Exercises

1. The brutal tradeoff between precision and the range of the describable is seen clearly in both mathematics and physics, particularly with respect to so-called states of consciousness, assuming anyone really knows what is meant by the word consciousness. This assumption must be made to state the exercise. Imagine and describe the consciousness of a cat without using anthropomorphism. Describe a seagull with eyes on each side of its head, assumedly unable to focus them for binocular vision but able to watch either side. Describe its internal state walking a path between potential predators on either side. One can imagine the consciousness of another human more readily. For (fe)male readers, describe the internal consciousness of a fe(male) human in the throes of orgasm. Do the same for the internal consciousness of a schizophrenic doing anything.
2. Describe a theory for a novel in which a woman living in the country is so formally educated she cannot understand how to pick tomatoes and so sits under a bush while a chicken plucks at her head. Imagine a Saturday Night Live skit based on the premise. (This is chapter two of Cold Mountain.)
3. Read chapter one of Albert Messiah, Quantum Mechanics.
4. Read the first six chapters of Walter Rudin, Principles of Mathematical Analysis. Write an essay on the aesthetics of the fundamental theorem of calculus, describing the proof as given in the above work.
5. Write a short story using a theorem from mathematics.
6. Write a short story using a result from physics.
7. Write a short story in which Ptolemaic astronomy is true or accepted as true and plays a central role.
8. Explicitly describe the theory for each of these stories.
9. Write a short story that describes the experience of reading either the work of Messiah or of Rudin assigned above.
10. Write an essay explaining why English literature majors and chemical engineers are equally unlikely to appreciate the aesthetics of the fundamental theorem of calculus.
11. Rewrite this essay in Orwellian Newspeak.

End Of Manifesto

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