Science & Philosophy
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The logical perception of the pure consciousness
Full text linkDoes pure consciousness exist without being hooked to a physical mechanism (e.g. human body)? Can such claim be proven logically? The magnitude of asking this sort of question is similar to asking: Is it logical that matter exists out of the total void? The answer to both questions is yes. The aim of this paper is to show that, the existence of pure consciousness is a logical state, it is not energy, and it exists timelessly and can be experienced beyond the physical body. Furthermore, we show that pure consciousness (the soul) is a virtual junction on the metaphysical virtual net where each junction incorporates a set of cords of consciousness. The set can be limited, unlimited or uncountable. Cords of consciousness is treated as brain neural patterns and as such the brain can easily be manipulated by an external device which may transmit neural patterns in order to generate artificial scenes. A computation example was provided to elaborate the neural patterns and cords of consciousness. Finally, we discuss the opportunity rather than the possibility to visit the metaphysical virtual space. In that sense, if it is possible, should we grab the opportunity and expend our science beyond physics, into the metaphysics
The history and the meaning of Einstein’s Principle of Equivalence
Full text linkWe review from a historical and a didactic point of view the Equivalence Principle, which was considered by Einstein as the corner stone of his new theory of Gravitation: the General Relativity. Before and after the enormous success of his theory, this principle was the subject of studies and discussions. Still today, after more than one century, the debate about its interpretation, application and generalization is very fertile. Einstein soon understood the revolutionary significance of his idea and defined it as “the happiest thought of my life”
Mathematics and the Liberal Arts
Full text linkThe Liberal Arts deal with the human being as a whole and hence with what lies at the essence of being human. As a result, the Liberal Arts have a far greater capacity to do good than other fields of study, fortheir foundation in philosophy enables them to bring students into contact with the ultimate questions which they are free to accept (or reject). Even if these questions have little or no ‘market value’, itshould be obvious that the way they are taught and learned is going to have a powerful impact upon the future of the students and society. It is suggested here that mathematics has an integral role in the study of the liberal arts in a first degree at a university where the ‘meal ticket’ is subsequently studied in the graduate or professional school
The Covid-19 and the defeat of conspiracy theories: the renewal of public faith in scientific research
Full text linkConspiracy theories integrate, connect and catalogue together what are clearly independent and unrelated events in order to demonstrate correlation and construct impossible, fabricated tales of causation (Bessi, et al., 2015). In a narrative sense, these extremely sophisticated stories are often very intriguing, and their diffusion comes about due to a legitimate desire to enrich the non-scientific literature available. In other cases, despite the cultural maturity of the Western world, conspiracy theories are promoted as real news, able to upset public opinion and to involve a part of the population in Pindaric flights. Moreover, in many cases the creators of these illogical conspiracies are held as suffragists of so-called ‘free thought’, departing from mainstream theories and opening up the mind of the population to new and elevated levels of comprehension of reality (Melley, 2000) and at the moment, the spread of Covid-19 produces a greater awareness of the societal role of the individual.
Some critical remarks on the epistemology of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Full text linkThe article examines epistemological and ontological underpinnings of reasearch performed by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It takes as its guiding line the important distinction between instruments and apparatuses drawn by Rom Harré. According to Harré, instruments such as barometers or thermometers do not cause the states they measure into existence. Apparatuses, in contradistinction, cause material states into existence to begin with, whereby theses states are subsequently processed (treated, measured, etc.) according to suitable methods (e.g. algorithms). Thus, when the objects of examination (human and animal brains, e.g.) are subjected to 2 or more Tesla in fMRI, a strength of magnetic field never occuring in earthly nature, technical means literally create the states to be examined (measured, graphically represented, etc.). Close examination of the functioning of MRI and fMRI indicates that brain states, e.g., are not simply read, or perceived (on screens) as degrees of temperature are read on scale. Hence, one does not see any mental funtion when looking at fMRI outputs, for the visible output has been semantically processed on the basis of invisible quantum mechanical processes that have undergone translations into digital data caused by the fMRI device itself
Trust and ethics: ambivalent foundations of relationship and sui generis forms of gift
Full text linkIs there a circular relationship between trust and ethics? Is it possible to alter their relationship, changing the perception that social actors have of them? How has trust changed in the transition from modernity to post-modernity and how does it change in times of crisis?Starting from the epistemological assumption that progress in the social sciences is determined by the change in the theoretical horizon produced by “a reformulation of metaphysical assumptions”[1] and combining this path with the relational perspective, according to which “not the facts, but the relationship between the facts is what requires analysis”[2], we will examine definitions, meanings, functions and relationships between trust and ethics. Following the theoretical logical method, we will understand that trust and ethical behaviour are particular forms of gift[3] that co-own each other.As such, they are ambivalent in nature and their circle can also produce dysfunctional outcomes that depend on the ability of social systems to modify collective perceptions through forms of communication, in the awareness that distrust constitutes an ineliminable and, paradoxically, preparatory element for the restoration of the trust circle.The relational circle between gift, trust, collective ethics and personal morality does not end with distrust, but changes in a contingent way, determining perverse effects: correct behaviour could produce, unintentionally, a disaster; incorrect actions could generate unforeseen positive effects.The perverse effects cannot be defined as exceptional - as is believed in the theory of rational choice - but recurrent because daily practices are marked by an intuitive, emotional and moralistic trust circle that prevails over logical reasoning, as ascertained by both relational theory and behavioural economics. Functionalist paradigms cannot engineer and optimise the performance of trust. [1] See J. Alexander's strong programme in S. Segre, Le teorie sociologiche contemporanee, Carocci, Rome, 2019, p. 12. It is not enough to observe reality, it is necessary to interpret it, taking into account theories and traditions whose foundations have a metaphysical character.[2] F. Ferrarotti, La sociologia come analisi critica della società, in R. Cipriani (a cura di), Nuovo Manuale di Sociologia, Maggioli, Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, 2018 p. 24.[3] The classical meaning in M. Mauss, Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l'échange dans les sociétés archaïques, 1ª ed. 1925, revisited by G. Satta, L’ambiguità del dono. Note su dono, violenza e potere nell’Essai di Mauss, in V. Rasini, Aggressività. Un’indagine polifonica, Mimesis, Milano 2011
Origin of Matter and the outside of the Universe
Full text linkThis short paper is to provide answer to the question what is there outside the Universe? If the Universe is expending, what does it expend into? An answer was provided, the universe is expanding into its complementary universe. If that is so, then what the complementary universe is? A new perception is provided that matter exist as a logical state. What is the logical state creating matter? This question is being answered by the relationship between the universe and its complementary universe satisfying the equilibrium equation that total matter of both universes, the inner universe (our universe) and the complementary universe (everything which is not the inner universe e.g. the outside universe), collapse into zero, i.e. no matter. Furthermore, the existence of matter out of void is a logical state resulted from the void existence
A logical framework for democratic decision-making: epistemic logic and liquid democracy
Full text linkSince Hintikka’s epistemic logic, the logic of knowledge, has been a subject of research in philosophy, computer science, artificial intelligence and game theory. This paper presents a framework of dynamic epistemic logic capable of investigating interactive voting decisions in liquid democracy
Helix hyperoperation in teaching research
Full text linkInteraction between sciences has always been an optimum. Within this frame of interdisciplinary approach, an attempt is made to apply a method, a mathematical model, used in the Hyperstructure Theory, in teaching and research procedure. More specifically, when dealing with a great amount of data arranged in a ‘linear’ disposal, it is quite difficult to teach. This is the case when the Helix Model is suggested to be used. With the Helix Model, every single piece of data is present and every element maintains its independence
Low Solar Activity, Winter Flu Conditions, Pandemics and Sex Wars: A Holistic View of Human Evolution
Full text linkThe current spread of coronavirus has caught our modern world by surprise, which leads to widespread panic, fear and confusion. However, if we view the unfolding of these events from a scientific historical perspective of past human evolution, we may discover the reoccurring patterns of the environmental conditions that give rise to such epidemics. Hence, we can figure out better methods to prepare and react to the infectious agents that spread diseases that have shaped the course of human history before. Here, I propose a holistic view of human evolution, with an interdisciplinary approach that studies how cyclic variation in solar UV energy affects the evolution of viruses and shapes the symbiotic dynamics of human life on earth