Life's End

Riding on the tails of infinity

Aaron Radke — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:02:33 +0000

Infinity inextricably surrounds our finite experiences. We ought to be taught by the infinite tails that lie at our finite doorstep.

A linguistic friend once pulled this amazing piece of infinitude out of his pocket. By impromptu, he said, "Rye bread, salami and cheese from Denmark tastes great on sidewalk cafe's under umbrellas." He continued to remark that no one has ever said this finite set of 14 words before and no one ever else will. In that moment the finite was flirting with the infinite. Every sentence flirts; even this little one.

Examples, of this romance between the finite and infinite surround us. Fingerprints and snow flakes are mind boggling unique. A few notes in a western music scale have provided years of inexhaustible creativity. Often, ecstatic experiences come when time disappears. Finite time dissolves, in deep engaging conversation, an enjoyable thrilling ride or a grasped pure idea. The familiar Gaussian bell curve has infinite tails. In a giant upheaval, Leibniz and Newton sparked calculus into existence by observing infinitude in the instantaneous.

It is difficult to deny the perpetual longing for infinity. I remember as a young child being mesmerized in the simple mobius strip. What is the reason of this wonder? Why am I alarmed at a strand of gray hair? Why is an older woman often surprised at her aging body? C.S Lewis surmised,

We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. "How he's grown!" we exclaim, "How time flies!" as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal. ¹

"if we find in ourselves a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. ²

The mathematical genius Pascal wrote,

For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed.³

The infinite blows our minds. We need to daily go here for worship. Souls are refreshed by wonder. If heaven is a continual further up and further in ⁴, our minds will spend forever perfectly exploring and forever worshiping with wonder.

¹ C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, Harvest Books, October 7, 1964
² C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Touchstone edition 1952, Touchstone Books, 1952
³ Thought #72 W.F. Trotter, Blaise Pascal, Pense'es, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pascal/pensees.i.html , Penguin Classics, 1660
⁴ Randy Alcorn, Heaven, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 2004

Mathematics and the embodied mind for awe

Aaron Radke — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:52:37 +0000

"Where mathematics comes from" ¹ is a perfect example of brilliant authors who take awe, but have no proper place to consummate that awe. The only logical conclusion is sought in ourselves.

The authors overflow with awe, longing to share and express wonder beyond mere proofs and into the beautiful meaning behind equations. The wonder is incredible. The clear explanations of mathematics connected with the linguistic conceptual metaphor is awe inspiring. Through this book these authors paint a clear picture of fundamental awe behind mathematics.

How are we able to speak of beauty and awe and glory come from when it is rooted in ourselves? Awe and beauty is beholding the big outside. We do not travel to Niagara falls to be filled with awe that we constructed, but rather to be lost in the expanse. Here are two questions to keep in mind when reading this book. What is the source of awe, and what is the purpose and meaning of awe itself?

Here is a pivotal paragraph from this book:

Mathematics as we know it is human mathematics, a product of the human mind. Where does mathematics come from? It comes from us! We create it, but it is not arbitrary--not a mere historically contingent social construction. What makes mathematics non-arbitrary is that it uses the basic conceptual mechanisms of the embodied human mind as it has evolved in the real world. Mathematics is a product of the neural capacities of our brains, the nature of our bodies, our evolution our environment and our long social and cultural history. ²

Contrast this quote with one from John Piper:

Most people don't go the Grand Canyon to enhance their self-esteem because there is an echo of the image of God on our souls that we were made to enjoy making much of God forever, not made to be made much of forever..
We were made to enjoy mirroring the glory of God, and when people go to the Grand Canyon there is something that happens in the human soul standing on the edge of that expanse that draws them out of themselves and in a moment, there is a precious gift of self-forgetfulness in which they swell with wonder.
That's why they're made and they all need positive echoes of it and they go to big crazy movies and they buy big books to put on their coffee tables with pictures of mountains and rivers because they know that their joy really comes from outside themselves and not by standing in front of a mirror. You were not created to find joy in a mirror no matter what you see there. ³

¹ George Lakoff, Rafael E. Nunez, Where mathematics comes from: How the emodied mind brings mathematics into being, Basic Books, 2000
² Ibid.
³ John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, 2nd, Baker Academic, July, 2003

Neurons of Worship

Aaron Radke — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:37:49 +0000

The IBM Blue Brain Project is providing stunning research in cognitive intelligence. With a massive super computer parts of the neocortex are modeled and simulated. The neocortex makes up the largest portion of the human brain. Here, complex patterns are stored and conceptual thoughts are connected.

Jeff Hawkins started Numeta, a company promoting software patterned on the hierarchal storage and processing power of a collection of neurons in the neocortex.

Both Numeta and IBM are revealing fascinating features of our brains. Information is stored by continually presenting it with material. Overtime, the hierarchal pattern of neurons in the neocortex is trained to store essential features of interest. Repeating a wide variety of material provides a highly accentuated set of neurons that contain common essential patterns while deciphering from non important aspects. As an adult of varied experiences, an ornate victorian sofa and a bland wood stool both light up neurons associated with sitting. Two conclusions are:

A wide range of experiences from many vantage points should be explored
Care is required regarding what is fed to the brain; it shapes how the world is seen

At first, these conclusions appear to be diametrically opposed to each other. Choosing a limited set of experiences goes against experiencing all. A combined understanding comes from the concept of value.

Neurons are a distinct opportunity to encode value. Spending time on a topic or activity records value in neurons. Worship is a display of value. All of life is a display of value. All of life is worship.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ( Philipians4:8)

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. ( Romans8:5-7)

A physical battle for belief in order

Aaron Radke — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:29:00 +0000

I got up with a traditional bowl of Total with sprinkled raisins from the Amish country and a douse of soy milk. I thanked God he always provides food and life despite my hundreds of rebellions through the previous day. But an additional, different and new consuming thought flashed across my mind this morning.

Over the past number of months I have wrestled with the seemingly paradoxical balance of the spiritual and physical realm. I enjoy the worshipful wonder in the predictable order of the physical. The spiritual seems to allow this order to be tossed aside. "Redeeming Science" ¹ offered a satisfying answer. The physical world is the actual manifestation of God's Word spoken into existence. The world's physical order is in place and sustained by the commitment God has in his own power and logic. The joy in predictable order is the steadfast order and perfection of God himself. This understanding frees me to know that spiritual interactions with the physical world, that may alter physics, are still part of God's order and even in a greater way.

This morning, I realized the food I was eating was an expression of God's word spoken into being. The laws of physics that hold the protons, electrons and neutrons together and make up of Total follows the order of God's spoken word. I have food because God sustains me and holds my being together also. I want to continue developing this incredible frame of view.

But the next thought shocked and warned me into a need to see a deeper reality. As I munched and thought about the ramifications, I immediately thought of friends with painful illness and people in countries dying from a lack of provisions. How would these people view the physical order of the world? Food is not a commodity. To them, bodies that have physical order to hold them together are a harsh reality that provisions are not being met. The hourly pain, dry throat, cracked lips, sleepless nights, dreams of food, and goal reducing weakness on a physical body is a constant glaring scream that order is not in place. How is this discrepancy of order and disorder reconciled in my mind? How would I view God when my physical needs are not being met? It is easy to think of lofty ideas of theology and wonder when your needs are met, but finding wonder in God when needs are not met is a deeper reality. If wonder is still found, then a deep God is seen to be worth over life itself. He is glorified greater because he is seen as a greater prize.

After a pondering breakfast, I read the following. It is a story about a man who had everything and then lost everything:

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. ( Job1:20-22)

I believe I am in a massive time of plenty. I just pray that I would not see this time as normative and even shape my theology from it. Making a time of plenty as normal improperly shapes my view of who God is and how he interacts with me.

As usually, I think a massively bigger picture of God needs to be grasped. Much of faith is wrapped up in believing God has order to everything, even when the order, to us, seems failing. Why are there many promises and exhortations to

not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ( Matt6:25)

and

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." ( Prv3:5)

or to believe that

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will ( Eph1:11)

and learn to say

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ( Phl4:12)

Each verse is getting at a desire for order and meaning. Each is rooted in believing the promises that God has a massive order of glorifying himself. The wonder for us is inclusion! He already gave us his son, how much more will he include us? ( Rm8:32) Do we believe it? Lord I believe, just help my unbelief ( Mk9:24).

¹ Vern S. Poythress, Redeeming Science:A God-centered approach, Crossway Books, 2006

Neurons of Influence

Aaron Radke — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:17:44 +0000

It was a long drive, through steady snow fall, to meet a friend for lunch on the other side of town. With a filled stomach, I strolled back to the car after lunch. Lost in reflection, I walked with my feet constrained in a crisp tire track of displaced snow leading to my car. All at once, I was profoundly compelled this physical track in this physical world came from a mental decision to meet my friend and pick a specific parking place. As a transistor controls a much greater current, a small neuron in my brain had a profound influence recorded in the snow. Ideas have consequences in the physical world.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to watch a film about William Wilberforce and read excerpts of a biography on his life ¹. This man had a profound effect on the world by thoughts in his mind driven by convictions and affections.

This written reflection of words and letters has a purely physical form, yet they symbolize ideas of a metaphysical nature. It is mind boggling I can simultaneously enter your mind and you can enter mine as I write and you read this sentence through physical media. Additionally, communication is really the only way mind entering is possible. There are other manifestations of communication such as art, music and equations. However, each contain a consistent physical pattern for idea transfer. A thought needs to be expressed into media such as contrast on a page for words or oscillating airwaves against eardrums. Then the expression needs to be demodulated. An idea requires time and energy to be put into a physical organized form. Once formed, it takes both time and energy of another mind to decode the expressed idea.

The requirement of time and energy, both physical, is revealing and challenging. Where we spend our time and energy is a display of our thoughts and accordingly what we think is really important. The physical world is a place for worship. God gives time and God gives energy. Leading back to life's end, may my thoughts and actions spill out with my time and energy to what is really important.

¹ John Piper, Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce, Crossway Books, 2006

The Analytic gone cynic longing for love

Aaron Radke — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:52:44 +0000

Why am I afraid to dance, I who love music and rhythm and grace and song and laughter? Why am I afraid to live, I who love life and beauty of flesh and the living colors of the earth and sky and sea? Why am I afraid to love, I who love love? ¹

Chesterton, in Orthodoxy ², is saving my life. He is helping me from going mad. I have a far to strong bent to the analytic. I would emphasize with Chesterton that logic is not bad it is just that it has the potential to lead to madness.

"The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits." ³

I return; God help me be more like a poet. Here is the pivotal paragraph:

"Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination. Artistic paternity is as wholesome as physical paternity. Moreover, it is worthy of remark that when a poet really was morbid it was commonly because he had some weak spot of rationality on his brain. Poe, for instance, really was morbid; not because he was poetical, but because he was specially analytical. Even chess was too poetical for him; he disliked chess because it was full of knights and castles, like a poem. He avowedly preferred the black discs of draughts, because they were more like the mere black dots on a diagram. Perhaps the strongest case of all is this: that only one great English poet went mad, Cowper. And he was definitely driven mad by logic, by the ugly and alien logic of predestination. Poetry was not the disease, but the medicine; poetry partly kept him in health." ⁴

Ravi Zacharias often quotes a wonderfully freeing portion of a William Blake poem:

This life's dim windows of the soul,
distorts the heavens from pole to pole,
and goads you to believe a lie,
when you see with and not through the eye. ⁵

¹ Eugene O'Neill, The Great God Brown, Greenwich Village Theatre, 1926
² G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/orthodoxy.html , Dodd, Mead & Co, New York, 1908
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ The everlasting gospel William Blake, Selected Poetry, Oxford University Press, 1998

Predictable originality and endowed style

Aaron Radke — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:54:38 +0000

Thinking my thoughts were my own while driving down a winding snow covered road, my sister called from the passenger seat, "I bet I know what you are going to do when you get home." At that instant, I thought I was scheming an original activity for the evening. Indeed it was original. The thought had never before occurred to me, yet she was able to predict it.

This example is just one instance of the daily occurrence of her psychic abilities. It is a pleasurable privilege to live with my sister for over 20 years. By experience she can observe my posture or tone in my voice and seemingly read my mind. I am sure many married folk find this over time and find it a source of conflict when the predictor under the name of "assumption" is flawed.

After this predictable experience, a few questions consumed my thoughts for the evening. What makes many of my thoughts so predictable? If aspects are so predictable, is my creativity original?

Artists fall into style. Artists can pass style onto pupils. Without ever seeing a painting before, by style it is possible to guess who painted it. If we imagine a scene, we can imagine the style that a particular artist may bring the scene to life. My sister knows my style.

Style seems to carry some heightened dose of originality. The style itself is magnitudes of originality higher than the manifestations of it. Who is the determiner of style? I suppose that many artists themselves experience wonder in their own unique style; a wonder that comes from outside themselves and spills out as they express everything that they see.

If worship is life's end and each creature expresses life through its unique style, both the creature's creativity and the style endowed to the creature bring glory to the creator.

Life's End

Riding on the tails of infinity

Riding on the Tails of Infinity

Mathematics and the embodied mind for awe

Mathematics and the Embodied Mind for Awe

Neurons of Worship

Neurons of Worship

A physical battle for belief in order

A Physical Battle for Belief in Order

Neurons of Influence

Neurons of Influence

The Analytic gone cynic longing for love

The Analytic Gone Cynic Longing for Love

Predictable originality and endowed style

Predictable Originality and Endowed Style