Raymond Kurzweil makes a fascinating observation: “Computers are about one hundred million times more powerful for the same unit cost than they were a half century ago. If the automobile industry had made as much progress in the past fifty years, a car today would cost a hundredth of a cent and go faster than… Continue reading Hello, Silicon; Goodbye, Carbon
Month: April 2023
Whitehead’s Use of Chiasmus in “Process and Reality”
“Ask not what your country can do for you,ask what you can do for your country.” That sentence, spoken by President John Kennedy in a famous speech, is a good example of chiasmus, a rhetorical figure that reverses the terms of the two clauses that make up a sentence, or a part of a sentence.… Continue reading Whitehead’s Use of Chiasmus in “Process and Reality”
Knot So Simple: Self-Interfering Patterns
Just what is reality, and what makes for a good model of reality? One model that offers both clarity and simplicity and, upon reflection, turns out to be most satisfying, was used by Buckminster Fuller in one public lecture after another as he toured cities all over the world speaking to audiences about his new… Continue reading Knot So Simple: Self-Interfering Patterns
Meta-Fours
Along with three and seven, four is a richly symbolic and mythic number that seems to turn up all over the place: four elements, four seasons, four directions, four dimensions (in our universe), DNA and RNA both have four bases . . . the list is long. The number “four” figures prominently and frequently in… Continue reading Meta-Fours
Goethe’s Process Poem
Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible, which first appeared in 1534, renders Job 9:11 as follows: Siehe, er geht an mir vorüber, ehe ich’s gewahr werde, und wandelt vorbei, ehe ich’s merke. Lo, He passes by me before I am aware of it, and is transformed before I can take note of it. The German verb wandelt, meaning “to change,” or… Continue reading Goethe’s Process Poem
Charles Hartshorne’s Entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion
Charles Hartshorne has 34 entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion, the reference book edited by Vergilius Ferm. Some of the entries, such as the one on “cause” that runs over 2,000 words, qualify as mini-essays. One of my favorites, “God, as personal,” stands out as a model of clarity. All are characterized by Hartshorne’s buoyant… Continue reading Charles Hartshorne’s Entries in The Encyclopedia of Religion
The Prosaic Fallacy
Everyone has heard about the pathetic fallacy, but there is another fallacy, the exact opposite of the pathetic, that is of far more importance. This fallacy, which was first named and analyzed by Charles Hartshorne, is called the prosaic fallacy. Science tends to cast a cold eye on life and the world of nature, and… Continue reading The Prosaic Fallacy
The Greek Letter Chi Illuminates the Way
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. That verse (Matthew 19:30) is a good example of chiasmus, a rhetorical figure that reverses the terms of the two clauses that make up a sentence, or a part of a sentence. Chiasmus is thus a linguistic twist or turn that… Continue reading The Greek Letter Chi Illuminates the Way
A Koan To Lift You Up, Up and Away
For your contemplation—a “koan” by the writer and Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault: The kingdom of heaven is not later,it is lighter . . . And this by Peter Matthiesssen: “like that waterfall on the upper Suli Gadthat turns to mist before touching the earthand rises once again into the sky.” The Snow Leopard, p. 176… Continue reading A Koan To Lift You Up, Up and Away
Dōgen: Expressing the Inexpressible
“The reason of words and letters” is a translation of monji no dori,1 a central concept in the thought of Eihei Dōgen, the great Zen master who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan. The power of language, to facilitate realization, is made explicit in the following sentence that ends with a chiasmic twist:… Continue reading Dōgen: Expressing the Inexpressible