A
NEW KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF REALITY
©Edward
R. Close September 20, 2016
In my posts about TDVP, the scientific paradigm that puts
consciousness into the equations of science, I have often mentioned the Calculus of Distinctions (CoD), a primary
form of mathematical logic from which all known mathematic systems can be
derived. I’ve also stated that I derived and/or validated most of the basic mathematical
concepts supporting TDVP using the CoD. Even though I’ve published details of the
CoD elsewhere, they are neither easily available, nor easily understood. This
is a bit unfair to readers of my posts who have no idea what the CoD is. Until
now, I justified leaving details about the CoD out of my posts for the general
FB follower for the following reasons:
The concepts involved in the CoD are not trivial. It took
me many years to understand their true importance. I developed the basic concepts
of the CoD by expanding concepts from George Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form to
include dimensionality and the consciousness of the observer between 1984 and
1986, and I first published the basic concepts of the CoD in my second book, “Infinite
Continuity” in 1990. But for most people, learning the CoD, a new system of
mathematical logic, seemed too onerous. On the other hand, I believed that the
results obtained by applying the CoD, including explaining things the current materialistic
scientific paradigm cannot explain, should be enough to get people interested.
Previously inexplicable things explained by application
of the CoD included the Cabibbo angle in particle physics, why quarks combine
in threes and why some elementary particles have an intrinsic ½ spin, just to
name a few. Explaining things that have
puzzled mathematicians and physicists for years, in some cases, centuries, definitely
go a long way toward proving the validity of the CoD and TDVP. But, however
justified I may have been in the course of presentation I have followed, I must
admit that, without at least a basic understanding of the CoD, anyone trying to
understand my posts is missing an Important piece of the puzzle. So I decided
to endeavor to rectify this state of affairs by explaining the CoD in terms that
I believed anyone interested in TDVP could understand.
As I started to work on a simplified step-by-step
explanation of the basics of the CoD, because CoD concepts integrate the logic
of number theory, geometry and symbolic logic, I began to get deeper insights
into the logical connections between the major branches of academic study
investigating the nature of reality; specifically: philosophy, science, and mathematics,
branches of thought that historically have been developed as if they were
independent of each other, and that led me to an inspiration concerning the
best way to present this introduction to the Calculus of Distinctions.
In the educational system we have developed over the past
few hundred years, various aspects of philosophy, science, and mathematics are
taught as separate subjects, and psychological improvement, spirituality, and
religion are pursued via various practices as separate goals. While this may
seem natural and even necessary in the development of human thought, it has led
to a fragmentation of effort and departmental specialization to the point that people
in one field cannot easily communicate with those in other fields. Researchers
in theoretical physics, e.g., use terminology largely unknown to theologians,
philosophers, psychologists, biologists and engineers. Mathematicians who call themselves
number theorists and those working in applied mathematicians, might as well be
speaking completely different foreign languages. But, I submit to you that
reality is only one, not the disparate unrelated realities suggested in some
disciplines. The illusion that different parts of reality might be governed by different,
completely incommensurable laws is much more a product of the limitations of
human observation, measurement and thought, than an actual multiplicity of
realities.
Since the time of Pythagoras, the study of mathematics has
become enormously sub-divided into a number of more and more abstract
disciplines. Because of this, it is understandable that the casual reader of my
posts might well think that the CoD is just another abstract side road in the
multiplicity of super complex fields of inquiry. In fact, the truth is just the
opposite. The calculus of distinctions
is the re-integration of conscious thought, the mathematics of arithmetic,
algebra, geometry, and symbolic logic into one logical system.
Today, when one chooses, or, as is more often the case,
is forced by public education to
study mathematics, he/she will find the curriculum fragmented. The students’
first introduction to math may be in a course teaching them to do ‘applied math’
by learning how to punch keys on a calculator or computer. The only thing
duller and less interesting than that are the details of addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division that lurk behind the operation of a calculator. If,
for some strange reason, a student decides to go further in academic
mathematics, he or she will likely be indoctrinated into a series of progressively
complex and boring courses including algebra, trigonometry, set theory,
geometry, statistics, probability, and integral and differential calculus. If
that’s not enough to convince a student to switch to some other major, we
suspect there may be something mentally, physically, psychologically, or socially
wrong with this individual.
Seriously, today’s math education systems are very poorly
designed for anyone wanting to actually learn mathematics. They are generally not
designed to teach students about mathematics all. Rather, they are designed to
teach students how to use a few specific tools and techniques to solve
numerical problems that someone thinks are important. In my opinion, many,
perhaps most, people teaching math today know very little about mathematics. If
you want to understand the deep nature mathematics, and how it fits into the
larger picture of reality, you’re pretty much on your own. In today’s
universities the focus is on learning more and more about less and less. The
CoD reverses this trend.
This why I am eager to teach someone, anyone, about the Calculus of Distinctions.
As I’ve said in previous posts and publications, the CoD starts at the
beginning of the story, not in the middle as most formal math courses do. It integrates
the basic ideas of conscious distinction, equivalence, number, dimension,
substance and logic, into one consistent set of operations which allows us to
re-integrate the disciplines of number theory, geometry, algebra, and symbolic
logic, which never should have been separated in the first place. And, it
allows us to put consciousness into the equations of science.
All knowledge and understanding begins with the conscious
drawing of a distinction, the
conscious awareness of self as different from the rest of the universe.
This is where an understanding of the logic of mathematical reasoning starts,
with your personal experience of knowing the difference between self and other,
not with abstract concepts describing processes of calculation. This first step
is described by G. Spencer Brown in Laws of Form as the basis of the Calculus
of Indications. A distinction is further expanded and defined in the CoD as real,
substantial and dimensional. In describing the reality we experience, secondary
distinctions, i.e., distinctions in self and/or other, must have measurable
extent and content and definable meaning. Measurable extent means
dimensionality, measurable content means substance, and definable meaning means
impact on experience or purpose.
In posts to come, I hope to make clear to you how
developing the concepts of quantitative and qualitative thinking from the
beginning of the conscious drawing of distinctions allows us to see the
interconnectedness of all things and solve problems and answer questions not
possible otherwise. I plan to post some important CoD proofs never seen before.
Because the ideas I am presenting in this series are
sequential, each new post building on those that have gone before, I will add
new posts to this post as ‘continuations’.
CONTINUATION
#1
Readers familiar with G. Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form
will notice some similarity in what follows here with his Appendix 2, which is
the interpretation of his calculus of indications (CoI) for logic. In his original
work, Brown established the fact that while distinctions may be drawn in any
way we please, the Laws of Form are the same for any universe, and so the
similarity in form should not be surprising. But it is a similarity in form
only. Development of the CoD departs markedly from Brown’s adaption of the CoI
for logic: Brown makes no distinction between real, perceived or conceptual
distinctions, but because we are applying the logic of the CoD to the quantized
reality which is our universe, we need to make it clear from the beginning that
a real distinction drawn in our quantized reality is identified with an
existent quantum unit or combination of existent quantum units.
The definition of a real distinction, then, is very
simple; it must have three things: extent, content and relevance to the
structure of reality. A hydrogen atom, for example, fulfills the requirements
of a real distinction: it has extent because it occupies a finite volume of
space, it has content because it has mass and energy, and it has relevance to
the structure of reality because H atoms are important components of many
organic and inorganic compounds forming much of the structure of the physical
universe. But in TDVP we could not choose the Hydrogen atom to define the most
basic quantum unit, because, as small as it is, it is made up of yet smaller
real distinctions.
We found that the free electron was the best elementary
particle to use to define the ultimate basic quantum unit for three reasons: 1.
The electron has the smallest mass of any of the stable subatomic entities
making up the elements of the Periodic Table, 2. by applying the principles of
relativity and quantum mechanics to the spin dynamics of the electron as it is
stripped from the Hydrogen atom, we are able to define the smallest possible quantum
volumetric equivalence unit. 3. The mass, spin and energy of ionization are
well established to several decimal places giving us all we need to define its
volumetric equivalence as a unitary distinction. Because it reflects three kinds of extent,
three kinds of content and three kinds of meaningful impact to convey the
logical structure of consciousness to the structure of the universe, we call it
the Triadic Rotational Unit of Equivalence (TRUE). When we used this unit derived from the free
electron as unitary, we found that all other elementary particles exist as
volumetrically combined multiples of the TRUE unit. Thus the TRUE unit is a
real distinction and the real building block of the universe.
‘Volumetrically combined’ means that the elementary
particles that make up the nuclei of atoms, are not just stuck together like
tinker toys, their mass/energy equivalence volumes merge to form a larger
volumetrically symmetric entity. And the fact that all larger and larger stable
particles, e.g., protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, etc. are multiples of the
unit, means all stable particles represent whole numbers of TRUE units, and the
simple equations describing the combining of particles are composed of integers
(whole numbers). This allows us to use the CoD with the unitary distinction
defined as the TRUE unit, greatly simplifying calculations. You will see what I
mean in the examples to follow.
To set up the CoD to handle logical calculations
involving real distinctions that are whole number multiples of the TRUE quantum
unit we let ﬧn represent
an n-dimensional distinction. Note that this is significantly different than
Brown’s symbol of indication. The subscript n allows us to represent real,
versus conceptual distinctions, because when n = 0, this symbol represents a
point, a mathematical singularity; when n = 1, it represents a line; when n =
2, it represents a plane; and when n = 3, it represents a volume.
Because of the simple fact that points, lines and planes have
no capacity to contain any real substance, for ﬧn to
represent a real distinction as
defined above, n must be equal to or greater than 3. (n≥3). In addition, we will let ⦰ represent a real state of no distinction.
Now, in terms of observations of the outside world we
call the universe, ﬧ0
=
ﬧ1
=
ﬧ2
= ⦰, because, recalling the
requirements for a real distinction (A real distinction must have three things:
extent, content and relevance to the structure of reality), distinctions of 0,
1, or 2 dimensions do not meet the requirements: ﬧ0 has no extent, no content, and no relevance
to the structure of the universe, and both ﬧ1 and ﬧ2 have
extent and relevance, but no content. Finally, geometry (dimensionality), pure mathematics,
language, and logic are coherently integrated by equating ﬧn when
n ≥ 3 with the logical condition
called True, and F with False.
With these simple definitions and interpretations of the
CoD, we have the basis for a surprisingly powerful method for testing the
logical validity of a wide range of statements, including verbal statements,
mathematical conjectures and scientific hypotheses. We can articulate the
connections between language, symbolic logic and the CoD with one-to-one
relationships. For the next Continuation, I will prepare a table displaying
those relationships.
CONTINUATION
#2:
QUANTUM CALCULUS
In the preceding Continuation, we defined the concept of
a distinctions very broadly: the symbol ﬧn represented a
distinction of any kind, and the dimensionality of the distinction, represented
by the subscript n, could be any
non-negative whole number from zero to infinity. In developing a calculus of
distinctions for quantum reality, however, we will be dealing with real
sub-atomic entities which have real content. Therefore, the distinction between
real and conceptual must be maintained, and because there is no content when n = 0, 1 or 2, n is restricted to positive integers equal to or greater than three
(n≥3). For simplicity of
presentation, from here on in this presentation, we will drop the subscript and
all distinctions represented by the symbol ﬧ, will be understood to be at least three
dimensional.
A calculus has to have clearly defined units and primitive
initial operations that provide the basic processes of calculation applied to
those units. We will take the TRUE quantum unit as the basic unit of the
quantum calculus, and the CoD is the calculus of consciousness, so the
primitive equations of the CoD must provide calculation processes that reflect the
primary functions of consciousness. The primary functions of consciousness are:
1. the drawing of unique distinctions, 2. Memory, and 3. organizing
distinctions.
The Primitive Expressions of these functions as basic CoD
calculation operations are:
1. ﬧ ≡ﬧ
2. ﬧﬧ ⇔ ﬧand 3. ﬧ ﬧ ⇔ , or
⦰
Because these expressions represent interactions of mind
and matter in quantum calculation processes, they are rich with meaning and
implications that will be important to keep in mind as we proceed. In addition
to expressing the difference between empty geometric concepts and substantially
real objects, notice that Expression #1, implies space, because two identical
objects require twice as much space as one; #2 implies time, since without
memory, there could be no awareness of the passage of time; both #2 and #3 and express
logical operations that can be used to transform CoD expressions; and #3
reveals the difference between non-existence and zero. The blank space after the ⇒ and
the empty set symbol, ⦰, represent the absence or non-existence of distinction,
not an absolute state of nothingness.
With these concepts and notations, we can now articulate
the connections between language, symbolic logic, algebra, and the CoD with the
one-to-one relationships displayed in the table below. This table of
relationships is not exhaustive, other relationships can be derived from them,
but they are sufficient for the purposes of this post.
THE
QUANTUM CALCULUS
CONNECTING
LANGUAGE, LOGIC & DIMENSIONAL MATHEMATICS
Conscious
verbalization
(English)
|
Symbols and Connectives of Logic
|
Algebraic
Representation
|
Calculus of Distinctions
Quantitative/Geometric
Representation
|
Real, Existing, True
|
∃
|
X=A
|
ﬧ
|
Identical
|
A≡A
|
X≡A
|
ﬧ ≡ﬧ
|
Memory,
Equivalence,
Number
|
∀
|
f(t)=1,2,3….
|
ﬧﬧ ⇔ ﬧ
|
Appearance, Cancellation,
Order
|
↔
|
F(t)=0
|
ﬧ ﬧ⇔ , or ⦰ *
|
Integer Variable
|
A
|
x = A = any whole number
|
A = ﬧ
|
Not A
|
∼A
|
x ≠ A
|
⦰
|
A or B
|
A ⋁ B
|
A≥X≥B
|
AB=ﬧ
|
A and B
|
A .
B
|
A + B
|
ﬧ ﬧ ﬧ *
|
A implies B
|
A ⊃ B
|
A → B
|
AﬧB
*
|
* In these CoD expressions, the smaller symbol or symbols
to the left are considered to be nested in the larger distinction symbol to
their right: The upper arm of the larger ﬧ should extend over the smaller symbol or
symbols, but Word would not allow this, and I haven’t been able to import a PDF
file into the blog.
To illustrate the power of the application of the
Calculus of Distinctions, let’s apply it to the most famous theorem in
mathematics known as Fermat’s Last Theorem, a conjecture that went without a
formal proof for more than 300 years, even though all of the world’s most
brilliant mathematicians tried to prove it and failed.
Fermat’s Last Theorem (FLT) states that there are no integer
solutions for the equation
Xn + Yn
= Zn, where n
is a whole number greater than 2.
This means that, if Fermat was correct, there are no three whole
numbers that can be substituted for X,
Y, and Z that will satisfy the
equation when the integer exponent n is greater than 2.
The CoD approach to proving Fermat’s Last Theorem is
simple: with the incorporation of Euclidean geometry, integer (whole-number) mathematics
and symbolic logic, we can consider FLT as a real world problem, not an
abstract number theory problem independent of the real world. By doing this, every
term the equation is transformed into a distinction composed of a finite number
of TRUE units of three or more dimensions, and the operational rules and logic
of the CoD govern their combination.
(It is interesting to note, as an aside, that Fermat
approached some of his number theory proofs by defining whole numbers in terms
of geometric figures.)
So let’s recast the FLT equation Xn + Yn = Zn, in
the form of a CoD combination of two distinctions to form a third distinction: Consider
the combination of two real n-dimensional symmetric distinctions to form a
third real n-dimensional symmetric distinction, all three composed of Triadic
Rotational Units of Equivalence (TRUE units), where the TRUE unit is the
smallest possible unit in quantized reality, determined by application of the
principles of relativity and quantum mechanics to the mass and energy of the
free electron stripped from the Hydrogen atom. It is important to know that its
size in conventional units of measurement is irrelevant to this or any other application
of the CoD because, as the basic unit of reality, its value is set equal to 1
and everything is normalized to it.
The mass, energy and volume of the TRUE unit are
functions of the dynamic nature of reality, and because of spin, the shape of elementary
n-dimensional symmetric distinctions is spherical. The volume of an
n-dimensional sphere is always a fractional multiple of a power of π times the
radius of the sphere raised to the nth power.
For example, for n=3: V = 4/3πR3, and for n=4: V = 1/2π2R4,
etc. If the radii of two 3-D spherical distinctions are X and Y, then the sum
of their volumes is 4/3πX3+ 4/3πY3, and setting the sum equal
to the volume of another sphere, 4/3πZ3, we have:
4/3πX3+
4/3πY3 = 4/3πZ3,
describing
the combination of two spherical distinctions. Similarly, for n=4, we
have: 1/2π2X4+
1/2π2Y4 = 1/2π2Z4
And, for any n-dimensional symmetric distinctions, we have:
SnXn+
SnYn = SnZn,
where Sn is the volumetric shape factor.
Finally, dividing through by Sn, we have:
Xn+
Yn = Zn
We have mathematically reduced the equation describing
the combination of two n-dimensional symmetric distinctions forming a third
n-dimensional symmetric distinction (all three composed of the minimum possible
units) to the sum of two integers raised to the nth power equaling another integer
raised to the nth power, so we now have an equation identical to the FLT
equation. The addition of integers to the n power in the FLT equation is
completely analogous to combining particles composed of TRUE units, and this
allows us to apply the CoD logic to the FLT equation. The FLT question now
becomes: If the radii of X and Y are integers, can Z also be an integer? If we
can prove that it cannot, we have proved FLT.
Applying the identities, equations and relationships presented
in the table above, we can proceed as follows: We know that if n
= 1 or 2, the CoD truth values of Xn, Yn and Zn
are all equal to ⦰. But, if n ≥ 3, the CoD truth values of Xn, Yn and Zn
are ﬧ. So, if n ≥ 3, the
FLT equation translates to the CoD equation:
Xn + Yn
= Zn ⇒ ﬧ ﬧ ﬧ= ﬧ
Applying
Basic Calculation Operation #2, we have:
ﬧﬧ= ﬧ
And applying Basic CoD Operation #3, we have: ⦰ =ﬧ, which is an absolute contradiction, implying
that the equation is false, proving that if X, Y and Z are non-zero integers
and n
≥ 3,
then Xn + Yn cannot equal Zn, proving
Fermat’s Last Theorem.
On the other hand, if n = 1 or 2, the Xn = Yn = Zn = ⦰, and the FLT equation translates as:
Xn + Yn
= Zn ⇒ ⦰ + ⦰ = ⦰
This, of course, simplifies to ⦰ = ⦰, which is not a
contradiction, and is what we would expect, since when n = 1 or 2, there are many integer
solutions to the FLT equation: When n = 1, any two integers will add up to a third integer: For
example, 1 + 2 = 3 and 3 + 4 = 7, etc. And, when n
= 2, we have solutions like 32 + 42
= 52 and 52 + 122 = 132, known as Pythagorean triples.
Finally, we see that for n ≥ 3, the equation Xn + Yn + Zn = Qn ⇒⦰
+ ﬧ = ﬧ⇒
ﬧ = ﬧ, which is
no contradiction, implying that three real symmetrical distinctions can combine
to form a fourth, explaining why quarks combine in threes, and proving that
there are integer solutions to this equation, which means that, while two
integers raised to any power greater than 2 cannot be added to yield a third
integer raised to the same power, the sum of three integers raised to
powers greater than 2 can equal a fourth integer raised to the same
power. To see how quick and easy this is compared to conventional methods, go on
line and look for solutions to Diophantine equations. The first two solutions
of this equation are: 33 + 43 + 53 = 63 and 13 + 63 + 83 = 93, which, translated into CoD equations in TRUE
units, have proved very useful in TRUE analysis of the elements of the Periodic
Table, as reported elsewhere in these posts.
CONCLUSION
The striking thing about this proof of
Fermat’s Last Theorem is its amazing brevity and simplicity, especially
compared to the 1994 proof by Sir Andrew Wiles, which is a very challenging
proof of the modularity theorem for semi-stable elliptic curves, combined with
Ribet’s theorem, requiring more than 150 pages of complex mathematics only
accessible to professional mathematicians. This proof, once the logic of the
CoD is understood, is even shorter and simpler than the proof I produced in
1965. I believe this is so remarkable that it bears repeating:
Applying the CoD to FLT in three simple
lines:
1.) For XYZ ≠ 0, and n ≥ 3, Xn + Yn = Zn ⇒ ﬧ ﬧ ﬧ= ﬧ, but by Basic
CoD Operation #2,
2.) ﬧﬧ ﬧ= ﬧﬧ ⇒ ﬧ,
and by Basic CoD Operation #3,
3.) ﬧﬧ= ﬧ ⇒ ⦰ =ﬧ, which is an absolute contradiction
proving Xn + Yn ≠ Zn.
Not only have we proved Fermat’s Last Theorem in three
lines, in two more lines, we show why the FLT equation does have integer solutions for n =1 and 2. And in two
more lines, we prove that, while two symmetrical particles cannot combine to
form a third symmetrical particle, three symmetrical particles can, explaining
why quarks combine in threes to form the basic building blocks of reality.
If this is not remarkable, I don’t know what is!
