[general:]
Almost all of the information content of this site is not new. It is an eclectic
collection of knowledge which probably has its earliest history in philosophy,
namely ontology ("what is existence") and epistemology ("what
can we know"). Science, pursuing to translate objective reality into
formal notions, can be viewed as the modern-day implementation of this quest
for knowledge. And still, the basic questions ever to puzzle the human mind
are as relevant as ever:
1.) What is reality, how does it work, what is its origin?
2.) What is life, how did it emerge and why is it transitory?
3.) What is consciousness, how did it emerge and why?
Only, that science, namely physics, has brought up a new mystery:
4.) Why can reality be coded into a formal thought system (mathematics) that
actually allows
for predictions to be calculated and then translated back into reality? I.e.
how come our inner reality (thought: mathematics) can mirror the structure
and workings of outer reality? Or: how can mathematics be the blueprint of
reality?
[elements:]
Modern physics:
and its challenges:
Next to fundamental physical theories of reality there is still the big issue of how complexity emerges that needs to be addressed, and how one can formally encode such phenomena (e.g. systems theory, information geometry, computation). The general nature of mathematics and its foundations (e.g. category theory, Gödel's theorems, logic, axiomatic systems) will also be of interest.
[consequences:]
It is highly unlikely that you are reading this sentence. It took (most probably)
14.1 billion years and a series of amazing coincidences for a structured reality
and an organizing principle (i.e. life) to have emerged. Let alone sentience.
And what is our every-day reality on this plant? What do we observe when we look at the world? In my personal opinion things could be nearly infinitely better. The way we have set up things in the world is far from optimal (fair, long-term, sustainable, minimally invasive) or collectively intelligent. We are in fact destroying the basis for life on this planet. All of us together. The current status quo will most probably not be a reality for very long. And I didn't even mention what the percentage of the total human population on this planet was, that actually enjoys the wealth, shelter and possibilities so normal to the Industrialized World. "The rich of the world own 26'200'000'000'000$" was the title of short newspaper article recently. How nice. They only failed to mention the total population of the planet in contrast.
Something has to change. I hope that the issues concerning our most existentialistic pondering of our existence will allow us to see things in a new perspective given a much greater context which will allow us to see our conducts with respect to the collective of all of life (and reality). Children today still look at the stars in the night sky and ask a real big question...
And there really is a utopia to be reached by everyone personally: freedom of the mind. We are unlimited in the infinite possibilities of our thinking (and hence our being). It is simply a question of choice...
And don't forget:
one fire ignites the next...
;-)
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