6/4/11

Sounds of the past

I remember reading in a novel an imaginary scenario by a character


about the possibility of obtaining the sounds and voices of people

from the past if we had advanced enough technology.. Had to think how

possible theoretically that is. So the objective is reduced to trying

and record certain vibrations of air particles that happened

generations back. A trace of every wave caused by a vibration

supposedly vanishes only at infinity, as it is a dampened sinusoidal

wave. The issue then becomes that of obtaining the device with that

powerful sensitivity and variance and ability to trace waves of

infinitesimally low magnitudes, and to determine their current

location and orientation and frequency. The other problem also would

be about the possibility of interference between two similar waves and

sorting out the different possibilities of amplitude and

frequency-complex waves.. Breaking down layers of signals of variable

amplitude, frequency, and orientations into their original simple

components. It is very possible that from the third resonance onward

(yes that fast) a mixed signal would become equivalent to a newly

generated voice signal.... The fact that entropy increases (and

obviously exponentially here)makes this an even more impossible

task,,,

Stone (the movie)

Beautiful movie, expertly knit so that the truth starts appearing


towards the end.. Making the message very powerful and loud... When

you experience a spiritual truth, it comes through sound - you have

to let the sound go through and it will change u and put u back int he

harmony and make you like a tuning fork for god.. The small things,

like vibrations, buzzing, sound of a bee... And everything that

happens to you is what is supposed to happen for you to advance... The

hidden intention is no matter how wrong it might seem, it might be the

right thing in the bigger plan of things ( and how much do we know

about that anyway)... How many things did she ruin by not accepting

the 'message'

Thoughts on China

Socialism / capitalism




"china needs more socialism, and Europe needs more capitalism", a

colleague commented touching on an important issue which is evident to

anyone visiting china these days.. Entrepreneurship, privatization,

liberalizing and opening up the economy are the hot words, and growth

seems to be the new one god..'and - as socialists and communists -

what will you do about the widening income gap ?' is a question that

would get no straight answer from an official in the highly privatized

and rich Zhejiang province as he continues his discussions of plans to

raise the GDP per capita astronomically in the next 5 year plan... We

r in the time of the 12th one I think. The professor comments 'he gave

u the answer... He said 'we r pragmatic''..



'probably worse here', commented two friends who work in the venture

capital industry as I expressed my surprise that the china and the US

might have similar income gaps and disparity between rich and poor

(gini index)



The state, planning, and knowing what is best




Can one person or group know what is - generally - best? This is what

central and ubiquitous planning poses as a fundamental question.. What

about shared decision? What about muting the voices of more

intelligent thinkers, or more informed ones, getting lost in the arena

of power and struggles?but, doesn't a group of coordinated and

powerful leaders have more access and potential to plan and implement

'harmoniously'? All that set aside, we can go up one more level and

ask the fundamental question: is it really important that 'what is

best' gets implemented rather that 'what most people want' , 'what a

group of intelligent people want' , ' what a group of powerful people

want' , or even 'what is simply the most suitable' ?



These are just samples of questions open at this level, far too

complex to be answered simplistically through ideological shortcuts

that demonstrate as a professor called it : 'just laziness'



Working more, working less, culture and economic conditions



So, is working more (or finding it acceptable to work more, and

sometimes in more difficult conditions) a matter of culture, economic

level, social and political demands..? Can we really say that a

certain work ethic is embedded deeper within a culture of collectivism

and respect, or is it simply the 'poorer economy' as a colleague

argued ( and I enthusiastically dismissed) ?



The food and the pork



What is the deal with so much pork, pork feet, pork ears, and pork

bellies? It was everywhere. In restaurants, hotels, storefronts,... I

even thought that there were pork body organs hiding under my bed at

the hotel awaiting the right moment ...



The language



Brilliant to know about a tonal language employing four different

tonalities for every character.. of course i couldn't hear the differences at first. Many possibilities and difficulty,

but more potential for working out the 'right brain' functions ..



Religion



Not much I can discuss here, except my surprise sometimes at the

'externalization' of religion in an eastern culture. The Tao , Lao tzu

and the tai chi are fundamental elements of the philosophical and

religious guiding framework whic predictably embraces many values and

norms perceived in the society