[Fis] Book Presentation

[Francesco Rizzo]

Dear Mariusz,
Your paradigmatic platform is interesting and engaging. It focuses on
a law of contrast that implies the
increasing or decreasing differentiation of different form fields of
observed or thought reality, Complex systems not
linear and far from equilibrium, such as eg. the dissipative
structures of Ilya Pirigogine, create order from disorder by means of
fluctuations or instability. A more complex form is more neg-entropy,
as this complexity decreases
neg-entropy is reduced until it disappears, giving way to entropy: as
happens when one arrives at a state of
mortality. In a general sense.
I taught economics first in the Faculty of Engineering and later also
in the Faculty of Architecture. Working and studying
with architects, especially with restoration theorists, the knowledge
and evaluation of cultural heritage stimulated me a
create a new theory of value based on the creative combination of
information and energy, Or rather: given that energy
it is a way of being of information, it can be said that economic
value depends exclusively on information.
On the other hand, it would not have made sense to say, as many
utilitarians still think, that a work of art is worth because it is
useful. Then I have
extended or generalized my approach to value to all goods, from
potatoes to the "Gioconda", to music, to poetry and so on.
The passage from the less simple to the more complex forms of a
different system or systems implements a harmonious, creative contrast
and musical. In fact, music, with the dynamics of the times and the
strength of the notes, can be assumed as a paradigm of science.
You were right to talk about the economics of perception, but you
would have done even better if you had used the expression
perception of the economy. Do you know why? Because, the economics of
thought or the thought of economics is essential for the
search for the best possible world (existential, scientific and
religious faith).
I congratulate you and I thank you for this beautiful lesson in
onto-epistemology that you have given us.
A warm greeting.
Francesco Rizzo


Il giorno lun 4 apr 2022 alle ore 07:28 Francesco Rizzo <
13francesco.rizzo en gmail.com> ha scritto:

> Caro Mariusz,
> la Tua piattaforma paradigmatica è interessante e coinvolgente. Essa
> s'in-centra su una legge del contrasto che implica la
> differenziazione crescente o decrescente di diversi campi di forma della
> realtà osservata o pensata, I sistemi complessi non
> lineari e lontani dall'equilibrio, come ad es. le strutture dissipative di
> Ilya Pirigogine, creano ordine dal disordine mediante
> fluttuazioni o instabilità. Una forma più complessa è più neg-entropia,
> Man mano che si riduce questa complessità
> la neg-entropia si riduce fino a sparire lasciando il posto all'entropia:
> come accade quando si arriva ad uno stato di
> mortalità. In senso generale.
> Io ho insegnato economia prima nella Facoltà di Ingegneria e dopo, anche,
> nella Facoltà di Architettura. Lavorando e studiando
> con gli architetti, soprattutto con i teorici del restauro, la conoscenza
> e la valutazione dei beni culturali, mi ha stimolato a
> creare una nuova teoria del valore fondata sulla combinazione creativa di
> informazione e energia, O meglio: dato che l'energia
> è un modo di essere dell'informazione, si può affermare che il valore
> economico dipenda esclusivamente dall'informazione.
> D'altra parte non avrebbe avuto senso dire, come ancora molti utilitaristi
> pensano, che un'opera d'arte vale perchè è utile. Poi ho
> esteso o generalizzato il mio approccio al valore a tutti i beni, dalle
> patate alla "Gioconda", alla musica, alla poesia e così via.
> Il passaggio dalle forme meno semplici a quelle più complesse di un
> sistema o di sistemi diversi  attua un contrasto armonioso, creativo
> e musicale. Difatti la musica, con la dinamica dei tempi e la forza delle
> note, può assumersi come  paradigma della scienza.
> Tu hai fatto bene a parlare di  economia della percezione, ma avresti
> fatto ancor meglio se avessi usato l'espressione
> percezione dell'economia. Sai perché? Perchè, l'economia del pensiero o il
> pensiero dell'economia, è imprescindibile per la
> ricerca del migliore mondo (esistenziale, scientifico e della fede
> religiosa) possibile.
> Mi congratulo con Te e Ti ringrazio per questa bella lezione di
> onto-epistemo-logia che ci ha dato.
> Un saluto affettuoso.
> Francesco Rizzo
>
>
> Il giorno sab 2 apr 2022 alle ore 19:22 Mariusz Stanowski <
> stanowskimariusz en wp.pl> ha scritto:
>
>> *Book Presentation*
>>
>> *“Theory and Practice of Contrast: Integrating Science, Art and
>> Philosophy.”*
>>
>> *Mariusz Stanowski*
>>
>> *Published June 10, 2021 by CRC Press (hardcover and eBook).*
>>
>> Dear FIS list members,
>>
>> Many thanks for the opportunity to present my recent book in this list.
>>
>>
>>
>> Our dispersed knowledge needs an underlying structure that allows it to
>> be organised into a coherent and complex system.
>>
>> I believe “Theory and Practice of Contrast” provides such a structure by
>> bringing the considerations to the most basic, general and abstract level.
>> At this level it is possible to define *contrast as a tension between
>> common and differentiating features of objects. It grows in intensity as
>> the number/strength of differentiating and common features of contrasting
>> structures/objects increases*. Contrast understood in this way applies
>> to any objects of reality (mental and physical) and is also an impact
>> (causal force) in the most general sense. Contrast as a common principle
>> organises (binds) our knowledge into a coherent system. This is illustrated
>> by a diagram of the connections between the key concepts:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Below are brief descriptions of these connections.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Contrast—Development *When observing a contrast, we also observe the
>> connection between contrasting objects/structures (resulting from their
>> common features) and the emergence of a new, more complex structure
>> possessing the common and differentiating features of connected structures.
>> In the general sense, the emergence of a new structure is tantamount to
>> development. Therefore, it may be stated that contrast is a perception of
>> structures/objects connections, or experience of development. The
>> association of contrast with development brings a new quality to the
>> understanding of many other fundamental concepts, such as beauty, value,
>> creativity, emergence. (Similarly, *contrast as development *is
>> understood in Whitehead’s philosophy).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Contrast—Complexity *In accordance with the proposed definition, when
>> we consider the contrast between two or more objects/structures, it grows
>> in intensity as the number/strength of differentiating and common features
>> of contrasting structures/objects increases. Such an understanding of
>> contrast remain an intuitive criterion of complexity that can be formulated
>> as follows: *a system becomes more complex the greater is the number of
>> distinguishable elements and the greater the number of connections among
>> them**. *If in definition of contrast we substitute “differentiating
>> features” for “distinguishable elements” and “common features” for
>> “connections”, we will be able to conclude that *contrast is the
>> perception and measure of complexity.*
>>
>> Note: Two types of contrasts can be distinguished: the sensual (physical)
>> contrast, which is determined only by the force of features of contrasting
>> objects and the mental (abstract) contrast which depends primarily on the
>> number of these features. (This contrast can be equated with complexity).
>> (The equation of contrast with complexity is an important finding for the
>> investigations in: cognitive sciences, psychology, ontology, epistemology,
>> aesthetics, axiology, biology, information theory, complexity theory and
>> indirectly in physics).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Complexity—Information Compression *Intuition says that the more
>> complex object with the same number of components (e.g. words) has more
>> features/information (i.e. more common and differentiating features), which
>> proves its better organization (assuming that all components have the same
>> or similar complexity). We can also say that such an object has a higher
>> degree of complexity. The degree of complexity is in other words the
>> brevity of the form or the compression of information. Complexity
>> understood intuitively (as above) depends, however, not only on the
>> complexity degree (that could be defined as the ratio of the number of
>> features to the number of components) but also on the (total) number of
>> features, because it is more difficult to organize a larger number of
>> elements/features. In addition, the more features (with the same degree of
>> complexity), the greater the contrast. Therefore, in the proposed *Abstract
>> Definition of Complexity *(2011), we multiply the degree of complexity
>> by the number of features. This definition defines the complexity (C) of
>> the binary structure (general model of all structures/objects) as the
>> quotient of the square of features (regularities/substructures) number (N)
>> to the number of components or the number of zeros and ones (n). It is
>> expressed in a simple formula: C = N²/n and should be considered the most
>> general definition of complexity, among the existing ones, which also
>> fulfils the intuitive criterion. (This relation explains what compression
>> of information in general is and what role it plays as a complexity factor.
>> This allows to generalize the notion of information compression and use it
>> not only in computer science, but also in other fields of knowledge, such
>> as aesthetics, axiology, cognitive science, biology, chemistry, physics).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Information compression—Development *Our mind perceiving objects
>> (receiving information) more compressed, saves energy.
>> Compression/organization of information reduce energy of perception while
>> maintaining the same amount of information (in case of lossless
>> compression). Thanks to this, perception becomes easier (more economical)
>> and more enjoyable; for example, it can be compared to faster and easier
>> learning, acquiring knowledge (information), which also contributes to our
>> development. Compression of information as a degree of complexity also
>> affects its size. Complexity, in turn, is a measure of contrast (and vice
>> versa). Contrast, however, is identified with development. Hence,
>> complexity is also development. This sequence of associations is the second
>> way connecting the compression of information with development. Similarly,
>> one can trace all other possibilities of connections in the diagram. (The
>> association of information compression with development brings a new,
>> explanatory knowledge to many fields including cognitive science,
>> aesthetics, axiology, information theory).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Development—Value *Development is the essence of value, because all
>> values (ethical, material, intellectual, etc.) contribute to our
>> development which is their common feature. It follows that value is also a
>> contrast, complexity and compression of information because they are
>> synonymous with development. (The relation explains and defines the notion
>> of value fundamental to axiology).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Value—Abstract Value *About all kinds of values (with the exception of
>> aesthetic values) we can say, what they are useful for. Only aesthetic
>> values can be said to serve the development or be the essence of values,
>> values in general or abstract values. This is a property of abstract
>> concepts to express the general idea of something (e.g. the concept of a
>> chair includes all kinds of chairs and not a specific one). It follows that *what
>> is specific to aesthetic value is that it is an abstract value*
>> (although it is difficult to imagine). (This is a new understanding of
>> aesthetic value, crucial for aesthetics and axiology).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Contrast—Being *Contrast or interaction is a concept prior to the
>> concept of being because without interaction there is no existence. It
>> follows that the basic component of being must be two
>> objects/elements/components (creating a contrast) having common and
>> differentiating features. (Understanding of being as a contrast is
>> fundamental to ontology and metaphysics and worth considering in physics).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Contrast—Cognition *The object of cognition and the subject (mind)
>> participate in the cognitive process. The object and the subject have
>> common and differentiating features, thus they create a contrast. Cognition
>> consists in attaching (through common features) differentiating features of
>> the object by the subject. In this way, through the contrast, the subject
>> develops. It can therefore be said that cognition is a contrast of the
>> object with the subject. (This is a new definition of cognition important
>> for epistemology and cognitive science).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Cognition—Subjectivity *The above understanding of cognition agrees all
>> disputable issues (present, among others, in psychology, cognitive science
>> and aesthetics) regarding the objectivity and subjectivity of assessments
>> (e.g. whether the source of beauty is the observer's mind, whether it is a
>> specific quality from the observer independent), because it shows that they
>> depend on both the subject and the object, i.e. depend on their
>> relationship—contrast.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Compression of information—Beauty *Beautiful are objects with high
>> information compression (a large degree of complexity/organization). Thanks
>> to the compression of information, perceiving beauty, we save energy, the
>> perception becomes more economical and pleasant which favours our
>> development and is therefore a value for us. The example is golden
>> division. Counting features (information) in all possible types of
>> divisions (asymmetrical, symmetrical and golden) showed that the golden
>> division contains the most features/information (an additional feature is
>> well known golden proportion) and therefore creates the greatest contrast,
>> complexity and aesthetic value.  (This explains the previously unknown
>> reasons for aesthetic preferences, key to aesthetics, art theory,
>> psychology, cognitive science and neuroaesthetics).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Development—Beauty *Beauty contributes to development thanks to the
>> economy of perception. Perception of beauty is accompanied by a sense of
>> development or ease and pleasure of perception. (This explains the causes
>> of aesthetic preferences).
>>
>>
>>
>> *Abstract Value—Beauty, Art *Only beauty and art have no specific value
>> but they express/have value in general (an abstract value). The objects
>> that make up a work of art are not important, but their
>> contrast-interaction, which results from the complexity of the artwork. (If
>> we see a single object in the gallery, then the art is its contrast with
>> the context - as in the case of Duchamp's "Urinal" or Malevich's "Black
>> Square"). One can say that beauty and art are distinguished (defined) by
>> two elements: abstract value and a large contrast. (This is a new and
>> only definition of beauty/art that indicates the distinctive common
>> features of all aesthetic/artistic objects, it is crucial for the theory of
>> art, aesthetics, axiology and epistemology).
>>
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