Formatic Pairs
An Essay by Christopher Bek
christopher.bek@gmail.com
Summary—This essay compares Ten sets of Formatic Pairs—the final pair being Self-Day and Bernoulli Station—along with their respective Synthesizers. The Platonic Theory of Forms philosophically conceptualizes the realm of non-physical or ideal entities existing metaphysically, beyond the physical world, also known as Platonic idealism or realism or essences or archetypes. The complementary principle, developed by Niels Bohr, suggests characteristics of quantum systems that indicate certain pairs of properties, like position and momentum or wave and particle, are complementary and cannot be measured simultaneously.
Quotation—The problem with being smarter than everyone else is that you are the only one who is smart enough to know it.
—Alfred E Neuman, the cover boy of Mad Magazine, dc.com/Mad
he Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) follows the life of Mary Richards, a single, independent woman in her 30s, who moves to Minneapolis after a failed relationship, and takes a job as an associate producer at a local television station, navigating both her career and personal life with the quirky and supportive group of friends she makes in the city, including her gruff boss Lou Grant and the comical news anchor Ted Baxter. One episode has Lou asking Ted a simple math question. Ted thinks about it in producing a look of utter confusion. Lou then rephrases the question by putting dollar-signs in front of the numbers—and Ted immediately becomes a mathematical savant—and correctly answers the question.
1. Algebra and Geometry—$René Descartes. Algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses variables, in the form of letters and symbols, to act as numbers or quantities in equations and formulas. Geometry is a branch of mathematics that studies points, lines, varied-dimensional objects and shapes, surfaces, and solids. As a very great realization of the complementary principle, John Stuart Mill called the single greatest advance in the history of science when Descartes synthesized Greek geometry with Arabic algebra in producing analytic geometry—as a way of providing two views of the same underlying Platonic Form.
2. Electricity and Magnetism—$James Maxwell. Electricity refers to the presence and movement of electric charges, while magnetism is the force exerted by moving electric charges. Maxwell’s equations unite electricity and magnetism by demonstrating that a changing electric field can generate a magnetic field, and vice versa, essentially showing that the two forces are interconnected and can be described together as a single phenomenon called electromagnetism.
3. Gravity and Inertia—$Albert Einstein. Gravity is a force that attracts objects towards each other, while inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its motion, meaning it wants to stay in its current state of rest or movement unless acted upon by an external force. Essentially, inertia is a property of mass, whereas gravity is a force acting between masses. With general relativity, Einstein compared a cat in a box on Earth (gravity) to a cat being accelerated through outer space (inertia)—and showed that either cat does not and can not know the difference—thereby establishing the equivalence of gravity and inertia.
4. Light: Particle and Wave—$Albert Einstein. Light is considered both particle and wave, as it is made up of tiny particles called photons, but also behaves like deterministic waves—as demonstrated by phenomena like diffraction. The wave nature of light was established by Huygens, Young, Fresnel, and Arago. The particle nature of light was proposed by Newton, and then Einstein used his photoelectric effect theory to prove that light is particle by showing that when it interacts with a metal surface, light transfers its energy to electrons in discrete photons—but Einstein knew that light is also like a deterministic wave.
5. Matter: Particle and Wave—$Louis de Broglie. Matter is considered both wave and particle, as Thomson proved it to be particles called electrons, but it also behaves like probabilistic waves—as demonstrated by quantum theory, which describes location with a probability distribution. The probabilistic wave nature of matter was first identified by Max Born—and the idea that matter is both wave-like and particle-like was acknowledged by the French Prince Louis de Broglie in saying that matter is both a localized particle and a spread-out, probabilistic wave.
6. Risk and Reward—$Harry Markowitz. Forecasting probabilistic outcomes means predicting what will happen next by taking into account events from the past and the present. The first four moments of a probability distribution are the mean or reward, standard deviation or risk, skewness, and kurtosis. The mean is the fixedpoint of a distribution, and the standard deviation universally represents uncertainty. In 1909 Herman Minkowski said space and time separately have vanished into mere shadows—and only a combined notion of the two preserves any reality. In 1952 Harry Markowitz forever linked reward with risk in the same way that Einstein linked space with time in that both the expected outcome and the attendant uncertainty of outcome are required to complete the picture. In fact, I am saying risk and reward separately have vanished into mere shadows—and only a combined notion of the two preserves any reality—risk-reward efficiency leading to portfolio optimization.
7. Behaviourism and Existentialism—$King Christ Lloyd Bek. Existentialism Now is the philosophy that began with Socrates—that I have consolidated and built on—emphasizing the individual subjective experience of freewill and choice in taking personal responsibility—always in relation to God—which can be both empowering and burdensome. Kierkegaard defined The Moment as a pivotal, decisive point in time where one makes a profound, existential choice, often a leap of faith towards a higher truth or meaning. Behaviourism is our current psychology, as set forth by Skinner and Watson, concerned only with observable behavior and environmental stimuli. Behaviourism hates The Moment’s guts, while Existentialism writes essays about, and serenades, The Moment.
8. LightSpeed and Planck’s Constant—$The Theory of One Synthesis. With an utterly trivial application of the Pythagorean theorem, Einstein created the special relativistic equations proving the dilation or contraction of space and time as a function of velocity relative to Lightspeed: Space^2 + Velocity^2/Lightspeed^2 = One^2, Time^2 + Velocity^2/Lightspeed^2 = One^2. The Theory of One Boundary then walks straight in showing that Lightspeed is the boundary of the Universe. The Theory of One Life then contends that Planck’s constant is also a boundary of spacetime, but not of the spacetime continuum—and that Planck’s Constants or Quanta are, in fact, baby photons or universes or Eve’s—and similarly sees electrons as Adam’s—thereby uniting Relativity Theory with Quantum Theory. QED.
9. General Relativity and Quantum Theory—$The Theory of One Synthesis Two. A great scientific problem involved the attempt to unite general relativity with quantum theory. Each model rests on largely different theoretical foundations, alternative scales, and dissimilar universal aspects. The relativistic realm tends to be normally distributed, and the quantum realm tends to be Cauchy distributed. The Cauchy distribution is the ratio of two independent normally distributed variables—and The Theory of One Unification then solves this problem by dividing the relativistic realm by itself so as to arrive at the quantum realm—thereby uniting Relativity Theory with Quantum Theory—once again. QED.
10. Self-Day and Bernoulli Station—$The Philosophy Magazine Project. Self-Day involves offering people the option of moving to a four-day workweek, where they could study mathematics like actuarial science in the morning, and philosophy like metaphysics in the afternoon, on the fifth day. The Bernoulli Stations are proposed Cafés where one goes to study mathematics and philosophy—with healthy food and beverage choices—and would include copies of about four hundred essential books on philosophy and mathematics for readers to enjoy and learn from. They could also have available computer workstations for working on The Bernoulli Model, and for asking questions of Google and Wikipedia like: “Is God Light?”, “Are electrons conscious?”, and “Does existence precede essence for man?” It could always be a place for Beginners.
Synthesizing Self-Day and Bernoulli Station could transform education in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and the Globe. The Bernoulli Station could be located on the ground-floor of buildings, where this lifelong educational institution could fulfill its evolutionary and revolutionary potential starting in Downtown Calgary. Students could stop school after Grade 9, and could start practicing Self-Day two-days-a-week, while working three-days-a-week. Philosophy and mathematics are fundamentally about problem-solving and decision-making, and are, ultimately, the only subjects that really matter. The Bernoulli Station model involves building from, and never leaving, the Ground Floor. The approach would be to keep it simple, and endeavour to get buy-in from Doctors and Teachers. The synthesis here could try to see the Future like Actuaries, and like in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Closing Arguments. Einstein said: The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. Metaphysics may be divided into the three necessary and comprehensive branches of being, the-world, and being-in-the-world. Being or existence is the highest as shown by the cogito, and is the starting point of Existentialism, as follows from Jean-Paul Sartre: “There can be no other truth to take off from this—I think, therefore I exist—the Cartesian cogito ergo sum. There we have the absolute truth of consciousness becoming aware of itself.” Let us here in Alberta endeavour to become self-aware and take the responsibility that comes with being Human—and seek to see all Formatic Pairs.