Seven Years ago

Reproduced below is a blog I wrote exactly seven years ago with comments in today’s perspective.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Vox Populi

During the past few days I have overheard the following conversation between people at public places in Karachi:

1.                 How can an order issued by the Chief of Army Staff be applicable to anyone other than army personnel? Why do the Civil Administration and Judiciary take notice of such orders? (They would obey the Devil’s orders if it benefits them personally.)

2.                 How can a civil servant of grade 17 issue a document titled “Statutory Regulatory Order” on Government of Pakistan letter head in defiance of the acts of parliament, budgetary allocations and constitutional provisions?  (Because the parliament is a rubber stamp of fixed elections.)

3.                 How can the army that holds the people and institutions of Pakistan in such contempt be expected to give its blood to defend them? (It is doing it in spite of the spite.)

4.                 All of Pakistan’s problems can be solved by getting rid of about 600 top civil servants, an equal number of politicians and about 200 top military officers. (Who bells the cat? Only a mass uprising such as the Chinese, French or Iranian Revolution can do that.)

5.                 Pervez Musharraf has not been able to find a general in the Pak army suitable to be appointed as COAS in the last five years, will he import one now? (He was ignoring people with merit to keep his powers.)

6.                 Pervez Musharraf is needed to maintain political stability in Pakistan. (In or out of prison?)

7.                 Benazir Bhutto in spite of being a democratic icon has no political program or economic policy; she will only fuel further corruption if brought to power. (As one PPP leader said they sacrificed her to gain power and corruption is their right.)

8.                 Nawaz Shrif initiated the economic policies in his first term which are still being followed, but he has a dictatorial streak and may again annoy his colleagues who may again conspire with the army to overthrow him. (It seems that he has formed a new private unlimited company with his family and corrupt friends called the government of Pakistan.)

9.                 Is Nawaz Sharif the Saudi candidate for premiership or USA’s possible alternative to Benazir? (Or the successful candidate of Riggers united?)

10.             What is the formula to empower the poor who are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer? (Most people would say vote for Imran Khan in the next elections whenever they are held.)

God help us.

Origin of Existence or Mathematical God

Our scientific model of the universe is based on Democritus’ concept of void and atoms with the addition of subatomic particles. The concept of the automatic appearance of matter predates Democritus when someone conjectured that life started when “the contraries separated out of nothingness”.  Today we believe that the universe consists of equal amount of matter and antimatter, positive and negative electrical charges, north and south poles and so on, so that the sum total of all opposite charges, matter and antimatter etc. is zero. If all the opposites come into contact the world will be neutralized and the void restored; only radiant energy including optical images of every thing that has ever happened in the world will remain travelling in space unless it can find a boundary from which it can reflect on itself with 180 degree phase shift and be annihilated.

The question now is what could have caused the initiation or precipitation of the contraries from nothingness. There must have been a singular event that caused the precipitation which may have stopped or may still be going on. Unfortunately, the belief in any kind of singularity seems to be contrary to scientific thought.

Zero was invented in the Orient while Infinity was invented in the Western world. In a way they are two extremes and opposites of each other and nobody seems to give much importance to their interrelationship. However, let us look at the relationships defining these terms:

1/0 = ∞

1/∞ = 0

So we can write

1 = 0 x ∞

At first sight it appears that the summation of an infinite number of zeros yields one. It is in keeping with the well-known integral calculus convention of constant of integration which can be expressed as ∫(1+0)dx = x+c where c is a constant whose value is ascertained by boundary conditions or cognitive inference.

However, if we look long enough at the above relationship it may be interpreted as meaning that an infinite expanse of nothingness inherently contains a unit of existence with the possibility of splitting, expanding, transforming and flourishing. In other words, existence is a property of the combination of nothingness and limitlessness. One can give it any name one likes.

The contraries may have emerged due to the square rooting of the unit yielding √1 = ±1.

A common example of the application of the square-root function in nature is the conversion of pressure into velocity as in the case of breathing.

The divine element seems to have been there in mathematics for ever and makes its presence felt in all exercises of integral calculus.