Author: hyattcarter

Many physicists have been both enchanted and perplexed by the number 137, one of the fundamental constants in physics. Nobel laureate Richard Feynman was no exception, for he once said: “It’s one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man.” So what is this… Continue reading A Magical Mysterious Number: 137

Consider for a moment the beautifully patterned integrity of a single snowflake: one of the sparkling icy stars that falls in profusion from the sky during any snowstorm . . . consider this tiny constellation of ice . . . this crystal masterpiece in miniature, this natural mandala, this hexagonal prism of light . .… Continue reading Such Stuff as Snowflakes Are Made On

The emphasis that science has placed on our close “family” connection with the higher apes, a connection that becomes apparent when you visit the primate section of any zoo, can obscure the closer connection we have with insects on a developmental level or in terms of the evolution of consciousness. I first became aware of… Continue reading The Human-Insect Connection

If Heraclitus is the early champion of change, the partisan of permanence is another early Greek philosopher, Parmenides, who asserted that there is no change, period. His position contra change can be stated as follows: Being is and Being is One; change and plurality are both illusions. If anything becomes, it either comes to be… Continue reading Champion of Change, Partisan of Permanence

(or creatio ex nihilo) Take a moment and look at the following sequence: 　0 . . . ¼, ⅓, ½, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ∞ Note that the number 1 (one) is in the center and, as each number increases to the right, the inverse number decreases to the left. If you multiply… Continue reading Let There Be — Something from Nothing?

It would surely enrich our practice, as well as our lives, to stay fully present in every moment in all phases of life, especially some of the more unwelcome: washing dishes, the reckless driver who cuts in front of us, the surly store clerk, the noisy neighbor who “disturbs” our meditation. I put “disturb” in… Continue reading Now Hear This: Tock!

In an age of specialization, Alfred North Whitehead was a modern Renaissance man, a polymath who distinguished himself not only in philosophy, but also in mathematics, physics, logic, and educational theory. A lifelong teacher, his popularity with students is shown in the following humorous anecdote: “At Oxford University, when a professor concludes a course, it… Continue reading Having Fun with Whitehead

During World War II, after his capture by the Japanese, an Australian artillery sergeant was marched off with a number of his comrades to the infamous Changi prisoner-of-war camp in Singapore. Sydney Piddington was nineteen, the year was 1942, and his captors had allowed him to bring only a small knapsack of personal possessions. Among… Continue reading Super-Slow Reading

(Enjoy A Little Night Music as you browse this Blague) The musical critic Einstein—Alfred, that is, not Albert—confers high praise on Mozart’s composition, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: “This is supreme mastery in the smallest possible frame.”1 Once below a time, playing on the words of Mozart’s title, I sent an email to a friend and named… Continue reading Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Buddhist scholar John McRae announces what he calls the first law of Zen studies: “It’s not true, and therefore it’s more important.” That is, historical events are trivial in comparison with how legends and myths live in the popular consciousness.1 And Whitehead chimes in with this: But in the real world it is more important… Continue reading True-Shmue—Is It Interesting?