June 07, 2008
I am not positive about why I started thinking about this today, but it appealed to my curious nature so I started doing some calculations. I could have just looked it up on the internet, but I like to work through these things on my own. After scratching a little deeper than the surface the fundamentals of physics ranging from how fast a ball will fall from a building window, to how fast a 105 foot train must travel to instantaneously fit inside a 100 foot tunnel, to the shape of the region an electron will most probably be found at a particular quantum energy level in an atom, to why cows will at times line up facing tangentially to a lone tree in the middle of a field, I have changed an early opinion about the universe and creation in general. I used to believe a circle was the most fundamental geometry that nature wanted to achieve. I was wrong. Sure, there are a lot of circular or spherical objects that we encounter, but there are many others that are equally as spectacular and interesting patterns in nature. Nature is the ultimate builder/carpenter. If something goes off in the original design, look at it first to see if there is something intrinsically interesting, beautiful, or functional about it. If so, let it go. If not, fix it as you go. Maybe that is the fundamental point of the universe: nothing is perfect from the onset.
One example of interesting pattern adaptation is the pinecone. I know this is not the only example of this particular pattern, but it is the one that springs to mind, and I am too lazy to look up others. If you look at a typical pinecone, it does not grow in repeated circular rows, but rather as an Archimedes spiral. It grows in specific dimensional relations that provide not only a beautiful representation of nature's reproductive skills, but it also seems to aid in the dissemination of seeds in a cone that reaches maturity on the tree, opens up, and then relies on the wind to distribute it's progeny. Just thought of another example of an Archimedes spiral in nature, but I don't know the reason for that adaptation: the nautilus mollusk, which if I poll the deeper resources of my brain has been around in similar form for some 200 million years. I guess it works, whatever it does, assuming my recollection is not off by more than a few tens of millions of years.
My normal digression aside, the pattern in particular I have been considering is the sinusoid, or more simply, cyclic patterns. Patterns that go one way for a while, then swing the other direction for a while before going back. Sort of like a pendulum swinging. If you were to draw a horizontal line and make that time, and a vertical line and make that the distance from the center line of the pendulum swing (above the horizontal line for distance to the right, below for distance to the left), and plot the distance from the center versus time you would essentially have a sinusoid. It is one of those things that geeks like me find interesting, but if you don't, that's ok. You still depend on it every single day. In fact, you are probably using a sinusoid right this second: the power used to run your computer. Even if your house is running on solar-powered batteries, you have to eventually translate that to something sinusoidal because everything you plug into an outlet is designed to expect it (much to Thomas Edison's displeasure). Yes, the voltage that is generally run through your house for something like your computer swings gracefully up to about 156 volts, and then swings down, through zero, before bottoming out at negative 156 volts. 110 is the rms value, but you can look that up yourself when you are bored with insomnia, or have nothing to live for and that is just the last thing you were curious about before you give in.
Wow. I just scrolled up through this, and have no idea how I am able to ever provide a concise expression of anything. Those who know me well probably would say I can't and don't. Oh well... moving on: sinusoids and cycles to me are about the ability to handle the stresses involved in living without breaking altogether. As an example, we have a slight breeze today, the branches of the redwoods are moving up and down, even though the breeze is certainly not blowing in that direction. If the breeze picked up and became brutal like it sometimes does, the branches would still be moving up and down, and the trunks would be moving back in forth in what? a sinusoidal pattern. This is how the trees have adjusted in composition and leaf/branch design to stay alive. Give and take. Ebb and flow. Another example would be how we often swing our arms as we walk. Have you ever thought, "why am I doing this?" It is a natural response to counter the forces that are generated when we swing our legs in a similar pattern that causes stress to our bodies. Try holding your hands tight on your hips and walking with any speed at all. Notice what happens at your shoulders. Frankly, you should see my sister power walk. Her arms are generating tornadoes around her.
Sometimes, however, the sinusoidal pattern can have a negative impact on life and we have adjusted to deal with it. That example would be winter. You can love the snow as much as you want, but most people would have to admit that they generally experience more depression in the winter than the summer. This is not because of the reasons you hear around the office or in the grocery store. They might play a small part, but 'it's too cold' or 'I am sick of the snow/rain' are only the tip of the iceberg. The reason is because of the decrease in sunlight. It is not really that much unless you live near a pole, but it is profound. UV rays may cause cancer, but we need sunlight as a species. Exposure to sunlight increases the generation of serotonin, which is a natural feel-good chemical in our neural systems. Given the number of people on drugs assist with balancing serotonin levels, most of us our probably aware of this already. We have had to accept this cycle through winter, and deal with it. Our evolutionary development has not given us the wisdom of deciduous trees or bears. Deciduous trees 'realize' that the days are shorter and therefore they can not make as much food. So? They shed their leaves and shut down for the winter. When the days get longer, they go through new leaf growth and their reproductive schedule. Bears have the ultimate wisdom: screw this I am going to gorge myself for a month, and then sleep my way through winter. When I wake I will have my swimsuit figure.
Well, finally, I got to thinking about another cycle that I wonder if it might have an impact on us. It is really out there, and the reason I decided to make a new category for really whacky rants from the right part of my brain. I guess this started in my brain when I was considering climate change, and the fact that I believe that this is the way the planet operates. It has done so (in my opinion, and from what I have read) since the planet developed a crust that cooled, and water and land formed (which by the way the really interesting parts of earth's development have only happened in the last 20% of earth's existence, although I might go as far as 35%). Sorry for the continued digression, but you are probably skimming anyway. So, my thought regarding cycles moved on to a request that I made to a group of Annie's classmates: stand as still as you can and tell me how fast you are moving. Without exception they told me they were not moving. Well, duh, Hockanson. You spent almost ten years in college and you didn't realize that? Well, this is why I decided to run the equations. Have you ever been on a train or a boat that was running at a fairly constant speed? You get used to it as you stay on it. That's what we do: adapt. But when you get off, you have trouble walking. Well, I do. I have gotten used to walking on a surface that is moving to the point that I don't notice it again until I am on one that is not moving the same way. It's like a kid with her arms spread out spinning, but not really getting dizzy until she stops. The inner ear finds a point of reference that allows us to judge position and provide balance. It adapts, and we deal with whatever the change is. Frankly, in writing these last few sentences I may have answered my own question: the body responds very quickly. But, I've gotten this far, so I'll continue with my harebrained question.
The fact is we are moving at incredible speeds all the time. Take any point of reference, and you are moving with respect to it. You can decide that you are the center of the universe (you can do this easily, but the mathematical equations that describe the motions of everything around you get so complicated most of us would rather not contemplate it). Your brain does this. Not just out of an ego-centric point of view, but I think that is how the inner ear works. 'If I assume this point is stationary, then I'll send the signals to the brain that allow for translation on how everything else moves so we don't go insane.' This is where I started wondering. The body takes this into account, but in the truest sense, that is not the point of reference. So, what does the body do? If one chooses a point of reference involving anything on an astronomic scale, we are moving at speeds that require high end equipment to match... basically military airplanes and rockets, and even then it is a stretch. If you take the center of the earth as your reference, and you live on the equator, you are traveling about 1000 miles/hour even if you are standing still... and you are changing direction throughout the day. Given where I live in California I am moving a little more than 800 miles/hour. Now, what if our biological point of reference is the sun. We have worshiped the sun in one form or another essentially since the birth of 'civilization.' So, if we take the sun as the reference, neglecting our speed revolving around the earth, we are traveling 66.7 thousand miles/hour around the sun. If we take into account the revolution of the planet, we then go through changes in our speed throughout the travels around the sun. Sometimes we are going with the speed of the planetary revolution, and then other times we are going against it. As a result we change our speed by about 2000 miles/hour over the course of a day if we use the sun as a reference. That changes during the year given that there are subtle differences in our speed as we go around the sun. I don't think that the solar system speed of almost 500 thousand miles/hour around the galaxy makes much difference, given that we have only traveled 20 times around the galaxy since birth. But I wonder if the change in speed as we move around has an impact on our psyche.
Ok. I am tired, and I recognize that this is truly a bull crap thought, but it still makes me wonder. I haven't done the numbers, but could this be why we want to sleep at night? Just a thought.
Expressing my crazy side...
One example of interesting pattern adaptation is the pinecone. I know this is not the only example of this particular pattern, but it is the one that springs to mind, and I am too lazy to look up others. If you look at a typical pinecone, it does not grow in repeated circular rows, but rather as an Archimedes spiral. It grows in specific dimensional relations that provide not only a beautiful representation of nature's reproductive skills, but it also seems to aid in the dissemination of seeds in a cone that reaches maturity on the tree, opens up, and then relies on the wind to distribute it's progeny. Just thought of another example of an Archimedes spiral in nature, but I don't know the reason for that adaptation: the nautilus mollusk, which if I poll the deeper resources of my brain has been around in similar form for some 200 million years. I guess it works, whatever it does, assuming my recollection is not off by more than a few tens of millions of years.
My normal digression aside, the pattern in particular I have been considering is the sinusoid, or more simply, cyclic patterns. Patterns that go one way for a while, then swing the other direction for a while before going back. Sort of like a pendulum swinging. If you were to draw a horizontal line and make that time, and a vertical line and make that the distance from the center line of the pendulum swing (above the horizontal line for distance to the right, below for distance to the left), and plot the distance from the center versus time you would essentially have a sinusoid. It is one of those things that geeks like me find interesting, but if you don't, that's ok. You still depend on it every single day. In fact, you are probably using a sinusoid right this second: the power used to run your computer. Even if your house is running on solar-powered batteries, you have to eventually translate that to something sinusoidal because everything you plug into an outlet is designed to expect it (much to Thomas Edison's displeasure). Yes, the voltage that is generally run through your house for something like your computer swings gracefully up to about 156 volts, and then swings down, through zero, before bottoming out at negative 156 volts. 110 is the rms value, but you can look that up yourself when you are bored with insomnia, or have nothing to live for and that is just the last thing you were curious about before you give in.
Wow. I just scrolled up through this, and have no idea how I am able to ever provide a concise expression of anything. Those who know me well probably would say I can't and don't. Oh well... moving on: sinusoids and cycles to me are about the ability to handle the stresses involved in living without breaking altogether. As an example, we have a slight breeze today, the branches of the redwoods are moving up and down, even though the breeze is certainly not blowing in that direction. If the breeze picked up and became brutal like it sometimes does, the branches would still be moving up and down, and the trunks would be moving back in forth in what? a sinusoidal pattern. This is how the trees have adjusted in composition and leaf/branch design to stay alive. Give and take. Ebb and flow. Another example would be how we often swing our arms as we walk. Have you ever thought, "why am I doing this?" It is a natural response to counter the forces that are generated when we swing our legs in a similar pattern that causes stress to our bodies. Try holding your hands tight on your hips and walking with any speed at all. Notice what happens at your shoulders. Frankly, you should see my sister power walk. Her arms are generating tornadoes around her.
Sometimes, however, the sinusoidal pattern can have a negative impact on life and we have adjusted to deal with it. That example would be winter. You can love the snow as much as you want, but most people would have to admit that they generally experience more depression in the winter than the summer. This is not because of the reasons you hear around the office or in the grocery store. They might play a small part, but 'it's too cold' or 'I am sick of the snow/rain' are only the tip of the iceberg. The reason is because of the decrease in sunlight. It is not really that much unless you live near a pole, but it is profound. UV rays may cause cancer, but we need sunlight as a species. Exposure to sunlight increases the generation of serotonin, which is a natural feel-good chemical in our neural systems. Given the number of people on drugs assist with balancing serotonin levels, most of us our probably aware of this already. We have had to accept this cycle through winter, and deal with it. Our evolutionary development has not given us the wisdom of deciduous trees or bears. Deciduous trees 'realize' that the days are shorter and therefore they can not make as much food. So? They shed their leaves and shut down for the winter. When the days get longer, they go through new leaf growth and their reproductive schedule. Bears have the ultimate wisdom: screw this I am going to gorge myself for a month, and then sleep my way through winter. When I wake I will have my swimsuit figure.
Well, finally, I got to thinking about another cycle that I wonder if it might have an impact on us. It is really out there, and the reason I decided to make a new category for really whacky rants from the right part of my brain. I guess this started in my brain when I was considering climate change, and the fact that I believe that this is the way the planet operates. It has done so (in my opinion, and from what I have read) since the planet developed a crust that cooled, and water and land formed (which by the way the really interesting parts of earth's development have only happened in the last 20% of earth's existence, although I might go as far as 35%). Sorry for the continued digression, but you are probably skimming anyway. So, my thought regarding cycles moved on to a request that I made to a group of Annie's classmates: stand as still as you can and tell me how fast you are moving. Without exception they told me they were not moving. Well, duh, Hockanson. You spent almost ten years in college and you didn't realize that? Well, this is why I decided to run the equations. Have you ever been on a train or a boat that was running at a fairly constant speed? You get used to it as you stay on it. That's what we do: adapt. But when you get off, you have trouble walking. Well, I do. I have gotten used to walking on a surface that is moving to the point that I don't notice it again until I am on one that is not moving the same way. It's like a kid with her arms spread out spinning, but not really getting dizzy until she stops. The inner ear finds a point of reference that allows us to judge position and provide balance. It adapts, and we deal with whatever the change is. Frankly, in writing these last few sentences I may have answered my own question: the body responds very quickly. But, I've gotten this far, so I'll continue with my harebrained question.
The fact is we are moving at incredible speeds all the time. Take any point of reference, and you are moving with respect to it. You can decide that you are the center of the universe (you can do this easily, but the mathematical equations that describe the motions of everything around you get so complicated most of us would rather not contemplate it). Your brain does this. Not just out of an ego-centric point of view, but I think that is how the inner ear works. 'If I assume this point is stationary, then I'll send the signals to the brain that allow for translation on how everything else moves so we don't go insane.' This is where I started wondering. The body takes this into account, but in the truest sense, that is not the point of reference. So, what does the body do? If one chooses a point of reference involving anything on an astronomic scale, we are moving at speeds that require high end equipment to match... basically military airplanes and rockets, and even then it is a stretch. If you take the center of the earth as your reference, and you live on the equator, you are traveling about 1000 miles/hour even if you are standing still... and you are changing direction throughout the day. Given where I live in California I am moving a little more than 800 miles/hour. Now, what if our biological point of reference is the sun. We have worshiped the sun in one form or another essentially since the birth of 'civilization.' So, if we take the sun as the reference, neglecting our speed revolving around the earth, we are traveling 66.7 thousand miles/hour around the sun. If we take into account the revolution of the planet, we then go through changes in our speed throughout the travels around the sun. Sometimes we are going with the speed of the planetary revolution, and then other times we are going against it. As a result we change our speed by about 2000 miles/hour over the course of a day if we use the sun as a reference. That changes during the year given that there are subtle differences in our speed as we go around the sun. I don't think that the solar system speed of almost 500 thousand miles/hour around the galaxy makes much difference, given that we have only traveled 20 times around the galaxy since birth. But I wonder if the change in speed as we move around has an impact on our psyche.
Ok. I am tired, and I recognize that this is truly a bull crap thought, but it still makes me wonder. I haven't done the numbers, but could this be why we want to sleep at night? Just a thought.
Expressing my crazy side...