The Fractal Self

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Culliney ◽  
David Jones
Keyword(s):  
Complex Structure ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
Nature And Society ◽  
The Big Bang

“The Fractal Self” traces fresh insights on the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to sociobiology and human culture. The book posits that on every scale, complex structure and function and ultimately life itself arose by virtue of the power of cooperation between self and other. Cooperation has proved a catalytic force for complexity from organic molecules to human affairs, and appears to oscillate with competition, as yin with yang. However, progressive complexity emerging from antecedent simplicity consistently has come from cooperation, writ large. This is a tendency in our universe that we have called the cooperative constant; cooperation appears to have held a small average edge over competition to engender richness and diversity in nature and culture. The book further explores the human potential of achieving a seminal state of being in the world as a fractal self: any person drawn to some walk-of-life, a vocation or avocation, and who begins to realize a seamless participatory ethos as a “natural” or an “adept.” With growing sensitivity, adaptation, understanding and expertise, this self tends to develop a capacity to foster creative complexity. Insights from primatology as well as ancient myth and philosophy, especially Daoism and Buddhism, enrich our understanding regarding the emergence of empathy and morality and their applications vis`a vis nature and society. The book concludes with a new definition of free will and a hopeful vision for Gaian sustainability as our species transcends tribalism and entrains itself in partnership with nature.

scholarly journals Towards a More Well-Founded Cosmology

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1005-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Traunmüller
Keyword(s):  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Modified Newtonian Dynamics ◽  
Universe Expand ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

AbstractFirst, this paper broaches the definition of science and the epistemic yield of tenets and approaches: phenomenological (descriptive only), well founded (solid first principles, conducive to deep understanding), provisional (falsifiable if universal, verifiable if existential), and imaginary (fictitious entities or processes, conducive to empirically unsupported beliefs). The Big Bang paradigm and the ΛCDM ‘concordance model’ involve such beliefs: the emanation of the universe out of a non-physical stage, cosmic inflation (hardly testable), Λ (fictitious energy), and ‘exotic’ dark matter. They fail in the confidence check that empirical science requires. They also face a problem in delimiting what expands from what does not. In the more well-founded cosmology that emerges, energy is conserved, the universe is persistent (not transient), and the ‘perfect cosmological principle’ holds. Waves and other field perturbations that propagate at c (the escape velocity of the universe) expand exponentially with distance. This results from gravitation. The galaxy web does not expand. Potential Φ varies as −H/(cz) instead of −1/r. Inertial forces reflect gradients present in comoving frames of accelerated bodies (interaction with the rest of the universe – not with space). They are increased where the universe appears blue-shifted and decreased more than proportionately at very low accelerations. A cut-off acceleration a0 = 0.168 cH is deduced. This explains the successful description of galaxy rotation curves by “Modified Newtonian Dynamics”. A fully elaborated physical theory is still pending. The recycling of energy via a cosmic ocean filled with photons (the cosmic microwave background), neutrinos and gravitons, and the wider implications for science are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals ID 3 Evolution of Structure in the Universe

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 45-45
Author(s):  
Simon D. M. White
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Atomic Nuclei ◽  
High Quality Image ◽  
Present Universe ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

AbstractRecent studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background have provided us with a high quality image of the Universe when it was only 380,000 years old. At that time it was a near-uniform mixture of hydrogen, helium, dark matter and radiation, with no galaxies, no stars, no planets and no people, indeed no atomic nuclei heavier than Lithium. Under the action of gravity, the weak fluctuations observed in the microwave sky evolved into the extraordinarliy complex structure of our present Universe. I will show how supercomputer simulations can be used to demonstrate that such evolution does indeed reproduce the observed properties of today's galaxies and large-scale structures, thus confirming the extraordinary assumptions of the current structure formation paradigm. Only a quarter of the energy density of the present Universe is in gravitating matter; only a sixth of this matter is made of atoms or other known particles; only 5 percent of this baryonic material is currently inside galaxies. Most of today's Universe is in the form of Dark Energy; most of the gravitating matter is Dark Matter; and most of the baryons remain unseen in intergalactic space. The properties of the fluctuations measured in the microwave sky suggest that they originated very close to the Big Bang as quantum fluctuations of the vacuum itself. Everything has formed from nothing.

A view of the universe before the big bang

2006 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 15-15
Author(s):  
D CASTELVECCHI
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

The First Galaxies in the Universe

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Loeb ◽  
Steven R. Furlanetto
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
First Stars ◽  
Distant Galaxies ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Early Galaxies ◽  
First Galaxies ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Big Bang

This book provides a comprehensive, self-contained introduction to one of the most exciting frontiers in astrophysics today: the quest to understand how the oldest and most distant galaxies in our universe first formed. Until now, most research on this question has been theoretical, but the next few years will bring about a new generation of large telescopes that promise to supply a flood of data about the infant universe during its first billion years after the big bang. This book bridges the gap between theory and observation. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers on early galaxies. The book starts from basic physical principles before moving on to more advanced material. Topics include the gravitational growth of structure, the intergalactic medium, the formation and evolution of the first stars and black holes, feedback and galaxy evolution, reionization, 21-cm cosmology, and more.

Kontrast und Wissen

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-102
Author(s):  
Robin Rehm
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Edmund Husserl ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Max Scheler ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Black Circle ◽  
Black Cross ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
The 19Th Century

Kasimir Malewitschs suprematistische Hauptwerke ›Schwarzes Quadrat‹, ›Schwarzer Kreis‹ und ›Schwarzes Kreuz‹ von 1915 setzen sich aus schwarzen Formen auf weißem Grund zusammen. Der Typus des Schwarzweißbildes weist überraschende Parallelen zu den bildlichen Wahrnehmungsinstrumenten auf, die vom ausgehenden 18. bis Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts in den Experimenten der Farbenlehre, physiologischen Optik und Psychologie verwendet worden sind. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht diese Parallelen in drei Schritten: Zunächst erfolgt eine allgemeine Charakterisierung des Schwarzweißbildes mit Hilfe des Kontrastbegriffs von Edmund Husserl. Des weiteren wird die Entstehung und Funktion des schwarzweißen Kontrastbildes in den Wissenschaften des 19. Jahrhunderts typologisch herausgearbeitet. Unter Berücksichtigung des Wissensbegriffs von Max Scheler wird abschließend die Spezifik des Wissens eruiert, das die Schwarzweißbilder sowohl in der Malerei Malewitschs als auch in den genannten Wissenschaften generieren. Malevich’s main Suprematist works, such as ›Black Square‹, ›Black Circle‹, and ›Black Cross‹ from 1915, consist of black shapes on white ground. Surprisingly this series of shapes strongly resembles scientific black-and-white images used for research on colour theory, physiological optics, and psychology throughout the 19th century. This paper examines the parallels between Malevich’s paintings and the scientific drawings in three steps: It first characterizes black-and-white images in general, using Edmund Husserl’s definition of the term ›contrast‹. Secondly, the paper investigates the development and function of black-and-white images as tools of perception in the sciences. It finally discusses the specific knowledge generated through Malevich’s art and through scientific black-and-white images, following Max Scheler’s phenomenological identification of knowledge.

Collagen-the Ultrastructural Element of the Bone Matrix

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1706-1709
Author(s):  
Nicoleta Dumitru ◽  
Andra Cocolos ◽  
Andra Caragheorgheopol ◽  
Constantin Dumitrache ◽  
Ovidiu Gabriel Bratu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type I Collagen ◽  
Bone Microarchitecture ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Bone Matrix ◽  
Organic Matrix ◽  
Bone Diseases ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Type I ◽  
New Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
And Function

There is an increased interest and more studies highlight the fact that bone strength depends not only on bone tissue quantity, but also on its quality, which is characterized by the geometry and shape of bones, trabecular bone microarchitecture, mineral content, organic matrix and bone turnover. Fibrillar type I collagen is the major organic component of bone matrix, providing form and a stable template for mineralization. The biomedical importance of collagen as a biomaterial for medical and cosmetic purposes and the improvement of the molecular, cellular biology and analytical technologies, led to increasing interest in establishing the structure of this protein and in setting of the relationships between sequence, structure, and function. Bone collagen crosslinking chemistry and its molecular packing structure are considered to be distinct features. This unique post-translational modifications provide to the fibrillar collagen matrices properties such as tensile strength and viscoelasticity. Understanding the complex structure of bone type I collagen as well as the dynamic nature of bone tissues will help to manage new therapeutic approaches to bone diseases.

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