SCIENCE – Page 12 – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

UNNATURAL CAUSES

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Unnatural Causes

By Dr. Richard Shepard

Narrated by Dr. Richard Shepard

Dr. Richard Shepard (Author, UK Pathologist who investigated many celebrity deaths including Princess Diana.)

Dr. Richard Shepard is an English forensic pathologist. In a cathartic examination of his profession, Shepard reveals how obsessiveness is a boon and bane in life. From youth to late middle age, Shepard reflects on his life.

In “Unnatural Causes”, Shepard examines the causes of others’ death. With ever-present foreshadowing, a listener recognizes a man who is going to experience a mid-life crisis.

In Shepard’s dissection of life, many male listeners will see their own narcissistic lives. The expense of self-absorption is delusion, and often divorce. For a male obsessed with a career, the cost of delusion is a crisis of personal identity.

The cost of divorce is different for men than for women. The biggest cost of divorce is paid by a wife. She not only loses a part of her identity; she loses the security of family, friends, and most often family income.

Shepard does not overtly acknowledge the inequity of divorce, but one senses his feeling of guilt.

The personal part of Shepard’s story is a sad commentary on relationship between men and women in the modern world. It is a picture of many men who grow old with their first wife and abandon them when youth has been spent.

The primary purpose of Shepard’s book is not to explain men’s narcissism but to explore the profession of forensic science

There is no question that Shepard’s experience qualifies him as an expert in the field. From terrorist events in England and 9/11 in the U.S. to the death of Princess Diana, Shepard practices his profession as a revered and respected pathologist. He explains his obsession for “cause for death” from childhood.

Having lost his mother at an early age, her absence motivates Shepard to understand what causes death. Though unsure of himself when he first encounters dissection of a human being, Shepard notes how curiosity shuts out any discomforting feelings in cutting and examining internal organs of a human corpse. His focus is on finding the true cause of death.

In the course of Shepard’s career, his search for “cause of death” is found to be difficult, but not because of death’s pathology.

Shepard explains how political pressure from the public, the police, and the judicial system influences diagnosis of death. The public may want to know the “cause of death” because of preconceived notions. The police may want to know the “cause of death: because of their perception of someone’s guilt or innocence. The judicial system may want “cause of death” based on witnesses for the defense or prosecution. To Shepard, what someone wants is not relevant. Only the truth is relevant.

Shepard’s conviction that truth is all that matters leads to a professional crisis.

A less than reputable couple lose their child to what Shepard concludes is SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Based on Shepard’s diagnosis, the couple is set free. Years later, the couple has another child. Both parents are alcoholics according to reports given in Shepard’s account of the case. Years after Shepard’s SIDS determination, a second pathologists reviews the record and finds what he believes to have been child abuse. The court agrees with the new pathologist and the child is taken from the parents. Shepard is brought before a board of inquiry to determine whether he should keep his license.

Shepard’s book is worthy of a listener’s time to find out what the board of inquiry decides. Both the personal and public crises Shepard faces will resonate with anyone who has obsessively pursued a career and had his/her personal integrity challenged.

There is a poignant relationship between Shepard’s story and the grilling of Amy Coney Barrett’s pursuit of a seat on the Supreme Court.

Her truth is not everyone’s truth. To challenge her belief in the role of a justice of the Supreme Court places her squarely in Shepard’s story of judgement by a board of inquiry.

There is the added benefit of hearing how “inequality of the sexes” is a deeply rooted social phenomena.

FAUSTIAN BARGAIN

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe

By George Dyson

Narrated by Arthur Morey

George Dyson (American author, historian of technology.)

The beginning of one of many Faustian bargains between government and science is revealed in George Dyson’s book, “Turing’s Cathedral”. Dyson reveals the genius of Alan Turing and other contributors to the computer age.

Alan Turing (Mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist.)

John von Neumann (1903-1957) A Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, and polymath, joins the American military/industrial complex before it became known as the “complex”.

Calculations for ordinance trajectory and explosive impact became increasingly important during WWII.

George Dyson’s book recounts the confluence of military might and computer invention. The military wants more accurate estimates of ordinance trajectory and damage to improve murder rate. Manual calculation was too slow and prone to error.

With government backing, von Neumann is midwife to the birth of the computer generation. Presuming von Neumann knew of Alan Turing’s 1936 paper on mathematical logic, he wrote a paper about a universal computing machine. Hired by the government to improve the accuracy of military ordinance, von Neumann works with Oswald Veblen at the Moore School of Engineering in Philadelphia. Von Neumann, and Veblen expand a math and engineering department that changes the world.

To the right is the Moore School of Engineering in Philadelphia–The fruit of the new department’s labor is a vacuum-tube, wire bound, contraption called ENIAC.

Before Eniac, human calculations could not efficiently or effectively determine the course of a flying howitzer shell, or the measured impact of a flying-fortress’ bomb. What the military needed was a better calculating tool than the single human brain.

John Mauchly (left) J. Presper Eckert (right)–Mauchly and Eckert were the inventors of the first universal computing machine at the Moore School of Engineering.

(There is a controversy over who created the architecture for this machine because von Neumann came to the Moore School of Engineering after Mauchly and Eckert had already begun work on ENIAC.)

Though this is an historical account of the invention and consequence of computer manufacture, listening to “Turing’s Cathedral” seduces one into seeing war and the military as a primary source of technological advance. Science is shown to advance from growth of the military/industrial complex and the destruction of war.

Rocket science grows from Hitler’s pummeling of London during WWII. Nuclear science grows from Truman’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Space exploration grows from a moon shot heavily subsidized by the Kennedy administration. In the foreseeable future, government’ satellite and cyber research grows from late twentieth century advances in software development.

What strikes one’s imagination is how critical government expenditure, particularly the military, is to R and D (research and development) in science.

Interestingly, the requested budget for R and D in 2019 is reduced to $131 billion.

(President Trump is intent on building a wall between Mexico and the U.S.; i.e. not unlike Hadrian’s wall, a first century method of defense. Not what one would call a technological advance.)

One wonders if the computer would ever have been invented without the advance of a horrendously destructive war. At the very least, war accelerated the invention of the computer generation.

The innate brilliance of Philadelphia’s Moore School mathematicians creates more efficient and effective methods of mass murder. One might argue that the Moore School opened a Pandora’s box. Turing’s, von Neumann’s, Mauchly’s, and Eckert’s theories and inventions open a door to artificial intelligence; i.e. an intelligence beyond human understanding that may improve or destroy humanity.

The first hydrogen bomb explodes in 1952. According to Dyson, one person is killed while monitoring the explosion. He is the first victim of the hydrogen bomb that is 50 times more destructive than the bombs that fell on Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

One wonders, without government, without the military, and sadly, without war, would humankind have reached into the universe in the 1960s?

This is an important book, somewhat difficult to track because of its non-linear presentation, but a valuable insight to a giant step in the history of science.

A monumental gap in George Dyson’s presentation of “Touring’s Cathedral” is the effect of the internet and its ability to disseminate information throughout the world with a click.

Instant communication changes the dynamics of society. The computer age and internet offer a platform to rally the best and worst of society.

One cannot help but be troubled by the source of mankind’s twentieth century leaps in scientific discovery. So many scientific advances seem closely tied to perfection and invention of potential weapons of mass destruction. Dyson inadvertently makes a case for war and the military’s efficacy as an engine of science.

“Turing’s Cathedral” opens a door to artificial intelligence, a two edged sword that can defend or destroy humanity. With the internet, the sword is sharpened.

Parallel Worlds

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Parallel Worlds
By Michio Kaku
Narrated by Marc Vietor

Michio Kaku (American physicist, author, professor)

Michio Kaku valiantly tilts Don Quixote’s lance at physics in writing “Parallel Worlds”. The fictional Quixote quests for knowledge as a knight errant. Michao Kaku pursues knowledge as a renowned physicist. Time will tell if Kaku is a errant physicist or a clarion of knowledge.

This is a book about Physics, the baffling science of mathematics, and those who wish to understand why Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Michael Green, and Ed Schwarz et al are important to all of us who are confused.

In spite of the abstruse subject, Kaku reveals some understandable break through discoveries in cosmology, and mankind’s pursuit of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is a unified field theory that explains everything there is to know about matter and energy in one combinatoric theory.

Physicists continue to search for a theory that will explain how electromagnetic, gravitational, weak, and strong forces follow one fundamental rule of existence.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity, implies predictability. Quantum mechanics exclusively relies on probability. How can these two fundamentally different rules be made into one theory?

Contrary to Einstein’s belief that “God does not play with dice”, God lives in Las Vegas.

On a subatomic level, repeatable experiments show that it is impossible to predict the exact position of an electron. With measurement of either position or energy of an electron, its location or power is changed. Electron movement is unpredictable by any known criteria of measurement.

Experimental proof of a theory demands measurement; without measurement, there is no proof. For example, one reason “string theory” is unproven is that the dimension of strings is too minuscule. Technology has not advanced enough for experimental proof. It does not make the theory wrong. It’s simply not experimentally provable.

The God question inevitably raises its head in sciences’ pursuit of a unified field theory. However, putting philosophical discussion aside, Kaku tells the story of Einstein’s unsuccessful pursuit of a unified field theory.

Einstein refuted some of Newton’s laws. Bohr refuted some of Einstein’s speculation. Their research leads to discoveries that only a science fiction writer could conceive. Bohr introduces quantum mechanics to Einstein’s discovery of the interchangeability of energy and mass.

With science pursuing the universe’s origin and its component makeup, only telescopes like Hubble and CERN’s Hadron collider in Europe have made any progress in identifying dark matter or energy.

Smaller and smaller elements of matter and energy are discovered by scientists, but an estimated 75% of the known components of the world are unknown. Dark matter and dark energy make up that 75%. (Discovery of Higgs-bosun in 2012 is the most recent addition to component knowledge.)

Another hope of discovering a UFT in theoretical physics is Ed Schwarz’s and Michael Green’s string theory postulation.

Schwarz’s and Green’s theory provides a more inclusive categorization of the basic elements of the world. Kaku describes string theory in terms of a stringed instrument that changes the character of matter by shortening or lengthening strings.

Just as Einstein’s theory of the curvature of space-time is not proven until Stanley Eddington’s measurement of an eclipse in 1919,
Swartz and Green wait for technology to catch up. String theory waits for another Eddington.

When the strings are plucked they resonate at different frequencies. That change in vibration changes the elemental nature of the particle even though the string is fundamentally the same.

String theory, if it proves correct, opens many doors in the sub-microscopic world. It opens to the speculation of possible parallel worlds. Kaku overwhelms listeners with the potential of a scientifically verifiable unified field theory. He suggests the possibility of time travel and space exploration through black holes and white holes.

“Parallel Worlds” ends its exploration of physics with notes of caution and optimism about our world’s progress. The book is semi-understandable (possibly, horribly misleading) but worth reading.

BIG QUESTIONS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Brief Answers to the Big Questions

By Stephen Hawking, Eddie Redmayne-foreword, Lucy Hawking-afterword

Narrated by Ben Whishaw

Stephen Hawking (English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author)

“Big Answers to Big Questions” is Stephen Hawking’s last book. It is posthumously compiled by others.

Though many books have been written by Hawking, none are as popular as “A Brief History of Time”. However, this compilation of Hawking’s thoughts deserves equal, if not greater, popularity. It is simpler to understand and addresses a wider range of subjects that puzzle human beings.

“Brief Answers…” does not definitively answer the questions that are raised. It does offer a perspective from a person that is one of the great minds of modern science.

Karl Popper’s dictum is that “He who decides one day that scientific statements do not call for any further test…retires from the game.” By that criteria, Hawking’s “Brief answers…” can only be right or wrong. Even Einstein’s theories are still being tested.

What is the origin of life?

Hawking’s answer is the “Big Bang”. The origin of life begins with the “Big Bang”, a somewhat pejorative term that describes a black hole. This black mass is formed from a consolidation of gaseous and fragmented material that compresses to a point smaller than a pea.

Is there an explanation for something being created from nothing?

Hawking’s answer is related to the theory of the “big bang”. Time did not exist before the big-bang. The arrow of time is created by the instantaneous expansion of our universe’s compressed black hole. Hawking argues before time there is nothing. The creation of this world came from the physics of compression and its consequence; i.e. inflation, the instantaneous expansion of a black hole.

From that tiny spot in the cosmos, Hawking argues a universe is born. This minute point of compression is postulated by Hawking to expand instantaneously (termed cosmic inflation).

In accordance with Einstein’s law of physics, mass and energy are equivalent and cannot be destroyed. Instantaneous inflation is a changed form of energy and mass with space being its primary constituent. That instantaneous expansion of a black hole made the universe. This universe is made of many galaxies (estimated to be between 200 billion and 2 trillion); of which we are only one, called the Milky Way.

From the big bang, the elements of life are formed. Hawking explains chemical interactions from the explosion lead to the first carbon-based life’ forms. That combination of chemicals evolves into plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria.

Is the only explanation for the existence of earth an omniscient and omnipresent God?

The “big bang” is Hawking’s answer; without insisting that there is no God. Hawking’s argument is founded on science that offers a plausible alternative explanation.

What are the greatest threats to life on earth? Hawking notes four. One, nuclear war; two, global warming; three over-population, and four—an asteroid collision with earth.

Not surprising to some, Hawking suggests the first two are accelerated by the election of Donald Trump. The third and fourth are another matter.

Does life exist on other planets?

Hawking believes it is probable. However, he believes it unlikely to be humanoid. He suggests the evolution of humankind is a confluence of serendipitous circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated.

How will human beings survive on a world with diminishing resources?

Hawking believes human survival depends on habitation of other planets.
He argues that the same thing that motivated Columbus to find a new continent motivates humankind to journey into space.

Through a combination of curiosity (born partly of greed for wealth and power in my opinion) and necessity, explorers expanded their domains. Hawking suggests the same holds true today.

Will humankind visit other solar systems?

Hawking explains the limitations and problems of space travel and habitation. The distances involved in finding a planet like earth are currently too great.

Planets in other solar systems are not reachable with the energy limitations of current propulsion technology. Long distance space travel is not insurmountable, but presently it is beyond the capability of experimental science.

Hawking argues that funding for space travel research needs to be increased. Planets and moons in our solar system will require elaborate survival systems to deal with a lack of water, harsh climate, and unbreathable air. However, planets like Mars offer some refuge based on technological innovation.

Will a law of nature that explains everything about everything be discovered?

Hawking believes someone will find a theory that combines quantum theory with the special theory of relativity. The present state of science suggests “God does play dice”, contrary Albert Einstein’s belief. What remains unknown is how the theory of a causal world can be the same as a probabilistic world. Hawking believes the melding of quantum theory and Einstein’s theory will be the answer to the puzzle of existence.

Is Artificial Intelligence a danger to humankind?

Hawking argues that A.I. is potentially dangerous, but also a possible boon to humankind. He believes A.I. will exceed the capability of human reasoning. Hawking argues human beings must responsibly limit actions taken by A.I. that might be detrimental to humankind.

With the advance of genetic engineering (like Crispr), Hawking argues the human genome will be modified. That modification may involve A.I. in ways that enhance human capability. On the other hand, it may destroy human consciousness (whatever that is).

Hawking explains a dire prediction for A.I. is its potential to improve itself at the expense of humans.

Despite the four possible causes for human extinction, Hawking believes the more likely cause of human extinction will be an asteroid collision with earth. Humans, like the dinosaurs, will die in a bang, rather than a whimper.

There are other interesting thoughts from Hawking but a final question is–what discovery, in Hawking’s opinion, would be the most valuable to the world? What discovery would hold the most promise?

Hawking suggests the world’s energy and environmental problems can be addressed by one discovery. The discovery of a method for creating energy from nuclear fusion. Such a discovery would diminish degradation of our environment and improve the odds for interstellar travel.

RELATIVITY

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

A Brief History of Time

By Stephen Hawking

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Narrated by Michael Jackson

Stephen Hawking (English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author)

In Physics time, this is an old book because it dates before the year 2000. However, it remains a fairly good layman’s overview of the state of physics.

This surprise bestseller is not easy to understand in spite of its brevity and avoidance of mathematics. Without additional reading, “A Brief History of Time” is less intelligible than more recent “physics for the laymen” books (see previous reviews).

Hawking describes the relativity of time, black holes, the big bang theory, God, and string theory (the most current research subject involving unified field theory).

An interesting and revealing observation in Hawking’s book is a comment about the lack of philosophical perspective in the field of Physics. Hawking suggests that philosophers choose not to examine theories of physics because of the abstruse and specialized nature of the research that make it difficult for outsiders to understand. There is some truth in that observation but one can read Will Durant’s 1929 edition of “The Mansions of Philosophy” or his revision (“The Pleasures of Philosophy”) in 1953 and see that Durant believed philosophy was in decline long before specialized research in physics.

WILLIAM AND ARIEL DURANT (HISTORIANS, WRITERS, AND TEACHERS OF PHILOSOPHY)

Hawking explains that time is not a constant measurement for all observers. Time is relative. Depending on one person’s speed of travel, his measurement of time is different from another person’s measurement of time if the other person is traveling at a different speed. The theory suggests that time travel is possible if man can travel at speeds nearing the speed of light.

Black holes are high density, gravitational points in the universe that are so powerful that anything within their grasp (their event horizons) will be sucked into their maws, never to be seen again. The belief is that black holes (though not actually black) come from imploding stars; i.e. stars that have lost their source of nuclear reaction that become so dense that their force of gravitation draws anything near them into their mass.

Hawking believes time began when our universe exploded from a single point in the cosmos. Before the big bang, there was no concept of time. Our universe is expanding from that singular event and will do one of three things. It will continue to expand, it will expand to a point and than contract, or it will reach a point of stasis.

The question of the existence of God is raised and unresolved.

The quest for a unified field theory is a physics journey that began with Newton and progressed through Einstein and Dirac. The search continues, passing to future generations. Finding a unified field theory, in Hawking’s opinion, would be like reading the mind of God.

SKEPTIC

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Believing Brain

By Michael Shermer

Narrated by Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer (Author, American science writer, editor of the magazine Skeptic.)

Michael Shermer is an academic psychologist, writer, myth buster, and faith breaker. Shermer characterizes himself as a religious skeptic. His underlying skepticism about God is grounded in 1.) prayer’s failure to cure the incurable, 2.) the nature and history of recorded life, and 3.) scientific studies of brain function.

Shermer writes of personal prayers’ failure to heal a medically un-heal-able friend. He recounts common sectarian stories that occur in the history of different religions in the world suggesting that stories of religious belief are genetically imprinted; i.e. a condition of human memes rather than proof of God.

Sherman has company in that belief. Richard Dawkins wrote The Selfish Gene to make the same mimetic point.

RICHARD DAWKINS (ENGLISH ETHOLOGIST AND EVOLUIONARY BIOLOGIST WHO INFERS A GENE MAY BE THE SOURCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS)

Shermer reviews brain function studies that confirm neurological causes for “out of body experience”, “voices from the unseen”, alien abduction, white light cognition during near death experience, and other anecdotes that mythologize the existence of other beings, God , the devil, and/or an “after life”.

The Believing Brain characterizes belief in God as a genetically evolved faith-based myth. Shermer cites science and history to deny God’s existence. Shermer believes faith in God comes from a genetic predisposition of human beings to complete causal, mythological stories to explain unexplained phenomena.

Aside from Shermer’s disbelief in God, his most substantive observations are the experimentally reproducible studies that clearly demonstrate man’s ability to invent stories, deny physical reality, and act in socially reprehensible ways.

Shermer notes how such things as framing an idea distorts human cognition. Scientific studies show that human cognition is proven to be biased by a person’s belief system. Shermer cites B. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning and the famous Milgram obedience experiments to show how human perception, and more consequentially, behavior are manipulated by human instinct and contextual bias.

**It is no wonder that “eyewitness” accounts of crime are being discounted as a source for conviction of presumed perpetrators.**

The foundation of Shermer’s skepticism is what he calls “patternicity” and “agenticity”. “Patternicity” is the human compulsion to see causal relationship in the physical world.

“The Believing Brain” outlines a psychological inclination of human brains to manufacture causal patterns and agents (“agenticity”) to support predetermined beliefs.

The irony of Shermer’s analysis of brain function is that “patternicity” is an essential tool of the scientific community.

Without the use of “patternicity”, how would Bohr, Einstein, or Paul Dirac have advanced the world of physics? These men believed something before science could prove them right. They had faith in their own judgement when experiment could not prove their point.

Shermer notes that science is the key to knowledge. Science requires experimentally reproducible results. When experimental results are not the same, knowledge escapes. Experiment recently confirmed existence of the Higgs Boson 16 years after François Englert and Peter Higgs created the theory.

One must presume Shermer chooses to call himself a skeptic because—when asked if he believes in God, no experiment can be done to confirm or deny existence.

PHYSICS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.com

The Elegant Universe
By Brian Greene

Narrated by Erik Davies

Brian Greene (Author, American Theoretical Physicist)

Who cares about physics?

If the world is orderly and predictable, physics is the key to that orderliness and predictability; the key to our future. (Knowing what E = mc² reminds us of the importance of understanding physics.)

A unified field theory has been the goal of physicist’s since Einstein’s break through discovery of the equivalence of mass and energy. Brian Greene excites a listener’s appreciation of string theory and its potential for becoming the basis for a unified field theory.

Greene is a theoretical physicist that helps bridge the gap between sciences’ understanding of the universe and an uninformed public. He links analogy with obscure conceptual physics. Many concepts addressed by Greene remain obscure (“Calabi-Yau manifolds” for example) despite his valiant effort to analogize his way to our understanding. But, “The Elegant Universe” does open doors for a non-physicist’s understanding.

Greene explores the theory that elemental particles are made up of strings that vibrate at different frequencies. Those vibrations determine the elemental nature of particles that make up the world; one string can become different particles based on the frequency of its vibration. These strings move through out the galaxy to make all we see and think we know of the universe.

“The Elegant Universe” unfolds the concept of vibrating strings. The concept, of course, is called “string theory”. With this theory, quantum mechanics becomes a verifiable structure for physics; something that Einstein could not accept in his life time.

Conceptually, strings make up all matter and energy and have characteristics that maintain and repair the fabric of space. String theory has the potential of explaining how the universe works. Quantum mechanics, ideas of equivalence (energy and mass), duality, symmetry and super symmetry are explored by Greene in “The Elegant Universe”.

The truth of string theory either obviates or combines the reality of space, time, and dimension. However, the future of string theory rests on experimental observance and measurement.

Advances in string theory demand predictability and comprehensibility. The problem is that these “strings” are so small, they cannot be measured with current technology. Without measurement, the theory cannot be tested. Without tests, the theory can only be a theory.

Of course, that was true at the time of Einstein’s theory of the equivalence of energy and matter. Since Einstein’s discovery, atomic energy and atomic bombs have proven his theory’s validity. Not so, at least yet, for “string theory”.

There are significant objections to this avenue of research by fellow scientists like Richard Feynman (now deceased), and Lee Smolin. Smolin believes “String Theory” is blunting sciences’ effort to find a more plausible explanation of the nature of the universe.

Unraveling nature’s mysteries may or may not be accomplished with this exploration but string theory has the potential of being the greatest discovery since Newton’s theory of gravity and/or Einstein’s theory of relativity.

ENTANGLEMENT

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough
(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Age of Entanglement
By Louisa Gilder

Narrated by Walter Dixon

LOUISA GILDER (AMERICAN AUTHOR)
Louisa Gilder, in her first published book, offers a layman’s look at the science of quantum entanglement.

In the mind of a three-year-old, string can become tangled. String theory and The Age of Entanglement must have a relationship, right?

Physics is presently a mathematician’s art as much as science, particularly with the advent of quantum theory. As a non-mathematician, science’s pursuit of physics is fascinating because it tickles imagination. It offers insight to the mystery of how we got here, who we are, and where we are going.

Physics, pre- and post- Einstein, is a pursuit for the keys to the universe. Einstein’s “E=MC Squared” is a turning point. It focuses attention on unified field theory, the thought that there is a single formula that explains everything about everything.

Physics progresses from particles to waves to strings in its effort to unravel the key to the door of beginnings and endings. “The Age of Entanglement” brings a listener to 2006 without explaining how string theory relates to entanglement when they seem to have some important relationship. Gilder chooses not to include string theory (postulated in 1986 by Green and Schwarz) in her exploration of entanglement.

Nobel Prize winners in physics 2022.

Aside from that gripe, this is an enjoyable exploration of the world of physics; its theorists and experimentalists. The exploration is made better by the quality of Walter Dixon’s narration. Gilder cleverly delves into correspondence between physics legends–Einstein, Bohr, and later, John Bell and his contemporaries.

JOHN STEWART BELL (ENGLISH PHYSICIST 1928-1990) Even though Bell is not Einstein’s and Bohr’s contemporary, Bell is a critical change agent in the on-going argument begun by Einstein and Bohr about Quantum Theory. Bell changes quantum theory argument from a question of “if” to a question of “how” Quantum Theory is a valid construct of Physics.

Gilder reveals the humanness of the scientific community. She exposes the frustration and joy of discovery among scientists that think about the unknown and experiment with the unseen. The Age of Entanglement reveals the tensions that are created by strong beliefs and the utter devastation and human depression caused when beliefs are refuted by reproducible experiment.

Along the way Gilder offers a definition of entanglement; i.e. the idea that one minute quanta of existence affects other faraway elements of existence.

THE QUEST TO DEFINE QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT

CONSCIOUSNESS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False

mind and cosmos

By: Thomas Nagel

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

THOMAS NAGEL (AMERICAN AUTHOR, PROFESSOR NEW YORK UNIVERSITY)

Thomas Nagel believes Darwin’s theory of natural selection is wrong. Nagel suggests natural selection fails to encompass the concept of mind. Even though Nagel acknowledges biology and physics have made great strides in understanding the nature of life, he suggests the mind should be a starting point for a theory of everything. Nagel infers that science research is bogged down by a mechanistic view of nature. Nagel suggests science must discover the origin of consciousness to find the Holy Grail; i.e. an all-encompassing theory of nature.

CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882) FOUNDER OF THE THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

Nagel does not believe Darwinian evolution can explain consciousness. Nagel offers a sliver of hope to believers in God as the Creator but, as an atheist, he suggests there is a teleological (an account of a given thing’s end or purpose) explanation for consciousness that is yet to be discovered. In that discovery, he believes there will be a theory of everything that encompasses the true nature of life.

Nagel acknowledges God may be the answer but places that idea near the level of space aliens leaving seeds of life on earth. He argues that discovery of the origin of consciousness through science will be the key to open the door to a theory of everything. Like Einstein and Newton, Nagel believes humans live in a world of cause and effect. But, like Newtonian’ physics failure to encompass the universe’s laws of motion, and Einstein’s belief that God does not play with dice, Nagel believes Darwin’s concept of natural selection is, at best, incomplete. (Both Newton and Einstein failed to incorporate laws of quantum mechanics in their respective theories of nature.) consciousness

Without agreeing or disagreeing with Nagel’s idea, it seems propitious for the United States to fund and begin their decade-long effort to examine the human brain. A giant step forward was taken by President Obama but Trump’s anti-science mentality suggests Nagel’s idea will not be explored during Trump’s administration.

OBAMA BRAIN INITITIVE IN 2014 ($300 MILLION DOLLAR FOR R&D ON NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTION) — OBAMA BRAIN INITIATIVE IN 2014 ($300 MILLION DOLLAR FOR NEUROLOGICAL R&D–Trump’s anti-science mentality suggests Nagel’s idea will not be explored during Trump’s administration.)

Though nearer term objectives are to understand Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the longer term result may be to discover the origin of consciousness. Contrary to Nagel’s contention that natural selection cannot explain consciousness, brain research may reveal consciousness rises from the same source of mysterious elemental and repetitive combinations of an immortal gene that Darwin dimly understood. Brain research offers an avenue for extension or refutation of Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

Mind and Cosmos is a tribute to Nagel’s “outside the box” philosophical’ thought. Like some who say string theory is a blind alley for a theory of everything, natural selection may be a mistaken road to the origin of life.

42 or 37?

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Written by: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths

Narrated by: Brian Christian

BRIAN CHRISTIAN (CO-AUTHOR, WRITER OF NONFICTION, SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY)

TOM GRIFFITHS (CO-AUTHOR, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE UC BERKLEY)

“A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” explains that the ultimate answer to the meaning of life is 42; however, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths tell us it is 37 in “Algorithms to Live By”.

Griffiths and Christian argue that if you want to have an optimum answer to a complex question, it will take 37% of an allotted amount of time to study the known and unknown details of a question to come up with an optimum answer. Keep in mind, this is not a perfect answer but a probabilistic optimum answer; i.e. an answer based on what is known and unknown.

CHRISTIAN AND GRIFFITHS INFER THE COMPLEXITY OF LIFE MAKES ANSWERS TO LIFE’S MEANING LIMITED.

Christian and Griffiths outline what they argue is an explanation of human decision-making. The implication of their conclusion suggests AI is unlikely to improve human cognition because it only adds information to complex human questions.

If you sit at a poker table for three hours, the first hour should be used to gather information about your competition. You will never know everything you need to know to win a hand of poker. But, you will improve your chances of winning by taking slightly more than 1/3^rd of your time gathering information about the way your competitors play. This is a simplistic way of looking at Christian’ and Griffiths’ explanation of human decision-making.

The authors identify the discoverer of this algorithm as Merrill Flood, an American mathematician who, with Melvin Dresher, came up with the Prisoner’s dilemma, a model of cooperation and conflict.

MERRILL FLOOD (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST FOR RAND IN 1950, ALONG WITH MERRILL FLOOD FRAMED THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA GAME THEORY)

MERRILL FLOOD (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST FOR RAND IN 1950, ALONG WITH MERRILL FLOOD FRAMED THE PRISONER'S DELEMMA GAME THEORY)

MELVIN DRESHER (POLISH BORN AMERICAN MATHEMATICIAN, INVENTED TYHEORETICAL MODEL OF COPOPERATION AND CONFLICT)

MELVIN DRESHER (POLISH BORN AMERICAN MATHEMATICIAN, INVENTED THEORETICAL MODEL OF COOPERATION AND CONFLICT.)

Everyone loses in “The Prisoner’s Dilemma”. Christian and Griffiiths note the game can be changed by one variable. The example given is the introduction of a Mafia leader that says anyone who rats on another will be murdered. The introduction of this new variable changes the probability of either robber ratting on the other.

The Prisoner’s Dilemma” is the story of two robbers that are placed in separate cells, interrogated independently, and offered a shorter sentence if one rats on the other. The prosecutor does not have enough evidence for conviction without one ratting on the other. If both robbers rat on each other, they will serve the same sentence. If only one rats on the other, he/she gets a shorter sentence. If neither robber rats on the other, the robbers are convicted on a lesser charge.

The 37% factor offers truth but fails to give much comfort to one seeking knowledge about life. It reminds one of the funny idea suggested by “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” with the number 42. The authors suggest 37% is considerably better than knowing nothing but they imply the complexity of life makes outcomes entirely probabilistic. One presumes–the more you know, the better your decisions will be. Christian and Griffith disagree with that presumption. They suggest too much information skews the probability of truth.

CHRISTIAN AND GRIFFITH INFER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL OFFER NO BETTER DECISION MAKING CAPABILITY THAN HUMANS.

With computers and the internet, one would think truth would be easier to find. Christian and Griffith suggest computers only offer added complexity; not truth. They argue computers are only tools for revealing complexity.

Christian and Griffith suggest 37% is the best one can do in getting to the truth. The authors suggest there is a point of diminishing return with more information; i.e. too many accumulated facts distort the truth and take one farther away from a 37% probability. A recent example is statistical sampling concluding Hillary Clinton would be the next President of the United States.

A 37% BOUNDARY FOR ANSWERS TO THE MEANING OF LIFE

There is much more in Christian and Griffiths exploration of algorithms, but it is disheartening to think human search for truth is constrained by a 37% information boundary. A logical extension of their argument is that artificial intelligence is as likely to mislead humanity as human intelligence. The authors argue–the nature of AI only increases information for answers to complex questions. By adding too much information, more facts are known with less chance of knowing the truth.

This is an enlightening exploration of the world of algorithms and computer science. On the one hand, it suggests human intuition is highly valuable; on the other, the authors explain it is unwise to rely on instinct alone. Christian and Griffiths explain life decisions, even with complex computer driven algorithms are less; not more likely to be correct.

Some useful tools for life’s management are explained but there is a ring of truthiness in Griffiths’ and Christian’s conclusions. Of course, at best, this review shows only a 37% chance of being true.

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THE QUEST TO DEFINE QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT

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