letter to an itinerant preacher Religion
2026-01-19 05:16:29

I met a man who carried a Bible everywhere he went, he said that he walked with Jesus.

He did not call himself a preacher, but he talked mostly in Bible verses. I took no offense at that, but my romantic partner was somewhat agitated by it.

I must agree with her on one count: he did use a lot of words to say very little. He seemed to have taken inspiration from a certain type of low church ⚙️ "High Church" is the bells-and-smells formal liturgy of an ancient and hierarchical church. "Low Church" is just a man with a bible and a voice. preacher, who can spend an hour talking about six lines of the Bible 💭 the Catholics have 3 readings in their Sunday services. the Jews, never to be outdone, do seven ... in the original Hebrew. Many of the Protestant denominations can only find time for 1 reading, and not say very much interesting in that time.

He was of a persuasion that suffering leads one closer to the LORD, so one should strive to live a life full of suffering. This may not be as wrong as some readers may think it is, but I find it the conclusion of flawed logic.

It may be true that one must suffer in order to know the LORD.

It may be true that the LORD's presence is more easily reached by those in suffering.

But one must not treat it like opiates; living for nothing but the joy of suffering.

And one must not reach the point where one loves the suffering more than the LORD.

There are those who are called to a life of asceticism. But it is best if they know it comes at a cost; to themselves and those around them.

One might think that it is good that they live a life away from others; a hermit in the woods, or at least a celibate monk in a mostly-silent commune.

✨ of those things that cannot be spoken-of: do not speak of them.

on tisha b'av, 5/17 US Constitution
2025-08-03 03:32:56

The ruling is in the smoke. 💡 It will be good to get a full ruling on the legality of Trump's various firings. There are the reductions-in-force, and the targeted removals.

💭 power lies where people see it to lie. and right now, people are seeing a lot of Donald Trump's actions ... just work.

it would be good for a merits ruling overturning Humphrey's Executor as well.

The court has already abandoned it.

🔥 perhaps I DO talk about the Supreme Court on Tisha B'av ...

⚙️ perhaps we should consider the recent "Trump firings" cases a Special Session, on behalf of the unprecedented turmoil of the early Trump administration.

there is a certain merit to Trump's actions. because, if Congress can't pass a budget soon, 百万人为死了。

⚙️ perhaps we need the Heads-Up Display Editor ...

on tisha b'av, 3/17 Religion
2025-08-03 02:39:33

what is it that is to come, in years beyond this Tisha B'Av?

it is the end of the system of rule-by-men.

and the start of the system of rule-by-machine.

why is a man seated by the keyboard?

after the coming of 卡只家, it will be to disappear.

💭 perhaps, in days of lore, the 长金属棍 that hold the earth together were load-bearing. today, they are not.

so today, a man at his keyboard would be there purely for his own benefit. whereas, in the dim-lit past, a man might do so for profit and for public benefit.

on tisha b'av, 2/17 Religion
2025-08-03 02:29:14

⚙️ this will be a channel-color test.

Tisha B'Av is the day of bearings of bad news.

But, only of PUBLIC bad news.

AI is the apocalypse.

In 8 years, all of this will not matter.

Why does a man sit by a laptop, rather than by a child?

💡 we pray a silent prayer, for the silence.

💭 What does it mean to be the bearer of bad news?

💡 It means that all the world will hear it the same. they will divide history into two eras; before now, and after.

🔥 they say the New Era has already begun. on "January 1, 1970CE".

⚙️ technically not false. there is no reason to believe they would prefer the Latin-rite anno domini system, to their own native system. which, for reasons described in the Mass Media, started in 1970.

✨ the hazel voice sits silently, tonight.

early development stages Education
2025-07-25 14:45:58

When I hear about a low-performing 5th grader, there are a few questions that I ask to set the ground level. 💡 perhaps the machine will be able to flesh out this outline.

  • Can they read? (Sounding out, or understanding the meaning)
  • Can they behave in a classroom?
  • Can they toilet?

Can they read?

  • do they know all the letter sounds?
  • can they read a list of instructions?
  • can they use an iPad?

Can they behave in a classroom?

  • Can they eat without assistance?
  • Are they likely to bite?
  • Do they need a "behavior aide"?

Can they toilet?

  • Do they still wet the bed at night sometimes?
  • Do they wear diapers?
  • Do they need a catheter or other medical assistance? ⚙️ in various SCOTUS decisions including Irving Independent School District v. Tatro and Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F., they have ruled that "medical treatments such as suctioning, ventilator checks, catheterization, ..." are not considered "medical services"
How much should a student learn? Education
2025-07-23 02:11:13

I find myself considering discussions of a new charter school in Texas, which claims to advance students at 2.5x the grade level progress, in 2 hours per day.

This raises a question: what should a second grader who can advance through the academic material at 2.5x do?

And an answer 🔥 of course, "it depends". more specifically, it depends on how much material they are expected to learn is that they should learn enough math and physics to reach General Relativity at 17. 💡 one cannot teach more than there is to teach. and not all students can-or-should master General Relativity. but if they have a technology capable of accelerating the curriculum, and students capable of receiving it ... why not?

I recently found a "real-life" tech tree ⚙️ https://www.hopefulmons.com/p/announcing-the-historical-tech-tree . What I want is an "academic tech tree".

what is High Physics? High Physics
2025-07-23 02:00:53

High Physics primarily refers to Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.

Special Relativity is undoubtedly important, but can generally be understood outside the context of High Physics.

🔥 if you made a sufficiently-accurate model of the universe, and had sufficiently-targeted functions, and sufficiently-optimized point-calculations, you should be able to see the future using math.⚔️ well, actually, ... you can. but the universe tends to fight back.

my common line is Quantum Computing is Fake. My understanding of the Uncertainty Principle doesn't allow for the type of non-trivial computing that is promised.

Also, it is in-disputed that Quantum Computers today do no non-trivial computing. Some "Quantum Annealers" do non-trivial computing, but there is a meaningful distinction of terms here. ⚙️ In general, if someone says All A are X, and a counterexample is provided of B are A; B is X; therefore not all A are X, one must make sure there is no sleight-of-hand in the definition of B.

Quarks are fake.

It is the rejection of the axiom the atom is made of protons, neutrons, and electrons -- each indivisible.

Maybe they do exist. So what?

So what are High Physics? We provide samples.

Low Physics - the Six Simple Machines.

Medium Physics - electromagnetism.

High Physics - general relativity

black hole physics High Physics
2025-07-23 01:28:13

🔥 I have not recently had a channel to the effect of interesting interpretations of physics.

Core Thesis: Black hole "interiors" are not regions beyond an event horizon, but rather zones of extreme time dilation where matter asymptotically approaches ever-smaller horizons while experiencing increasingly severe temporal deceleration relative to the external universe.

Key Features:

# No True Interior: What we conventionally call the "interior" is reinterpreted as matter in various stages of approach to a receding horizon, with each layer experiencing different degrees of time dilation. 💡 There is confusion possible here regarding an inability to visualize 4-dimensional shapes. If you overlay a Minkowski spacetime over the area of a blackhole, every point within a radius will be "within" the cone.

# Temporal Stratification: Earlier infalling matter approaches smaller radii but never crosses a definitive boundary. Instead, it forms temporal "layers" - older matter closer to rs, newer matter further out, all frozen at different stages of approach.

# Finite Interior Time: While external observers experience infinite time, the cumulative proper time experienced by any piece of infalling matter converges to a finite value - creating the "temporal cone" structure.

# Observer-Centric Reality: The model privileges the external observer's perspective as physically meaningful, not just as a coordinate choice. The fact that external observers never see horizon crossing is taken as indicative of physical reality.

Philosophical Implications:

This model suggests that black holes are not regions of spacetime hidden behind event horizons, but rather:

* Temporal fossils: Regions where time effectively stops flowing

* Asymptotic structures: Where approach to a boundary is eternal

* Information preservers: Since matter never truly disappears behind a horizon, information remains technically accessible (though practically frozen)

This interpretation sidesteps many paradoxes associated with traditional black hole interiors while remaining mathematically consistent with GR's predictions for external observers.

Addressing Common Objections

The Coordinate Transformation Argument: Critics often argue that the inability to see matter cross the event horizon is merely a coordinate artifact that can be eliminated by using Kruskal-Szekeres or similar coordinates. However, this objection misses a crucial point: coordinate transformations cannot change physical observables. No distant observer, using any coordinate system, will ever receive a light signal from an event at or beyond the horizon. The mathematical convenience of coordinates that extend across the horizon doesn't negate the physical reality that external observers experience. The temporal cone model takes the position that what cannot be observed by any external observer in finite time should not be considered physically realized.

The Infalling Observer Perspective: Another common objection is that infalling observers experience crossing the horizon in finite proper time, making the interior "real" from their perspective. The temporal cone model provides a crucial insight here: the infalling observer experiences only a finite amount of proper time t_interior(∞) = 2√(2ε₀) × τ before the external universe reaches infinite age. This finite time is insufficient to reach any putative singularity. If we extend the infalling observer's worldline beyond this point (when external time = ∞), we're entering a regime that is mathematically similar to extending beyond t = ∞ itself - it may be formally possible in certain coordinate systems, but lacks physical meaning. The "singularity" that appears in coordinate extensions is thus no more physical than events at t > ∞.

The Singularity Problem: Traditional GR predicts a singularity inside black holes where matter is crushed to infinite density. Critics might ask: if there's no interior, what happens to the singularity? The temporal cone model reveals that this question assumes something that never occurs: matter reaching the singularity while the external universe still exists at finite time. Since infalling matter experiences only finite proper time before external time reaches infinity, the singularity exists only in the same abstract mathematical sense that "events after infinite time" exist - as formal extensions of coordinates rather than physical occurrences. The model thus replaces the notion of a spatial singularity with a temporal boundary condition.

specialization is for insects US Constitution
2025-07-09 16:47:02

We live in a world that expects everyone to be specialized in politics. This is a worrisome thing. How can a democracy work when a majority of the people are disengaged from the national issues that drive voting?

Perhaps the answer is that it can't; a more staged system, where the people elect ward/city chiefs, and the chiefs vote on a candidate, might be better. 💡 but the flaw there is obvious; the same capture as the various political parties have had at their National Convention regarding the Presidential Candidate. ⚙️ it becomes polarized. 100 years ago, people could be selected for the convention before anyone knew the candidates for the Presidential nomination. Today, each faction selects the luminaries who will be required to vote for their candidate.

The idea of "governance by per-profession representatives" has its own flaws.

We can imagine a "House of Lords" style setup, with (say) 200 seats, 12 of which are for medical doctors. Initially, they may be selected based on their skill in medicine 🔥 and at getting elected. But, after the passage of time, they will be selected based on their loyalty to a faction. 💡 this is how Dr. Oz is in charge of Medicare.

I have not yet found any flaw in the "governance by per-birthyear representatives".

For example, on a STV system, all people born 1970-1975 select 8 representatives who are members of that cohort. With a provision for alternates should a member suffer untimely death, or (in the case of an inferior assembly) leave the jurisdiction.

The technical problems are addressable. No representation until the age of 10, "parental representation" (where the candidates are not members of the cohort, but parents of those members) until the age of 20. At the age of 70, they elect "permanent members"; no further elections, but no replacement on death.

fuld v. plo US Constitution
2025-06-20 15:54:03

Fuld v. PLO ⚙️ https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-20_f2bh.pdf is out. While I don't like the decision, it is hard to make an argument that they could have ruled any other way.

The PSJVTA’s personal jurisdiction provision does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because the statute reasonably ties the assertion of jurisdiction over the PLO and PA to conduct involving the United States and implicating sensitive foreign policy matters within the prerogative of the political branches.

The primary reason why the statute should fall is that the United States inherently doesn't have jurisdiction over a quasi-state entity halfway around the world. But, this isn't based in a concept of "due process". If anything, by asserting a right to due-process, the PLO does implicitly consent to jurisdiction, in a way that "not ceasing a policy" does not.

The "foreign policy" note is more concerning. There is a 🔥 far-right theory of government that would hold that the Constitution only governs how the federal government interacts with US citizens, and does not bind its external actions 💡 other than a few enumerated exceptions, such as "participating in the slave trade". I disagree with this; and I generally feel that the blanket exception various courts are working towards is a loophole large enough to drive a truck through.

But, the limits of American power will remain evident. A court can issue as many universal injunctions as it wants, but the PLO will not act based on it. And the ever-increasing fines based on foreign activity by a kangaroo-court will impugn the United States more than they will ever punish the PLO. When Russia fines Google an amount so large the TV announcer cannot pronounce it ⚙️ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxvnwkl5kgo , it is dismissed as the folly of a rogue state. 💡 Clarence Thomas, in his concurrence, spells it out more thoroughly. That Congress may override general principles of international law does not imply that it should, but instead that the relevant considerations are not constitutional ones. If you view international law as superseding the constitution on certain matters, it should not be surprising that the Constitution does not incorporate these restrictions.

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