1 / 46

In Search of Reality

In Search of Reality. Colby - Sawyer College Adventures in Learning Winter 2007. Leader - Dick Little. ADMINISTRIVIA. Park at St. Andrews (From Gould Rd.) Restrooms Fire Exit Routes NO ELEVATOR Medical Emergency - Dial 911, AED on Premises Break at 10 of the Hour

gloria-wood
Download Presentation

In Search of Reality

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. In Search of Reality Colby - Sawyer College Adventures in Learning Winter 2007 Leader - Dick Little AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  2. ADMINISTRIVIA • Park at St. Andrews (From Gould Rd.) • Restrooms • Fire Exit Routes NOELEVATOR • Medical Emergency - Dial 911, AED on Premises • Break at 10 of the Hour • Name Tags -Leave Them Here • AIL Rep., Evaluation Forms • Snow Days - Call 526-8444 AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  3. CLASS INTRODUCTIONS In 30 Seconds or Less • Introduce Yourself • Tell Us About Your Interests. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  4. GROUND RULES • This Is a Discussion Group, but Time Is Limited. I Will Manage Time. • Some of this Stuff is Over Our Heads, I Will Use Metaphor, (Over)Simplification, Even White Lies. • I Will Keep Mathematics, Formal Logic, Physics and Other Exotica to a Minimum. • Participate, Participate, Participate! • Please Do Not Shoot the Messenger. • A word about the Web. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  5. DEFINITIONS & HANDOUTS • “Words Mean Things.” • Pass the Dictionary. • My Pantheon Handout. • Course Bibliography/Discography Handout. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  6. REALITY VS. KNOWLEDGE The Body Of Knowledge (BOK) Reality “Everything That Is, Ever Was, Or Ever Will Be.” Everything We Know. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  7. Social Reality Physical Reality Other Realities Hyperreality Virtual Reality THERE ARE MANY REALITIES AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  8. REALITIES DEFINED • Physical R. = The universe and its elements: space, time, matter and energy. • Social R. = The accepted rules of (a) society. • Virtual R. = Simulations that cannot be distinguished from the thing they represent. • Hyper R. = Believable fantasies. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  9. REALITY - EXAMPLES • Physical - A Rock, The night sky, Life, Distance. • Social - Money is accepted in exchange for goods. • Virtual - A Planetarium, An airplane cockpit simulator. • Hyperreality - Disney World, Today’s consumerism. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  10. SOCIAL REALITY,THE BUILDING BLOCKS • Physical Object Serves a Social Function. • A System of Rules Establishes Institutional “Fact.” • Collective Acceptance of (1) Physical Function and (2) Rules “Creates” Reality. As quoted in Baggott. From: Searle, John R. (1932 - ) The Construction of Social Reality (1995) AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  11. “THE BIG QUESTIONS” • What is it all about? • How did it all begin? • What is life? • Why is there something rather than nothing? Philosophers call these, “Primordial Existential Questions” PEQ. And, the epistemological question: Can we trust what we (think we) know? AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  12. SOME REALITY-RELATED-ISMS • AGNOSTICISM • ANIMALISM • ANIMISM • ANTHROPOCENTRISM • ATHEISM • CREATIONISM • DARWINISM • DEISM • DETERMINISM • DUALISM • EMPIRICISM • IDEALISM • LAMARKISM • MATERIALISM • MONISM • NIHILISM • PANTHEISM • PLURALISM • REALISM • SKEPTICISM • SOLIPSISM • THEISM AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  13. -ISM DEFINITIONS Agnosticism The belief that there can be no proof either that God exists or that God does not exist. Strong Agnosticism: There is no way we can ever know. Weak Agnosticism: We can’t say if we will ever know. Atheism Strong Atheism: The doctrine that there is no God or gods. Weak Atheism: Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  14. MORE -ISM DEFINITIONS Creationism Belief in the literal interpretation of the account of the creation of the universe and of all living things related in the Bible. Darwinism A theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  15. STILL MORE -ISM DEFINITIONS Deism The belief that God created a law-abiding world and left it to run on its own. [The Watchmaker argument.] Pantheism The view that God is identical with the totality of nature and its laws and in no way transcending it. Theism Belief in the existence, immanence and transcendence of a God or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  16. DUALISM AND REALITY The term ‘dualism’ has a variety of uses in the history of thought. In general, the idea is that, for some particular domain, there are two fundamental kinds or categories of things or principles. In theology, for example a ‘dualist’ is someone who believes that Good and Evil — or God and the Devil — are independent and more or less equal forces in the world. In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that the mental and the physical — or mind and body or mind and brain — are, in some sense, radically different kinds of thing. Discussion about dualism, therefore, tends to start from the assumption of the reality of the physical world, and then to consider arguments for why the mind cannot be treated as simply part of that world. From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/ AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  17. DUALISM AND REALITY (CONTD.) • Plato, Aristotle - Body/Soul • Descartes - Mind/Body • Kant - Noumena/Phenomena (Thing-in-itself/Thing-in-the-mind) • Computer Age - Hardware/Software AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  18. DEVELOPMENT OF HOMO SAPIENS & THE BOK • Earth Formed ~4BYA • Earliest Life (Single Cell Micro Organisms) ~3.5BYA • Earliest Primates (Gatherers) ~60MYA • Homo Erectus (Hunters, Tools, Fire, Shelter) ~2MYA • Homo Sapiens (Reasoning, Language) ~150KYA AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  19. EARLY ENTRIES IN THE BOK Marks on bone ~3 inches long ~1.3MYA Bulgaria Bird carving ~2 inches long 30 KYA Germany AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  20. THE EARLIEST SCIENTIFIC ENTRY IN THE BOK ? The Ishango Bone ~20KYA Wolf Bone about 5” Long, Chunk of Quartz in End, Marks in GroupsFound Zaire 1950, Now in Brussels AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  21. THE LASCAUX CAVE PAINTINGS ~15KYA 29 Dots A Rectangle & 13 Dots A Lunar Calendar? Lascaux, SW France, Discovered 1940 AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  22. COURSE SCHEDULE (FLEXIBLE) • Week 1 - Reality & Knowledge • Week 2 - Science & Religion • Week 3 - The Big Questions • Week 4 - Continuation of Week 3 • Week 5 - Prof. Willem deVriesThe Possibilities Of Idealism: How Mind Colors Reality • Week 6 - Open Forum, Wrapup AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  23. PROGRESSION OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT TIME • IGNORANCE & UNCONSCIOUSNESS • OBJECTS HAVE MAGICAL POWERS • SUPERIOR DEITIES EXIST • GODS ARE LIKE US AND SUBJECT TO PERSUASION • GOD AS “AUTHOR OF NATURE” • GOD DEMANDS MORALITY Adapted From Pre-historic TimesSir John Lubbock (1834-1913) AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  24. PROGRESSION OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT • Spiritualism  Anatomy  Medicine • Astrology  Astronomy  Cosmology • Mysticism  Philosophy • Numerology  Mathematics & Logic • Supernatural(ism)*  Physics • Alchemy  Chemistry *Invented word (R.E.L). Is there a real one? AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  25. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD • Observe some aspect of the universe. • Invent a tentative description (a hypothesis) that is consistent with what you have observed. • Use the hypothesis to make predictions. • Test those predictions by experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results. • Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation. A THEORY IS SCIENTIFIC IFF IT IS FALSIFIABLE! AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  26. AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANCIS COLLINS • Physicist • Physician • Head, Human Genome Project • Author, The Language Of God Self Description:“DEVOUT CHRISTIAN” From American University Radio The Diane Rehm Show July 25, 2006 Edited by REL (15:36) Photo: www.ornl.gov http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/06/07/25.php AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  27. AN INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD DAWKINS • Oxford Professor Public Understanding of Science • Zoologist • Author • Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Self Description: “AGNOSTIC” From Wisconsin Public Radio The Best Of Our Knowledge October 15, 2006 Edited by REL (11:35) Photo: www.vub.ac.be http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/ideas_audioarchives.cfm?Code=bok AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  28. THE COLLINS - DAWKINSDEBATETIME MAGAZINENOVEMBER 13, 2006 AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  29. AN INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD O. WILSON • Prof. of Entomology, Harvard • Philosopher • Pulitzer Prize Winning Author • Described as: “Darwin’s Natural Heir” Self Description: “DEIST” From Wisconsin Public Radio The Best Of Our Knowledge March 26, 2006 Edited by REL (13:00) Photo: WIKIPEDIA http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/ideas_audioarchives.cfm?Code=bok AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  30. SUMMING UP,QUOTES FROM THE THREE COLLINS - “I’d like to know what the purpose is for my life. Science isn’t helping me with that, but my faith is.” DAWKINS (from TIME Mag.) - “If there is a God, it's going to be a whole lot bigger and a whole lot more incomprehensible than anything that any theologian of any religion has ever proposed.” WILSON - “This planet can be a paradise if we use our intelligence to make it so. . . . And I think it will be reached not by traditional religious faith, but it will be reached by knowledge and human self-understanding.” AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  31. “Mathematics is a more powerful instrument of knowledge than any other that has been bequeathed to us by human agency.” Rene Descartes (1595-1650) “To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature.” Richard Feynman, Physicist, Nobel Laureate (1918-1988) “All life is Biology. All Biology is Physiology. All Physiology is Chemistry. All Chemistry is Physics. All Physics is Mathematics.” Dr. Stephen Marquardt “In mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.” John von Neumann (1903-1957) “Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater.” Albert Einstein (1879-1955) AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  32. MATHEMATICS AND NATURE AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  33. ZERO & INFINITYSTRANGE BEDFELLOWS An example of beauty in mathematics. Notice the symmetry in these definitions of zero and infinity. Each one is the other with the symbols 0 and interchanged. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  34. SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW REALITY? http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/coke.html AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  35. TRUST YOUR VISION? http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/Blair.htm AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  36. HUMAN THOUGHT ABOUT REALITY • Religious Thought (Supernatural Basis) • Scientific Thought (Natural Basis) ------------------------------------------------------- • The Common Ingredient? THOUGHT AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  37. TWO “POLES” OF THOUGHT • Nature Is What It Is. We Don’t Know All About It Yet, But We Will. • There Is More to It All Than We Can Ever Know. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  38. MODES OF NORMAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR • Abstract Thinking (Defining Concepts) • Planning (Steps to Achieve Goals) • Innovation (New Solutions) • Symbolic Behavior (Images, Rituals) Source: WIKIPEDIA AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  39. MODES OF EXTRA-NORMAL BEHAVIOR • Hypnosis • Spells • Hallucinations • Trances • Dreams • Genius With Or Without Chemical Assist AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  40. MAJOR RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

  41. WHAT IS SPACE? • If It Weren’t for Space, Everything Would Be in the Same Place. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  42. WHAT IS TIME? • If It Weren’t for Time Everything That Has Happened, Is Happening or Will Happen Would Have Happened at Once. AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  43. The Ishango Bone (20,000 BCE) AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  44. CAVE PAINTINGS OF LASCAUX AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  45. 13 dots and an empty square. The dots may represent a lunar cycle, up until the 14th day when the moon disappears from view, represented by the empty square. A horse, and a series of 29 dots. The dots may represent the 29 days of the lunar cycle. The Lascaux Cave Paintings (13,500 BCE) Lunar Calendars? AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

  46. Stonehenge Megalith ca. 3,000 BCE AIL In Search of Reality Winter 2007 - R. E. Little

More Related