https://plus.google.com/photos/102381076648563287639/albums/5783094259167149697#photos/102381076648563287639/albums/5783094259167149697
In this blog I will be trying to get to the truth about what is really important in life, and to write satirically about what is not - all in my quest for The Stuff Reality is Made of. I also write articles on Religion, History, Travel, Flying, Philosophy, Physics, Meta Physics, Natural History. Mathematics and Psychology.
1 Sept 2012
29 Aug 2012
Philosophy - Part 17 - Induction
Philosophy - Part 17
- Induction - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012
It is probable that all we know, we know from a process
called induction - a very powerful mathematical and scientific tool, greatly
neglected by fields like philosophy, psychology and religion. Mathematical induction
is a method of mathematical proof typically used to establish that a given
statement is true for all natural numbers. In science and philosophy it is a
kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates general propositions that are
derived from specific examples.
One such an example is a statement by Goldbach, called the
Goldbach conjecture. In 1742 he conjectured in a letter to Euler that every
even number from 4 onwards is the sum of two prime numbers like in 12=5+7. No
proof of this is known other than that Tomas Oliveira e Silva proved in 2008 that
it is true for all whole numbers up to 1018.
27 Aug 2012
25 Aug 2012
Adult Sunday School - Part 8 - Joseph
Adult Sunday School -
Part 8 - Joseph as a type for (of) Jesus - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012
We find the story of Joseph in Genesis chapters 30 to 50,
and nowhere else in the Bible has one man gotten so much coverage as Joseph,
except Jesus Christ, and the point is that it is a very important story. Not so
important as a story of Joseph, but much more importantly, as a foreshadow of
the story of Jesus Christ.
The story of Joseph contains numerous intrigues, prophecies,
examples and lessons interspersed with the best mankind has in terms of
courage, long-suffering, forgiveness and love - characteristics we find in
Jesus Christ himself. So we are not going to read this story as a story of
Joseph. We are going to delve deeper into it and regard it as a story of the
life and times of Jesus Christ.
One day in Barcelona - Sagrada Familia
Another series in my photobook :
https://picasaweb.google.com/102381076648563287639/SagradaFamiliasASymphonyOfBeauty#
https://picasaweb.google.com/102381076648563287639/SagradaFamiliasASymphonyOfBeauty#
Fun with Maths - Part 2 - Squaring the circle
Fun with Maths - Part
2 - Squaring the circle - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012.
There are numbers which are not natural or rational numbers,
and are called transcendental numbers. These are numbers which cannot be
expressed exactly in our number system, having infinite decimals, like p and e -
with the result that we will never know what the circumference of a circle is
equal to exactly, if we have its radius. The formula is easy C (circumference)=2*p*R
(Radius).
There are two ways of trying to establish it.
20 Aug 2012
Philosophy - Part 15 - For King and Country
Philosophy - Part 15
- For King and Country - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012
How many innocent, non-suspecting and honest people have
been killed because of King and Country? And if you think that conscripted
soldiers are not innocent, what are they then? Most countries do not have
standing armies, so the soldiers are conscripted from the non-suspecting,
innocent and honest population - and if they are pacifists, like myself, they
go to jail for refusing. I did not go to jail, but complied with the call to arms,
and did not protest against such, as I did not even know or care a hoot of why
we were in that war - and that is why all countries take their youngest men.
These men do not even know what the war is about - and it always happens the
same, fighting for some pie in the sky.
And the truth is always the first casualty in any war. And a
war is not about who is right, it is about who is left.
19 Aug 2012
Adult Sunday School - Part 7 - The Law
Adult Sunday School -
Part 7 - The Law - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012
We find ourselves in the beginning of the world. Adam and
Eve, who knew God personally, may have died already. What do we find? Violence,
revenge, war, aggression - and people in bondage, even slavery. And this
despite God's will that we be kind to each other and enjoy His creation.
How did this transpire then? It is because we could sin with
impunity. There was no law. God wanted us to be free and not subject to any
laws other than the one forbidding us to eat of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of Good and Evil.
But we had eaten of this fruit - we now know what sin and
evil is, and we are going to pursue this line for survival, not knowing that it
leads to death.
Of course we will not be punished for our sin and evil,
other than dying because of it one day. So there is this uneasy peace with God,
and it is building up tension between us and God and between us and our fellow
men. We were on a path of self-destruction.
18 Aug 2012
Fun with Maths - Part 1 - Divisibility
Fun with Maths - Part
1 - Divisibility - by P.K.Odendaal - August 2012
I find Maths exciting, fun and empowering. At its most
elementary I know how old I am, what my bank balance is, and what my age will
be at my next birthday. This opens up my world to comparisons and many other
such useless things.
But, it is also the basis on which the Universe is created.
Simple, powerful, logical, complex and mystical. No wonder the early Pythagoreans
were thought to be mystic philosophers.
I have had coffee with a maths teacher of Canada once, and I
thought that the coffee 'break' would be a very fruitful discussion on physics,
until I found out that he knew nothing about physics. I was totally
flabbergasted, and could not imagine that someone would know maths well, but would
know nothing of physics. To me it was like a mechanic walking around with a box
of spanners, not knowing what a spanner is used for.
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