Immortal Curiosity

Originally written in February 2006. Taken from an older blog I do not keep up anymore, I am moving this here to be listed with my other philosophical writings. My thoughts on the topic may currently differ from when it was written, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

That natural biological evolution is progressive and goal-oriented, with man as its pinnacle, has been a common and influential notion. From ancient and learned sources such as Plotinus, to the widely recognized and copied illustration “March of Progress” by Rudolph Zallinger, the idea can be seen in scholarly literature and also in more quotidian descriptions of evolution and human development. Even up to the time of Darwin and up to the Modern Synthesis, the idea of there being a telos, or goal, of evolution was not uncommon. As biological explanations became more distant from theological sources, however, the idea of telos and of goals existing in the activity of nature began to wane.  Read more... (1197 words, estimated 4:47 mins reading time)

Originally written in February 2006. Taken from an older blog I do not keep up anymore, I am moving this here to be listed with my other philosophical writings. My thoughts on the topic may currently differ from when it was written, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

New methods of expression and dissemination of information that have emerged in the recent times that allow his nature as a force of improving the efficiency of his own development to more easily seen. Since intellection and expression of abstract ideas developed in man, this potential existed. From the articulations of philosophers and other thinkers in earlier periods of civilization, e.g. in Ancient Greece, it appears that, in many cases, humanity viewed the universe as something eternal. As soon as the idea of an origin arises, however, the idea that all things might have had a beginning, the idea becomes captivating. It is almost as if man had to develop the idea, and it took on its own internal force.  Read more... (539 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

Originally written in January 2006. Taken from an older blog I do not keep up anymore, I am moving this here to be listed with my other philosophical writings. My thoughts on the topic may currently differ from when it was written, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

It is very interesting to consider the quality of volume that ideas often seem to possess in one’s mind. While this may sound like a rather inchoate notion, I do mean something very definite by it, but I do not yet have a word to express it precisely. I shall give an example instead. Consider a university or any intellectual institution. When I consider such a thing, it seems to occupy a particular region of some sort of space in my mind. The region corresponds, in some way, to the physical locality of the institution, i.e the region the idea comprises relates to the region representing my self within the totality of my mindspace as my physical person relates to the physical location of the institution. But when I consider more deeply the institution qua intellectual, what was once a volume seems to resolve into points, viz. people and even ideas, the latter melting into some sort of locationless nothing, and the former shrinking to moving points. This seems to be a very subconscious notion, but it is one that I think is socially common. It would be worth considering how our minds connect physical locality with ideas, and more generally how intellectual structure has a spatial element. Perhaps it is merely a matter of association through habit that I connect certain physical locations with certain ideas, but it nevertheless occurs, and has an impact on my method of thought.  Read more... (722 words, estimated 2:53 mins reading time)

Notes on Zoological Philosophy, by J.B. Lamarck-

Chapter 7-  Read more... (396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

• Concerning the influence exerted by the environment on the various living bodies exposed to it. It is in all times and places operative on living bodies.
• The state in which we find any animal is, on the one hand, the result of the increasing complexity of organisation tending to form a regular gradation; and, on the other hand, of the influence of a multitude of very various conditions ever tending to destroy the regularity in the gradation of the increasing complexity of organisation.
• It is only by an inspection of ancient monuments that he becomes convinced that in each of these localities the order of things which he now finds has not always been existent; he may thence infer that it will go on changing.
• First Law of Nature:
  • In animals not past the limit of development, more use of an organ strengthens and develops that organ, while disuse weakens the organ until it disappears.
• Second Law of Nature:
  • All acquisitions or losses wrought by nature on individuals are preserved by reproduction to the new individuals which arise.

11 /26/2005
Notes and thoughts from Stephen Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell, chapter 6, Star Trek or Not.

The world’s population plotted through time is a measure of our technological ability to preserve life. During recorded history, this measure has only increased. Of course, there are certain exceptions: the Black death etc. within the last 200 years, population growth has become exponential. Currently, the world population doubles every 40 years. Other measures of technological growth include power consumption and the number of scientific articles published. All three of these measures cannot continue to grow at the same rate that they are now. So what are the possibilities?

Putting self-destruction aside, one major consideration in considering how future development will be shaped would be whether faster than light travel is possible. Since we do not yet possess a complete theory of physics, we cannot rule such a possibility out. However, we do know laws of physics which apply to almost all “normal” situations.  Read more... (779 words, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)