User:Skychildandsonofthesun/Top

Scott McDonald is...

(0) new(ish) to editing on wikipedia. (1) a big proponent of the CUT-CHOP-COPY-PASTE approach to building human data systems. (2) believes emphatically that the proponents of CLOUD computing are fundamentally wrong. (3) liberal. (a hawk sits watch over the garden of eden) (4) a non-practising vegetarian. (4) has found the MASTER SWITCH. (4) is a hobbyist-philosopher (although does have a degree from McGill in this feild). (5) probably listening to JAZZ RADIO right now (p-value of occurence = 0.95) (6) proud of his 54% best answer ratio at YAHOO!ANSWERS, but knows he can do even better. (7) not a taco. (a taco is a taco, silly!)

You can reach me at scott at infinitelogic dot ca.

Here is my graphic design portfolio: http://www.infinitelogic.ca/portfolio.html

Here is a picture of me in the 80's: http://www.infinitelogic.ca/scott-in-the-eighties.jpg

Here is the latest peice of fictional writing I am working on:

Title ->

ANThropia

Body ->

A = A

“Can I speak to Amy please?” “No. I am sorry but you can not speak to her. There is no Amy that lives here.”

Declarations can be refuted. They have a truth status. Points of view however cannot be refuted. They are the containers in which true and false statements exist. One cannot refute the existence of the container which they are within. One cannot refute one’s self.

The cosmos begins with a tautology. “A = A” From which, astounding levels of complexity are possible. I used to wonder how computers work. It seemed perplexing to me. Indeed computing is a miraculous process no matter how much you know about it. But the perplexing ness does eventually mature into understanding as you get your head around the primitive processors: the little switches that are either on or off. It is at this primitive level that the mystery of computing must be understood. A very primitive program, at this level, actually starts to make sense. For example,

If (00000001) then lights goes on. If (00000000) then light goes off.

This much is not perplexing. And so the idea of assembling massive amounts of these primitive sequences on top of each other starts to explain how you can arrive at computer programs as complex as 3D rendering software, satellite guidance systems, etc.

The construction of the cosmos is much the same.

It begins with an irrefutable claim of self existence. It declares, “A = A.” No one can claim otherwise. From this starting point so much is possible.

But, we must not lose our grounding to this basic concept: this primitive of all primitives…   a founding father. The son of our sun is the sun of our son.

We = Him.

Just like a book that starts with an empty page or a computer program with an empty screen, it is easy to lose sight of the blank background container for all letters and words that take shape and provide meaning thereupon.

One cannot see something precisely because it is always before one’s eyes. A fish knows not that he is swimming in water. He simply swims. His entire universe is wet.

But the fisherman knows the difference.

So then it might seem like our goal should be to find our fisherman, beg him to take us out of the water and see the world as it actually is from his point of view. Indeed, the theistic quest (the people of Earth and their story) has really all been about trying to create that fisherman. Invent a place beyond ours that encompasses both. The after life unfolds in the kingdom of God.

We are now (debatably) in a second religious stage of human history where rather than proposing a creator (a holy source of being) we are looking outwards to distant reaches of our galaxy in hopes of finding other life. This pursuit, call it the SETI quest, is in fact an evolutionary forward-step from (and sub-set member of) the God quest; for they share in two essential properties. First, they both show how very cold and lonely this world can be for sentient creatures staring up into the night sky. Second, they both reveal our fundamental desire to go beyond ourselves, in mind and in body.

Whether we ever meet our creator or find our alien neighbors is not yet known (to me, at least…  I realize there are those who feel they have met both) but what is known is that the underlying urge to be seized up out of the water and shown the light of day is universal in all of us. In truth though, the answer is likely far more internal than we imagined. The seed of God is being born as we speak. It is likely a process unfolding, where time bends in mysterious ways: the future making the past, the son giving birth to the Father, the creator creating himself by a process of becoming self aware.

Fish = Fisherman.

F = F

A = A

“A,” reduces into itself. It proves for itself, its own existence. It introduces for us an absolutely overwhelming reservoir of hidden, potential energy, stored up in an irrefutable and seemingly innocuous tautology.

“Can I speak to Amy please?” “No. Because, as I said before... you are Amy.”