The World is Spinning

Let's begin my stating the obvious. Listening to the media whether on TV or the internet, one encounters a great degree of "spin", that is, P.R. Of course the job of marketing and advertising is to persuade. Politicians have been highly trained in the art of "spin" over many years. Business want to inform the public in the best possible light. Then there are the political and cultural pundits, driven by ideology, "spinning" their ideas on news shows and blogs. There is nothing wrong with having a underlying ideology, indeed everyone has one. But a person's ideology must be confronted with all the facts not just the convenient facts. Individuals can also "spin" their personal information to put themselves in the best light.

What is spin? It isn't direct lie but rather a half-truth. It's also the creative use of language of create an impression that isn't totally accurate. I am reminded of the Yiddish proverb that "a half-truth is a whole lie." The communicators in the areas mentioned above are people just like you and me. Put the ordinary person in a political or business job and it is their responsibility to put their organization in a good light. This puts them in a conflicted position. Certainly they feel the pressure since they know lying is wrong yet they know their responsibility. There is no one size fits all answer. Everyone must judge the right path for themselves.

How then shall we live in a spinning world? Here are some suggestions, maybe you have more.

1. Turn-off the TV. No need to watch commercials and political pundits. Borrow a DVD from the library if you like.

2. When we hear spin, judge softly. It's an issue within organization systems and there is no use complaining. Treat the people within those organizations with respect because they have been put into that position.

3. On a individual level, be scrupulous for the truth even if it exposes a weakness. There is no need for us to hide all our faults. Use discretion and err on the side of truth. You will travel much lighter. I am reminded of Jesus upon seeing Nathanael for the first time saying "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." Let's live so this can be said of us as well.

A Mystery in the Chinese Characters

It is thought that originally the Chinese migrated from the Mesopotamia region based on similarity in arts and government (ref 1). The Chinese written characters are very ancient indeed dating back to about 2650 BC. It is the oldest continually used system of writing in the world. See this link for more background on the history and origins of Chinese characters. The surprising mystery I want to highlight in this blog is a very strange connection between several Chinese characters and the historical Hebrew record dating back to before 2500 BC. This early time is at the threshold of recorded history and the record is not clear. However I would like to illustrate this with several characters. Before I do that let me explain something about Chinese characters. These characters are call sinographs (or ideographs) that have a meaning and are usually made up of individual elements that also have a meaning. Again, click this link to read more about this on Wikipedia. For now, let me illustrate a mystery that connects several characters with Hebrew history.

造 This character is pronounced zao4 and means "to create". The interesting thing is about the individual elements of the character. The left element (called a radical) means to walk, the top right character relates to the earth and the bottom characters means mouth or person. Put these all together and it appears to fit into the Hebrew creation account where God made man from the dust of the earth into a living being to could walk.

船 This character pronounced "chuan2" means boat or ship. The left element means "vessel". The top right element means "8" and the bottom right element means mouth or person. It is interesting the the Hebrew account of the ancient flood records 8 people getting on Noah's ark.

The last two characters date to about 2500 BC the time of dispersion of peoples from the Mesopotamia region. The Hebraic account could have very easily migrated to the east. These next two characters are even more mysterious since they pre-date the New Testament account of Jesus life. It appears that God was not absent from China in those very early years. These next two characters point to time that had not yet come.

樣 This character pronounced "yang4" means "pattern" or "model". The left element means tree, the top right element means "lamb" and the bottom element means "forever". The Bible tells us that Jesus was the lamb Jesus was the lamb of God, he was hung on a tree and he is our model forever.

義 This character pronounced "yi4" means "justice" or "righteousness". The top element means "lamb" and the bottom element means "I". The Bible teaching is that the lamb is the righteous one and I am under the lamb.

These are not the only characters but simply several examples. For further study, see The Discovery of Genesis by C.H. Kang and Dr. Ethel R. Nelson. I admit that this may sound like a lot of religious talk but it seems to more than a coincidence. How many coincidences in life are we simply going to dismiss. Are we going to say it "just happened"?

1. The Language of China before the Chinese, Terrien De La Couperie, p114

2. The Discovery of Genesis, C.H. Kang and Dr. Ethel Nelson

Having just returned to the U.S. from my 5th trip to China, I thought I would share some cultural insights. I decided to comment about social relationships. This idea came to me after my return from China while visiting a neighbor's house here in the U.S. to discuss a small matter. The entire conversation took place through the screen door. It seemed strange. Here are some interesting points about Chinese friendships.

1. Any visitor that comes to the door is immediately and enthusiastically invited in. Of course offers of drink and food will follow. This is before any questions of why you came.

2. Often visits are un-announced or perhaps a quick phone call just before you come over. If un-announced and if nobody is home, that OK, just keep going. To the Chinese person in the US, arranging a visit one week in advance sounds very strange.

3. The in the U.S., many of our relationships are separated into groups. That is, we have our co-workers on the job and most time we don't socialize too much with co-workers outside of the workplace. We have a neighborhood, family, church, special interest groups. Usually our acquaintances in these groups do not know each other. In China, it is common to socialize with your co-workers outside of the workplace. This is even arranged by the managers in the workplace. Since everyone lives closer together, people in your various circles will often meet each other.

4. Anyone who has been to China know that this is a culture of hospitality. On any occasion and often without much preparation, a feast is prepared at home or arranged in a restaurant. Anyone who has visited China definitely does not go hungry. In the restaurant, it is common for one person to pay the check even if there is 10 people eating. How to decide who pays? You must argue with one another over who pays. Everyone wants to pay the check. For the Chinese person looking at Americans in the restaurant carefully calculating how much everyone pays seems very strange. It seems that there is some distance between them.

In summary, the Chinese spend much more effort in developing and maintaining social networks. There is a wider circle of friends and people know each other's life much more. This is beneficial when the difficulties of life come. I am not referring to the much written about guanxi which is more formal dealing with position and status. In writing these observations, I am not judging one culture over another but rather just pointing out the differences I have seen. I am an American and much more individualistic which is culturally comfortable for me.

The desert off limits to solar energy?

With all the talk about renewable energy sources, one would think that the Mojave dessert would be the ideal place for a large, solar energy site. The suns shines 360 days a year. There are businesses ready to get financing for large scale projects. California has aggressive goals for development of renewable energy sources. This sounds like a project that's a win-win for everyone. Wrong. Apparently these large desert areas are not suitable for large scale solar projects because the delicate ecosystem may be disturbed. (see this link) It appears the desert tortise needs 5.8 million acres to live in. The Mojave ground squirrel get 1.7 million acres. A scientist from the Joshua Tree National Park is concern about light pollution of the desert sky. Some nocturnal wildlife may be affected. This all sounds a little bizarre to my mind. This is the desert! Virtually nobody goes there! Virtually nobody want to go there! If it take this much red tape to install solar panels out in the desert, let' just forget about solar technology and drill for more offshore oil. The same kind of environmental fights are taking place off Cape Cod in Massachusetts regarding a wind farm about 6 miles from the shore. It seems there is a chance a bird may fly into the blades. This is environmentalism going over line.

I think we can proceed with these green energy projects without undue worry. I think the desert ground squirrel will be just fine. I predict the shady area under the solar collectors will create a whole new ecosystem. If he could speak, the Mojave ground squirrel would probably welcome the shady areas. If the squirrel could think, he would wonder why we didn't build this earlier and give him some relief from the sun.

Leonhard Euler was a famous 18th century mathametician and physicist is possibly the greatest mathematician of all time. One formula he is known for is the Euler identity (shown on the left) which is a specific instance of Euler's general formula.

e is the base of the natural logarithm and is used to describe natural effects like a normal distribution and radioactive half-life. It is an irrational and transcendetal number.

pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it's diameter. The circle or sphere is a perfectly symetical shape and this ratio of the circumference to the diameter is constant. pi is also a irrational and transcendental number.

i is the square root of -1 which is a number which cannot even be visualized. Indeed this number by itself is a paradox and is call an imaginary number.

And now the amazing part, these irrational, transcendental, imaginary and fundamental constants are related in a very simple way by Euler's identity. Starting with a irrational number and raise it to the power of another irrational number multiplied by an imaginary number and you get -1! No one can explain this mystery.

I remember it was amazing to me when I first encountered it in a class on complex variables. This relationship between these variable is astounding and profound. A reader poll conducted by Mathematical Intelligencer named the identity as the most beautiful theorem in mathematics. Another reader poll conducted by Physics World in 2004 named Euler's identity the "greatest equation ever", together with Maxwell's equations. The book Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula [2006], by Paul Nahin (Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire), is devoted to Euler's identity; it is 400 pages long. The book states that the identity sets "the gold standard for mathematical beauty." Constance Reid claimed that Euler's identity was "the most famous formula in all mathematics." After proving the identity in a lecture, Benjamin Peirce, a noted nineteenth century mathematician and Harvard professor, said, "It is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don't know what it means, but we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth." Stanford mathematics professor Keith Devlin says, "Like a Shakespearean sonnet that captures the very essence of love, or a painting that brings out the beauty of the human form that is far more than just skin deep, Euler's equation reaches down into the very depths of existence."

If this formula is not astounding then you do not understand mathmatics deeply enough. We cannot call this formula a coincidence. We cannot call this a fluke. We cannot even say that this is just interesting. We must use adjectives such as "mystery", "paradox" and "beauty". It is not too much to call this identity "supernatural". For those who will not believe in God unless they see a miracle with their own eyes, here is that miracle. You may observe this miracle whenever you like and be amazed. If you cannot see this miracle, it is not the fault of God, it is your knowledge that must expand. Study, see, then believe.