January 29, 2017 Sunday
Bedtime Story
Similarity Between the 1979 GEB and the 1921 Tractatus
6. The general form of proposition is the general form of truth
function.
In this proposition, he says that any logical statement can be
derived from a series of NOR operations.
This idea is based on a theorem that was proven by Henry Sheffer
in 1913.
The theorem states that Boolean algebra can be defined by single
primitive binary operation NOR (neither-nor).
7. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
This last proposition is not elaborated, and is simply left stated
as it is.
As you can see, these are not very direct and simple propositions
which you can get a sense of in one reading, or even in 2 readings.
It required the collective of Vienna Circle to get to the
intricacies that the author wished to express.
One book that I came across and felt something like this was a
1979 book “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” written by Douglas
Hofstadter who is a kind of specialist on the subject of “I”.
To be an expert or even decently knowledgeable on the subject of “I”,
one has to be a very deep understanding of multiple disciplines such as
mathematics, logic, artificial intelligence, biology, principles of
self-organization and even arts and music.
This famous unread book by most is popularly known as GEB.
It is a book that will almost make no sense to the uninitiated
more so in a bare single reading.
This massive tome delves deep into the heart of mathematics,
logic, symmetry and intelligence.
This book also points out the idea of the unity of science, the
fact that the complexity of biology leads to emergence of logic, mathematics and
in general, cognition.
The book’s principal emphasis is that self-reference and simple
formal rules applicable to a system can lead to meaning even when the
fundamental building blocks of the system such as neurons in our brain are essentially
meaningless.
I could glean very little from the book when I first read it 5
years ago as my knowledge of mathematics was virtually nil.
Not that I know much of it now.
But just taking a relatively little interest in mathematics and then
reading the book again gives a total fresh view into the mind of both the text
and the author.
And yet I think that just like the Tractatus, the GEB too needs to
be read out aloud in the company of the wise and well read men specialized in
multiple arenas of mathematics, sciences and arts.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.in/
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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