Paul Kaiser's Blog

Today was mostly about Gwen’s first communion. We got up this morning and continued getting the house ready for the “after party,” then got all the kids ready to go to Holy Cross, which is just a few blocks from where we live. I was still in the doghouse for forgetting something important yesterday, and not keeping in contact with Leigh, but we didn’t let that get in the way.

Even though I’m not Catholic, the mass was nice. It was great to have Ashley and her kids there for Gwen, and overall it was just great for Gwen. I made the right decision to to up and witness Gwen’s first communion rather than stay seated. It was a great start to a great day.

We introduced ourselves to a relatively new neighbor, Mercedes and Santiago’s mother. Turns out Mercedes had her first communion today, too. It also turns out that I helped her mother get her car unstuck this winter one morning on my way to work. I’d totally forgotten about that — it was just a random act — but she apparently did not forget it, as she mentioned it right away to Leigh when we made our introductions. Oh, and she had a really cool hat on, I thought. Leigh was dressed really great, too.

After that, we had a million people over to the house. We had hot dogs (healthy! not.) and chili. Ashley brought a great decorated cake. Mom and dad were there, which was great. I sat on the back deck with them to eat lunch.

Marc and Shannon showed up, which meant a lot more than they probably realized. I really enjoyed talking with Marc about a number of things, mostly internet-marketing and WordPress related. Autumn came over for awhile, but either got freaked out by how some of the kids were acting, or genuinely just needed to go home.

Willow and I went to the library at one point, because she wanted some “daddy time.” We didn’t stay long, but it counted, for her, as some time away from everyone else with just dad.

Ashley and her kids stayed until after 9p, and they were more than welcome. Actually, Ashley left to go to work for a few hours, while her kids stayed, and then she returned. She and Leigh talked a lot, and that was great.

I went to the store to get things for Mother’s Day prep. I hope Leigh likes what I have in mind. While I was there, I noted a number of new beers by the Fat Tire people, so I ended up buying “Abbey,” which is a good 7% ABV brew.

Now, all the kids are asleep, Leigh’s chilling to an episode of “The Medium,” and I’m sure we’ll be going to bed soon.

Edit 1:

I would be remiss to leave out that we missed the McCoys today. We all had planned on going to a Cinderella play today (and bought tickets) before we knew today would be first communion. We completely understood why the McCoys were not here, and we were lucky to sell our tickets. While they were missed, we know they were thinking of Gwen.

Is the Universe simple, or complex?

Galaxy NGC 4414

The confounding answer is, the Universe is simple in it’s complexity, and complex in its simplicity.

For those of you who haven’t punched me in the nose yet, read on.

A matter of perspective

Of course, an answer to the simple / complex Universe question depends on how you’re looking at the Universe.

• Are you looking at it microscopically, from the vantage point of amoeba?
• Atomically, from inside the nucleus of an atom?
• Or, how about from the edge of our solar system, or edge of the Milky Way galaxy?

Each view shows different activities and suggests different answers.

Searching for patterns

Oceanic storm waves

In the midst of what seems chaotic, we can often discern patterns once we stabilize our view.

• Wave patterns on top of the seemingly-random ocean can be boiled down to numerous harmonic patterns added together.

• Weather patterns depend largely on the constant redistribution of heat and the spinning of the earth, amongst other things. I’d venture every weather factor has a relatively-simple law of physics behind it — we just cannot yet build a weather forecasting computer because there are an overwhelming number of discreet systems that add up to what we see — from our perspective — as “weather.”

• The site of a crumpled afghan or piece of clothing doesn’t appear to contain patterns — until you smooth out the material and can appreciate its weave or knit-stitch.

Patterns are everywhere. I don’t think you can name one thing that I cannot find several patterns in.

What’s with all the circles and mirrors?

As you start looking for patterns, you might notice two very common things:

1. Symmetry
2. Circles

Symmetry

Just look in the mirror. Your body is a great example of symmetry. Your left side is, in many ways, a mirror image of your right side. This even holds true for some components on the inside of your body. Any differences are a result of the execution of this intended symmetry as you grow and attempt to survive. Perhaps some nutritional factor, injury, or birth defect caused one side to develop differently than the other. Rest assured, though, that our messenger RNA is supposed to be carrying blueprints that often result in symmetrical body parts.

More symmetry

Where else can you find symmetry? There are other kinds. Your body example is bilateral symmetry, but there is also radial symmetry, with the classic starfish example. What about trees? I’d venture to say that a tree’s basic growth instructions, in a perfect world, would result in a symmetrical structure — two identical halves. That doesn’t happen, though, so what gives?

The growth of a tree seems random and chaotic because the direction and size of growth is constantly dependent on a number of factors, such as:

1. Sunlight direction (Remember phototropism from grade school science?)
2. Sunlight intensity
3. Dark / Light period balance
4. Availability of water
5. Availability and quality of nutrients
6. Temperature
7. Lots more…

All these factors add up to growth that appears random. I argue, though, that each of these factors has a pattern of their own. The fractal growth of a tree results from blueprints for a balance, symmetrical organism that has all these other growth-affecting patterns superimposed.

Circles everywhere

If you can appreciate symmetry, then around the same time you’ll probably notice how prevalent circles and circular motion are in our world. Sometimes we think of this hairy caveman accidentally discovering the wheel, but I’m pretty sure it was inevitable, because circular shapes and motion are natural. They happen by themselves, no happy accidents necessary.

Circles to think about

1. Wheels and gears are one great example.
2. Knobs, dials, gauges, faucets — in one way or another, they all have at least one radial component.
3. Your eyes
4. Galaxies, solar systems, orbits, planets — get celestial!
5. Atomic and subatomic particles — go micro!

Circles keep it together

Imagine a line, and that line contains all the energy in the Universe. Energy and mass are theoretically interchangeable, so our imaginary line contains the entire Universe.

You may remember from geometry class that a line keeps going in both directions for infinity. If you spread all the energy in the Universe out over an infinite distance, then, the discernible result would be zero, nada, nothing, zilch. Like spreading a tablespoon of peanut butter on a piece of bread the size of Manhattan — it amounts to nothing, skippy.

Take our imaginary line, though, and bend it over into a circle. Now, all that energy in the Universe has a real container. You don’t really know where the two ends of the line connect — because there is no such thing as an end to a line — but in theory, you now have contained all that line’s energy in an enclosed system. All the energy of that line is now bound up somewhere along the circumference of our new circle.

Static systems

The Universe could be viewed as one big circle, then — a circle (sphere, really) comprising a finite amount of energy and mass in various states. If we could see the sphere of the Universe, then perhaps it would be a perfect sphere.

The Universe is made of other circular and spherical systems, though. Galaxies, for instance. We could change perspective and focus on just one galaxy. Indeed, there is a circular nature to each different shape of galaxy, but none are perfect circles. What’s the deal?

Each galaxy is being pushed and pulled by the gravity of other galaxies. The only perfect sphere you’ll find, then, is by changing your perspective to view the entire sum of the Universe.

What about perfect circles here on Earth? What about the perfect bowling ball? They may appear to be perfect circles all by themselves, but they are not. They are only perfect circles here on Earth, and their perfection depends on the Earth’s gravity, our Moon’s gravity, and a number of other factors that I don’t even want to start trying to wrap my brain around. Indeed, if you had a sub-atomically perfect sphere here on Earth and moved it to, say, Jupiter, it would no longer be a perfect sphere. To the naked eye, it might appear the same, but with subatomic measurements, you could tell the difference.

Why it all matters

It doesn’t matter! In our day-to-day lives, none of this really matters. You can’t control it. You can’t use it to your advantage. But when you wonder about life and meaning, maybe you shouldn’t ignore how so many things are symmetrical and round.

It seems there is some power in circles.

1. 

   Orthogonal circle

   At the large scale of the universe and galaxies, all the way down to sub-atomic particles, we find circles and orbits containing all discernible energy.

2. Why is π (pi) so elusive?
3. Why is the divine proportion (golden ratio) so common?
   (And why do we find its result pleasing?)

I wish I knew some unifying theory that tied it all together, but for now, I’ll have to be content to just wonder.