An Economics Question
One simple question. For some of us to be wealthy, is it necessary to keep some others poor?
Quantitative Finance, Environment
Topical
Includes posts on physics, philosophy, sciences, quantitative finance, economics, environment etc.
Are Radio Sources and Gamma Ray Bursts Luminal Booms?
This post is the blog version of my article published in the International Journal of Modern Physics D (IJMP-D) in 2007, soon to become the Top Accessed Article of the journal by Jan 2008. Although it might seem like a hard core physics article, it is in fact an application of the philosophical insight permeating this blog and my book.
The Big Bang Theory
People present the Big Bang theory in physics pretty much like Evolution in biology. But I feel that it is disingenuous to do that. To me, it looks as though the Big Bang theory is so full of patchwork, such a mathematical collage to cook up something that is consistent with GR that it is hard to imagine that it corresponds to anything real. Here is a short list of my trouble with the theory.
Philosophy, Books
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, reviewed here more from a philosophical rather than a literary perspective.
Articles and Essays, Creative, Philosophy, Physics
Constraints of Perception and Cognition in Relativistic Physics
This post is an abridged online version of my article that appears in Galilean Electrodynamics in November, 2008. [Ref: Galilean Electrodynamics, Vol. 19, No. 6, Nov/Dec 2008, pp: 103–117]
It can be viewed as a good summary of my book, The Unreal Universe, with all the gory mathematical details. Originally written for a professional audience, this post may interest my physicist friends, especially those with a philosophical openness in their beliefs.
Columns, The Wilmott Magazine, Quantitative Finance
Commodity Prices — Who’s Holding the Cards?
Here is a look at the causes and effects of the surge in food and energy prices. Among the myriad of economic reasons conjectured to be behind this so-called silent tsunami, I feel that the influx of institutional investment and speculation is the most likely cause. I present my personal views in this article. Originally written for the Wilmott Magazine, this article contains a bit of technical analysis.
Philosophy, Science
Genetics of Good and Evil
Morality is considered a cognitive manifestation. Can we find some genetic basis for what we consider good and evil? Could the philosophical domain of ethics come under the purview of evolutionary biology?
Science
End of Evolution
Does evolution still work among human beings? Or, have we messed up the potential genetic advantages of random mutations to such an extent that we have stopped evolution on its track?
Philosophy, Science
Evolution–Inverted Logic
Evolution is one of those funny things — since we are its end products, our thought processes are not quite big enough to grasp all its implications. At least, not right away. Here is a look at what logic means, and what beauty means in terms of evolution.
Articles and Essays, Unpublished, Philosophy, Physics
The Unreal Universe — Seeing Light in Science and Spirituality
This essay, originally written for a Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times, was published in an altered form in a philosophy magazine called The Philosopher. The published article (also posted in this blog — Perception, Physics and the Role of Light in Philosophy) had too much editorial input, I felt.
We know that our universe is a bit unreal. The stars we see in the night sky, for instance, are not really there. They may have moved or even died by the time we get to see them. […]
Uncertainly Principle
One of the few features in physics that have captured the public attention, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle figures way up there with the Big Bang and E=mc2. It is an independent axiom, standing on its own, not reducible to any other more fundamental principles. However, here is an Unreal attempt to derive it.