Echoes in a Hollow Space

Random quote of the day:

“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

—Albert Einstein, letter to the family of his friend, Michele Besso, upon
learning of his death, March 1955. Einstein died in April 1955.

 

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

 

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

Random quote of the day:

 

“Let’s say that a ten-lane superhighway is being built next to [an] anthill. The question is: would the ants even know what a ten-lane superhighway is, or what it’s used for, or how to communicate with the workers who are just feet away? And the answer is no….If there is [another] civilization in our backyard, in the Milky Way galaxy, would we even known its presence?…There’s a good chance that we, like ants in an anthill, would not understand or be able to make sense of a ten-lane superhighway next door.”

—Dr. Michio Kaku, “Parallel Universes, the Matrix, and Superintelligence”

 

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

Random quote of the day:

 

“We are all agreed that your theory is crazy.  The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.”

—Niels Bohr to Wolfgang Pauli regarding the Heisenberg-Pauli nonlinear theory of elementary particles, quoted in Symposisum on Basic Research by Dael Lee Wolfle

 

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

Random quote of the day:

 

“The quantum theory of parallel universes is not the problem, it is the solution.  It is not some troublesome, optional interpretation emerging from arcane theoretical considerations.  It is the explanation—the only one that is tenable—of a remarkable counter-intuitive reality.”

—David Deutsch, The Fabric of Reality

 

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

Random quote of the day:

 

“Physicists are increasingly accepting the idea that there are infinite realities stacked together like the pages of a never-ending book.  So there are infinite versions of you, living out infinite different lives in infinite parallel realities.”

—Marcus Chown, The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow’s Science

 

 

Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

I believe the Universe is what it is: neither benevolent nor malign, just indifferent most of the time. It isn't here to reward me, nor is it here to punish me. It just is . . . what it is: unknowable, beyond the imagination or perception of humans, a great iceberg of the cosmic tide, more of it hidden than shows on the surface. Every time we think we've seen the ultimate tiniest particle at the heart of matter, gravitational perturbations show up to let us know that nuh-uh, somebody else is hiding down there in the depths. The only thing that is truly certain about the Universe is that it doesn't wish to be known at its most profound level.

At those deepest levels, it is deeply strange, composed of protean particles that somehow agree to hang together to make matter. Shapeshifters of extraordinary talent, they seem to like pleasing their audience, bending with the observer to be what is expected of them. Particle? Wave? Sure, I can do that. Just tell me what you want, I'll make it happen.

That's why I think that if we marshal our forces, strive for a change, believe in it, commit to it, or simply change our way of looking at a problem, we can sometimes nudge the Universe in the direction we want to go. I believe in the butterfly effect. If there's any realm of magic, it's there, where quantum physics and chaos theory meet, where particles that are also waves change form according to the expectations of the perceiver, where tiny local conditions cause a chain reaction that leads to major effects.

I don't believe in from-the-top-down change. Usually massive programs are too cumbersome and passive to have the intended effect. I believe in change that happens within each human heart—whether inspired from the top, or locally, everyone doing what they can, no matter how small—and in the spreading waves of influence those tiny changes can bring.

That's the surest form of magic I know: that somewhere in the world, the flapping of a butterfly's wings can bring a nation to its knees—or, conversely, call up a strong and favorable wind for an amazing journey of discovery.

Random quote of the day:


"Physics tells us what we can know about the universe, not how it is."

—Niels Bohr


I actually haven't been able to confirm that Bohr said this, and I usually like to confirm before posting, but it's pithy and I liked it so I went on ahead...


( Illustrated vision. )

After eight and a half years of being on my own, I'm cooking again on a regular basis. Sundays are my turn at the stove. I've always loved to cook, but it isn't much fun cooking for myself, so I usually settled for expedience or take out or lazy ass when I was living alone.

I love the creative synergy that happens in a kitchen. It's a lot like writing fiction or making any kind of art. Throw in a little this, a little that, see if anything comes of it, understand there are laws of physics you may have to consider, some cosmic truths to be sifted through--but other than that, live it, baby.

When I lived with my roommates back in the old head knocking days, I usually did all the cooking, every night. Sometimes it got to be a chore, but mostly I liked it because of that synergy. So now I have a new roommate and although we still fend for ourselves on week nights, we share cooking dinner on the weekends. I dined on my roommate's chicken cacciatore last night. After watching Anthony Bourdain do his show on Sicily, I was craving me some rich pasta dish. See, eat, live. It did the trick.

(My apologies to my vegetarian friends. I love you all and respect your decision.)

Last weekend I marinated a London broil in soy sauce, olive oil, little lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and chopped shallots, then broiled it to a perfection (ha). I baked some banana squash with brown sugar and cinnamon, baked small potatoes. And man, did all that taste good. This week I'm making chili--a huge batch that we can freeze. Next week, maybe curried chicken or lamb stew. It's weird to be thinking of meal plans again. But kinda cool.

There are all kinds of changes like this--big and small--going on in my life right now. I feel energized, like a big weight is lifted off my shoulders, and the other day I thought I even felt kind of h-- But no, I don't want to type that out loud. The Universe might read it and smite me for being h--

The months before this move really ground me down to fine powder. One could even say the challenging year before the move started the grinding process. But what do you know? Add a little stock to it, heat, and stir...and the sauce still thickens.

That's a cosmic truth I can live with.