Month: August 2022

Arthur S. Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World

“The mind has by its selective power fitted the processes of Nature into a frame of law of a pattern largely of its own choosing; and in the discovery of this system of law the mind may be regarded as regaining from Nature that which the mind has put into Nature.”

He declared that the signifi‭cance of the world could not be ‬
uncovered in science; instead, “we ha‭ve to build the spiritual world ‬
out of symbols taken from our own personality, as we build the scientific world out of the symbols of the mathematician.”

We have a task before us, according to Eddington: “We are
going to build a World—a physical world which will give a shadow
performance of the drama enacted in the world of experience.”The language of the “shadow performance,” here is so distinctively Eddington’s own that it is difficult ‭not to take him at his word on ‬
the dependence of the physical world on the human mind. However
that may be, there is a definite ‭and distinctively nominalistic theme ‬
in Eddington’s notions of world building and the selective influence
of mind. This nominalistic theme ‭is intimately related to Edding-‬
ton’s epistemology and his theory‭ of mind. They are worth some ‬
examination in the present context.

‭The interpretation that is most natural ‬here is that for Eddington, “the mi‭nd” selects particular systems of ‬ “relations and relata,” in the process of world building, so as to include particular laws of nature within the mathematical structure, so generated; and within the favored structure, the implicated laws are simply true by stipulation.

  1. See in particular, Bertrand Russell (1927), p. 226; and the discussion in Steven French (2003), p. 236.
  2. See Eddington (1920) “The Meaning of Matter and the Laws of Nature According to the Theory of Relativity,” ‭Mind, 29, 114, p. 145: “…it is the ‬mind‭ which from the crude substratum constructs the familiar picture of a ‬substantial world around us;” p. 153: “According to this view matter can scarcely be said to exist apart from ‭mind.” See also Eddington, below, e.g., ‬p. 327, “…the world-stuff behind the pointer readings [of physics] is of nature continuous with the mind;” and p. 274, “The realistic matter and fields of force of former physical theory are altogether irrelevant—except in so far as the mind-stuff has ‭itself spun these imaginings.” ‬

Eddington will also be found ‭below to emphasize values and the ‬
value of permanence in particular, in his arguments and in his
conception of the selectivity of mind. “The element of permanence
in the physical world,” he writes, “ … familiarly represented by the
conception of substance, is essentially a contribution of the mind to
the plan of building or selection.”

Arthur_S_Eddington_The_Nature_of_the_Physical_World_An_Annotated_Edition

Immortality through Senolytics

As the body ages, physical abilities decline. This can lead to difficulty with daily tasks and eventually loss of the ability to live independently. Senescent cells are thought to play a role in this aspect of the aging process.

Telomeres are repetitive sequences present at ends of chromosomes. These telomeres will break and protect the chromosomes but telomeres also reach an end point. If that is crossed, DNA will undergo irreparable damage.

Cellular senescence has historically been viewed as an irreversible cell-cycle arrest mechanism that acts to protect against cancer, but recent discoveries have extended its known role to complex biological processes such as development, tissue repair, ageing and age-related disorders. New insights indicate that, unlike a static endpoint, senescence represents a series of progressive and phenotypically diverse cellular states acquired after the initial growth arrest. A deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the multi-step progression of senescence and the development and function of acute versus chronic senescent cells may lead to new therapeutic strategies for age-related pathologies and extend healthy lifespan.

Senescent cells can cause health problems in young mice, including causing physical dysfunction and lowering survival rates, and that the use of senolytics (dasatinib and quercetin) can significantly improve both health span and life span in much older naturally aged animals.

Clinical trials are needed to test whether this approach can safely and effectively extend health span in people.

Undoubtedly, the next decade will see a tremendous expansion of data on the mechanisms, characteristics and functions of in vivo senescence, as well as the use of this information to ameliorate human age-related diseases and promote healthy lifespan.


https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/eliminating-senescent-cells-extends-healthy-life-mice https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214092/

A monument to laboratory experiment rats used for DNA research in Novosibirsk, Russia.

End of Life Option Act

“It is notable that the top healthcare lobbying group in Delaware, the Medical Society of Delaware, has stopped actively opposing the bill and whipping votes against it. It is now neutral. And previously neutral organiztions, like the Delaware Nurses Association, are now supporting the bill.”

“Since 2019 a global world stopping a lethal pandemic that has made us confront mortality, quality of life and medical end of life decisions in a way that no one alive today has ever done before.”

“While HSSD applauds the passage of SB 380, it is important to remember that in most progressive nations of Western Europe and Canada, individuals do not need a terminal diagnosis to access MAID. Instead, they must have a serious illness, disease, or disability that puts them in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed and causes intractable suffering. Until California adopts this more enlightened criterion for MAID, HSSD will continue to crusade for California to become a progressive state as so many of its leaders proclaim it to be. We still have work to do.” source)

According to Oregon’s February 2017 official report, deaths occurring during the first 19 years under that state’s “Death with Dignity Act” took place after patients took the following drugs[1]:

Secobarbital (Seconal) 59.3%
Pentobarbital (Nembutal) 34.3%
Other 6.5%

Secobarbital (Seconal) and Pentobarbital (Nembutal) are barbiturates (sedatives).
In recent years, Pentobarbital has become unavailable due to protests about its use in capital punishment.[2] Therefore, Seconal has become the most widely use drug to cause death.

The usual therapeutic dosage[3] for Seconal is:
100 mg. to treat insomnia. 200-300 mg. for preoperative sedation.

The usual doctor-prescribed suicide dosage[4] for Seconal is:
9000 mg. in capsule form. The capsules are opened and contents mixed with a sweet substance to mask the taste.

Epigenetic Age

Healthspan is important because the number of individuals who will live to be 90 years and older will quadruple from 1.9 million in 2016 to 7.6 million in 2050 in the United States alone,” said LaCroix.

As part of the prospective study, the team analyzed data on physical and cognitive status from 1,813 women who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that began in 1993. The median age of death among Women’s Health Initiative participants was 90 years.

Among this cohort, 464 women survived to the age of 90 with intact mobility and cognitive functioning, 420 lived to 90 but without intact mobility and cognitive functioning, and 929 women who died before reaching 90.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2794706

Harold and Maude – end of life option

“I heard he was eighty

I’m going to be eighty next week

Good time to move on, don’t you think?

Seventy five is too early but eighty five is just marking time.”

Harold and Maude

‘An old lady handed her bank card to the teller and said “I would like to withdraw $10.” The teller told her “for withdrawals less than $100, please use the ATM.

The old lady wanted to know why… The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her “these are the rules, please leave if there is no further matter. There is a line of customers behind you.”

The old lady remained silent for a few seconds and handed her card back to the teller and said “please help me withdraw all the money I have.” The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down, and respectfully told her “you have $300,000 in your account but the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back again tomorrow?

The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The teller told her any amount up to $3000. “Well please let me have $3000 now.” The teller kindly handed $3000 very friendly and with a smile to her.

The old lady put $10 in her purse and asked the teller to deposit $2990 back into her account.

The moral of this story is…

Don’t be difficult with old people, they spent a lifetime learning their skills.”