Integral Science

It was another Horizon programme on BBC that recently set me thinking. It was on the new field of "Synthetic Biology" where very dramatic changes are likely to take place in a short period of time. We are already well used to the notion of computer programming. However this is going a big step further in that direct intervention with life forms can now take place through genetic engineering. So already one can through the Internet purchase bio bricks and then seek to assemble the in a manner that never existed before in the natural world. So genetic advances that took many millions of years to evolve can now - apparently - be reprogrammed in an instant with potentially devastating consequences. Now the initial phase of this engineering seems admirable enough! For example we were introduced to three revolutionary new goats which are genetically part spider. Apparently a particular type of spider naturally produces a very strong type of silk thread which has all sorts...

I will briefly attempt here to provide an alternative Big Bang scenario that properly caters for both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of phenomena. In this scenario we always start from a present moment (which continually exists). Phenomenal notions in space time then obtain a merely relative meaning with respect to this absolute ineffable source (and end) of existence. So before created phenomena come into being we have mere potential for existence. This can be represented in holistic mathematical terms as the total confusion of union (1) relating to quantitative notions of form with nothingness (0) relating to corresponding qualitative notions of emptiness. Earliest physical creations begins with duality (2) in both quantitative and qualitative terms. This quickly through a dynamic iteration process generates almost immediately all prime (and natural numbers). If we could conceive of a world of merely of prime numbers then quantitative and qualitative aspects would ...

I am returning to the topic of the last entry (i.e. the Horizon Programme on the hunting of the Higgs Boson). There are many reasons why I have strong reservations regarding the interpretation of recent findings. The finding of the Higgs Boson is required to bring a greater degree of completion to what is called the Standard Model which deals with the interactions between known particles and forces. Now admittedly this has proved remarkably successful in predicting an enormous range of physical events with astonishing accuracy! However a major limitation is that it excludes gravity. So to give an analogy; the search for the Higgs Boson represents the equivalent of finding a crucial weapon in a crime investigation. However in this investigation, the key potential suspect has been eliminated from investigation (due to the difficulty of searching for evidence). So in the absence of this key suspect, police are now attempting to pin the crime on someone else. Then to build a case a...

I was looking at the BBC Horizon programme last night on the Higgs Boson which proved quite interesting. As was widely reported in the media late last year, a determined attempt has been made to find convincing experimental evidence for the existence of the Higgs Boson which if verified would help to complete the standard particle model of physics. One outstanding problem with this model is that it had yet to provide a convincing explanation as to how particles acquire mass. And as this requirement is crucial for explaining the existence of all phenomena, the issue is of great importance. It had been proposed in the late 60's by Peter Higgs that what gives mass to particles is related to a seemingly invisible field viz. the Higgs Field. And as all fields are associated with corresponding particles, it was postulated that if this supposition of the existence of a new field was correct that it should in principle be possible to detect its associated particle. However the tech...