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Quetzalcoatlus on land, feeding

*Wikipedia Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus (accessed November 4, 2012)

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APPENDIX Z55:

1999: Cosmologist Martin Rees

Noted astrophysicist and cosmologist Martin Rees (b. 1942, England, and President of the Royal Society 2005-2010) noted the following in the finale of his 1999 work “Just Six Numbers”:***

“But it remains a fundamental challenge to understand the very beginning – this must await a ‘final’ theory…. Such a theory would signal the end of an intellectual quest that started with Newton, and continued through Maxwell, Einstein and their successors. It would deepen our understanding of space, time, and the basic forces….

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This goal may be unattainable. There could be no ‘final’ theory; or, if there is, it could be beyond our mental powers to grasp it. But even if this goal is reached, that would not be the end of challenging science. As well as being a ‘fundamental’ science, cosmology is also the grandest of the environmental sciences. It aims to understand how a simple ‘fireball’ evolved into the complex cosmic habitat we find around us – how, here on Earth, and perhaps in many biospheres elsewhere, creatures evolved that are able to reflect on how they emerged.”*

---

from the author –

Every once-in-a-while, Sir Martin, a sort-of ‘simple concept’ makes-an-appearance on the world stage – a ‘simple concept’ which simultaneously apparently ‘solves’ an array of formidable, inter-related, and hitherto seemingly intractable issues.

*** Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers. Great Britain: Weindenfeld & Nicolson, 1999. pp. 176-177

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APPENDIX Z56:

2000: Cosmologist Brian Greene^***

“The search for the fundamental laws of the universe is a distinctly human drama, one that has stretched the mind and enriched the spirit… We are all, each in our own way, seekers of the truth and we each long for an answer to why we are here. As we collectively scale the mountain of explanation, each generation stands firmly on the shoulders of the previous, bravely reaching for the peak. Whether any of our descendants will ever take in the view from the summit and gaze out on the vast and elegant universe with a perspective of infinite clarity, we cannot predict. But as each generation climbs a little higher, we realize Jacob Bronowski’s pronouncement that ‘in every age there is a turning point, a new way of seeing and asserting the coherence of the world [(Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man, p. 20]. And as our generation marvels at our new view of the universe—our new way of asserting the world’s coherence—we are fulfilling our part, contributing our rung to the human ladder reaching for the stars.”

*** Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe. New York: First Vintage Books edition, 2000. p. 387

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APPENDIX Z57:

2004: Cosmologists Tyson & Goldsmith^***

“Every once in a while, however, a significantly new take on an important theory emerges…. The greatest moments in scientific history have arisen, and will always arise, when a new explanation, perhaps coupled with new observational results, produces a seismic shift in our conclusions about the workings of nature….

Baruch Spinoza, the philosopher who created the strongest bridge between the natural and supernatural, rejected any distinction between nature and God, insisting instead that the cosmos is simultaneously nature and God… Let us then proceed with our adventurous quest for cosmic origins, acting much like detectives who deduce the facts of the crime from the evidence left behind.”

*** Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith. Origins. New York: W. W. Norton & Company,   

      Inc. 2004. pp 19-21

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APPENDIX Z58:

2006: Cosmologist Leonard Susskind^***

“For my own tastes, elegance and simplicity can sometimes be found in principles that don’t at all lend themselves to equations. I know of no equations that are more elegant than the two principles that underpin Darwin’s theory: random mutation and competition. This book is about an organizing principle that is also powerful and simple….

And what about the biggest questions of all: who or what made the universe and for what reason? Is there a purpose to it all? I don’t pretend to know the answers…

…The ultimate existential question, ‘Why is there Something rather than Nothing?’ has no more or less of an answer than before anyone had ever heard of String Theory.”…

*** Leonard Susskind, The Cosmic Landscape. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 

      2006.  pp 379-380

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APPENDIX Z59:

2006: Quantum Computation Theorist Seth Lloyd^***

The universe is a quantum computer

“The universe computes its own behavior.* As soon as the universe began, it began computing. At first the patterns it produced were simple, comprising elementary particles and establishing the fundamental laws of physics. In time, as it processed more and more information, the universe spun out ever more intricate and complex patterns, including galaxies, stars, and planets. Life, language, human beings, society, culture—all owe their existence to the intrinsic ability of matter and energy to process information.” (p. 3)

Why is the cosmos so complex?

“The computational capability of the universe explains one of the great mysteries of nature: how complex systems such as living creatures can arise from fundamentally simple physical laws…. The digital revolution under way today is merely the latest in a long line of information-processing revolutions stretching back through the development of language, the evolution of sex, and the creation of life, to the beginning of the universe itself. Each revolution has laid the groundwork for the next, and all information-processing revolutions since the Big Bang stem from the intrinsic information-processing ability of the universe. The computational universe necessarily generates complexity. Life, sex, the brain, and human civilization did not come about by mere accident.” (pp. 3, 5)

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from the author –

Lloyd and his key scientific compatriots are now holed-up at MIT’s new Center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory (established in 2007) of which Lloyd  is the Director [ google MIT  xQIT ]. Lloyds hypothesis converges with mine. The universe does ‘compute itself,’ and complexity ‘is no accident.’

Now, to a proficient cutting-edge secular MIT scientist observing a slice of the universe at-work, the universe  might appear as a quantum computer. What the scientist is observing, however (according to our hypothesis) is the quantum aspect of Infinite Divine Extraordinariation at-work.

From my perspective, the MIT group is pretty adroitly

dealing with a very key conceptual slice of the (multi-billion-year) unfolding of the cosmic drama. Thus this ‘Quantum Information’ group would have a potentially significant interest and “stake” in Summa. And, Summa, in turn, has an extremely significant “stake” in this group.

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Of course, on some level we ‘talk past each other.’ They speak mechanisms; we speak metaphysics. But, on another crucial level – i.e. the entire Universe as ~self-generating and ~complexifying – we crucially intersect. The MIT center potentially buttresses a very major swath of Summa – from the pinnacle of contemporary cutting-edge academic hard sciences.     

***

* Lloyd’s ~mechanistic terminology posits “a computer which computes”; I might rather say “an Infinite Divine which ‘creates’ or ‘iterates.’” Note that Seth Lloyd is currently (October, 2012) a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and has self-described himself as a ‘quantum mechanic.’ Notwithstanding the probability that Lloyd is more multi-dimensional than he professes, his background context is relevant here.   

Note as well that Lloyd’s group is a small cadre of iconoclastic top-flight scientists/engineers/mathematicians representing mainly themselves (and not the scientific community at-large), albeit with the imprimatur of MIT for their esoteric and mind-stretching research.    

*** Seth Lloyd, Programming the Universe. New York: Vintage Books, 2006. pp. 3 and 5

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APPENDIX Z61:

2010: Cosmologists Hawking and Mlodinow^***

“We each exist for but a short time, and in that time explore but a small part of the whole universe. But humans are a curious species. We wonder, we seek answers. Living in this vast world that is by turns kind and cruel, and gazing at the immense heavens above, people have always asked a multitude of questions: How can we understand the world in which we find ourselves? How does the universe behave? What is the nature of reality? Where did all this come from? Did the universe need a creator? Most of us do not spend most of our time worrying about these questions, but almost all of us worry about them some of the time.

Traditionally these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.”*

*** Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design. New York: Bantam Books. 2010. p. 5

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APPENDIX Z62:

2010: Cosmologist Haisch***
Clones Summa I^***

(copyrighted  & published 1988)

 

“The purpose I propose that life has is a grand one, and

even, I think, a logical one. We are the means whereby

God experiences his own potential, and this is why the

Universe has some of the amazing properties conducive

to life that it has….” (p. 20)

“The purpose of life is to let God make his own potential

real. And of course this cannot be limited to human

experience. God in this view seeks the experience of all

living things on this planet and wherever else life might

exist and whatever else it might be like….” (pp. 20-21)

“Back to the question of evil. If we are to believe

in a God, we would surely like for him or her to be

benevolent and merciful in addition to all-knowing and

all-powerful, omniscient and omnipotent. How could

he or she tolerate the cruelty that some inflict on others

(including on animals) and still merit our respect as a

kind and loving God?

What I am proposing—and it is no original idea of

mine—is that God chooses to deliberately stay off the

playing field in order to let freedom of choice create

the new and original experiences that the Universe affords

and that God seeks through us….” (p. 23)

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“The idea of an infinite conscious intelligence with infinite

potential, whose ideas become the laws of physics

of our Universe and others, makes sense to me. The

consciousness providing purpose can be called God,

who transforms potential into experience and gives our

universe a purpose….” (p. 85)

“…God desires to experience his potential…. Because

we are the incarnations of God in the physical realm, God

experiences the richness of his potential through us….”

(p. 86)

“The Godhead has infinite potential, infinite power, infinite

ability…but that is all sterile perfection. In The God

Theory the Godhead chooses to convert potential into

experience….” (p. 122)

“…God’s consciousness wishes to know itself by

expressing itself. God wishes to make his potential

real….” (p. 126)

“I believe that we live in a purpose-guided Universe

governed by the laws of science. There is no conflict

between a Universe of matter and forces and a Universe

of purpose, because the purpose is what went into the

laws. In order for God to let himself experience a part

of his potential, he imagines into existence just the right

characteristics that a Universe needed to have in order for

life to originate and then to evolve into complex beings,

such as you and I. His consciousness caused this and

it is his consciousness that we share and that is our

essence. But the arena in which all this takes place is

fully governed by the laws of nature including Darwinian

evolution. Hence there is ample reason to believe in Einstein, Darwin, and God.” (p. 206)

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from the author –

This appendix was added-on by myself in September,

2012, seven years after Summa II was originally first

copyrighted and posted online (2005), four years after

it (Summa II) was available on Amazon, and twenty-four

years after Summa I was published by KTAV – and

reviewed and distributed globally.

Note that all the extracts from the Haisch book are

almost verbatim reprints of key and highlighted sections

of Summa Metaphysica I’s featured centerpiece Unified

Formulation (reprinted in Summa II).

Summa I (1988) introduces onto the world scene, among

other concepts, respectfully, my original concept of Quest

for Potential^∞ as well as the inter-related Potential∞ as the

core of the Divine.

Note as well that Summa I (God and Evil) maneuvers

with the concept of Divine Contraction of Divine

Consciousness in Summa I’s book-spanning Theodicy

presentation. (Former seminary student) Haisch’s

presentation (2010) of this theme in his above-noted The

Purpose Guided Universe is almost a verbatim extract

from Summa I.

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Finally, Haisch’s centerpiece theme – the actual title of

his book – The Purpose-Guided Universe – of Potential fulfillment being the purpose of Creation, is straight out of

Summa I.

Thus, note that Haisch’s key and central ideas (2006 and

2010) very directly, to put it mildly, precisely parallel or

restate – ideas proffered in Summa I (1988) and Summa II

(2005).

Note, however, that in the ‘history of ideas’ it is not

unusual for (alleged) ‘conceptual breakthrough’ ideas to

‘bubble up’ simultaneously in two unrelated quarters. Of

course, in his case there are multiple identical concepts

bubbling-up here simultaneously – and therein lies the issue.

Now, vis à vis my parochial interests, I am fine with

several almost-identical concepts to my own being

proffered-forth by a fine astrophysicist. It should be noted,

however, that Summa I enjoyed considerable global

traction for over 18 years (both online and hard copy)

before Haisch’s works on cosmology (2006 and 2010).

One may, of course, give San Francisco-based Haisch

the benefit-of-the-doubt and deem him innocent of

conscious wrongdoing.

Vis à vis the global community’s interests, I am of course

glad that the concepts are being given traction – from

whatever serious corner. May this trend continue in its

intended spirit of Good Will to all mankind.

*** Bernard Haisch, The Purpose-Guided Universe. Franklin, New Jersey: New Page

      Books. 2010. pp. 20, 21, 23, 86, 122, 126, 206.

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APPENDIX Z63:

Paradigm Challenges

Comments on Wikipedia review of the 1962 classic, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn (Univ. Of Chicago Press)

[Note that Birnbaum proposes a new paradigm metaphysics, not a new paradigm scientific theory; however, the Birnbaum metaphysics fully wraps-around and integrates-with science.]

Note to reader:

We are going to present six excerpts from the Wikipedia article, followed by the Birnbaum “take”.

Excerpt (A):

“…Kuhn argued for an episodic model in which periods of such conceptual continuity in normal science were interrupted by periods of revolutionary science. During revolutions in science the discovery of anomalies leads to a whole new paradigm that changes the rules of the game and the “map” directing new research, asks new questions of old data, and moves beyond the puzzle-solving of normal science….”

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(A) The Birnbaum “take”:

A proposed paradigm shift “raises the stakes.”

If the new paradigm is more authentic than the prior, the entire field emerges more dynamic and overarching. If the new paradigm is less authentic, the entire field is set back.

Excerpt (B):

“…Kuhn’s book argues that the evolution of scientific theory does not emerge from the straightforward accumulation of facts, but rather from a set of changing intellectual circumstances and possibilities….”

(B) The Birnbaum “take”:

For my part, I would call this “a conceptual breakthrough”

Excerpt (C):

“Coherence”

One of the aims of science is to find models that will account for as many observations as possible within a coherent framework….”

(C) The Birnbaum “take”:

With an important caveat: With no serious flaws or glaring gaps.

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Excerpt (D):

“…As a paradigm is stretched to its limits, anomalies — failures of the current paradigm to take into account observed phenomena — accumulate….  But no matter how great or numerous the anomalies that persist, Kuhn observes, the practicing scientists will not lose faith in the established paradigm for as long as no credible alternative is available….”

“…In any community of scientists, Kuhn states, there are some individuals who are bolder than most. These scientists, judging that a crisis exists, embark on what Thomas Kuhn calls revolutionary science, exploring alternatives to long-held, obvious-seeming assumptions. Occasionally this generates a rival to the established framework of thought… The majority of the scientific community will oppose any conceptual change….Those scientists who possess an exceptional ability to recognize a theory’s potential will be the first whose preference is likely to shift in favor of the challenging paradigm. There typically follows a period in which there are adherents of both paradigms. In time, if the challenging paradigm is solidified and unified, it will replace the old paradigm, and a paradigm shift will have occurred….”

(D) The Birnbaum “take”:

Note that typically the contemporaneous ‘scientific community’ refuses to acknowledge the objectively unacceptable limitations of the old paradigm.

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APPENDIX Z64:

Q4P^∞ & Natural Selection

Q4P^∞& Natural Selection
The Mechanism/Criteria

Summa’s Theory is that, among other Q4P^∞ endeavors, Q4P^∞ tweaks Natural  Selection:

Quest for Potential is  basically three-fold/nested.    

      Survival ( Potential ( Extraordinariation

Q4P^∞ “selects” among so-to-speak mutations  and impacts evolution basically via the following 3 fundamental nested criteria:

1) Survival of the fittest/ablest to pass on their genes

2) Deploying an ever-greater Potential array

3) Seeking potential routes/denouement of

    Extraordinariation.   

However, note clearly that Q4P^∞ is assessing on a universe-basis and on planetary-basis as well, and not just at the local level.

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for the scientist reader: I know you want a mechanism; but, that would literally require Q4P^∞ power. Am not evading the issue; rather I am explicating that it would require a quasi- supra-organic -super-processing- entity spanning the entire universe – and getting feedback in real-time across its far reaches...

meaning, Q4P^∞ itself!

[ see in parallel Seth Lloyd of MIT XQIT, Programming the Universe, Knopf, 2006 ]

Note that Q4P^∞ does not necessarily limit itself to tweaking Natural Selection. The complete answer is beyond our ken.

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APPENDIX Z65:

How does Q4P^∞ interact with the physical world?

Our proposition: At the Big Bang / the Genesis-Point / Bereshith

Q4P^∞ morphs from a Supra-Metaphysical concept-dynamic-entity into a Supra-Metaphysical-physical concept-dynamic-entity.

Meaning, we are all part of Q4P^∞. You, me, all of us. But it is far from clear to what extent, among other key issues. From my perspective, it is a subject more appropriate for a next generation of works on Q4P^∞ if/when Summa is used as a working hypothesis.

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APPENDIX Z66:

Consciousness & Cosmos

Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False is a 2012 book by Thomas Nagel, Professor of Philosophy at New York University © Oxford University Press Sept. 2012

from Wikipedia

Overview

“In the book, Nagel argues that  the materialist version of evolutionary biology is unable to account for the existence of mind and consciousness, and is therefore at best incomplete. He writes that mind is a basic aspect of nature, and that any philosophy of nature that cannot account for it is fundamentally misguided. He argues that the standard physico-chemical reductionist account of the emergence of life – that it emerged out of a series of accidents, acted upon by the mechanism of natural selection — flies in the face of common sense.

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Nagel’s position is that principles of an entirely different kind may account for the emergence of life, and in particular conscious life, and that those principles may be teleological, rather than materialist or mechanistic. He stresses that his argument is not a religious one...”

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from the author -

As we know, the guiding principle/dynamic/force Quest for Potential^∞ is overarching, which would include its teleological dimension. From the get-go and thru its end-goals, Q4P^∞ would foster and advance both the emergence of (mind and then) Consciousness, and the ever-increasing nurturing/expansion/elevation thereof.

*Wikipedia Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_and_Cosmos (accessed June 23, 2013)

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APPENDIX Z67:

Contemporary Natural Selection Theory: Mechanism & Criteria

Is there a clear and focused academic scientific conviction/consensus on the mechanism and criteria

for Natural Selection? The answer is NO.

See two groups of excerpts from Wikipedia     

First group*^a

note – this LISTING only deals with the “main figures”

Main figures in selection debate

“Besides Richard Dawkins and George C. Williams, other biologists and philosophers have expanded and refined the selfish-gene theory, such as John Maynard Smith, George R. Price, Robert Trivers, David Haig, Helena Cronin, David Hull, Philip Kitcher, and Daniel C. Dennett.

Individuals opposing this gene-centric view include Ernst Mayr, Stephen Jay Gould, David Sloan Wilson, and philosopher Elliott Sober.”...

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Proponents of multilevel selection (MLS) include E. O. Wilson, David Sloan Wilson, Elliott Sober, Richard E. Michod, and Samir Okasha.

Second group*^b

21st century

Macroevolution and microevolution

“One of the tenets of the modern evolutionary synthesis was that macroevolution (the evolution of phylogenic clades at the species level and above) was solely the result of the mechanisms of microevolution (changes in gene frequency within populations) operating over an extended period of time. During the last decades of the 20th century some paleontologists raised questions about whether other factors, such as punctuated equilibrium and group selection operating on the level of entire species and even higher level phylogenic clades, needed to be considered to explain patterns in evolution revealed by statistical analysis of the fossil record. Near the end of the 20th century some researchers in evolutionary developmental biology suggested that interactions between the environment and the developmental process might have been the source of some of the structural innovations seen in macroevolution, but other evo-devo researchers maintained that genetic mechanisms visible at the population level are fully sufficient to explain all macroevolution.”

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Epigenetic inheritance

“Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. By the first decade of the 21st century it had become accepted that Epigenetic mechanisms were a necessary part of the evolutionary origin of cell differentiation. Although epigenetics in multicellular organisms is generally thought to be a mechanism involved in differentiation, with epigenetic patterns “reset” when organisms reproduce, there have been some observations of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. This shows that in some cases non genetic changes to an organism can be inherited and it has been suggested that such inheritance can help with adaptation to local conditions and affect evolution. Some have suggested that in certain cases a form of Lamarckian evolution may occur.”

Unconventional evolutionary theory

Omega Point

“Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s metaphysical Omega Point Theory describes the gradual development of the universe from subatomic particles to human society, which he viewed as its final stage and goal. Cosmologist Frank J. Tipler subscribes to a version of this theory.”

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