Week Seven; Chaos!

"Ordered Chaos"- Does this sound familiar?

Absolutely. It all depends on how you perceive order. Many things that upon observation appear to be chaotic actually may possess a grand element of order upon further reflection. One example of this is a chaotic moving mound of ants in an ant colony. Upon first look, it may seem like the ants are a pulsating jumbled brown mess. If you begin to look at the ant colony more closely, you will start to see an ordered hierarchical group of creatures moving in quite a sophisticated manner. Each ant is communicating with other ants using pheromones, creating bridges, carrying large items and searching for food. There is a collective intelligence that is created out of all that seeming chaos. 

Fractals as patterns of complex systems

Fractals are beautiful displays of ordered chaos. They are a visual display of a pattern set in motion by a small variable in the initial stages of formation. As I did more research on fractals I got more interested. It seems that you can find fractals on display in many parts of nature. For example, fractal patterns are seen in coastlines and mountains as well as parts of galaxies. These complex, contained patterns are beautiful and interesting to look at. It makes me wonder about the infinite variety of patterns that potentiate our universe giving rise the inherent creativity we see all around us. 

Consciousness out of Chaos?

How does consciousness emerge out of chaos? Or is chaos inherent to the creation of consciousness? Is chaos the variable that infuses creativity into the universe giving rise to this complex system of life?  

Consciousness and creativity are what give rise to my set of questions above. As it was stated in one of last weeks articles, "Systems in advanced states of order become inflexible and relationally dead." Of course, to balance this out was also the statement, "Systems in advanced states of chaos become limp and relationally incompetent."

Consciousness is a creative expression of the universe because consciousness allows for reflection, which allows for more creative expression as we ponder this grand mystery. I imagine that consciousness must have emerged from a chaotic system with just enough order to maintain the integrity of the system's relational creativity. This is the balance of yin and yang at its highest expression. 

Week Six; Vibrations

Are all vibrations good?

 

Not all vibrations are good. Earthquakes are an example of a not-so-good  vibration. I would also categorize the vibration that emits from a 12-inch car woofer as it rolls down the street as a not-so-good vibration. Although the deep vibrating bass that rattles my apartment windows every now and then is much preferred to the vibration of an earthquake.

 

Some examples of good vibrations are the purring of my cat on my lap right now and the soothing delicate sound of ambient music coming from my speakers.

 

I notice how dramatically these different vibrations affect my mood. The not-so-good vibrations stimulate my coritsol levels and disrupt my nervous system in a way that makes me uptight and irritable or downright afraid (earthquake!). The other good vibrations soothe my mind and body in a way that is good for me. It makes me understand and appreciate the ability of sound to heal.

 

Resonance in my world

 

I never quite understood what the word “resonance” really meant until Larry explained it in class. I had of course used the word to describe relationships between people or things, “I really resonated with what he was saying”, or “the watercolor painting really resonated with me.” But I had never really thought about the scientfic or concrete meaning of the word. I actually feel like I had a little breakthrough in my understanding of the basis of homeopathic medicine when I did a little bit more research in to the idea of resonance. I always heard homeopathic effects described as the “energetic properties distilled down to just the vibration”, or “the vibrational properties of the remedies are matched to whatever symptoms the person  has.” I had never actually explored this meaning beyond what is termed “energy medicine.” But as I delved a little bit further, it was exciting to learn about the actual tangible evidence of homeopathic effects. It made a lot of sense to me intuitively and I definitely have more appreciation for the concept of resonance. 

Week Five: Symmetry and Sacred Geometry

Week Five

 

My Asymmetrical World

 

Asymmetry is important for the success of life. There are many different aspects of matter competing and struggling with one another to form every part of life as we know it. It started with the big bang and fortnately not enough anti-matter to annihilate everything but enough matter and CP violation to set everything as we know it in motion.

 

What is CP Violation, really?

 

This definition was very hard for me to figure out. Basically, CP violation is when a particle called a kaon decays at a different rate than expected. This means that radioactiv e decay timelines are different for this particle, implying that this may be the key to understanding why matter was able to dominate the universe. It basically says that matter and anti-matter are not symmetrical. This allows for the dominance of matter in the universe.

 

 

Sacred Geometry and Physics

 

There are many examples of Sacred Geometry like the I-Ching, Tibetan Mandalas, the hundreds of Muslim and Hindu temples of India, etc…There are also many examples of it in nature like the Nautilus, Spiral Galaxies, the 64-codon structure of DNA, the molecular structure of geological formations, etc…Based on this, I believe that physics and sacred geometry are definitely connected. 

Week Four; E=mc2

How  has E=Mc2 affected me?

Well, E=Mc2 is the most famous equation in the world so it is burned into my subconscious somewhere with images of Einstein, chalkboards and nuclear bombs. I cannot readily trace this equation's affect on me in some direct concrete way other than the popular images is conjures up in my mind. The stars I see at night or the sun's rays as they shine down on me during the day are the most material experiences I can think of that are related to this equation. 

I did some research on this equation to try understand it in a way that would allow me to casually talk about it. I didn't quite reach my goal. Ok, so I understand that mass has energy, etc...but I get lost in the theoretical basis of the equation when fission and fusion start coming up. Maybe by the end of this class I will understand it enough to trace its real world effect on my life. 

The four forces; comparing them!

Ok, this is gonna be a challenge. Quick synopsis. The four forces are "the four discrete forces that govern the interactions of matter- gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force." Each force has its own messenger particle. 

Gravity is the weakest of all the forces. However, it has infinite range, as does electromagnetism. This means these forces exert themselves everywhere in the universe (i think?). Gravity is always attractive whereas electromagnetism has attractive and repulsive properties. The messenger particle of gravity is the graviton. The messenger particle of electromagnetism is the photon. 

The Weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force have ranges that are limited to subatomic distances. The weak force is responsible for radioactive decay and operates on very short distance scales found in the atomic nucleus. The strong force is responsible for keeping quarks together inside protons and neutrons and keeping them all inside the nucleus. 

Where gravity and electromagnetism operate within infinite range, the other two forces act only on the subatomic level. This is probably the biggest difference between the forces that I could find other than the fact that they have different strengths. 

Week Three; Synchronicity

What evidence can you find for synchronicity?

In my own life I have witnessed many times over what seem to be synchronistic events in my life. It seems that when I put a focus on some aspect of my life, wether it be health, money, or relationship, events seems to correlate with whatever my focus is in that moment. For instance, a couple of years a go I booked a month long trip to India. I realized that when I was several weeks away from my trip that I needed a very specific amount of money to make the trip happen. Within a week of this, a check came in the mail for this exact amount of money. My grandmother had just come into a little bit of cash and had decided to share her wealth. She had never done this before and she had no prior knowledge of my need for trip funds. 

I also have the strange phone phenomenon that many people talk about. It is not that I know who is calling me before I see caller ID, although sometimes that does happen sometimes. Its usually when I call my mom and stepdad's house. I pretty much always know who is going to answer the phone. Of course there it is always a 50/50 chance on who will answer the phone because only the two of them live there, but I always get a "feeling" its gonna be my stepdad before he answers. This happens almost every single time I call. 

Lastly, when I was in high school my father died of a terminal illness. We were told at one point that he did not have much time left. We didn't know if this meant weeks or months, but the day he died I was very aware on a psychic level of the event. I remember walking around that day with a sense of heaviness, as if I was living in slow motion. The only words I can put to this feeling is that "I knew." It was very strange. 

Based on what you know, how would you explain connectivity?

Connectivity is the alive, dynamic and permeable relationship that all things have with one another and the universe. Connectivity is the inherent indivisible nature of all things, the interdependence at the core of the universe.