Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen


Would you support the development of a “bionic” person?

The only way I would support the “bionic” person is in pieces if you will. If the technology can help an amputee or allow a blind person to see then I think it is useful. When taken in full force, such as an entire bionic person, well that just scares the blank out of me. I can only imagine having to be tested for “bionic” parts for sports like they do now for drugs.

How would you rate “the control of artificial limbs by thought alone”?

I believe moving artificial limbs by thoughts alone can be a great. After all, we use our brains to control our natural body parts. So, I would rate it very high, again when taken in purely necessary steps.

Week Eleven

Week Eleven

Acupuncture as effective energy medicine

Acupuncture is an effective energy medicine because it opens our channels to let the qi through, thereby letting the energy flow through our bodies as it is meant to do.
I think regardless what your medical condition, acupuncture can cure or assist in treatment because of the energy it opens up in your body.

What conclusions can you draw from Kirlian photography?

Kalian's photography is a very interesting view. However, I have to say I am a bit of a non-believer in Kalians experiments and I am left with more questions than answers at this time. I guess I will have a better opinion when we go on the field trip to have our aura photographed.

Human intent as it affects health

We as humans are interesting creatures with powerful minds. Everything we do starts in our mind. If we even have the tiniest thought that something is going to happen in our mind our bodies automatically start to follow. We have to be very careful about our thoughts, especially when it comes to health. I do believe we have health issues that can’t be avoided, such as getting a cold because others in the house you live in are sick and it is hard to avoid the germs. However, I also believe what we do with the information through our thoughts can change things dramatically. There are people who start thinking they have some sort of disease and because it starts in the mind, the body follows suit and starts to show symptoms of that disease. I am not saying everyone is sick because of something they thought, but I am saying health issues can be avoided or helped depending on how we use our thoughts regarding health.

Week Ten

Week Ten

I know I’m a “living system” because…….

I think that I am a living system simply because I am part of the universe. There are so many opinions on what is a “ living thing” vs. a “non-living” thing. After giving this a lot thought I believe that in one way or another people, animals, plants, earth, the sky, stars, and the entire universe are all living things in their own way. We all participate to keep “things” moving along day-to-day therefore we are living things.

Biophysics and Oriental Medicine

Biophysics is a part of oriental medicine because it is blended in with all the sciences. It’s intertwined with biology to math to physics. So I think that biophysics just integrates with oriental medicine as all the sciences do.

Week Nine

Week Nine

My E-Prime Day - describe your day, only using English Prime

If my memory serves me correctly I gathered with other ladies in what looked as if it was an exercise class. To the best of my recollection in my state of consciousness I did what appeared to be movements with my body that seemed to cause perspiration and pain. When the class was visibly complete I left. I went to what I recognized to be the daycare area since all the children were gathered there together and there was what gave me the impression of a teacher. I proceeded to gather up the child I believe to me mine since I gave birth to her. In my mixed state of parenthood I took the child to the place I believe we reside.

Can I synthesize East and West?

Well, I can do my part to synthesize the East and West. I can continue with me education and try to pass on what I learn to others. I think synthesizing the East and West is becoming more common, however has a lot of growing room. It will take all of us in the East and the West to come a to a point of acceptance in order to complete synthesizing.
Of course that is just my mixed state of consciousness and ignorant opinion.

Week Eight

Newton’s Three Laws and me

For me, the best way to understand the three laws is from C.P Snow. His examples are bottom line and easy to understand.
1) You cannot win. I fully believe that you cannot get something for nothing, even if it takes an eternity to for the “something” to kick in.
2) You cannot break even. This is a bit harder to understand. But, I look at it like gambling, if you start with $20 and after playing for a while you leave the table with $20 you did not break even because you basically got to “play” for a time. So, even though you started and ended with the same amount of money you used time, energy, and other facets that kept you from “breaking even.”
3) You cannot get out of the game. This is kind of like the chaos theory to me. Something will always be happening, even when nothing is.

Our “Energy Efficient” Culture

Energy efficient seems like an oxymoron.
Having said that we have to use energy in order to live (I know some would argue with me, but you would have to contend that everyone needs a little bit of energy to get by), the amount and way we use energy in our culture seems to be in a baby stage. Most people, unless they are living under a rock are aware that we need to save energy in our culture. Moreover, more and more people are “trying” to do so. The problem is that people are not doing their homework on what really saves energy in the long run.
People seem to want to jump on the save energy bandwagon and do something, which is commendable to a point. However, when you run out and buy a hybrid car simply because you see a celebrity driving one is not “doing your part.”
There is a lot of information out there on how to save on energy. If people do their homework and make conscious choices of what honestly will work in their lives, then we will be past the baby stages of being energy efficient and moving forward on actually saving energy.

Descartes has a lot to answer for
Does he? Wasn’t he just studying something to try and make further understanding of it just like most people do? It is said that a theory is just something we believe or live by until someone comes up with a better theory. If Descartes was working to understand and or improve reductionism I don’t see the problem. Maybe I just don’t get it!

Week Seven

Ordered chaos” – does this sound familiar?

The term ordered chaos somehow makes me feel more comfortable in the world. The fact the order is somehow made out of chaos, meaning that chaos is really order or order at work, is confusing and comforting at the same time. There is always so much going on in our own lives and in the bigger picture of our country, the world, and the universe that is makes sense that chaos would have to come before (and during) order.

Fractals as patterns of complex systems

Small patterns in chaos or fractal patterns are to me like the stars in the sky or a galaxy in the solar system. A small pattern that falls in line with the bigger workings of what is happening. However, they are very important, if fractals didn’t play their part, then the whole system would fall apart, or would it?

Consciousness out of chaos?

Thoughts start randomly, usually triggered by something seen or heard. From there our consciousness works on the “idea” or “thing” that is really chaos becoming formed thoughts at some point. So first we have chaos, then consciousness forms an idea or thought or decides it is not important and we quickly move onto to something else. And, by the way our minds take about 30 seconds to decide if “chaos” is going to move on to a thought or action or get thrown out and move on to the next “chaotic idea.”

Week Six

Are all vibrations “good”?
Well, there is the song Good Vibrations. Sorry, couldn’t pass it up.

It seems impossible to believe all vibrations are good. The word “all” gets me stuck. There are few things in our world that are that definite. It can be perspective as well. When thinking about the police sirens we spoke about in class to someone in bed sleeping and being woken up by the sirens, the vibrations are “bad” to them. However, the person who is expecting the police think the sound (vibrations) of the sirens are good.

Resonance in my world

I feel resonance when I exercising, especially when I am in a spinning class. Perhaps the rotation of the bike helps my body to feel “in” a resonance state. Also, when I am resting with relaxing music I feel a total state of resonance.

Connections I can make between Energy and Qi.

I believe energy and Qi are words used interchangeable, and the meanings are similar depending if you are speaking of western or eastern thoughts. Energy is something that helps our bodies to move, our brains to think and overall do “things” throughout the day. Qi is the flow going through our bodies to help us achieve that best overall energy flow.

Week Five

Week Five

My (a) symmetrical world

I like a symmetrical world. I tend to live needing to things to balance. If one side of my couch has two pillows, then I like to have two pillows on the other side. I always thought of this as being part of my analytical personality.
Symmetry art is beautiful such as the shape of the Chinese yin-yang diagram.
Here is a great like that helps explain symmetries a little more. math.ucr.edu/home/baez/symmetries.html

Just what does this "CP violation" really mean?

Well. "CP" means "charge parity", and violation means “infringement or breach, as of a law, rule, right, etc.” So, I think CP violation is a term physicists use to explain matter-anti-matter symmetry, or why something is not in symmetry. The Big bang was a CP violation because it didn’t create equal amounts of matter and anti-matter.

Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?

Yes, Sacred Geometry is a mixture of spirituality, math, and the process of change. Over time geometry developed higher states of consciousness (spirituality) while math was being used which created the sacredness

Week Four

Gravity

The function gravity to me means, "to keep us grounded." Literally to keep things on Earth attached like a magnet.

On a larger scale Gravity may be the weakest of the four forces, but it is a significant energy the universe when including galaxies, stars, etc. (i.e. the “universal law of gravitation”.)


E=mc2

This formula has affected me by “matter” and “energy” in my life is equal. When I use all my energy I have no matter left. Or, an opposing view is the more I energy use the more matter I have. When I work out I am creating energy, in order to keep on an even playing field my matter has to keep up at the same lever to for the = to keep in tact.

The Four Forces

The four forces all have pros and cons. Although Gravity is the weakest and Strong is, well, the strongest they are all important in that they, on the most fundamental platform, are needed to govern the interaction of matter (as it says in our introduction to the The four Fundamental Forces).

So in comparison the forces are needed to keep each other interacting and “alive”.

The sites to check out

Understanding physics is extremely difficult for me. Although the link to Physics in Action seems interesting I honestly have a hard time following the thought. In the last paragraph the author quotes Dilip Kondepudi about how there can be a difference between the ways the two types of amino acids break down in a strong interstellar magnetic field. WHAT?
“The Takeover of the Mind” was an interesting article. I have never questioned if my mind is made of matter, or if it is an abstract “thing”. I agree that I would rather have my mind (whatever form it is) than have a limb, given the choice. Obviously you don’t usually choose to have one limb over another, but when comparing a limb to the mind, which one would you rather have?

Week Three

Synchronicity:

I believe odd things happen that can be defined as synchronicity. I live in a town of about 50,000. Last week I went to the gym and someone I often see at the gym. We don’t know each other, however our schedules seem to be the same for our workouts. After the gym I went Starbucks and she was there. Later that day I was driving in a neighborhood I would not normally be driving in and there she was again standing outside a house talking to someone.

Another example is my husband was in Philadelphia last week for a company meeting. People from all over the country were at this meeting. He happened to meet a woman who said she know me through another friend. Unfortunately, my husband didn’t get any more information from her as she passed out and was rushed to the hospital. In case you are wondering, she spent a week in the hospital and now is on her way home, healthy.

Connectivity:

I believe we are all connected on some level to each other and to the universe. It’s hard to explain because it is more of a feeling. I hear stories of twins who live apart from each other but can feel each others physical pain. When I go to the beach I feel a deep sense of connection to the universe when observing the ocean.
My aunt passed away yesterday. The reason I am telling you this is because even though she my aunt through marriage and we never lived in the same State I always felt deeply connected to her. She felt the same way. Sometimes we would not talk or get a chance to see each other for years, but that deep sense of connection was always there. I now feel a deep loss due to her death. But, I also still feel that connection to her. So, I guess I believe we are connected through life and death.

Week Two

My reflections on uncertainty.

We live in a world of uncertainty. To make a simplistic point, my husband left work the other night certain he would drive home without interference. However, about half way home his tire blew out and then he discovered his spare tire was flat. He eventually made it home thanks to AAA, except not the way he was certain he would.

In our world theories are made and believed until proven otherwise. We can live with some certainty that that our basic needs will be met if we work, make money, etc. The seasons come and go with some certainty; the days come and go with some certainty. However, after our class discussion and readings I now live wondering if anything is certain.


Causality

There is no doubting we control effect by our causes. We voted for a president, so what effects come from his presidency we caused. Had we elected a different president there would be different causes. We are effecting our environment by our causes, whatever they may be. If we chooses to recycle, use less energy or/and use grey water we are effecting the outcome of our environment. Of course, there are small effects and large effects. The more people recycling the more the effect etc.

Is the Universe Weird?

Well, that completely depends on what your definition of weird is, the word is very relative. When I looked up weird in the merriam-webster dictionary I found the definition:

Main Entry:
2weird
Function:
adjective
Date:
15th century
1: of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural: magical
2: of strange or extraordinary character

By definition #2 I would say yes the universe is weird. It is strange and of extraordinary character to me. Yes, we know many things about our universe; we are also making new discoveries about it constantly. When considering space, time, energy, gravity, and countless other ideas going on in our universe it, in my opinion, is definitely extraordinary, therefore weird.

Week One

1)

I am attracted to Chinese medicine because it is such an amazing and interesting way to heal. After experiencing Acupuncture for the first time about a year and half ago, I have been hooked. I am excited to learn and then to pass on my education/knowledge through work and any other means that I come across.

2)

I honestly like Physics. That is not the answer I gave in class. However, after
our first meeting I look forward to learning more about physics. Studying the natural science about energy, force, time, matter, mass, and many other ways about how the worldand universe behave is nothing less than fascinating to me.

3)

I have a hard time thinking about time speeding up or slowing down because in my mind I know there is 24 hours in a day regardless how I “feel” about it.

I guess I can say it seems as if time slows down when I am looking forward to something such as a vacation. Then, when on the vacation time seems to fly by and before I know it, it is time to go home.

Also, since I have had my children, time seems to be going faster. However, I can’t help but wonder if it is because I am tying to enjoy all the moments or somehow my kids have become a barometer in my life that had no presence prior to having them.


Reflection on this week’s class:

The class discussions on time, in particular the World’s clock changing by one second, I found remarkable. Due to the friction of tides since the 18th and 19th century, when time was defined, earth is slowing down. In order to keep “on time” with the atomic clock one second has to be added every four years. I somehow find comfort that there is such accuracy.

It was interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on time speeding up and down. There were several people that agreed meditation slowed down time for them. I can’t say I understand time slowing down during meditation although I probably just need more practice. Moving on, in the article Good marks on relaxing for health/Positive results shown in mediation survey it seems people with disorders who use meditation to help them become healthier will gain more time through healthier living. By this I mean the time they already have in a day can be used more productively and enjoyed if they are living with less pain. Also, there is the possibility of living longer when using meditation to help relieve a disorder.
Finally, I enjoyed the discussions and debates. I look forward to the rest of the trimester and getting to know you all better with the “time” we have together in class.