I know I’m a “living system” because…….
There are autopoietic processes going on in my body. My cells/ blood/ tissues are periodically dying, regenerated. I inhale and exhale. I eat and poop....(yeah, you get the picture?)
Does that qualify for being a "living system"? Technically speaking I think so.
More importantly, what really made me feel alive is that I am always growing, learning (and unlearning) and I can feel a sense of constant renewal in all aspects of my life.
Then again, what goes on physiologically can't really be separated from the mental aspects. It's all a continuum.
Biophysics and Oriental Medicine
Chinese medicine and modern western science are founded on different world views. They are very different paradigms. Current researches into CM by western scientists use Western science methodology and criteria. By imposing that on a study on Chinese medicine, it is already biased before the study begins.
Biophysics and CM do have lots of parallels and sometimes seems to arrive at the same conclusion, though using different languages. What's interesting about biophysics is that it seems to relate the microcosm to the macrocosm, which is what Chinese medicine has been doing for thousands of years.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Physics Week 9 (Synthesis)
My E-Prime Day - describe your day, only using English Prime
Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6am, did some stretching movements I learned from my yoga classes, then I played my guitar for approx. 30 min. , I took a shower, answered some work emails, talked on the phone with someone I had been friends with since 7th grade. Then I left for school at 8:37am, according to my clock.
I thought: it's nice to get up early in the morning! I should make it a habit. However, by early afternoon during my class, my eyes started to get heavy. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep.
Every minute seemed to get longer. My mind started wandering...until break time came, I tried to energize myself by going out to get a sweet/spicy/milky caffeinated tan color concoction called Chai. But I think it was also walking and breathing what I hoped was fresh air that woke me up. Anyway, after that I managed to stay awake and aware throughout class afterwards.
Can I synthesize East and West?
As globalization takes place more and more, a lot of cultures have become more westernized and more people in the West are interested in eastern ideas (Like this class and my wonderfully open-minded classmates). I think no matter how much East and West synthesized, there will always be some cultural differences, esp. because of the language issue. A lot of great thinks think that how we embrace the world is reflected/influenced by our language. As long as there are linguistic differences, there will be cultural differences.
The Bay Area is such a hotbed of east-west syntheses and it is exciting to be part of it. At the same time, it is good to really understand different cultures more deeply; so when they synthesize something, it's coming from a deeper place, instead of just synthesizing from the surfaces of different cultures.
Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6am, did some stretching movements I learned from my yoga classes, then I played my guitar for approx. 30 min. , I took a shower, answered some work emails, talked on the phone with someone I had been friends with since 7th grade. Then I left for school at 8:37am, according to my clock.
I thought: it's nice to get up early in the morning! I should make it a habit. However, by early afternoon during my class, my eyes started to get heavy. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep.
Every minute seemed to get longer. My mind started wandering...until break time came, I tried to energize myself by going out to get a sweet/spicy/milky caffeinated tan color concoction called Chai. But I think it was also walking and breathing what I hoped was fresh air that woke me up. Anyway, after that I managed to stay awake and aware throughout class afterwards.
Can I synthesize East and West?
As globalization takes place more and more, a lot of cultures have become more westernized and more people in the West are interested in eastern ideas (Like this class and my wonderfully open-minded classmates). I think no matter how much East and West synthesized, there will always be some cultural differences, esp. because of the language issue. A lot of great thinks think that how we embrace the world is reflected/influenced by our language. As long as there are linguistic differences, there will be cultural differences.
The Bay Area is such a hotbed of east-west syntheses and it is exciting to be part of it. At the same time, it is good to really understand different cultures more deeply; so when they synthesize something, it's coming from a deeper place, instead of just synthesizing from the surfaces of different cultures.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Physics Week 8 (Classical Physics)
Newton's Three Laws and me
As much as modern physics theories make classical physics look static, outdated, Newton's 3 Laws still hold true (partially anyway) and remains practical in our daily lives. As multidimensional as our world is, modern and classical physics theory can coexist peacefully.
The Newton's Thirld Law of Motion resonates with me most.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I especially notice that law when I practice yoga asanas. For example if I raise my hands above my head, trying to reach higher, weirdly enough, the best way is to press my feet more firmly into the ground.
And that, I can apply directly to my daily life. For everything that I do, the higher I want to reach, the firmly grounded I should be.
Oh didn't the Tao Te Ching says: "To go far is to return..."
Our “Energy Efficient” Culture
You mean "our-always-attempting-to-be-energy-efficient" culture?
The more energy-efficient we try to be, the more energy we waste. Better to just not waste our effort, save our energy for things that are really important to us. Who was that that said, "Our life is flittered by detail"?
Descartes has a lot to answer for!
Although Descartes was "credited" as the one who first popularized the idea of the separation of the mind and the physical body, history has shown that this idea was floating about as early as ancient Greece. Plato was one of the philosophers who suggested the soul-body dichotomy.
Like other thinkers, Descartes' thinking reflected the culture and social-political climate of his time.
Like most "smart" people, he was in his head way too much, and he was taking himself a little too seriously.
As much as modern physics theories make classical physics look static, outdated, Newton's 3 Laws still hold true (partially anyway) and remains practical in our daily lives. As multidimensional as our world is, modern and classical physics theory can coexist peacefully.
The Newton's Thirld Law of Motion resonates with me most.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I especially notice that law when I practice yoga asanas. For example if I raise my hands above my head, trying to reach higher, weirdly enough, the best way is to press my feet more firmly into the ground.
And that, I can apply directly to my daily life. For everything that I do, the higher I want to reach, the firmly grounded I should be.
Oh didn't the Tao Te Ching says: "To go far is to return..."
Our “Energy Efficient” Culture
You mean "our-always-attempting-to-be-energy-efficient" culture?
The more energy-efficient we try to be, the more energy we waste. Better to just not waste our effort, save our energy for things that are really important to us. Who was that that said, "Our life is flittered by detail"?
Descartes has a lot to answer for!
Although Descartes was "credited" as the one who first popularized the idea of the separation of the mind and the physical body, history has shown that this idea was floating about as early as ancient Greece. Plato was one of the philosophers who suggested the soul-body dichotomy.
Like other thinkers, Descartes' thinking reflected the culture and social-political climate of his time.
Like most "smart" people, he was in his head way too much, and he was taking himself a little too seriously.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Physics Week 7 (Chaos Theory)
ordered chaos, consciousness
"Chaos Theory" seems to be a misnomer, since it is abut finding underlying order in apparently random data.
Life is the same. Everything is pattern. Nothing really is random. For example, in my 20s, I would complain about how things "happen" to me or maybe I just didn't have certain luck like some people do. Then, the older I get, the more I see that the reason the same kind of things always "happen" to me is because of my pattern of thinking/way of being.
Fractals as patterns of complex systems
Found this article that relates patterns in fractal and music.
The interesting thing is that the seemingly complex fractals are actually based on fairly simple math formulas. It is the iterative pattern that made them look complex.
Reminded me of jazz music. Before, when I listened to jazz musician improvise, I was always surprised by what they could do spontaneously, thne I tlaked to musicians who told me how jazz musicians often know music theory well, and often they are just doing variations of a certain scale or chord progressions. Again, patterns!
cool experiment
Looking at myself in a fork and see the distort image flip...I haven't looked at myself this closely in a long time. Reminded me of these self-portraits in spoons we had to do in drawing classes.
"Chaos Theory" seems to be a misnomer, since it is abut finding underlying order in apparently random data.
Life is the same. Everything is pattern. Nothing really is random. For example, in my 20s, I would complain about how things "happen" to me or maybe I just didn't have certain luck like some people do. Then, the older I get, the more I see that the reason the same kind of things always "happen" to me is because of my pattern of thinking/way of being.
Fractals as patterns of complex systems
Found this article that relates patterns in fractal and music.
The interesting thing is that the seemingly complex fractals are actually based on fairly simple math formulas. It is the iterative pattern that made them look complex.
Reminded me of jazz music. Before, when I listened to jazz musician improvise, I was always surprised by what they could do spontaneously, thne I tlaked to musicians who told me how jazz musicians often know music theory well, and often they are just doing variations of a certain scale or chord progressions. Again, patterns!
cool experiment
Looking at myself in a fork and see the distort image flip...I haven't looked at myself this closely in a long time. Reminded me of these self-portraits in spoons we had to do in drawing classes.
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