around the Ganghes river.

-Monarchical states appear around 700 BCE.

-As the need to manage complex systems arose, mathematics expanded.

-In the Indian caste system, Brahmins were at the top.

-Oral traditions were passed down through vedas.

Sulbasutras

-Mathematical text.

-‘Sutra’ is the measurement, a specific length of rope.

-Early math was closely tied to religious rituals, such as specific restrictions on the construction of altars.

-An outgrowth of the need for consistency in ritual.

Counting

-The sense of numbers is the first rational sense we develop, based first on the digits.

-> counting

-> words for numbers

-> symbols for numbers

-> abstract math

Methods of organization

-Grouping:

- | = 1

-Simply repeated. || = 2, ||| = 3

-Becomes unwieldy for larger numbers, |||||||||| = 10.

-Once larger numbers became practically useful, different symbols developed.

Example: Ishango Bone c. 20,000 BCE

-Found on the border of Zaire and Uganda.

-The marks are grouped into doubles, odds, primes, and sums.

-The arrangement of numbers does not appear random.

-Indicates some understanding of basic operations.

-The columns on each side add to 60, and the middle adds to 48, all divisible by 12.

-Appears to suggest mathematical understanding, but it could be coincidence.

-The nature of mathematics as a system lends itself to creating patterns, almost inevitably.

-Almost everything we think we know about ancient civilizations is conjecture.

-Could be a calendar, tracking lunar phases, weather, migration, population.

-Mathematical systems allow for thinking ahead and planning.

-Allows for the ability to judge decisions before they are made.

-Progression of abstract thought beyond immediate physical reality.

2-7-11

-Math as a tool of power, a privilege, a secret knowledge.

Egyptian Hieroglyphic System

-Each of the first several powers of ten are represented by a different symbol.

-First power represented by a vertical stroke.

-Large numbers represented by groupings of powers of ten.

-No strict convention as far as organization of symbols.

-Hieratic numerals were used specifically for papyri writings.

-Comes from a Greek term meaning “priestly writing.”

-Makes writing numbers quicker.

-More of a cursive script.

Chinese Multiplicative System

-Shang numeral system.

-14^th century BCE, based on powers of ten.

-Groups of symbols are combined into new ideograms rather than simply repeating separate symbols.

-You would attach symbols for numbers to the power, expressing the number arithmetically.

-Probably related to the Chinese and Japanese counting boards.

-> Counting rods organized in an early matrix form.

-> Basically worked as a calculator; could be used to solve linear equations.

-> Eventually leads to the abbacus.

Babylonian Positional System

-c. 3000 BCE

-Beginnings of the notion of “place value.”

-Powers of the base are represented positionally rather than with distinct symbols.

-They used a sexagesimal base system (base 60), compared to our modern decimal system (base 10).

-In a base 10 system, “23” means two tens plus three ones, = 23.

-In a base 60 system, “23” means two sixties plus three ones, = 123.

-No symbol for zero.

-Internal spaces, difficult to distinguish between numbers.

-If the numbers were spaced incorrectly, the number could be misread by powers of ten, ie. 3002 could look like 32.

India

-No written evidence of a numeral system.

-Mathematics were used religiously, like for the construction of altars.

-Our numeral place value system originated in India.

Place Value System

-Numerals to the left of the decimal represent wholes, and numbers to the right of the decimal represent fractions.

Algorithms

-An algorithm is a series of steps to solve a problem.

-Ancient math was algorithmic only in the sense of figuring out how to solve practical problems.

-Lots of tables.

-No proofs.

-Practical, experience-based techniques.

2-9-11

Greece

Pythagoras

-Lived during the 5^th century BCE.

-There was no real recognized division between philosophy, mathematics, and science.

-“Natural philosophy” dealt with biology and chemistry.

-No primary written works of Pythagoras survive.

-He was born on the isle of Samos.

-Followed the Orphic religion.

-Belief in reincarnation.

-Unafraid of death because the soul lives on.

-Traveled to Egypt in search of knowledge; settled in Memphis and studied with priests.

-When the Babylonians invaded Egypt, he was taken prisoner and brought back to Babylon.

-Once being set free, he returned to Samos, and then to Croton on the Italian peninsula.

-He started a brotherhood, to whom he taught an entire way of life.

-His followers had a specific way of life they were taught to live.

-Communal ownership of objects and property.

-This was the inspiration for many of Plato’s ideas, including The Republic.

-Pythagoras was the first to discover that the Earth revolves around the sun.

-He coined the term “philosopher” in response to his disgust with elitism.

-“Philo” means lover, “sophia” means wisdom.

->”Lover of wisdom.”

->He believed any man should be able to attain the knowledge of the elite sages.

-The four classical elements:

-Earth

-Fire

-Water

-Air

-The Harmony of the Spheres

-He theorized that each of the planets revolving around the sun emitted a different musical note.

-He realized that strings of different lengths on the lyre create different notes.

->Music can be characterized as a mathematical system.

2-16-11

Linear Equations

-A linear equation graphs as a line.

Example: Multiplication in Egypt

-Uses a series of doubling in columns.

Elementary Geometry

-Many civilizations understood basic geometric principles.

-Area

-Square = side x side

-Rectangle = length x width

-Triangle = ½ base x height

-Circle = pi x radius squared

-Parallelogram = base x height

Method of False Position

-Approximations were needed since the number pi had not yet been defined.

-Pi is a proportional constant.

-Two quantities are proportional if they vary in such a way that one of them is a constant multiple of the other.

-A mathematical constant is a special number, usually a real number, that arises naturally in mathematics.

-To approximate the area of a circle...

-Create an octagon inside a square with an equal radius to the circle.

-An octagon has an area equal to 7/9 of the square.

-To approximate the circle, find the area of the square (a^2) and multiply by 7/9.

-a^2 (7/9) = approximate area of circle.

Early Greek Mathematics

-Compared to Egypt, Greece had a more compartmental government and no large scale agriculture.

-Divided into city states with separate governments.

-Most laws were based on tradition.

-With access to the sea, Greece received lots of information and ideas from other places.

-The standard of living began to raise, so people had time to sit and think.

-People begin to question ancient principles.

-Science develops from the belief that the natural world is observable, knowable, and able to be systematized.

-Results must be proven via a mathematical proof, rather than simply stated.

-A proof is a convincing demonstration that some mathematical statement is true based on known axioms, postulates, and theorems.

Thales – c. 624 – 547 BCE

-Father of the Greek scientific tradition.

-He was able to accurately predict a solar eclipse, demonstrating the importance and power of science.

-He begins thinking about math in more theoretical terms, rather than just practical.

Pythagoras – c. 572 – 496 BCE

-No original texts survive.

-“Number is the substance of all things.”

-Mostly interested in integers (whole numbers)

-Number Theory

-Odd vs. even

-The sum of any amount of even numbers is even.

-The sum of an even collection of odd numbers is even.

-The sum of an odd collection of odd numbers is odd.

Figurate numbers

-Numbers that can be represented by geometric shapes.

-Square, triangular, and rectangular.

-Square numbers can be figured by literally drawing squares.

-Numbers are connected with things that can be counted.

-Composed of equal, separate units.

-Two was considered the smallest natural number, because you wouldn’t count just one object.

-Length was a problem because it represents magnitude rather than a number.

Plato – 429-347 BCE

-Founded the Academy in Athens.

-Wrote The Republic

-Includes a proscribed mathematical syllabus.

-He wrote that Philosopher Kings would be the ideal leaders.

-They should study 5 subjects: arithmetic, plane and solid geometry, astronomy, and harmonics.

-Arithmetic benefits the whole mind.

2-21-11

Aristotle - 429-347 BCE

-Student of Plato.

-Founded the Lyceum in ~334 BCE

-Contributed to many different disciplines.

-Math and logic

-Codification of principles of logic.

-Syllogism – “If... then” statements.

->If all monkeys are primates, and all primates are mammals, then all monkeys are mammals.

-Postulates v. axioms

->Postulates are true and particular to specific disciplines.

->Axioms are truths common to all disciplines.

->In order to gain knowledge, you must begin with a true axiom.

-How do you know an axiom is true?

->There are some basic primal premises which can be arrived at via induction.

->Based on physical senses.

Propositional Logic (Zeno, 4^th century BCE)

-Modus ponens

-Modus tollens

-Hypothetical syllogism

-Disjunctive syllogism

Proofs

Statements and reasons.

-Statements are claims.

-Reasons justify the claims.

-Systematic series of statements connected by reasons.

Aristotle’s quantity:

-Discrete (number): 1, 2, 3...

-Continuous (magnitude): line, surface, time...

-Primary distinction

-Numbers are composed of individual elements.

->Nothing of their own kind intermediate between them (3 and 4).

-Magnitudes cannot be broken down into individual elements.

->The touching limits of each become on and the same (line segment).

-Infinity

-The concept of infinity is a more modern notion.

-Paradox.

Zeno’s Paradoxes

-He came up with propositional logic.

-His most famous ones are about motion.

-Dichotomy- distances are composed of infinitely decreasing halves; but they eventually add up to 1.

Euclid c. 300 BCE

-Studied at the library of Alexandria.

The Elements

-More editions than any other book except the Bible; still in print today.

-13 books; a sort of compendium.

-Each book prefaced with a set of definitions.

-Book 1: Rectilinear figures.

>Point – that which has no part.

>Line – breadthless length.

>Surface – that which has length and breadth only.

>Plane surface – a surface which lies evenly with the straight lines on itself.

Axioms:

1. Things which are equal to the same are equal to each other.

2. If equals are added to equals, the wholes are equal.

3. If equals are subtracted from equals, the remainders are equal.

Postulates: truths being granted as true, but not technically proven.

2-23-11

Basic Geometrical Terms

Point – that which has no part.

Line – a breadthless length.

Surface – that which has length and breadth only.

Segment – a section of line that has two endpoints.

Ray – a section of a line that has one endpoint and goes on forever in the opposite direction.

Angle – Two rays with the same endpoint.

How to write a proof

1. Draw two columns.

-Statements on the left: composed of symbols.

-Reasons on the right: composed of words.

2. State the given information.

3. Use appropriate definitions, axioms, and postulates to systematically determine your proof.

Videos to watch:

Greek Mathematics (Part 1) and (Part 2)

Fractal Geometry

Benoit Mandlebrot

-Many forms in nature can be explained with fractals.

-Fractals can be created by taking smooth-looking shapes and breaking them into jagged shapes.

-Complicated looking natural forms are created through endless iterations, or repetition.

Self Similarity – the parts of a fractal look the same as the whole.

-Found in many natural forms, like trees.

Hokusai – fractal images in his prints.

Monsters –

-Shapes that satisfy certain mathematical principles but are too weird to be reproduced with regularity.

-Coq curve – composed of infinite numbers of triangles placed on top of each other; cannot be measured, although it appears to be finite.

-The fine indentations in the Coq curve are related to measuring the length of coastlines.

Fractal dimension – fractals have a dimension between 2 and 3 – the ‘rougher’ the fractal, the closer it is to 3.

-Mandlebrot used computers at IBM to work out Julius sets – equations whose solutions are infinitely fed back into the same formula.

-The Mandlebrot set looks like many natural forms.

Applications of fractals:

-Complicated, unique cothing designs.

-Realistic special effects in film and video games.

-Measuring previously assumed “irregular” natural shapes and movements.

-“Bending” antennas that allows them to be smaller and more receptive.

-Analyzing patterns of blood flow to identify bundles of arteries supplying cancerous growths.

-Analyzing single trees in order to understand the carbon intake of entire forests.

Fractals in the body:

-A healthy hearbeat has a fractal structure.

-The eye tends to try to absorb information in a fractal manner.

-Balancing may be achieved with fractal movements.

Fractals in nature:

-In living things, there is a particular universal formula characterizing the fact that the more mass an organism has, the more efficiently it uses energy.

3-21-11

Mathematics in Nature

Symmetry:

Translational symmetry

-An object possesses translational symmetry if it can be translated by some distance and remain the same.

Rotational symmetry

-An object possesses rotational symmetry if it can be rotated through some angle and remain unchanged.

-Different orders based on the number of possible iterations.

Glide reflection symmetry

-An object possesses glide reflection symmetry if it can be translated by some distance and mirrored about a line or plane and remain unchanged.

Mirror symmetry

-Special instance of glide reflection, where the glide distance is zero.

3-23-11 Mathematics in Nature (cont.)

Self-similarity

-Zooming in upon a portion of the object looks similar to greater portions of the object.

-Mathematical “monsters”

-Koch curve (snowflake), Hildebrand curve (squares within squares), etc.

-These curves become near impossible to draw by hand after only a few iterations, due to decreasing scale.

3-28-11

The Butterfly Effect

-Originates from chaos theory:

-Behavior within a system that is so unpredictable that it appears to be random.

-Discovered by Edward Lorenz, who worked at MIT as a meteorologist in the 60s.

-He set up 12 equations based on Newtonian physics and fed them into computers to find patterns in weather.

-He began analyzing a weather pattern in the middle, rather than the beginning.

-He entered the data to .xxx, but the computer did the math to .xxxxxx, and there was a divergence in the results.

-From this he determined that the weather is totally random and unpredictable.

-He published the results in a meterological magazine where they sat unnoticed until the 70s.

-A sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

Characteristics of chaos mathematics:

Iteration – repeating a set of instructions over and over beginning with specific initial conditions.

-Counting from zero, the Koch curve.

Periodicity – repeating on a set interval (sine curve).

Mixing (topological) – the system will evolve over time, so that any given region of space will eventually overlap with any other region.

High Anxieties

The Mathematics of Chaos

Anxiety – fear that something awful is going to happen.

Tipping point, uncertainty, etc. words today – 50 years ago talked of controlling the weather, central planet, etc.

1885 in France.

Newtonian mathematics: clear rules of cause and effects; predictable; controllable.

Pierre Simone la Cl…asse? World could be understood as a machine.

Newton’s equations of motion and the orbits of the planets – supposed to predict where they will be at any time in the future.

Two bodies in almost identical orbits would continue in almost identical orbits.

If you know the orbit of one, you know the orbit of the other.

But…if you have three…you cannot predict/solve anything.

Henri Cayet…figured out you can’t predict if there was any difference at all.

One small tweak results in a hugely different outcome – chaos.

Math of planets same as math of artillery – believed everything was certain. World War I was one of the first signs that the world was not predictable.

Alexander G…yaponov…Russian – studying instability of fluids.

Tipping points! Push the system to see how far it can go before it changes. Rolling a ball up a hill; rolling up to a certain point up high and it can go either way. Where system changes and you can’t go back.

When smoke becomes turbulent.

Put a number to when something changes from order to chaos.

Economy believed to be a machine…thought could control it.

Climate & economy both lurched from equilibrium to chaos…the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

Dust Bowl cause – “the Plow that Broke the Land.”

Invention of computer = new icon of power, prediction, and control.

Aiming and launching the bomb…also calculating.

Predict and control the weather.

Predict and control the economy.

All through calculations.

Edward Lorenz to see if weather could be predicted…

But the starting numbers he put in were different by a tiny amount, because the computer had rounded them off.

A small flaw in one part of a car going through an assembly line.

The Butterfly Effect.

Question: how much chaos was in a system?

Turbulence caused by sensitivities to initial conditions.

The more connected things are, the more chaotic they will become. More involvement, more chaos.

Economy is a system that you must not regulate…free market.

Exponential growth cannot go on forever…someday it will break.

Flaw – all imply if carbon dioxide levels could be cut back, all will be well…Lovelock says this is silllyyy…the tipping point. We’ve gone too far.

Infinity

-Defined as boundless.

-Cantor: “Infinity is a system which has a part as big as its whole.”

-Set Theory: There are different kinds of infinity.

-> For example, imagine the infinite set of real integers; now imagine the infinite set of real even integers.

-> The even set has ½ the elements of the whole set, yet they are both infinite.

-> Not all infinities are equinumerous (same number of elements).

-The easiest way for us to imagine infinity is in terms of time (eternity), space (the universe), or divinity (God).

-We can only understand infinity in small, incomplete, rational segments.

-The nature of a segment is inherently finite.

-Everything in the human experience is inherently finite.

-Infinity is irrational.

4-11-11

Calculus

-Calculus allows us to study infinity and the infintesimal (infinitely small).

-Differential calculus

-Velocity, acceleration, etc.

-Integral calculus

-Area, volume, etc.

-Calculus allows us to imagine breaking down complex curves into an infinite number of straight, measurable lines.

-Gottfried Liebnitz and Isaac Newton simultaneously came up with modern calculus in the 1700s.

Archimedes (ancient Greece)

-Thought about the ideas of calculus, but didn’t have the tools to work them out.

-No Cartesian coordinate system, no algebra, no variables.

-Zeno dealt with this too in his dichotomies.

-He was the first to discover and approximate Pi.

-He devised the Archemedian solids – complex shapes composed of regular polygons.

-Wrote “The Method”, but it was lost to history.

-Many of the problems Archimedes had already worked out were discovered anew during the Renaissance.

-The only copy known to be in existence was reused to form a prayer book (the palimsest).

4-13-11 Archimedes (continued)

-Used a system of scales to calculate that the volume of a sphere is equivalent to 2/3 the volume of the cylinder which encloses it.

-His ideas of an infinite series of slicing is the forerunner of calculus.

-With the outbreak of WWI, the palimsest of Archimedes was lost.

-A British scholar discovered one loose page of the palimsest in a library, probably stolen by another in hopes of further studying it.

-Examining the single page with an infrared lamp revealed some parts which had been indiscernible before.

-A family in Paris contacted officials revealing that they had the manuscript the whole time it was believed lost.

-A billionaire purchased the manuscript for $2 million.

-He allowed William Noal to examine the manuscript – it was in really awful condition.

-Someone had spent time creating forged medieval images over top of Archimede’s writings, presumably to increase its monetary value.

-In some places the text is entirely obscured.

-For the first time, Archimedes drawings and diagrams were recorded and studied.

-He devised a method to measure a slice of a form and find the volume by combining an infinity of these slices.

4-25-11

Eastern Mathematics

The Great Wall of China

-Created using a system of mathematics which utilized counting rods in a decimal system.

-The first culture to use a decimal system; used only during calculation.

-A more elaborate character system was used when not calculating.

-No symbol for zero; a blank space was used as zero.

->Problems arose in writing down numbers in a decimal format with no zero.

-Mysticism

-Odd, male, even, female.

-Four, unlucky, eight, good fortune.

-The magic square

-A 3x3 matrix where all rows and columns each add up to the same sum (15).

-More and more magic squares were created.

-The Chinese Emperor lived according to astronomical ideas, calculated with mathematics.

-Advanced Chinese culture and bureacracy was supported by a regular system of mathematics.

-Utilized math in solving practical equations; algebraic equations in this form didn’t exist in the West until the 19^th century.

-Chinese remainder theorem

-Finding the amount of something, given the remainder and a given divisor.

Indian Mathematics

-India gave us the base for our modern numerals, using a place value decimal system.

-The number zero

-The earliest use dates from the 9^th century, in India.

-In other cultures, zeroes had only been used as placeholders.

-India turned zero into a functionable number.

-The idea of nothingness is crucial to Indian religious beliefs, so it makes sense that they would come up with zero.

-By working equations with zero, there naturally developed an idea of negative numbers.

-The idea of negative numbers led to the discovery that quadratic equations have two solutions – one positive, and one negative.

-Additionally, the placeholders of variables were developed.

Trigonometry

-Translates geometry into numbers and vice versa, based on right angle triangles.

-Sine functions.

-Many practical applications, particularly in astronomy and navigations.

Fibonacci Sequence

-Discovered attempting to understand the mating habits of rabbits.