<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Dear Colleagues, </div><div dir="auto"><br></div>Let me express in the clearest terms that I happen to support each thought in this essay of Krassimir.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The only point where I wish to attach a remark, is as follows </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">"the interplay among symbols is enriched and made to appear complicated by the relations depicted in <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://oeis.org/A242615__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!TF8opQ4wbF7Qlhr-tVQn6kVD_WI_mMLq6zcC7eXa2zAKPbdd55zSajV1DEYwcTt4O9kFltTmNYohN5wnZ3Y_kA-W88s$">oeis.org/A242615</a>." </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Krassimir would not be willing, without explicit nudging, to accept the idea that there is an inbuilt apparent contradiction among the symbols. The contradiction is minimal, can be compromised on, and is the cause of many, if not most, of the wonders Nature generates. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Karl </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">Krassimir Markov <<a href="mailto:itheaiss@gmail.com">itheaiss@gmail.com</a>> schrieb am Mo., 17. März 2025, 16:05:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Dear colleagues,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">The discussion last week</span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">s</span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""> once again took us back to
the time of the Holy Inquisition. I will recall that then the majority of
leading specialists, in full consciousness and common sense, </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">in total consensus, </span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">decided
and ... burned Giordano Bruno at the stake.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Great ideas are always born as mental models
in the mind of a single person, after which it takes time to build similar
mental models in other people. Therefore, the statement that someone is right
just because many people think like him is extremely harmful to science!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Let me also note that as a professional
mathematician, I do not perceive probabilities in the role of a pumpkin
scarecrow for the uninitiated. For many years I have taught the subject
“Probability and Statistics” and my first lecture always begins with the words
“Probabilities in reality do not exist and you cannot see “the probability o</span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">n</span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""> a white horse at sunset!”
Probabilities are our subjective mental models that we use when making
decisions. The space of states is not in reality, but is a mental model that
can be externalized through different languages - formulas, graphs, etc. "</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">I will continue with the main topic of the
weeks - immaterial. That is, that which cannot be reflected in our sensors, and
cannot be localized and measured. In order to be able to think about it, we
need to believe that the non-existent, that is, the immaterial, exists. And
therefore, we move on to religious thinking and leave the sphere of science.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">You know well my principle that problems
related to faith should not be discussed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Faith should be believed, not discussed!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Therefore, the discussion of the immaterial
is completely meaningless from a scientific point of view. Moreover, I wish
that the FIS-list would not be a religious temple for preaching subjective,
experimentally unverifiable mental models.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Someone may oppose me citing the book
"The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory" by David
Chalmers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">"The Conscious Mind" is one of the
most influential books in the philosophy of consciousness. It has sparked many
debates and inspired much research in this field.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">I will summarize it briefly for those who are
not familiar with it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Chalmers argues that consciousness is a
fundamental problem for science and philosophy, one that cannot be explained by
the traditional methods of physicalism (the idea that everything can be reduced
to physical processes). He introduces the "hard problem of
consciousness," which concerns the question of how physical processes in
the brain give rise to subjective experience (qualia).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Key Concepts:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">― <b>The Hard Problem of Consciousness</b>:
This is the question of how and why we have subjective experiences. Why is
there "something it is like" to be anything? Why do we have feelings
of redness, pain, or love? Chalmers contrasts this problem with the "easy
problems" of consciousness, which concern explaining cognitive functions
such as attention, memory, and language.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">― <b>Qualia</b>: This is a term that refers
to the subjective quality of conscious experience. For example, the
"redness" of red or the "pain" of pain. Chalmers argues
that qualia cannot be explained by physical processes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">― <b>Physicalism and Its Limitations</b>:
Chalmers criticizes physicalism, arguing that it cannot explain consciousness.
He proposes alternative theories, including dualism and panpsychism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">― <b>Dualism</b>: This is the idea that
consciousness is a separate entity from the physical world. Chalmers proposes a
form of "naturalistic dualism" that attempts to integrate dualism
with scientific knowledge of the brain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">― <b>Panpsychism</b>: This is the idea that
consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe and that all physical
systems have some form of consciousness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:Arial,"sans-serif";font-size:14pt"><i>Chalmers proposes that consciousness should
be considered a fundamental property of the universe, similar to space, time,
and mass.</i></span><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Such beliefs are very strong suggestions that
are naively perceived as scientific truth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">To allow you to compare with the current achievements
of brain science, I will conclude with a brief note on the material foundations
of the brain and its activities, focusing on the scientific results of Rodolfo
R. Llinás (<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Llin**As__;w6E!!D9dNQwwGXtA!T3xaYvde_wjDY_As8qho6plC6m6e4cekbNOnnqhCVe2hYAVEHC-n5C5nY5OKfafV1hs1kN2EpqvBgpnI72Q$" style="color:blue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Llin%C3%A1s</a>).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">T</span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">he
neuroscientist Rodolfo R. Llinás </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">is</span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">
a founding father of modern brain science. </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Rodolfo R. Llinás has carried out detailed
and elegant studies of the electrophysiology of the vertebrate cerebellum. In
mammalian neurons, he discovered dendrite calcium spikes, dendritic inhibition,
electronic coupling, and subthreshold oscillations. At the squid giant synapse,
he demonstrated presynaptic calcium current. He studied the electrophysiology
of thalamocortical networks in brain slices and related his findings to his
pioneering work with humans using magnetoencephalography (MEG). He has also
drawn on his physiological findings to propose the possible commonalities among
certain neurological and psychiatric disorders. His passion for the study of
the nervous system made him publish over </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">8</span><span lang="BG" style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">00
scientific articles.</span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">In his book, “Llinás, R. R.
(2001). <i>I of the vortex: From neurons to self.</i> MIT Press”, the
author presents the evolution and nature of mind. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">According to the author, the
"mindness" state evolved to allow predictive interactions between
mobile creatures and their environment. Llinás illustrates the early evolution
of the mind through a primitive animal called the sea squirt. This example suggests
that the nervous system evolved to allow active movement in animals. To move
through the environment safely, a creature must anticipate the outcome of each
movement on the basis of incoming sensory data. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Thus, the capacity to predict is
most likely the ultimate brain function. One could even say that Self is the
centralization of prediction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">At the heart of Llinás's
theory is the concept of oscillation. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Many neurons possess electrical
activity, manifested as oscillating variations in the minute voltages across
the cell membrane. On the crests of these oscillations occur larger electrical
events that are the basis for neuron-to-neuron communications. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><i><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">A group of neurons
oscillating in phase can resonate with a distant group of neurons.</span></i><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><i>This simultaneity of neuronal activity is the
neurobiological root of cognition.</i> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><b>Although the mind is guided by
the senses, it is also generated by the oscillations within the brain. </b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">With respect,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,"sans-serif"">Krassimir</span></p></div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Fis mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Fis@listas.unizar.es" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Fis@listas.unizar.es</a><br>
<a href="http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://listas.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis</a><br>
----------<br>
INFORMACIÓN SOBRE PROTECCIÓN DE DATOS DE CARÁCTER PERSONAL<br>
<br>
Ud. recibe este correo por pertenecer a una lista de correo gestionada por la Universidad de Zaragoza.<br>
Puede encontrar toda la información sobre como tratamos sus datos en el siguiente enlace: <a href="https://sicuz.unizar.es/informacion-sobre-proteccion-de-datos-de-caracter-personal-en-listas" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://sicuz.unizar.es/informacion-sobre-proteccion-de-datos-de-caracter-personal-en-listas</a><br>
Recuerde que si está suscrito a una lista voluntaria Ud. puede darse de baja desde la propia aplicación en el momento en que lo desee.<br>
<a href="http://listas.unizar.es" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://listas.unizar.es</a><br>
----------<br>
</blockquote></div>