Ayn Rand for Breakfast?

Well it wasn't my idea. I turned the radio on just before 6:00 a.m. in anticipation of hearing the latest news, and instead someone named Yaron Brook is offering to explain the philosophy of Ayn Rand in four minutes. I wasn't quite up to the philosophy of Ayn Rand in four minutes before breakfast, so I twirled the dial. (It's an old radio with a dial.)

I had never heard of Yaron Brook, so I looked him up on Wikipedia. It seems that he is the current president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. So what happened to Ayn Rand's protégé, Leonard Peikoff? I don't know. I couldn't bear to wade through all the history of the relationships between Rand's followers.

Here I am in Miami, where my former friend Sergio lives. I haven't bothered to look him up since I moved here. Sergio was Peikoff's student at CCNY. Sergio became a fanatical follower of Peikoff and, presumably, Rand. A total  fanatic.

I don't believe I'll have any fanaticism before breakfast, if you don't mind.

Eugene Paul

The Esthetic Argument for ET

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. on the dot, so I put on my earphones and turned on my bedside radio. I waited for Coast to Coast to come on, and I discovered that Daniel Sheehan, of Christic Institute fame, was being interviewed. Sheehan was talking about extraterrestrials, and he seemed to be saying that Pope Francis believed in them. He seemed to quote Francis as saying that we should prepare for our encounter with civilizations far more advanced than ours. I turned the radio off and began to fume.

This is all the fault of the irrational cosmologists, who should know better. What deductions can be made from the existence of life on one planet? Try as we might, we haven't found any evidence of life anywhere else in the universe.

Then I thought of the Music of the Spheres, or something like it. The sensibilities of cosmologists must be offended by the gross asymmetry that would exist in a universe of stars and planets where life only existed on one unexceptional planet. The concept conflicted with mathematical esthetics. I concede that such a concept would not be consistent with my understanding of the logical structure of reality.

On the other hand, the asymmetry is only important because we think life is important. We are biased, of course. From the point of view of the universe and its structure, life is insignificant.

Kaffee in Miami

Speaking of Kaffee in Miami, I am at this very moment  having a cup of coffee in Miami. It is a cup of my very own making, and it consists of nothing more than hot milk poured onto instant coffee.

Since  I've been here, I've had three cups of Cuban coffee, or three cafecitos, as they say -- on three occasions. All three cups were free of charge.

On the first occasion, I collided with a Cuban who was carrying a cafecito in a paper cup at a shopping mall. I didn't taste the coffee because it spilled on my arm. Drat! 

But on the second and third occasions I was given cafecitos to drink. They were served in tiny paper cups that were only half filled. They were delicious -- or deliciosos, as they say here.

The Problem of the Quick Detectives

Problem:

Three quick detectives require a second to think and a second to act. In a single second, they have grabbed their hats and coats and rushed out the door of Police Headquarters to join their chief, who is waiting for them beside his car. In their haste, all three detectives have put their hats on backwards.

"I observe that at least one of you gentlemen has his hat on  backwards," said the chief. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you who you are."

Each detective looked at the other two, thought to himself, waited for a second, and then turned his hat around.

How did the three detectives know their hats were on backwards?

Solution:

This is a logical problem, but the solution requires imagination as well as logical thinking. The method can be seen more easily by first considering a simpler problem, where there are only two quick detectives, rather than three.

For Two Detectives: Name the detectives A and B, and consider what A does and thinks.

In the first second, A sees that B has his hat on backwards.

In the next second, A considers what B would think and do if A's hat were on forwards. Since at least one hat is on backwards, B would realize that his own hat must be on backwards, and in the third second he would turn his hat around.

But in the third second, B does not turn his hat around because A's hat is not on forwards. 

In the fourth second, therefore, A knows that his hat is on backwards and he turns it around.

At the same time, B would be using the same reasoning, and he would also turn his hat around in the fourth second.

For Three Detectives: Name the detectives A, B, and C, and consider what A does and thinks.

In the first second, A sees that both B and C have their hats on backwards.

In the next second, A considers what B would think and do if A's hat were on forwards. Seeing that A's hat is on forwards, B considers what C would think and do if B's hat were also on forwards. Since at least one hat is on backwards, C would realize that his own hat must be on backwards, and in the third second he would turn his hat around.

If C does not turn his hat around in the third second, then B knows that his hat is on backwards, and in the third second he would turn his hat around.

But in the third second, B does not turn his hat around because A's hat is not on forwards. 

In the fourth second, therefore, A knows that his hat is on backwards and he turns it around.

At the same time, B and C would be using the same reasoning, and they would also turn their hat around in the fourth second.

Eugene Paul 

The True Purpose of Insulin Receptors

It is commonly believed that the purpose of insulin receptors is to enable serum glucose to enter into the body's cells, but -- on the contrary -- the purpose of insulin receptors is to keep glucose out of certain cells at certain times.

Insulin receptors are present in the cell walls of muscle, fat, and liver tissue, but they are not present in the tissues of the brain. Insulin receptors are not needed in the brain; glucose enters brain cells without them.

If glucose can enter brain cells without the aid of insulin receptors, then glucose should be capable of entering any cells without the intervention of insulin receptors. The purpose of insulin receptors is therefore to retard the entry of glucose into selected cells.

This interpretation makes sense. In order to provide the brain with an adequate concentration of serum glucose, which is its only supply of energy, the insulin receptors in the tissues of less critical organs can be closed in order to divert glucose to the brain when necessary.

Eugene Paul

Détente with John & Ken

Referring to the title above, détente means a relaxation of tension, and John & Ken are two outrageously funny individuals who have a political talk show on radio station KFI in Los Angeles. It is my own idea that John & Ken create détente; they would undoubtedly deny it, humorously, for hours on end.

John & Ken ridicule public miscreants who deliberately create problems for the country in order to satisfy their own devious political agendas. Other talk show hosts complain vociferously about miscreants in the opposing political party, thereby increasing stress levels in their listeners. But John & Ken howl with laughter while they expose and ridicule any and all miscreants that come to their attention. The result is a very therapeutic détente.

In a recent incident, California Governor Jerry Brown, who is a Democrat, complained to the New York Times that the California Republican Party is controlled by John & Ken and three other individuals. John & Ken had a field day with that story, trying to decide whether they were part of a secret cabal. They decided that they were, so they arranged for a secret telephone conference with the three other members of the cabal. The secret conference was aired live on KFI radio, much to the high amusement of the entire cabal.

Eugene Paul

The True Disbeliever

I understand the statistical argument for extraterrestrial life:

"We know that life exists on Earth; there are probably megazillions of Earth-like planets in the universe; therefore, there are almost certainly many other life-bearing planets". (Incidentally, although Earth is an Earth-like planet, I am not aware that any new life is being created here now.)

But so far no one has given an informed probability for extraterrestrial life, which can easily be explained by our uncertainty as to the number of Earth-like planets. But if there are a mere one billion Earth-like planets in the universe, how do we calculate the probable number of life-bearing planets? Under what circumstances does life come into being? What is life anyway?

If the universe is teeming with extraterrestrial life, why hasn't ET landed on the White House lawn with an invitation to join the Galactic Union (GU)? My own answer: an action is motivated by emotional mental processes that establish the desirability of that action. If Earth-like planets are commonplace, why would any intelligent ET go out of its way to get here? I grew up on science fiction, too, but it is just fiction based on Earthling experience.

Furthermore, we have no tangible evidence that life exists anywhere but here. You can draw an infinite number of lines through a single point, just as you can imagine an infinite number of other worlds like ours.

Exactly what do we know about life on other planets? Nothing.

Eugene Paul