Clemens Lode's Blog, page 3

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

Ask me if an ordinary person could ever get to be able to imagine these things like I imagine them. Of course! I was an ordinary person who studied hard. There are no miracle people. It happens they get interested in this thing and they learn all this stuff, but they’re just people. There’s no talent, no special ability to understand quantum mechanics, or to imagine electromagnetic fields, that comes without practice and reading and learning and study. I was not born understanding quantum me...

Popular Science

Science has become synonymous for “truthful.” This has led people to try to emulate science without following the scientific method. Some have even started calling themselves “scientists” and used their titles to give their statements more meaning. Likewise, expressions such as “pseudoscience” have become an insult. What is the role of the word “science” in daily life?

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

—Richard Feynm...

Occam’s Razor

Given that for a phenomenon, explanations of arbitrary complexity can be made, which view of the world should we choose?

OCCAM’S RAZOR PRINCIPLE ·  According to the Occam’s Razor principle, among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. It is attributed to the English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, and theologian William of Ockham (1287 – 1347).

Unlike in pure logic or mathematics, theories in natural sciences are much more difficult to test. Yo...

An Introduction to Science

It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he doesn’t know the nature of the universe but still gives some credence to myths. So without the study of nature there is no enjoyment of pure pleasure.

—Epicurus, Principal Doctrine 12

Why are ontology and epistemology simultaneous?

As Epicurus put it wisely, for someone to enjoy life, it is necessary to also study what goes far beyond the knowledge required for daily life. It is not enough to be able to...

Physics

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.

—Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism [Arendt, 1973, p. 474]

The word “science” is Latin (scienzia) for knowledge. But it means so much more than what we covered in the first book. There, we discussed ou...

Basics of Philosophy

 

For some readers, many of the issues and items presented here might seem trivial. For example, it is obvious what “something” is and that it exists. Yet that is the very point and focus of these chapters, to have clean and clear definitions of what we are talking about. We are building up a new common language that all the readers of this series share, whatever their background. For this, we will approach the subject of philosophy by first dividing it into its components as follows:

Ontolo...

Induction and Deduction

 

How does the process of deduction supplement the process of induction?

Now we know how to design concepts and a concept hierarchy, and how to assign to the concepts corresponding definitions. We have also learned how we perceive reality and how we can protect ourselves from errors and external influences. So far, we have left open the question, how we can apply this knowledge, especially our concept hierarchy, in specific situations. In relation to this, philosophy discusses two concepts, i...

Language and Mathematics

 

To those who do not know mathematics, it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature. […] If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the LanguageA language is a system by means of which we can translate knowledge of a situation (and concepts) into a series of images and supporting linguistic constructs, and conversely, translate a series of images and linguistic auxiliary constructs into knowledge of...

The Value of Language

 

Concepts and, therefore, language are primarily a tool of CognitionCognition is the faculty for processing an...

“Instead of aiming for ZERO mistakes, aim for TEN mistake...

“Instead of aiming for ZERO mistakes, aim for TEN mistakes per week. If you (or your partner or work colleagues) make fewer mistakes than that, something must be wrong. Either you did not dare to make mistakes, or you (or your environment) are not strong or open enough to be vulnerable.”

The Vulnerable Hero: The Philosophy for Heroes Book Series