on Ownership

Ownership is a cultural construction. The one exception is that you might say that at least you own your own naked body, but even then there are problems at the boundaries. I suppose some club owner could claim he owns the air inside his club and charges anyone for any air they breathe inside. If a chef in a restaurant makes a culinary creation and you pay for it and eat it, you might say you own the food inside your stomach. The digested remnants would become part of your body, but they are from what was created by the chef.

Ownership comes down to what law is written that governs a society, which is part of culture, and what is in power to enforce it.


my comment on Are there Varieties of Ownership? (Philosophers' Playground, the blog of Steven Gimbel)

The Acts Of The Holy Ghost ~ Scene 5

• Judea. JESSE is speaking* to disciples and 'crowd'.
•  
• JESSE
• You're blessed when you think life sucks. Let go and let the One inside you rule.
  
  You're blessed when you aren't in the 1%. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
  
  You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for Knowledge. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
  
  You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
  
  You're blessed when you can show nations how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. Otherwise you are just a war monger.
  
  You're blessed when your commitment to Truth provokes attacks. The persecution drives you even deeper into Enlightenment.
  
  Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then take the first step and do it for them. Add up the Torah and Prophets and this is what you get.
  
  Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
  
  You've may have been taught to retaliate against your enemies. But I say to turn away from retribution.
  
  You've heard it was written, "In the beginning God created Heaven and the Earth." But I tell you our whole universe was in a hot dense state, then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started--Wait!
  
  I did not come here to you to tell you to ignore the Law. I tell you I'm here to fulfill it. Don't disobey the Law until that happens.
  
  There is far more at stake here than religion. This Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he's in charge.
  
  But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.
• 
  [JEESE's speech is lowered and to the side CAI and a member of THE COUNCIL are talking.]
• THE COUNCIL (member)
• I see trouble brewing. He's saying on one hand to obey Scripture, but then he's saying it's garbage and that he's replacing it. He makes no sense. He's some kind of a nut.
• CAI
• We'll have to keep our eye on him. He is another one of those educated elite snobs who thinks he knows better than God's Word. If he gets a bigger following, The Council must take action.
• 
  [Fade to black.]
• 
  
  * MSG Bible, with variation

The Acts Of The Holy Ghost ~ A Play In One Act

on Existence

Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.
Hawking, Mlodinow, "The Grand Design"

If M-theory (the most general supersymmetric theory of gravity) is "true" then there can't be nothing. To put it another way, nothing is too unstable to stand for very long.


Re: What about a world of Platonic forms? Are abstractions something or are they nothing? What about a world of only numbers? A two dimensional universe? Space-time and gravity/matter aren't necessary two dimensionally.

There is the two-time physics of Itzhac Bars:

For systems that are not yet understood or even constructed, such as M-theory, 2T-physics points to a possible approach for a more symmetric and more revealing formulation in 11+2 dimensions that can lead to deeper insights, including a better understanding of space and time. The 2T approach could be one of the possible avenues to construct the most symmetric version of the fundamental theory.
<physics1.usc.edu/~bars/research.html>

And maybe in some of the 10^500 universes of M-theory, some of the spacial dimensions are unwound (or wound), as 7 are in ours.

And then there is MEH, of course (Mathematical Ensemble Hypothesis, aka Mathematical Universe Hypothesis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_universe_hypothesis>).


Re: fictional construction

The way I think of fictional entities (perhaps it is a form of eliminativism): They are things that only exist in the form of cultural artifacts (ink on paper, bits in digital files) and in brains in the form of neural activity.

The same is true of numbers and sets in mathematics.



comments on Is Existence Necessary? (Philosophers' Playground)

On the science of theater

My response to Steve Gimbel's post Is Theater Like Science?


Of three forms of "writing" — cinema (films), theater (plays), prose (novels, short stories) — maybe it is theater that comes closest to the scientific method, then film after that, and then prose. A scientist's "writing" involves observing the world of nature, writing (or rewriting) a theory, and testing it against the world (and the peer review of other scientists). The playwright does that (with a play) for the world of people, but the testing part consists of audience (or maybe theater critics) feedback. A playwright's play "works" when it passes that test, just as a scientist's theory has to pass its test. One difference though between the scientist and the playwright is that a play itself might change the culture and the way people act, whereas the scientist's theory supposedly doesn't change nature.

I.e.: A theory is to a scientist as a play is to a playwright. Both are tested: The theory w.r.t. nature and peer review, the play w.r.t. the audience and critical reviews. Both are models of a sort intended to capture some aspect of reality. I think there is more in common than perhaps even scientists and playwrights may realize.

I think a scientist's theory is created much in the same way as a playwright's play: They want their "writing" to be "accurate" and "unsurprising" in the end. But human people are not quantum particles, so this only goes so far.


One should really ask if biology is a science. Physics and chemistry (for the most part) sure, since they are formulating universal principles (literally), but if life (after perhaps organic chemistry) is a mere, isolated, accident that occurred on this little dirt speck in the universe (or multiverse), then most of biology is like the theater of the absurd: a quirk.



(Here in Addison I'm going to some of the plays in the out of the loop fringe festival.)

The Acts Of The Holy Ghost ~ Scene 4

• Judea. JESSE is teaching a small group with PETER, JOHN, THOMAS, JUDAH, and MAGGIE
•  
• JESSE
• I've been working on a new sermon. [Picks up a parchment.]
• JESSE
• "Here's the thing."
• THOMAS
• "Here's the thing"? I don't thing you can begin a sermon to thousands with "Here's the thing."
• JESSE
• I think things are going pretty well.
• JOHN
• [Touches JESSE on the arm with loving eyes.] I think your ministry is going great.
• JESSE
• Thanks, John.
• PETER
• I think we need to move to the next step, m'Lord.
• JESSE
• What did you have in mind, Peter?
• PETER
• A rousing sermon from a mountaintop. The thoughts you shared with us last week.
• THOMAS
• What's the final scene in all this. I'm inspired, but what does this all lead to?
• JESSE
• Always the doubter, Thomas. But I feel this world is all screwed up. It needs to shake off the old and modernize. A new testament, if I should be so bold. What do you think, Maggie?
• PETER
• You're going to listen to a woman?
• JESSE
• In the new world I envision, women have an equal role.
• MAGGIE
• [Looking at Peter.] Well, I don't cast my pearls before swine.
• JESSE
• Hey, that's a great line.
• JOHN
• Hey, don't fight. Blessed are the peacemakers.
• JESSE
• Another great line!
• 
  [Scene darkens as the group squabble.]
• 
  [JESSE is walking around mumbling to himself. L.Z. BUBB approaches.]
• JESSE
• And who would you be?
• L.Z. BUBB
• "L.Z. Bubb".
• JESSE
• "L.Z." OK.
• L.Z. BUBB
• I was at one of talks last week. Interesting.
• JESSE
• Think so?
• L.Z. BUBB
• You're going to mess things up with the establishment you know. And you know what happens to those who do that.
• JESSE
• All I want is equality and treating everyone the same. And for there to be a little justice and mercy. I just believe it gets better.
• L.Z BUBB
• Why don't you come work for me? You would be great in marketing. I can make you rich. This philosophical work is nonsense.
• JESSE
• Temping, I don't know ...
• L.Z. BUBB
• Think about it.
• 
  [Fade to black.]

The Acts Of The Holy Ghost ~ A Play In One Act