Random Ramblings

Back in 1999, when my dear sister Melissa was diagnosed with Leukemia and in her honor I had dedicated myself to train for a century bike ride with the Leukemia Society to raise funds for the foundation. I put together a donation mailing package which included an origami swan. The symbol of the swan originated from Japan where a young girl was stricken with the cancer and started folding swans as therapy. After she had passed, thousands of people folded swans in her honor for the message of hope. My co-worker than, Zepha, had mentioned she had known of a person who is able to demonstrate and solve mathematical equations by the art of origami. This information and concept was interesting and was filed away in my gray matter.

Fast forward to July, 2004. TheaterWorks, a local regional performing theater opens its house to the public for dress rehearsal. On this day, they were showing Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. In the play, it introduces fractal geometry, second law of thermodynamics, chaos theory. The play is set in two time periods, the 1800's and the present. Thomasina, a thirteen year old, is a mathematical genius far ahead of her time. Septimus, her tutor encourages her to work on a solution to Fermat's last theorem.

Each week I plot your equations dot for dot, xs against ys in all manner of algebraical relation, and every week they draw themselves as commonplace geometry, as if the world of forms were nothing but arcs and angles. God's truth, Septimus, if there is an equation for a curve like a bell, there must be an equation for one like a bluebell, and if a bluebell, why not a rose? Do we believe nature is written in numbers?

She later on wrote in her workbook:

I, Thomasina Coverly, have found a truly wonderful method whereby all the forms of nature must give up their numerical secrets and draw themselves through number alone.

Now in the present, a mathematician Valentine discovers Thomasina workbook and profuse enthusiastically about the mathematical chaos theory.

The math isn't difficult. It's what you did at school. You have an x and y equation. Any value for x gives you a value for y. So you put a dot where it's right for both x and y. Then you take the next value for x which gives you another value for y......what she's doing is, every time she works out a value for y, she's using that as her next value for x. And so on. Like a feedback....If you knew the algorithm, and fed it back say ten thousand times, each time there'd be a dot somewhere on the screen. You'd never know where to expect the next dot. But gradually you'd start to see this shape, because every dot will be inside the shape of this leaf.

Further more, Val goes on to explain the chaos theory, where random events intervene to shape lives. Nature is written in numbers.

If you knew the algorithm and fed it back, say, ten thousand times, each time there'd be a dot somewhere on the screen. You'd never know where to expect the next dot. But gradually you'd start to see this shape, because every dot will be inside the shape of this leaf. It wouldn't be a leaf, it would be a mathematical object. But yes. The unpredictable and the predetermined unfold together to make everything the way it is. It's how nature creates itself, on every scale, the snowflake and the snowstorm.

Then onto September 17, 2004, I came across this post by Ivan on his CreativeBits weblog. (BTW, this is a weblog I read everyday.) He wrote about the Fibonacci's numbers, which lead to the famous Phi number and the golden mean. The theory of the Golden Ratio explains how nature works. The rules and laws that govern growth. You will never look at artichoke the same way again.

Everything in our universe, such as the shape of hurricanes, the way the trees grow, the way the petals are arranged in a flower and even the structure of the human skeleton are all arranged by the golden means.

This last weekend, I went to the Belmont Art Festival, it was rather paltry. I was stumbling around the community center and came upon a local artist gallery. They were exhibiting Counterparts: Art from Mathematics on, you guess it, number theory! It featured three artist: Dale Seymour, Nancy Macko, and Robert Lang.

Dale Seymour's work brought together the amazing patterns and the relationships in math by using geometric forms: tessellations, polyhedral, the golden ratio. Nancy Macko presented two versions of The First Ten Prime Numbers, images about the building block of mathematics. Robert Lang, now his was of interest. He made geometric origami from a single-sheet of paper without cutting. This is the Golden Ratio explained through origami. Zepha, you are so right.

Now, I've always had a skill to pick up and decipher patterns rather effortlessly. I've always love to look at patterns for its art form, but nothing ever was put to me so scientifically. This was a theory that I've practiced and performed in everyday life but never before explained, understood, or looked at in a scientific way.

Poles apart, yet inseparable, art and mathematics are the Oscar Madison and Felix Unger of world culture. Mathematics is "counterpart" to art in both senses of the term: something that closely resembles something else, something that is a natural complement to something else. Patricia Albers, curator

Thanks to all for a lesson learned.

To read more about Arcadia and it's mathematical ideas visit this website.

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Action Inquiry
by Bill Torbert listed these four essential parts of speech in forming a discussion.

1. Framing - stating the purpose for the present discussion, what dilemma is to be resolved, what assumptions are shared or not shared.
2. Advocating - asserting an option, perception, feeling or strategy for action
3. Illustrating - telling a bit of a story that puts the meat on the bones of the advocacy
4. Inquiring - questioning others to learn something from them."

Framing and advocating are the areas I am weak on. I do question others alot and I do try to illustrate my points. Sometimes my mind will be racing with an illustration or response instead of listening to what other is really saying.

Furthermore, this notion is covered by William Howell's Empathic Communicator. He suggests we all practice what he termed "internal monologue".

By "internal monologue" he means the internal or "covert" salf-talk that's often going on. The central point is that your "covert" communicating is always affecting your "overt" communicating, and that these effects can be damaging unless you learn to manage your internal monologue. It represents unnecessary scripting that reduces communcation effectiveness.

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The Japanese craving for western culture is exhibited here at this site. Anything, and everything in English will catch attention in print and advertising.

Engrish can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design. Engrish can be found all over the world, but the vast majority of the really funny and creative Engrish is from Japan. English is used as a design element in Japanese products and advertising to give them a modern look and feel (or just to "look cool"). There is often no attempt to try to get it right, nor do the vast majority of the Japanese population (= consumers) ever attempt to read the English design element in question. There is therefore less emphasis on spell checking and grammatical accuracy.

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For the upcoming labor day weekend, the official weekend to mark the end of the summer (bummed), I am heading up to Truckee with a few friends of mine from college days. We are partaking into excess of everything we do. Mostly just excess of hanging around, doing nothing, and eating, of course. That's the motto of the Aron family anyways. The motto being "If it is worth doing, it's worth doing to excess." Aahh! The indulgence of life with friends is always a good remedy from our hurried world.
No, really, we are not just doing nothing (double negatives here). This weekend is the Aron family's Sixteenth Annual Aarrooone Cup Tournament. What is this? You ask. It is a model aircraft race. We custom build model aircraft from balsa wood, mount an engine, attach it with a pylon line to a pylon swivel and then measure the average speed over 10 laps. The whole sit-up and the rig for calculating the speed was the brainchild of Jim Aron. His invention was quite ingenious. The very first Aarrooone Cup air race's top speed was at 38.04mhp. Last year, the speed tops out at about 66.452782mhp, which is the Aarrooone Cup World Record. That is some progess, my friends. This event just gets bigger and bigger every year. And every year some stuff is being added and improved. One year, The Family repainted and added landing circles to the garage floor. Another year, they added grandstand to their horseshoe pit. There always seem to have project to start and finish.
Every year, for the following Sunday, we would spend a lazy afternoon floating down the truckee river. The word for this year, though, is the river is too low. They are not letting water out of the dam by the Fanny Bridge. The name Fanny Bridge was so named because people stick their butts out to look below the bridge. So, this year, I managed to impose myself on Bob and family to bring my bike up with them. I've been wanting to bike along Lake Tahoe ever since I did some bike events with The Luekemia Society.
I must log-off now and do some packing for the 4-hour trekk up highway 80. Let the good time, food, and wine flow! Now, I must leave you with the wise words of
William Shakespear

I wish you well and so I take my leave, I Pray you know me when we meet again.

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Quote of the Day:

Contentment regarding clothes: "It is a mistake to think that it is really worthwhile to spend more on food, clothing, and adornments just because you have more money. Rather, spend more on health and education for poor people. This is not forced socialism but voluntary compassion."
Contentment regarding shelter: "Also it is essential for monastics to be satisfied with adequate shelter. An elaborate home is not allowed." "Lay people can adapt this practice by reducing the neverending quest for a better home and for the furniture and decorations in it."
How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life, Dalai Lama

Today's quote was contributed by Chris sometime ago. It has recently directed my thoughts along these lines.

What does it mean to be content, to feel content? What does the word itself mean? Dictionary term: not desiring more than what one has; satisfied. Resigned to circumstances, assenting.

There seem to be an angst toward this word in our culture. Does fear of contentment actually create the very anxiety we have? The need to always reach for the moon? The need to always be ahead of every country or perish? Doesn't this breed paranoia?

The western civilization sees contentment as an undesirable thing. We see it as no progress, as being idle at one place, no growth, stagnant, emptiness. Onward and upward, right? We are not merely satisfied with the things we have. I'm not advocating that this is all bad. Many technological advances are possible because we are always pushing the envelope. Many theories are challenged because we are always searching and questioning. But we must also question what are the consequences. We are forever chasing a loftier goal, a greater, better objective. We don't seem to have the time and the luxury to pause and ponder.

Rollo May wrote in The Significance of the Pause: There seems to be no pause in technology. Or when there is, it is called a "depression" and is denied and feared. But pure science is a different matter. Albert Einstein remarks that "the intervals between the events are more significant than the events themselves." Pause is the prerequisite for wonder. When we don't pause, when we are perpetually hurrying from one appointment to another, from one "planned activity" to another, we sacrifice the richness of wonder. And we lose communication with our destiny.

The eastern civilization preaches the beauty of just be. It advocates unity in the community and the greater society. The teaching of Lao Tsu in his Tao Te Ching preaches simplicity. "Profit comes from what is there, Usefulness from what is not there.
Lao Tsu says,

We put thirty spokes to make a wheel;
But it is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.
We make a vessel from a lump of clay;
But it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.
We make doors and windows for a room;
But it is the empty spaces that make a room livable.
Thus, while existence has advantages,
It is the emptiness that makes it useful.

During meditation, the nature within ourselves find unity with the nature of the earth. Their luxury to pause perhaps feeds their souls instead of their desires.

Yes, the western civilization is the modern civilization. We have better living standard. We have many technological advances that simplifies our lives. But does it really simplify? Or does it really limit us? Ever feel how useless everything is during a black-out? Or perhaps it just makes our lives easier? But does it enrich our lives? The eastern civilization lives in a harsher environment than we do, but they find the beauty in the simplicity. They find that the quality of life not the quantity of life is the difference. So, with all these achievements in the modern world, we are feeding our desires. But are we starving our souls at the same time?

The problem I see is that we tend to act self-centered instead of thinking we are part of this global community, so we take. We tend to live in the physical world rather than think of our beings along the spiritual world, so we want.

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Yesterday night, a person by the name of John Kerry responded to my previous night's post regarding Joshua Kinberg's protest using his bike. Could this be The Senator, John Kerry? What's he doing toiling late at night surfing websites? Shouldn't he instead be thinking of some ways to ease the burden of ordinary citizens, improve the quality of life, better management of our natural resources?
To his comment. I only wish bikes could vote. Surely, they would vote Bush out of office. Wait, I only wish I could vote. I would vote for you, John Kerry, if you allow legalized residents to vote. Wait, I can't vote for you. I CAN'T vote! Arrrgh!

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