Epistemology
chaoticutopia | November 18, 2007Sorry for the delay, folks... I’ve been bogged down with homework this past week, and now have a sick kid on my hands. So, the Friday Fractal was bumped to Saturday, and then Sunday. I’ve said it before; I ought to just call these the "Weekend Fractals".
When two people see the same thing, do they necessarily have the same experience? This is a problem which troubles philosophers, particularly philosophers of science. I just finished writing a paper on the subject, comparing the views of several scholars. I won’t post it until it has been graded, but in the meantime, I’m still stuck thinking…
chaoticutopia | February 9, 2007Fractal Cognition:
An abstract layered fractal, incorporating two types of Julia sets and an L-System fractal (pictured at right, below)
This fractal was inspired by some of the ideas I've posted lately. Here are a few tidbits for context:
We only see a fraction of an ever-changing cosmos. Each fragment that we observe, whether within ourselves or gleaned from the sensations registered in our minds, adds to the entropy of the cosmos, inducing more change. It is an imperfect pursuit, but we are active participants, whether we choose to look, or not. It is important for humankind, armed…
chaoticutopia | February 7, 2007
Yesterday, I posted a paper discussing a potential flaw in our perception of reality. Here, I review an article from Scientific American Mind, suggesting how such "flaws" occur from a neurological standpoint.
A Delay from Reality
By Karmen Lee Franklin
Imagine being witness to a spectacular car accident. The scene seems to happen in slow motion; you notice every detail as it unfolds, such as the sound of crunching metal or scattering shards of glass twinkling in the sun. Later, you realize how late the accident has caused you to be, and notice time passing quickly as you race to your…
chaoticutopia | February 6, 2007
Many science bloggers are dedicating this week to a week of pure science, in which they are posting a single non-controversial science piece each day. Since I barely manage to get out a quality post every other day, and also since I'm writing a paper on a controversial subject (global warming), I had to decline my invitation to join. However, I admire their effort, and so I'll try to at least be a bit more serious this week. In other words, I'll share some old papers with actual citations in them, rather than just muttering about chaos and posting pretty pictures. I've chosen a few which…