Aerobe's New Writeups

Henohenomoheji (thing)

2012-07-21T16:12:38Z

Henohenomoheji (へのへのもへじ) is a face drawn from the hiragana characters of its name (he no he no mo he ji). Beloved by Japanese schoolchildren, Henohenomoheji are sometimes drawn on masks and dolls.


 
                                                                                
                 ZMM                            ZMM                             
               ~M7  7?                        8M8  I?                           
             ~MM      M?                    ~MD~     M.                         
            MM:        ,M                 .DM=        7M                        
           M8            $M:              MM            7M:                     
                           M?                             MI.

…

□ (thing)

2012-07-20T18:29:59Z

In modal logic, □ is the necessity operator.¹

□P
It is necessary that P.

For P to be necessary is for P to be true in all possible worlds. Compare □P with the modal sentence ◊P, which means P is true only in some possible world (possibly P).

□ can be formally defined using ◊, which is the modal possibility operator, and the negation operator Â¬ from classical logic.

□P = Â¬◊Â¬P
Necessarily P = Not possibly not P

¹For those who are dubious of their browser's character set, □ is indeed meant to display as a box.

◊ (thing)

2012-07-20T18:01:22Z

In modal logic, ◊ is the possibility operator.

◊P
It is possible that P.

For P to be possible is for P to be true in some possible world. Compare ◊P with the modal sentence □P, which means P is true in all possible worlds (necessarily P).¹

◊ can be formally defined using □, which is the modal necessity operator, and the negation operator Â¬ from classical logic.

◊P = Â¬□Â¬P
Possibly P = Not necessarily not P

¹For those who are dubious of their browser's character set, □ is indeed meant to display as a box.

July 20, 2012 (log)

2012-07-20T13:24:10Z

Lately I have not been spending as much time here as is my custom. Baby, it's not you, it's me.

In just over a month I will move to a city I have never visited and begin my Masters in Philosophy. At that time, my funding package and scholarship money will drop like manna from Heaven and I can spend less time perfecting frugality into a zen art.

In the meantime, I have been freakish busy.

LEARNIN'

I am learning modal logic, or at least as much of it as time and the smallish dimensions of my brain permit.
To counteract anything noodly and impressive about the above, I'm also working much too hard studying grade eight math for the GRE (a score I'll need in a year or so for PhD applications). Last month I learned how to long divide, hooray!
As well as finishing off the last credit of my undergraduate degree, I'm auditing a graduate seminar and making plans with a peer in the class to coauthor a paper on

…

James Charlton (person)

2012-07-14T17:02:59Z

I have known Earthâs texture
like another skin.
"Truganiniâs Soliloquy", So Much Light

James Charlton (born 1947) is a Tasmanian poet and interfaith studies scholar. His work has a strong engagement with spirituality and mysticism across different religious traditions. He has published widely in journals and magazines and he was the poetry editor for the Australian literary quarterly Island from 2002 to 2008.

Collections of poetry:

Luminous Bodies (2001); Anne Elder Award (tied for 2nd place)
So Much Light (2007)

Academic monographs:

Non-dualism in Eckhart, Julian of Norwich and Traherne: A Theopoetic Reflection (philosophy of religion) (2012)

LebenslÃ¼ge (thing)

2012-04-08T15:28:56Z

German, n.


  Das Leben (life)
+ Die LÃ¼ge (lie)
= Die LebenslÃ¼ge (life-lie).

A LebenslÃ¼ge is a lie we tell ourselves in order to make existence bearable, whether to achieve some particular goal or just to get out of bed in the morning.

The word was popularized first in Norwegian, appearing in Ibsen's The Wild Duck as livslÃ¸gn. German translations of the play rendered it LebenslÃ¼ge, whereupon it entered general speech in that country as well.

When attributed to an individual, a LebenslÃ¼ge is a grand self-delusionÂ â think Don Quixote. At least in the German discourse, LebenslÃ¼gen are often attributed to nations as well, referring to a false conception of the past that forms a vital part of the national self-image. For instance, historians have accused postwar Austria of perpetuating the LebenslÃ¼ge…