The Intelligent Christian

Jesus is Lord

'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.'

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Abstract Stuff

Glossary

Aristotelian bivalency

Can be summarized by the statement that you cannot have both A and not-A. Effective in some applications such as digital computing, it unfortunately gets applied by domineering people as a means of control and influence. (e.g., the Nazis said you are either Arian or not-Arian) Aristotelian bivalency has sadly been the unseen and uncritically applied logical framework for much theology. Unrecognized, it also shapes much of our social policies such as housing or services for special needs people. From the point of view of the weak it generally means, 'you're in or you're out', or, 'we don't do that here, go somewhere else'.

Attractor

Usually a graphically depicted relationship of states of a non-linear system over time. There are several types of attractor.

Biblicists

Christians who take the Bible as their first principles. Their statement of faith might be something like: 1) I believe the Bible is the word of God. 2) I believe the Bible is what the Bible says it is.

Bifurcation

Or branching. Viewed in phase space a system may be seen to bifurcate when initial conditions are infused. Initial conditions can be generated within the system or infused from without. Because most chaoists see the universe as entirely deterministic there is only one large system.

Causality

A causes B and B causes C. A linear sequencing of discrete events (in a non-linear universe where there is no such thing as a discrete event!). The basis of syllogistic reasoning.

Chaos

An approach to the study of systems enabled by computers which permit the study of systems over far more repetitions than hand held calculators or pencil and paper. Surprising behaviour emerged from these many repetitions. Seemingly simple systems behaved in unpredictable fashion and some exhibited radical differences in output from just minor variations in input. Systems thought to be stable could be seen to become unpredictably unstable. Chaos as it is mostly represented, however, is built upon a deterministic view of the universe. Thus it is held that when we are unable to predict the future of a system that does not mean anything random is going on, it just means we are unable to predict the future of a system.

Chaotic attractor

An attractor that does not settle down.

Complex systems

Or complex dynamical systems. Synonymous with non-linear systems.

Cultural meme

The context into which we are born and which affects our development. The emergent mind interacts with the culture and forms its ways of thinking and its worldview. In time it feeds back on the culture and in an iterative process the culture builds. Language is considered a major component in the cultural meme. For most of us we are unaware of how our cultural meme differs from others or how it influences our thinking and behaviour.

Deterministic

Deterministic systems are governed entirely by laws. In the macro sense the universe, starting with the Big Bang (or however it started) operates deterministically. Events considered non-deterministic are only apparently so. If determinism is correct then the human mind could one day expect to understand everything once all the variables are known and appropriate equations are written.

Digitize

We use this in this website to describe our penchant for seeing things in terms of Aristotelian bivalency. It comes from computing which is based on binary digits - combinations of 1 and 0, on or off, in or out.

Dualism

The view that mind and matter are two distinct things. Mind inhabits the body. Descartes was a proponent of this view.

Fractal

Term coined by Benoit Mandelbrot, refers to identical or similar shapes on ever decreasing scales. Branches of trees are natural fractals as are bays and coves of coastlines. Mathematical fractals are closer to identical.

Fuzzy

Expounded and popularized by Bart Kosko, it is a way of seeing the universe as non-bivalent. From this shift in perception methodology has developed new and more efficient processes in many fields, electrical controls being one of the first. The soft sciences lag behind in recognizing the power of fuzzy. So do most Christian activities.

Holism

The total of a system is greater than the sum of its parts. In practice it attempts to get more from less. Often applied in the working world by dull bosses with insufficient thought and training, resulting in stressful and unnecessary overload of personnel.

Initial conditions

The initial conditions of a system. This can a little confusing if you are just starting in chaos because the same term is used for initial conditions of an entire system and for new conditions infused into the system which generate a bifurcation. However, when you keep in mind that most chaoists hold to a deterministic universe then there can be no original first-ever initial conditions since everything belongs to the same system and determinism generates from within what we perceive to be new initial conditions. In this sense, the Big Bang is the only real initial conditions, unless it too is just another of life's little bifurcations.

Iteration

The process of putting the result of a calculation back into the equation to get a new result. Can be used in the study of population changes in clusters of animals or people. It is also the process whereby, in an improperly adjusted public address system for example, the amplified sound feeds back through the microphone into the amplifier, producing the familiar high pitched noise.

Linear

In mathematics a system with no variables with a power higher than one. I.e. no squares, cubes etc. The graph is a straight line. Causality and syllogistic reasoning are linear.

Macro/Micro

Usually applied to the same system. Macro is the largest scale of a system, micro the smallest. For example, the ends of universe is macro, sub-atomic particles are micro. The tools of perception of each are usually different but similar, as with a telescope and a microscope.

Mid-range

From the audio world but a useful metaphor for understanding the limitations of our own perceptual habits. Normally we don't conduct our lives thinking about either the far reaches of the universe or the subatomic world. We stay in the middle.

Merismus

An ancient Sumerian literary device by which a continuum is described poetically by its end points. As in Genesis 'the evening and the morning were the first day'. Merismus has come down to us and today we can see it in our traditional wedding vows - 'in sickness and in health'; 'for richer, for poorer'.

Non-linear

In mathematics a system with at least one variable with a power greater than one. I.e. the equation has squares, cubes etc. Non-linear graphs are far more interesting than those of linear systems.

Normalization

The comparison of self-similar parts of a system from different scales by enlarging the small one (or shrinking the large one) so they are about the same size. To visualize this, think of enlarging the smallest twigs at the end of a branch of a tree and comparing them to where the branch splits from the trunk.

Phase space

Not really some esoteric other world but a way of looking at a system by viewing the interrelationship of selected variables over time. The variables represent the state of the system. So, instead of the conventional and more intuitive method of plotting position versus time (a pendulum is the usual example because it's easy to do and visualize) you plot velocity against position. Interesting patterns emerge and these patterns are called attractors.

Quasi-periodicity

Unlike periodicity which is found in mathematical systems such as a sine curve, complex systems can give rise to similarities that are not really periodic. Yet they are deterministic.

Reductionism

The view that there are only atoms and molecules. 'That's all there is and there ain't no more.' In contrast to dualism. Also in contrast to holism.

Reification

The process whereby concepts become material.

Self-organizing systems

From complexity studies originating partly from the Sante Fe Institute in the United States. The question asked is: If entropy is a law of the universe, why then do organized systems develop?

Self-similarity

Like the way small branches of a tree are similar to the larger branches. (see Normalization) Self-similarity is found within a system. We will suggest self-similarity is a powerful tool for sociology and particularly for sociology among Christians.

Sensitive dependence

A system is said to be sensitive to initial conditions if a small change at the beginning brings about a large change farther along as the system develops.

Stochastic

The opposite of deterministic. Random behaviour governed by chance. The view is sometimes taken that stochastic behaviour is only apparently so. In this sense, stochastic behaviour is behaviour which we haven't yet figured out but in theory we should be able to, if we are going to be good deterministic chaoists. It seems to me that the stochastic/deterministic distinction is an unfortunate application of bivalency and perhaps needs reviewing in light of fuzzy.

Strange attractor

A representation, usually graphical and computer generated, of the states of a system over time where the system does not go chaotic but forms a kind of regular pattern that never exactly recurs.

Syllogistic reasoning

Reasoning of the form: If A and B then C. Example: If all cars have four wheels and that thing is a car, then that thing has four wheels.

Woofers and tweeters

From the audio world. Woofers are the larger speakers enabling deep bass tones, tweeters are the smaller speakers for the higher pitched sounds. Used here as metaphors for the largest scales of the universe and the smallest sub-atomic particles.

Zero-base

A term we borrow from the business world. When used in reference to budgeting it means that each item in the budget must be justified and costed each time the budget is set. In terms of our thinking and our actions it means that we must constantly exercise our self-critical capacity to ensure we are on solid foundations.