rebellion: physics to personal will

294 Pages·2008·4.13 MB·English

by  James Brody

rebellion
rebellion
physics to personal will
James F. Brody
iUniverse, Inc.
New York Lincoln Shanghai
rebellion
physics to personal will
Copyright © 2008 by James F. Brody
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ISBN: 978-0-595-42955-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-595-87296-1 (ebk)
Printed in the United States of America
To Colin Michael and Samantha Cate. I thank fourteen billion years for you, my
grandchildren.
“One exists in a universe convincingly real, where the lines are sharply
drawn in black and white. It is only later, if at all, that one realizes the lines
were never there in the frst place … a blink at the right moment may do it,
an eye applied to a crevice, or the world seen through a tear. Then, to most
of us, the lines reassert themselves, reality steadies out. It is better so. Every
now and then, however, there comes an experience so troubling that the
kaleidoscope never quite shifts back to where it was. One must then simply
deny the episode or adjust one’s vision.”
—Loren Eiseley, 1975
Contents
Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Introduction to Your Life’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
st
1 Quarter: Your Cradle,
from Numbers to Stubbornness 1
Chapter One Phase Transitions: To Do or Not to Do. . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter Two Sync: You Do My Thing and I Do Yours . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter Three Emergent Networks:
Life Organizes in a Tinker-Toy Way . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
nd
2 Quarter: Pattern-Makers—
Brains Are Made to Read 57
Chapter Four Exploration: Keeping What You Have
and Getting More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter Five Harrison Bergeron: The Outside, the Average,
and the Outstanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter Six Common Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
rd
3 Quarter: Chosen Environments:
Sync, and Disputes 109
Chapter Seven We’re All Twins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Chapter Eight Conceived to Rebel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter Nine Your Divided Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
ix