#chekhov — Public Fediverse posts

“Show, don’t tell”*…

Some things are very difficult to explain using words alone; they require physical demonstration. Consider, for example, the distinction between right and left. It turns out that this difficulty has been at the heart of the great scientific debates about the nature of space…

… explain right and left to a friend using language alone and without using the words right and left. As you can only use language, you can’t show your hands or use pictures!

It’s tricky, isn’t it? The difference between right and left isn’t as straightforward as it seems. If we dig a little deeper, we will find that the science behind right and left is surprising, complex, and profound.

How can two things be identical yet different at the same time? This was the question that puzzled one of humankind’s greatest thinkers, Immanuel Kant.

Many of the great debates of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries concerned the nature of space. The English polymath Sir Isaac Newton proposed that space was absolute: space is an entity in itself and exists even without objects, matter, or living beings filling it. 

In contrast, Gottfried Leibniz, Newton’s bitter rival, argued that space was relational: it only existed because of the relations between the objects that fill it. If objects do not exist, then space doesn’t either.

Meanwhile, Immanuel Kant used handedness to give his two cents. He asked us to imagine a solitary hand floating in an otherwise completely empty space. The hand must either be a right hand or a left hand, and this will be the case even in a space where no relationships between objects can be observed. Kant noted that our hands are geometrically and mathematically identical in every way possible, whether it be the lengths of the fingers or the angles between them. Yet, the one fundamental difference between them—that one is a right hand, and the other is a left hand—exists in itself; it is intrinsic to the hand and not related to any other object, similar to space itself. Space has an absolute property.

Ultimately, Kant’s theories of handedness were not foolproof and could not be used to prove that space is absolute. Indeed, Kant would switch between the Newtonian and Leibnizian schools of thought during his lifetime. However, Kant did show just how puzzling and difficult it is to explain why right hands and left hands are identical but different. That intrinsic quality of handedness is almost impossible to explain without showing, and this is the root of the Ozma Problem.

In 1960, Project Ozma was launched in West Virginia. Named after the ruler of the fictional Land of Oz, Project Ozma was a huge telescope that listened for signals from space, signals that could be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, the project only ran for a few months, and it had no major success.

Let’s say the telescope had picked up these signals. How would we on Earth respond? We would need to convert their signals, after which we would send our own. Telescopes and computers use binary code. And directionality is crucial to understanding binary, as it is read left to right and decoded right to left. So, if we are sending binary signals to aliens, we need to be sure they understand which direction is left and which is right. How can we be sure they share our understanding of directions?

This is the Ozma Problem, a thought experiment first described by Martin Gardner [see the almanac entry here] in his 1964 book, The Ambidextrous Universe. In this book, Gardner pitched a number of solutions.

Before going into Gardner’s work, here’s a seemingly simple solution: lay your palms face down on a table and equally spaced from your body. The thumb that’s closer to your heart? That’s the left side. The right side is defined by the thumb farther away from the heart.

Another potential solution would be to use north and south as reference points: when facing north, everything towards east is the right side, and everything pointing west is the left side.

The problem with these solutions is that they both rely on a shared point of reference, like the direction of north-south-east-west and the location of the heart. In no way can we be certain that an alien species would share these!

Some of the solutions that Gardner proposed in his book use magnetic fields, planetary rotation, and the direction of current flow. And as we discussed before, they all fail because of the need for a shared point of reference. 

So, after centuries of wondering whether we are alone in the universe, we finally make contact with an alien species, only to find that our inability to explain something as mundane as right and left precludes meaningful dialogue. The Ozma Problem demonstrates the limits of our language, and it challenges anthropocentrism, which is the notion that human beings and our experiences are the center of the universe.

Many thought problems are hypothetical and can’t be solved, but the Ozma Problem does have a solution. In fact, the solution already existed when Gardner first described it. But it’s not immediately associated with right-left asymmetry or aliens.

 

While we cannot be sure that aliens share our anatomy or our perception of north-south-east-west, if they inhabit the same universe as us, we can assume the fundamental forces of physics apply to them too.

There are four fundamental forces of physics: gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces (the force that binds atomic nuclei together), and weak nuclear forces (the force that causes atomic decay).

Up until 1956, it was assumed these fundamental forces all display parity. Parity is an important concept in physics, and it can be demonstrated visually by using a mirror. If we stand in front of a mirror holding an apple in our right hand and then drop it, the reflection will show it falling to the ground, but the apple will fall from your left hand. Gravity still works in the reflection. Likewise, if we look at the strong forces binding atomic nuclei and then observe them in a mirror, the images would be identical, just with right and left switched. 

But in 1956, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, a physicist, conducted a ground breaking experiment. She was able to prove that the weak nuclear force—the decay of atoms—did not always demonstrate parity. The weak nuclear force does not adhere to mirror symmetry. 

Professor Wu showed this by observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms. When atoms decay, they spin out electrons. Up until then, scientists had always observed these electrons spinning out equally in all directions. But Professor Wu saw that cobalt-60 will always preferentially spin out electrons in a certain direction. In other words, the movement is asymmetric. For some reason, the decay of atoms is the one fundamental force that does not adhere to parity or mirror symmetry, thus showing that directionality is intrinsic to the universe, just as Kant had postulated in the 18th century. 

For the first time in history, it was proven that nature can prefer one direction. Very soon after Wu’s findings, physicists were able to prove that elementary particles known as neutrinos always spin towards the left.

What does this mean for our communication with aliens? If the aliens can replicate Professor Wu’s experiment and visualize the spin of electrons while cobalt-60 decays, they can orient right and left!

Ironically, Professor Wu was not afforded any sort of parity herself during her working life. Other scientists were recognized for research that could not have been achieved without hers. Today, the weak force remains one of the most important and mysterious topics in physics today, thanks to Professor Wu.

So, if the only way to scientifically and definitively define the difference between right and left is to build a particle accelerator and observe the decay of cobalt-60, clearly the difference is not as straightforward as it may first seem! The Ozma Problem is proof that the most mundane concepts are sometimes directly linked to the cosmos and speak to the nature of existence itself…

An essay by Dr. Maloy Das (see the bio in this unrelated– but also fascinating– article by him). From the remarkable blog, Fascinating World, scored a highly credible source by the MBFC for having proper sourcing, no failed fact-checks, and “highly factual” reporting. It’s the work of Krishna Rathuryan, currently a senior at a prep school in Princeton (where he’s also apparently a pretty accomplished distance runner) and team of his friends.

When language fails: “What Is The Ozma Problem, And Why Does It Matter?“

* attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov, who said said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It has, of course, become a motto for many writers across genre.

###

As we explore explanation, we (especially any readers in or near Manhattan Beach, California) might note that today is one of the two days of the year (symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice, 37 days before and 37 after) when the public sculpture there, “Light Gate,” becomes a portal “unlocked” by the rays of the setting sun… as Atlas Obscura puts it, “a bit of Druidic paganism by way of high modern design.”

source

#antonChekhov #chekhov #chekov #culture #gottfriedLeibniz #history #immanuelKant #issacNewton #kant #language #lightGate #manhattanBeach #ozma #ozmaProblem #philosophy #science #technology

“Show, don’t tell”*…

Some things are very difficult to explain using words alone; they require physical demonstration. Consider, for example, the distinction between right and left. It turns out that this difficulty has been at the heart of the great scientific debates about the nature of space…

… explain right and left to a friend using language alone and without using the words right and left. As you can only use language, you can’t show your hands or use pictures!

It’s tricky, isn’t it? The difference between right and left isn’t as straightforward as it seems. If we dig a little deeper, we will find that the science behind right and left is surprising, complex, and profound.

How can two things be identical yet different at the same time? This was the question that puzzled one of humankind’s greatest thinkers, Immanuel Kant.

Many of the great debates of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries concerned the nature of space. The English polymath Sir Isaac Newton proposed that space was absolute: space is an entity in itself and exists even without objects, matter, or living beings filling it. 

In contrast, Gottfried Leibniz, Newton’s bitter rival, argued that space was relational: it only existed because of the relations between the objects that fill it. If objects do not exist, then space doesn’t either.

Meanwhile, Immanuel Kant used handedness to give his two cents. He asked us to imagine a solitary hand floating in an otherwise completely empty space. The hand must either be a right hand or a left hand, and this will be the case even in a space where no relationships between objects can be observed. Kant noted that our hands are geometrically and mathematically identical in every way possible, whether it be the lengths of the fingers or the angles between them. Yet, the one fundamental difference between them—that one is a right hand, and the other is a left hand—exists in itself; it is intrinsic to the hand and not related to any other object, similar to space itself. Space has an absolute property.

Ultimately, Kant’s theories of handedness were not foolproof and could not be used to prove that space is absolute. Indeed, Kant would switch between the Newtonian and Leibnizian schools of thought during his lifetime. However, Kant did show just how puzzling and difficult it is to explain why right hands and left hands are identical but different. That intrinsic quality of handedness is almost impossible to explain without showing, and this is the root of the Ozma Problem.

In 1960, Project Ozma was launched in West Virginia. Named after the ruler of the fictional Land of Oz, Project Ozma was a huge telescope that listened for signals from space, signals that could be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, the project only ran for a few months, and it had no major success.

Let’s say the telescope had picked up these signals. How would we on Earth respond? We would need to convert their signals, after which we would send our own. Telescopes and computers use binary code. And directionality is crucial to understanding binary, as it is read left to right and decoded right to left. So, if we are sending binary signals to aliens, we need to be sure they understand which direction is left and which is right. How can we be sure they share our understanding of directions?

This is the Ozma Problem, a thought experiment first described by Martin Gardner [see the almanac entry here] in his 1964 book, The Ambidextrous Universe. In this book, Gardner pitched a number of solutions.

Before going into Gardner’s work, here’s a seemingly simple solution: lay your palms face down on a table and equally spaced from your body. The thumb that’s closer to your heart? That’s the left side. The right side is defined by the thumb farther away from the heart.

Another potential solution would be to use north and south as reference points: when facing north, everything towards east is the right side, and everything pointing west is the left side.

The problem with these solutions is that they both rely on a shared point of reference, like the direction of north-south-east-west and the location of the heart. In no way can we be certain that an alien species would share these!

Some of the solutions that Gardner proposed in his book use magnetic fields, planetary rotation, and the direction of current flow. And as we discussed before, they all fail because of the need for a shared point of reference. 

So, after centuries of wondering whether we are alone in the universe, we finally make contact with an alien species, only to find that our inability to explain something as mundane as right and left precludes meaningful dialogue. The Ozma Problem demonstrates the limits of our language, and it challenges anthropocentrism, which is the notion that human beings and our experiences are the center of the universe.

Many thought problems are hypothetical and can’t be solved, but the Ozma Problem does have a solution. In fact, the solution already existed when Gardner first described it. But it’s not immediately associated with right-left asymmetry or aliens.

 

While we cannot be sure that aliens share our anatomy or our perception of north-south-east-west, if they inhabit the same universe as us, we can assume the fundamental forces of physics apply to them too.

There are four fundamental forces of physics: gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces (the force that binds atomic nuclei together), and weak nuclear forces (the force that causes atomic decay).

Up until 1956, it was assumed these fundamental forces all display parity. Parity is an important concept in physics, and it can be demonstrated visually by using a mirror. If we stand in front of a mirror holding an apple in our right hand and then drop it, the reflection will show it falling to the ground, but the apple will fall from your left hand. Gravity still works in the reflection. Likewise, if we look at the strong forces binding atomic nuclei and then observe them in a mirror, the images would be identical, just with right and left switched. 

But in 1956, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, a physicist, conducted a ground breaking experiment. She was able to prove that the weak nuclear force—the decay of atoms—did not always demonstrate parity. The weak nuclear force does not adhere to mirror symmetry. 

Professor Wu showed this by observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms. When atoms decay, they spin out electrons. Up until then, scientists had always observed these electrons spinning out equally in all directions. But Professor Wu saw that cobalt-60 will always preferentially spin out electrons in a certain direction. In other words, the movement is asymmetric. For some reason, the decay of atoms is the one fundamental force that does not adhere to parity or mirror symmetry, thus showing that directionality is intrinsic to the universe, just as Kant had postulated in the 18th century. 

For the first time in history, it was proven that nature can prefer one direction. Very soon after Wu’s findings, physicists were able to prove that elementary particles known as neutrinos always spin towards the left.

What does this mean for our communication with aliens? If the aliens can replicate Professor Wu’s experiment and visualize the spin of electrons while cobalt-60 decays, they can orient right and left!

Ironically, Professor Wu was not afforded any sort of parity herself during her working life. Other scientists were recognized for research that could not have been achieved without hers. Today, the weak force remains one of the most important and mysterious topics in physics today, thanks to Professor Wu.

So, if the only way to scientifically and definitively define the difference between right and left is to build a particle accelerator and observe the decay of cobalt-60, clearly the difference is not as straightforward as it may first seem! The Ozma Problem is proof that the most mundane concepts are sometimes directly linked to the cosmos and speak to the nature of existence itself…

An essay by Dr. Maloy Das (see the bio in this unrelated– but also fascinating– article by him). From the remarkable blog, Fascinating World, scored a highly credible source by the MBFC for having proper sourcing, no failed fact-checks, and “highly factual” reporting. It’s the work of Krishna Rathuryan, currently a senior at a prep school in Princeton (where he’s also apparently a pretty accomplished distance runner) and team of his friends.

When language fails: “What Is The Ozma Problem, And Why Does It Matter?“

* attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov, who said said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It has, of course, become a motto for many writers across genre.

###

As we explore explanation, we (especially any readers in or near Manhattan Beach, California) might note that today is one of the two days of the year (symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice, 37 days before and 37 after) when the public sculpture there, “Light Gate,” becomes a portal “unlocked” by the rays of the setting sun… as Atlas Obscura puts it, “a bit of Druidic paganism by way of high modern design.”

source

#antonChekhov #chekhov #chekov #culture #gottfriedLeibniz #history #immanuelKant #issacNewton #kant #language #lightGate #manhattanBeach #ozma #ozmaProblem #philosophy #science #technology

“Show, don’t tell”*…

Some things are very difficult to explain using words alone; they require physical demonstration. Consider, for example, the distinction between right and left. It turns out that this difficulty has been at the heart of the great scientific debates about the nature of space…

… explain right and left to a friend using language alone and without using the words right and left. As you can only use language, you can’t show your hands or use pictures!

It’s tricky, isn’t it? The difference between right and left isn’t as straightforward as it seems. If we dig a little deeper, we will find that the science behind right and left is surprising, complex, and profound.

How can two things be identical yet different at the same time? This was the question that puzzled one of humankind’s greatest thinkers, Immanuel Kant.

Many of the great debates of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries concerned the nature of space. The English polymath Sir Isaac Newton proposed that space was absolute: space is an entity in itself and exists even without objects, matter, or living beings filling it. 

In contrast, Gottfried Leibniz, Newton’s bitter rival, argued that space was relational: it only existed because of the relations between the objects that fill it. If objects do not exist, then space doesn’t either.

Meanwhile, Immanuel Kant used handedness to give his two cents. He asked us to imagine a solitary hand floating in an otherwise completely empty space. The hand must either be a right hand or a left hand, and this will be the case even in a space where no relationships between objects can be observed. Kant noted that our hands are geometrically and mathematically identical in every way possible, whether it be the lengths of the fingers or the angles between them. Yet, the one fundamental difference between them—that one is a right hand, and the other is a left hand—exists in itself; it is intrinsic to the hand and not related to any other object, similar to space itself. Space has an absolute property.

Ultimately, Kant’s theories of handedness were not foolproof and could not be used to prove that space is absolute. Indeed, Kant would switch between the Newtonian and Leibnizian schools of thought during his lifetime. However, Kant did show just how puzzling and difficult it is to explain why right hands and left hands are identical but different. That intrinsic quality of handedness is almost impossible to explain without showing, and this is the root of the Ozma Problem.

In 1960, Project Ozma was launched in West Virginia. Named after the ruler of the fictional Land of Oz, Project Ozma was a huge telescope that listened for signals from space, signals that could be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, the project only ran for a few months, and it had no major success.

Let’s say the telescope had picked up these signals. How would we on Earth respond? We would need to convert their signals, after which we would send our own. Telescopes and computers use binary code. And directionality is crucial to understanding binary, as it is read left to right and decoded right to left. So, if we are sending binary signals to aliens, we need to be sure they understand which direction is left and which is right. How can we be sure they share our understanding of directions?

This is the Ozma Problem, a thought experiment first described by Martin Gardner [see the almanac entry here] in his 1964 book, The Ambidextrous Universe. In this book, Gardner pitched a number of solutions.

Before going into Gardner’s work, here’s a seemingly simple solution: lay your palms face down on a table and equally spaced from your body. The thumb that’s closer to your heart? That’s the left side. The right side is defined by the thumb farther away from the heart.

Another potential solution would be to use north and south as reference points: when facing north, everything towards east is the right side, and everything pointing west is the left side.

The problem with these solutions is that they both rely on a shared point of reference, like the direction of north-south-east-west and the location of the heart. In no way can we be certain that an alien species would share these!

Some of the solutions that Gardner proposed in his book use magnetic fields, planetary rotation, and the direction of current flow. And as we discussed before, they all fail because of the need for a shared point of reference. 

So, after centuries of wondering whether we are alone in the universe, we finally make contact with an alien species, only to find that our inability to explain something as mundane as right and left precludes meaningful dialogue. The Ozma Problem demonstrates the limits of our language, and it challenges anthropocentrism, which is the notion that human beings and our experiences are the center of the universe.

Many thought problems are hypothetical and can’t be solved, but the Ozma Problem does have a solution. In fact, the solution already existed when Gardner first described it. But it’s not immediately associated with right-left asymmetry or aliens.

 

While we cannot be sure that aliens share our anatomy or our perception of north-south-east-west, if they inhabit the same universe as us, we can assume the fundamental forces of physics apply to them too.

There are four fundamental forces of physics: gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces (the force that binds atomic nuclei together), and weak nuclear forces (the force that causes atomic decay).

Up until 1956, it was assumed these fundamental forces all display parity. Parity is an important concept in physics, and it can be demonstrated visually by using a mirror. If we stand in front of a mirror holding an apple in our right hand and then drop it, the reflection will show it falling to the ground, but the apple will fall from your left hand. Gravity still works in the reflection. Likewise, if we look at the strong forces binding atomic nuclei and then observe them in a mirror, the images would be identical, just with right and left switched. 

But in 1956, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, a physicist, conducted a ground breaking experiment. She was able to prove that the weak nuclear force—the decay of atoms—did not always demonstrate parity. The weak nuclear force does not adhere to mirror symmetry. 

Professor Wu showed this by observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms. When atoms decay, they spin out electrons. Up until then, scientists had always observed these electrons spinning out equally in all directions. But Professor Wu saw that cobalt-60 will always preferentially spin out electrons in a certain direction. In other words, the movement is asymmetric. For some reason, the decay of atoms is the one fundamental force that does not adhere to parity or mirror symmetry, thus showing that directionality is intrinsic to the universe, just as Kant had postulated in the 18th century. 

For the first time in history, it was proven that nature can prefer one direction. Very soon after Wu’s findings, physicists were able to prove that elementary particles known as neutrinos always spin towards the left.

What does this mean for our communication with aliens? If the aliens can replicate Professor Wu’s experiment and visualize the spin of electrons while cobalt-60 decays, they can orient right and left!

Ironically, Professor Wu was not afforded any sort of parity herself during her working life. Other scientists were recognized for research that could not have been achieved without hers. Today, the weak force remains one of the most important and mysterious topics in physics today, thanks to Professor Wu.

So, if the only way to scientifically and definitively define the difference between right and left is to build a particle accelerator and observe the decay of cobalt-60, clearly the difference is not as straightforward as it may first seem! The Ozma Problem is proof that the most mundane concepts are sometimes directly linked to the cosmos and speak to the nature of existence itself…

An essay by Dr. Maloy Das (see the bio in this unrelated– but also fascinating– article by him). From the remarkable blog, Fascinating World, scored a highly credible source by the MBFC for having proper sourcing, no failed fact-checks, and “highly factual” reporting. It’s the work of Krishna Rathuryan, currently a senior at a prep school in Princeton (where he’s also apparently a pretty accomplished distance runner) and team of his friends.

When language fails: “What Is The Ozma Problem, And Why Does It Matter?“

* attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov, who said said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It has, of course, become a motto for many writers across genre.

###

As we explore explanation, we (especially any readers in or near Manhattan Beach, California) might note that today is one of the two days of the year (symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice, 37 days before and 37 after) when the public sculpture there, “Light Gate,” becomes a portal “unlocked” by the rays of the setting sun… as Atlas Obscura puts it, “a bit of Druidic paganism by way of high modern design.”

source

#antonChekhov #chekhov #chekov #culture #gottfriedLeibniz #history #immanuelKant #issacNewton #kant #language #lightGate #manhattanBeach #ozma #ozmaProblem #philosophy #science #technology

“Show, don’t tell”*…

Some things are very difficult to explain using words alone; they require physical demonstration. Consider, for example, the distinction between right and left. It turns out that this difficulty has been at the heart of the great scientific debates about the nature of space…

… explain right and left to a friend using language alone and without using the words right and left. As you can only use language, you can’t show your hands or use pictures!

It’s tricky, isn’t it? The difference between right and left isn’t as straightforward as it seems. If we dig a little deeper, we will find that the science behind right and left is surprising, complex, and profound.

How can two things be identical yet different at the same time? This was the question that puzzled one of humankind’s greatest thinkers, Immanuel Kant.

Many of the great debates of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries concerned the nature of space. The English polymath Sir Isaac Newton proposed that space was absolute: space is an entity in itself and exists even without objects, matter, or living beings filling it. 

In contrast, Gottfried Leibniz, Newton’s bitter rival, argued that space was relational: it only existed because of the relations between the objects that fill it. If objects do not exist, then space doesn’t either.

Meanwhile, Immanuel Kant used handedness to give his two cents. He asked us to imagine a solitary hand floating in an otherwise completely empty space. The hand must either be a right hand or a left hand, and this will be the case even in a space where no relationships between objects can be observed. Kant noted that our hands are geometrically and mathematically identical in every way possible, whether it be the lengths of the fingers or the angles between them. Yet, the one fundamental difference between them—that one is a right hand, and the other is a left hand—exists in itself; it is intrinsic to the hand and not related to any other object, similar to space itself. Space has an absolute property.

Ultimately, Kant’s theories of handedness were not foolproof and could not be used to prove that space is absolute. Indeed, Kant would switch between the Newtonian and Leibnizian schools of thought during his lifetime. However, Kant did show just how puzzling and difficult it is to explain why right hands and left hands are identical but different. That intrinsic quality of handedness is almost impossible to explain without showing, and this is the root of the Ozma Problem.

In 1960, Project Ozma was launched in West Virginia. Named after the ruler of the fictional Land of Oz, Project Ozma was a huge telescope that listened for signals from space, signals that could be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, the project only ran for a few months, and it had no major success.

Let’s say the telescope had picked up these signals. How would we on Earth respond? We would need to convert their signals, after which we would send our own. Telescopes and computers use binary code. And directionality is crucial to understanding binary, as it is read left to right and decoded right to left. So, if we are sending binary signals to aliens, we need to be sure they understand which direction is left and which is right. How can we be sure they share our understanding of directions?

This is the Ozma Problem, a thought experiment first described by Martin Gardner [see the almanac entry here] in his 1964 book, The Ambidextrous Universe. In this book, Gardner pitched a number of solutions.

Before going into Gardner’s work, here’s a seemingly simple solution: lay your palms face down on a table and equally spaced from your body. The thumb that’s closer to your heart? That’s the left side. The right side is defined by the thumb farther away from the heart.

Another potential solution would be to use north and south as reference points: when facing north, everything towards east is the right side, and everything pointing west is the left side.

The problem with these solutions is that they both rely on a shared point of reference, like the direction of north-south-east-west and the location of the heart. In no way can we be certain that an alien species would share these!

Some of the solutions that Gardner proposed in his book use magnetic fields, planetary rotation, and the direction of current flow. And as we discussed before, they all fail because of the need for a shared point of reference. 

So, after centuries of wondering whether we are alone in the universe, we finally make contact with an alien species, only to find that our inability to explain something as mundane as right and left precludes meaningful dialogue. The Ozma Problem demonstrates the limits of our language, and it challenges anthropocentrism, which is the notion that human beings and our experiences are the center of the universe.

Many thought problems are hypothetical and can’t be solved, but the Ozma Problem does have a solution. In fact, the solution already existed when Gardner first described it. But it’s not immediately associated with right-left asymmetry or aliens.

 

While we cannot be sure that aliens share our anatomy or our perception of north-south-east-west, if they inhabit the same universe as us, we can assume the fundamental forces of physics apply to them too.

There are four fundamental forces of physics: gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces (the force that binds atomic nuclei together), and weak nuclear forces (the force that causes atomic decay).

Up until 1956, it was assumed these fundamental forces all display parity. Parity is an important concept in physics, and it can be demonstrated visually by using a mirror. If we stand in front of a mirror holding an apple in our right hand and then drop it, the reflection will show it falling to the ground, but the apple will fall from your left hand. Gravity still works in the reflection. Likewise, if we look at the strong forces binding atomic nuclei and then observe them in a mirror, the images would be identical, just with right and left switched. 

But in 1956, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, a physicist, conducted a ground breaking experiment. She was able to prove that the weak nuclear force—the decay of atoms—did not always demonstrate parity. The weak nuclear force does not adhere to mirror symmetry. 

Professor Wu showed this by observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms. When atoms decay, they spin out electrons. Up until then, scientists had always observed these electrons spinning out equally in all directions. But Professor Wu saw that cobalt-60 will always preferentially spin out electrons in a certain direction. In other words, the movement is asymmetric. For some reason, the decay of atoms is the one fundamental force that does not adhere to parity or mirror symmetry, thus showing that directionality is intrinsic to the universe, just as Kant had postulated in the 18th century. 

For the first time in history, it was proven that nature can prefer one direction. Very soon after Wu’s findings, physicists were able to prove that elementary particles known as neutrinos always spin towards the left.

What does this mean for our communication with aliens? If the aliens can replicate Professor Wu’s experiment and visualize the spin of electrons while cobalt-60 decays, they can orient right and left!

Ironically, Professor Wu was not afforded any sort of parity herself during her working life. Other scientists were recognized for research that could not have been achieved without hers. Today, the weak force remains one of the most important and mysterious topics in physics today, thanks to Professor Wu.

So, if the only way to scientifically and definitively define the difference between right and left is to build a particle accelerator and observe the decay of cobalt-60, clearly the difference is not as straightforward as it may first seem! The Ozma Problem is proof that the most mundane concepts are sometimes directly linked to the cosmos and speak to the nature of existence itself…

An essay by Dr. Maloy Das (see the bio in this unrelated– but also fascinating– article by him). From the remarkable blog, Fascinating World, scored a highly credible source by the MBFC for having proper sourcing, no failed fact-checks, and “highly factual” reporting. It’s the work of Krishna Rathuryan, currently a senior at a prep school in Princeton (where he’s also apparently a pretty accomplished distance runner) and team of his friends.

When language fails: “What Is The Ozma Problem, And Why Does It Matter?“

* attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov, who said said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It has, of course, become a motto for many writers across genre.

###

As we explore explanation, we (especially any readers in or near Manhattan Beach, California) might note that today is one of the two days of the year (symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice, 37 days before and 37 after) when the public sculpture there, “Light Gate,” becomes a portal “unlocked” by the rays of the setting sun… as Atlas Obscura puts it, “a bit of Druidic paganism by way of high modern design.”

source

#antonChekhov #chekhov #chekov #culture #gottfriedLeibniz #history #immanuelKant #issacNewton #kant #language #lightGate #manhattanBeach #ozma #ozmaProblem #philosophy #science #technology

“Show, don’t tell”*…

Some things are very difficult to explain using words alone; they require physical demonstration. Consider, for example, the distinction between right and left. It turns out that this difficulty has been at the heart of the great scientific debates about the nature of space…

… explain right and left to a friend using language alone and without using the words right and left. As you can only use language, you can’t show your hands or use pictures!

It’s tricky, isn’t it? The difference between right and left isn’t as straightforward as it seems. If we dig a little deeper, we will find that the science behind right and left is surprising, complex, and profound.

How can two things be identical yet different at the same time? This was the question that puzzled one of humankind’s greatest thinkers, Immanuel Kant.

Many of the great debates of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries concerned the nature of space. The English polymath Sir Isaac Newton proposed that space was absolute: space is an entity in itself and exists even without objects, matter, or living beings filling it. 

In contrast, Gottfried Leibniz, Newton’s bitter rival, argued that space was relational: it only existed because of the relations between the objects that fill it. If objects do not exist, then space doesn’t either.

Meanwhile, Immanuel Kant used handedness to give his two cents. He asked us to imagine a solitary hand floating in an otherwise completely empty space. The hand must either be a right hand or a left hand, and this will be the case even in a space where no relationships between objects can be observed. Kant noted that our hands are geometrically and mathematically identical in every way possible, whether it be the lengths of the fingers or the angles between them. Yet, the one fundamental difference between them—that one is a right hand, and the other is a left hand—exists in itself; it is intrinsic to the hand and not related to any other object, similar to space itself. Space has an absolute property.

Ultimately, Kant’s theories of handedness were not foolproof and could not be used to prove that space is absolute. Indeed, Kant would switch between the Newtonian and Leibnizian schools of thought during his lifetime. However, Kant did show just how puzzling and difficult it is to explain why right hands and left hands are identical but different. That intrinsic quality of handedness is almost impossible to explain without showing, and this is the root of the Ozma Problem.

In 1960, Project Ozma was launched in West Virginia. Named after the ruler of the fictional Land of Oz, Project Ozma was a huge telescope that listened for signals from space, signals that could be proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, the project only ran for a few months, and it had no major success.

Let’s say the telescope had picked up these signals. How would we on Earth respond? We would need to convert their signals, after which we would send our own. Telescopes and computers use binary code. And directionality is crucial to understanding binary, as it is read left to right and decoded right to left. So, if we are sending binary signals to aliens, we need to be sure they understand which direction is left and which is right. How can we be sure they share our understanding of directions?

This is the Ozma Problem, a thought experiment first described by Martin Gardner [see the almanac entry here] in his 1964 book, The Ambidextrous Universe. In this book, Gardner pitched a number of solutions.

Before going into Gardner’s work, here’s a seemingly simple solution: lay your palms face down on a table and equally spaced from your body. The thumb that’s closer to your heart? That’s the left side. The right side is defined by the thumb farther away from the heart.

Another potential solution would be to use north and south as reference points: when facing north, everything towards east is the right side, and everything pointing west is the left side.

The problem with these solutions is that they both rely on a shared point of reference, like the direction of north-south-east-west and the location of the heart. In no way can we be certain that an alien species would share these!

Some of the solutions that Gardner proposed in his book use magnetic fields, planetary rotation, and the direction of current flow. And as we discussed before, they all fail because of the need for a shared point of reference. 

So, after centuries of wondering whether we are alone in the universe, we finally make contact with an alien species, only to find that our inability to explain something as mundane as right and left precludes meaningful dialogue. The Ozma Problem demonstrates the limits of our language, and it challenges anthropocentrism, which is the notion that human beings and our experiences are the center of the universe.

Many thought problems are hypothetical and can’t be solved, but the Ozma Problem does have a solution. In fact, the solution already existed when Gardner first described it. But it’s not immediately associated with right-left asymmetry or aliens.

 

While we cannot be sure that aliens share our anatomy or our perception of north-south-east-west, if they inhabit the same universe as us, we can assume the fundamental forces of physics apply to them too.

There are four fundamental forces of physics: gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces (the force that binds atomic nuclei together), and weak nuclear forces (the force that causes atomic decay).

Up until 1956, it was assumed these fundamental forces all display parity. Parity is an important concept in physics, and it can be demonstrated visually by using a mirror. If we stand in front of a mirror holding an apple in our right hand and then drop it, the reflection will show it falling to the ground, but the apple will fall from your left hand. Gravity still works in the reflection. Likewise, if we look at the strong forces binding atomic nuclei and then observe them in a mirror, the images would be identical, just with right and left switched. 

But in 1956, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, a physicist, conducted a ground breaking experiment. She was able to prove that the weak nuclear force—the decay of atoms—did not always demonstrate parity. The weak nuclear force does not adhere to mirror symmetry. 

Professor Wu showed this by observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms. When atoms decay, they spin out electrons. Up until then, scientists had always observed these electrons spinning out equally in all directions. But Professor Wu saw that cobalt-60 will always preferentially spin out electrons in a certain direction. In other words, the movement is asymmetric. For some reason, the decay of atoms is the one fundamental force that does not adhere to parity or mirror symmetry, thus showing that directionality is intrinsic to the universe, just as Kant had postulated in the 18th century. 

For the first time in history, it was proven that nature can prefer one direction. Very soon after Wu’s findings, physicists were able to prove that elementary particles known as neutrinos always spin towards the left.

What does this mean for our communication with aliens? If the aliens can replicate Professor Wu’s experiment and visualize the spin of electrons while cobalt-60 decays, they can orient right and left!

Ironically, Professor Wu was not afforded any sort of parity herself during her working life. Other scientists were recognized for research that could not have been achieved without hers. Today, the weak force remains one of the most important and mysterious topics in physics today, thanks to Professor Wu.

So, if the only way to scientifically and definitively define the difference between right and left is to build a particle accelerator and observe the decay of cobalt-60, clearly the difference is not as straightforward as it may first seem! The Ozma Problem is proof that the most mundane concepts are sometimes directly linked to the cosmos and speak to the nature of existence itself…

An essay by Dr. Maloy Das (see the bio in this unrelated– but also fascinating– article by him). From the remarkable blog, Fascinating World, scored a highly credible source by the MBFC for having proper sourcing, no failed fact-checks, and “highly factual” reporting. It’s the work of Krishna Rathuryan, currently a senior at a prep school in Princeton (where he’s also apparently a pretty accomplished distance runner) and team of his friends.

When language fails: “What Is The Ozma Problem, And Why Does It Matter?“

* attributed to playwright Anton Chekhov, who said said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” It has, of course, become a motto for many writers across genre.

###

As we explore explanation, we (especially any readers in or near Manhattan Beach, California) might note that today is one of the two days of the year (symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice, 37 days before and 37 after) when the public sculpture there, “Light Gate,” becomes a portal “unlocked” by the rays of the setting sun… as Atlas Obscura puts it, “a bit of Druidic paganism by way of high modern design.”

source

#antonChekhov #chekhov #chekov #culture #gottfriedLeibniz #history #immanuelKant #issacNewton #kant #language #lightGate #manhattanBeach #ozma #ozmaProblem #philosophy #science #technology

catching up with Minus, posted from Riyadh:
https://www.outsidelight.online/journal/journal-minus-workshop-8-part-1-speaking-dialogue-or-not-sarx-pneuma-and-psyche-part-2-the-elizabethan-play/
#theatre #Lispecter #Beckett #Shakespeare #Chekhov

#gun #cat razor #law #chekhov #schrodinger #occam #murphy #humor

Gun, Cat, Razor, Law
by
-- Chekhov's,
-- Schrodinger's,
-- Occam's,
-- Murphy's.

Check attached picture

#gun #cat razor #law #chekhov #schrodinger #occam #murphy #humor

Gun, Cat, Razor, Law
by
-- Chekhov's,
-- Schrodinger's,
-- Occam's,
-- Murphy's.

Check attached picture

#gun #cat #razor #law #chekhov #schrodinger #occam #murphy #humor

Gun, Cat, Razor, Law
by
-- Chekhov's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Schrodinger's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Occam's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Murphy's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law.

Check attached picture

#gun #cat #razor #law #chekhov #schrodinger #occam #murphy #humor

Gun, Cat, Razor, Law
by
-- Chekhov's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Schrodinger's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Occam's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Murphy's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law.

Check attached picture

#gun #cat #razor #law #chekhov #schrodinger #occam #murphy #humor

Gun, Cat, Razor, Law
by
-- Chekhov's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Schrodinger's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Occam's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law,
-- Murphy's Gun, Cat, Razor, Law.

Check attached picture

https://bsky.app/profile/omdaru.bsky.social/post/3lbrnvvraok2w Anton Chekhov - Selected Omdaru stories - Google translated-RU-EN-DE-FR-EO.epub +mp3 text-to-speech audiobooks #chekhov

#russianliterature

#russianlanguage

#ESL

#Esperanto

#French

#German

#audiobooks

#texttospeech

https://bsky.app/profile/omdaru.bsky.social/post/3lbrnvvraok2w Anton Chekhov - Selected Omdaru stories - Google translated-RU-EN-DE-FR-EO.epub +mp3 text-to-speech audiobooks #chekhov

#russianliterature

#russianlanguage

#ESL

#Esperanto

#French

#German

#audiobooks

#texttospeech

La “#derussificazione” dell'Ucraina - Il Post
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/17/ucraina-processo-derussificazione/

In numerose città ucraine le statue del poeta Alexander Pushkin sono state eliminate. È successo anche a Odessa, dove pure #Pushkin ha vissuto per 13 mesi, in esilio: i monumenti a lui dedicati, molto numerosi, sono considerati un simbolo della colonizzazione culturale da parte dei russi. La stessa sorte è toccata alle statue, fra le altre, degli scrittori Anton #Chekhov e Lev #Tolstoj.

La “#derussificazione” dell'Ucraina - Il Post
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/17/ucraina-processo-derussificazione/

In numerose città ucraine le statue del poeta Alexander Pushkin sono state eliminate. È successo anche a Odessa, dove pure #Pushkin ha vissuto per 13 mesi, in esilio: i monumenti a lui dedicati, molto numerosi, sono considerati un simbolo della colonizzazione culturale da parte dei russi. La stessa sorte è toccata alle statue, fra le altre, degli scrittori Anton #Chekhov e Lev #Tolstoj.

La “#derussificazione” dell'Ucraina - Il Post
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/17/ucraina-processo-derussificazione/

In numerose città ucraine le statue del poeta Alexander Pushkin sono state eliminate. È successo anche a Odessa, dove pure #Pushkin ha vissuto per 13 mesi, in esilio: i monumenti a lui dedicati, molto numerosi, sono considerati un simbolo della colonizzazione culturale da parte dei russi. La stessa sorte è toccata alle statue, fra le altre, degli scrittori Anton #Chekhov e Lev #Tolstoj.

La “#derussificazione” dell'Ucraina - Il Post
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/17/ucraina-processo-derussificazione/

In numerose città ucraine le statue del poeta Alexander Pushkin sono state eliminate. È successo anche a Odessa, dove pure #Pushkin ha vissuto per 13 mesi, in esilio: i monumenti a lui dedicati, molto numerosi, sono considerati un simbolo della colonizzazione culturale da parte dei russi. La stessa sorte è toccata alle statue, fra le altre, degli scrittori Anton #Chekhov e Lev #Tolstoj.

La “#derussificazione” dell'Ucraina - Il Post
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/02/17/ucraina-processo-derussificazione/

In numerose città ucraine le statue del poeta Alexander Pushkin sono state eliminate. È successo anche a Odessa, dove pure #Pushkin ha vissuto per 13 mesi, in esilio: i monumenti a lui dedicati, molto numerosi, sono considerati un simbolo della colonizzazione culturale da parte dei russi. La stessa sorte è toccata alle statue, fra le altre, degli scrittori Anton #Chekhov e Lev #Tolstoj.

My friend is directing Chekhov’s masterpiece The Seagull. Opens in Portland OR at Twilight Theater this Friday.

It promises to be a fantastic performance.

#PDX #PDXArts #PDXTheater
#Portland #PortlandArts #PortlandTheater
#Theater #TheSeagull #Chekhov #TwilightTheater #BlinkingEye

My friend is directing Chekhov’s masterpiece The Seagull. Opens in Portland OR at Twilight Theater this Friday.

It promises to be a fantastic performance.

#PDX #PDXArts #PDXTheater
#Portland #PortlandArts #PortlandTheater
#Theater #TheSeagull #Chekhov #TwilightTheater #BlinkingEye

Unessa tapasin monia vanhoja tuttuja, joista yksi oli #WalterKoenig eli #StarTrekTOS'in #Chekhov. Juoksenneltiin ympyrää salista toiseen pöytien päällä hypellen pitkissä kalsareissa ylävartalo paljaana ja muisteltiin, kuinka #Sulu eli #GeorgeTakei teki niin sarjassa. Yksi ala-asteen luokkakavereistani olikin ilmeisesti #BartSimpson, joka hauskutti kaikkia heiluttamalla häntäänsä oravapuvussa tanssilattialla. #unet

Unessa tapasin monia vanhoja tuttuja, joista yksi oli #WalterKoenig eli #StarTrekTOS'in #Chekhov. Juoksenneltiin ympyrää salista toiseen pöytien päällä hypellen pitkissä kalsareissa ylävartalo paljaana ja muisteltiin, kuinka #Sulu eli #GeorgeTakei teki niin sarjassa. Yksi ala-asteen luokkakavereistani olikin ilmeisesti #BartSimpson, joka hauskutti kaikkia heiluttamalla häntäänsä oravapuvussa tanssilattialla. #unet

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html Complete Works by Anton Chekhov with comments in 30 volumes - Google translated into English in 2023 - NEW! 03.04.2023

As far as I know, this is the first translation

of ALL 30 volumes of Chekhov's Collected Works into English,

although translated by Google in 2023, still perfectly readable!

Chekhov-01-30-Collected works - Volumes 1-30.epub #Chekhov #AntonChekhov #literature #russianLiterature #RussianHistory #RussianEmpire #books #bookstodon #stories #drama

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html Complete Works by Anton Chekhov with comments in 30 volumes - Google translated into English in 2023 - NEW! 03.04.2023

As far as I know, this is the first translation

of ALL 30 volumes of Chekhov's Collected Works into English,

although translated by Google in 2023, still perfectly readable!

Chekhov-01-30-Collected works - Volumes 1-30.epub #Chekhov #AntonChekhov #literature #russianLiterature #RussianHistory #RussianEmpire #books #bookstodon #stories #drama

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html New ! 02/04/2023 - Anton #Chekhov - Google translated- download epub ebooks

Chekhov-01-06-1880-1887-Stories.epub

Chekhov-07-10-1888-1903-stories.epub

Volumes 19-30. Letters 1875-1904.epub

As far as I know, this is the first collection of all 4494 Chekhov's letters in English and all early and late stories, although translated into English by Google in 2023, still perfectly readable! #AntonChekhov #RussianLiterature #RussianHistory #RussianEmpire #letters #stories

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html New ! 02/04/2023 - Anton #Chekhov - Google translated- download epub ebooks

Chekhov-01-06-1880-1887-Stories.epub

Chekhov-07-10-1888-1903-stories.epub

Volumes 19-30. Letters 1875-1904.epub

As far as I know, this is the first collection of all 4494 Chekhov's letters in English and all early and late stories, although translated into English by Google in 2023, still perfectly readable! #AntonChekhov #RussianLiterature #RussianHistory #RussianEmpire #letters #stories

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html Volumes 19-30. Letters 1875-1904 - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.epub - Letters and stories by Anton #Chekhov - Google translated from Complete works with comments in 30 volumes - NEW! 31.03.2023
As far as I know, this is the first collection of all 4494 Chekhov's letters in English, although translated into English by Google in 2023, still perfectly readable! #russianLiterature #russianHistory #letters #googletranslated

#January 29, 1860
#OTD Anton #Chekhov, #Russian #Playwright & #Writer, is born.

He wrote:
"People don't notice whether it's #Winter or #Summer when they're #Happy."

In Soviet Six Pack, he wrote,
"People are like #Trees in a #Forest;
No #Botanist would think of studying each individual #Birch #Tree."

Finally, in his delightful #Ivanov, he wrote,

"This #Life of ours!
Human life is like a flower gloriously #Blooming in a #Meadow...
Along comes a #Goat,
Eats it up —

No more #Flower."

#January 29, 1860
#OTD Anton #Chekhov, #Russian #Playwright & #Writer, is born.

He wrote:
"People don't notice whether it's #Winter or #Summer when they're #Happy."

In Soviet Six Pack, he wrote,
"People are like #Trees in a #Forest;
No #Botanist would think of studying each individual #Birch #Tree."

Finally, in his delightful #Ivanov, he wrote,

"This #Life of ours!
Human life is like a flower gloriously #Blooming in a #Meadow...
Along comes a #Goat,
Eats it up —

No more #Flower."

When we are born
we can embark on only
1️⃣ of 3️⃣ roads of life:
If you go ➡️
the 🐺 will eat you
If you go ⬅️
you’ll eat the 🐺
If you go straight
you’ll eat yourself.
с днем ​​рождения
#Chekhov🥳
#WCFields🥳
#PaddyChayefsky🥳
#VictorStenger🥳
#OprahWinfrey🥳
#SammyBraddy🥳
#literature #comedy #movies

When we are born
we can embark on only
1️⃣ of 3️⃣ roads of life:
If you go ➡️
the 🐺 will eat you
If you go ⬅️
you’ll eat the 🐺
If you go straight
you’ll eat yourself.
с днем ​​рождения
#Chekhov🥳
#WCFields🥳
#PaddyChayefsky🥳
#VictorStenger🥳
#OprahWinfrey🥳
#SammyBraddy🥳
#literature #comedy #movies

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html Letters and stories by Anton #Chekhov - #GoogleTranslated from Complete works with comments in 30 volumes New 08.01.2023- Chekhov-07-10-1888-1903-stories-comments-Google translated.epub "…They said that a new face appeared on the embankment: a lady with a dog. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, who had already lived in Yalta for two weeks and was used to it, also began to take an interest in new faces... from "Lady with a dog" - #russianLiterature #translation #letters #stories

https://chekhovwrites.blogspot.com/2022/12/19-30-1875-1904-epub.html NEW! 29.12.2022
19-#Letters-1875-1886 - Anton #Chekhov-#GoogleTranslated.#epub #ebook download - to be continued.. "4. M. M. CHEKHOV January 1,1877 Taganrog. Exactly 12 o'clock,1877. Night.
Dear Brother Misha! …There is a crack, and along with the smoke the following words fly straight to Moscow: “Let this shot dissipate like smoke, all your hardships and let peace and money come to replace them!”
#nonfiction #russianLiterature #books #literature
https://mastodon.social/@omdaru/109595791030320331

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSwuSEJtrIN6CVMjhFlVP1Ux6kr9ykiXYXiS-ccJDTQceSItS5ykePdHOXjk_HK5R9KigXzoT3dZc2q/pub Anton Ĉeĥov

Sopiro ( Kristnaska rakonto) 1886 ( gugletradukita) en #Esperanto #Christmas #Chekhov #russianLiterature

Al kiu mi kantos mian malĝojon?

Misery by Chekhov - A Christmas 1886 short story - In English here :
https://mastodon.social/@omdaru/109545104891745785

…there was something ascetic about his personality which aligns him with his patron saint, Antony, the founder of Christian monasticism.. To lead an ascetic life, but also to carry out heroic feats to bring benefit to others, as he believed Przhevalsky did, was Chekhov's ideal, and what propelled him to write his book about the penal colony on Sakhalin.. #Chekhov: Scenes from a Life by #RosamundBartlett #nonfiction #RussianLiterature #books #bookstodon #literature
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208236.Chekhov

"..#Chekhov is the bearer of the greatest banner that has been raised in the thousand years of #Russian history – the banner of a true, humane, Russian democracy, of Russian freedom, of the dignity of the Russian man..Let's begin with respect, compassion and love for the individual…The Russians have seen everything during the last thousand years – but what they have never seen is democracy..
#RussianLiterature #books #bookstodon #Russia
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/88432.Life_and_Fate Life and Fate by #VasilyGrossman

..A sledge driver in midwinter is mourning the death of his son but no one will listen sympathetically to his story..Iona’s misery “is immense, beyond all bounds,” ..He goes into the stables where his mare is standing…. Now, suppose you had a little colt, and you were mother and he died…. Iona is carried away and tells her all about it..
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60320713-chekhov-becomes-chekhov
Misery-a #ShortStory by Anton #Chekhov (1886) #RussianLiterature #books #christmas
https://shortstoryproject.com/stories/misery/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_(short_story)

A moment from today's #Rehearsal of Requiem for a Gumshoe, Eldritch Theatre's #WeirdNoir #CosmicHorror #NorseMythology mashup, with ghoulish #puppets, dark parlour #magic, and a Giant Space Worm that is set to consume all that ever was, is and will be... It seems like most of the other #theatres in #toronto are producing #chekhov right now... This is as close as we get.

A moment from today's #Rehearsal of Requiem for a Gumshoe, Eldritch Theatre's #WeirdNoir #CosmicHorror #NorseMythology mashup, with ghoulish #puppets, dark parlour #magic, and a Giant Space Worm that is set to consume all that ever was, is and will be... It seems like most of the other #theatres in #toronto are producing #chekhov right now... This is as close as we get.

#Philosophy : #Nietzsche #Schopenhauer #Spinoza #Pyrrho #Pascal #Montaigne #Lucretius #Elias #Althusser #Jaynes #McGilchrist, and I'm also interested in #Darwin #Epicurus #Zhuangzi #Laozi #Taoism #Buddhism #Helmholtz

I studied #literature : #Thackeray #Tolstoy #GeorgeEliot #Strindberg #Celine #Dostoevsky #Pushkin #Chekhov #Rimbaud #HartCrane #ThomasHardy #DHLawrence

Also love #film : #Bergman #MichaelPowell #Ozu #Mizoguchi #Fellini #Cassavetes #Losey #Wilder #Bresson #Truffaut #Marker

#Philosophy : #Nietzsche #Schopenhauer #Spinoza #Pyrrho #Pascal #Montaigne #Lucretius #Elias #Althusser #Jaynes #McGilchrist, and I'm also interested in #Darwin #Epicurus #Zhuangzi #Laozi #Taoism #Buddhism #Helmholtz

I studied #literature : #Thackeray #Tolstoy #GeorgeEliot #Strindberg #Celine #Dostoevsky #Pushkin #Chekhov #Rimbaud #HartCrane #ThomasHardy #DHLawrence

Also love #film : #Bergman #MichaelPowell #Ozu #Mizoguchi #Fellini #Cassavetes #Losey #Wilder #Bresson #Truffaut #Marker

#Philosophy : #Nietzsche #Schopenhauer #Spinoza #Pyrrho #Pascal #Montaigne #Lucretius #Elias #Althusser #Jaynes #McGilchrist, and I'm also interested in #Darwin #Epicurus #Zhuangzi #Laozi #Taoism #Buddhism #Helmholtz

I studied #literature : #Thackeray #Tolstoy #GeorgeEliot #Strindberg #Celine #Dostoevsky #Pushkin #Chekhov #Rimbaud #HartCrane #ThomasHardy #DHLawrence

Also love #film : #Bergman #MichaelPowell #Ozu #Mizoguchi #Fellini #Cassavetes #Losey #Wilder #Bresson #Truffaut #Marker