Vinaire's Blog

Reference: Postulate Mechanics
NOTE: “PM” in the title of this preface stands for “Postulate Mechanics”.

Throughout my life I had wanted to handle all my misconceptions. There were so many things I did not understand, and that bothered me. I had dived deeply into physical sciences, but the mathematics of quantum mechanics went over my head. Indeed, I was part of an exciting life; but the complexity of this life baffled me. I felt I would never arrive at the maturity that I saw so many others possess. So, when I retired in 2012, I figured that I had time now to find the answers to all my questions on Internet. I decided to work on a project to research the interface between physics and metaphysics.

In my mind, the best place to start was the things that I did not understand during the early years of my life, especially during my schooling. So, I started to investigate the basics of mathematics, physics, and the religion of Hinduism. I also looked at the subjects that I encountered during my college studies and then on my own, such as, Buddhism and Scientology.

I start using the study technology of clearing up the definition of words that I had learned in Scientology. This technology was the basis of the Math Club that I ran from 1995 to 2010 at the Safety Harbor Library. This was followed by promotion of self-learning through a blog that I started in 2010. I continued to tutor math privately. I later published The Book of Mathematics on this blog.

In 2015, I had an opportunity to work with high school dropouts, helping them prepare for their GED tests. I started going to a facility in New Port Richie, Florida, which was managed by the Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa. That facility had set up computers with software to help a person learn math; but these students just sat, fiddled and stared at the screen. They were not getting anywhere. Their failure to learn bothered them. They just wanted to somehow get a GED certification.

It was an interesting experience working with 20 odd young adults who  were surviving under tough conditions. Here was a wealth of experience with life that I could only imagine. It was amazing that they could even think of learning math. The study technology and word clearing techniques of Scientology were supposed to handle this kind of situation. So, I worked with them individually trying to “clear their misunderstoods.” But they were just so overwhelmed with all the things that were coming at them, that it was difficult to have them “go earlier similar” and find their basic misunderstood. It reminded me of my own difficulty in learning the subject of quantum mechanics.

It was under these desperate conditions that a breakthrough occurred. I organized a series of lectures that explained the most basic concepts in mathematics first, and then gradually built up logically to explaining more complex concepts. I kept the lectures sharply focused on the definition of key words in mathematics, with scattering of interesting puzzles. I used an abacus to explain the numbering system. It was interesting to see the relief on the face of these students when they realized that only ten digits (0 to 9) were used to write all possible numbers, just like only 26 letters of alphabet were used to compose all words in the English language. I explained how the place values were based on ten. I got them to read and write large numbers with confidence.

This sparked an interest that I still remember to this day. These were the basics they had never understood. So, they didn’t even know what they were missing. Their interest shot up, and now, as a class, they were full of questions. This helped me organize the subsequent lectures. This is when Subject Clearing was born. This experience taught me the valuable lesson that there is an inherent logic in every subject. The understanding of a subject seemed to depend on establishing a smooth gradient among all the concepts involved. A subject was best taught by starting from the basic definitions and then teaching more complex definitions on a gradient leaving no logical gaps. That was the only consistent way to present a subject. 

It took some time before I could fully grasp the power of this methodology. But when I did, it simply blew my mind. I started to wonder if one could deal with the universe as a subject? Was it a crazy idea bound for failure? But it was no less crazy than looking for an interface between physics and metaphysics. I was retired and had all the time in the world! Didn’t I? So, I persuaded myself to continue, and suddenly I realized the “interface” I was looking for. It was the correct definition of the word “Substance” that was missing. That gave me the starting point for this book on POSTULATE MECHANICS. The contents of this book may hardly scratch the surface of the universe, and may not mean much; but here it is.

More than the contents of this book, I would like to emphasize the power that lies in the methodology of Subject Clearing. It has helped me understand for myself so many of those principles discovered by the great minds of the past. I consider myself very lucky to have received the education that I did, and to be living in the age of Internet where anyone can easily access the knowledge of the great minds who have graced us.

I cannot help but express my delight in what I have come to understand through Subject Clearing. I hope this methodology serves you just as well. I feel privileged to be sharing it with you.

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Reference: Essays on Substance

The Scientific Method

The curiosity to know has progressed from religious speculations about life to extroverted philosophical inquiry of the universe. This inquiry then gave birth to the systematic approach of science. 

The modern scientific approach is based on observing more closely to formulate a hypothesis, and then using that hypothesis to arrive at some new conclusions. The next step is to verify those conclusions through further observations. 

Consistency is extremely important in such verifications. If the new conclusions cannot be shown to be consistent with life experiences, then one has to go back and work more on improving the hypothesis. If the conclusions are consistent with life experiences, then the hypothesis is accepted as a new theory. However, such acceptance is provisional because the verification can never be absolute. For the future may present observations that are not entirely consistent with the theory.

In today’s science, mathematics has become an important part of formulating and verifying a hypothesis. The scientist makes a mathematical model of the hypothesis. He, then, checks that model for mathematical consistency. This has become an important step in the scientific development. But, the mathematical consistency is not the same as consistency with life experiences.

In the past, consistency of a hypothesis was tested in the live environment of the laboratory. The scientist devised experiments that could be conducted using lab equipment. This was closer to life than mathematics and provided live verification. However, science has advanced to a point that such lab experimentation is not always possible, especially in the case of sub-atomic and cosmic phenomena.

Einstein’s theory of relativity could not be verified until the Solar eclipse of 1920. Still many doubts exist regarding this theory. In fact, the theory of relativity was not even considered when the Nobel Prize was awarded to Einstein. But Einstein also advanced a novel idea of conducting thought experiments to verify a hypothesis beyond the mathematical logic. Such thought experiments were closer to the logic of life experiences. They only need to be devised carefully. 

Once again the criterion of thought experiments had to be consistency; only that consistency was in terms of ideas. In addition, it was expected that the logical train of ideas would have no gaps. Also, there would be no arbitrary ideas that do not fit in the overall picture. In short, the criterion of a thought experiment would be continuity, consistency and overall harmony of ideas. 

But, if we look carefully, the criterion of continuity, consistency and harmony applies to all experimentation, whether it is mathematical or lab oriented, and it even defines the Scientific Method itself. The basis of the scientific method may be stated as the following twelve aspects of mindfulness.

The 12 Aspects of Mindfulness

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Reference: Postulate Mechanics

The Unknowable

Beyond knowable, there is Unknowable. There can only be a vague sense of the Unknowable. We become aware only when we sense something and are able to interpret it correctly. 

To know the unknowable, one has to postulate what may be there. We know what impinges on our senses by symbolizing it and giving it meaning. Reality is established by the oneness (continuity, consistency and harmony) of all that we postulate. We cannot know more than the meanings we assign. 

When we look at the dichotomy “Creator-creation,” we find both of these items in the category of knowable. Similarly, both items of the dichotomy, “Cause-effect,” are in the category of knowable. Again, both items of the dichotomy “Spiritual-physical” are knowable. Actually, the whole Universe is knowable. When it comes to Unknowable, we simply cannot talk about it.

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Notes

It is an error to think that there was nothingness or some identity in the beginning. There is a phenomenon we know nothing about. There is only some primitive awareness of sensation and postulate followed by  perception. Out of that come identities. Identities are then aware of the harmonics of those sensations, postulates and perceptions.

All we can say that from Unknowable comes awareness, postulates, and the assimilation of those postulates into perception. This is the basic mechanism of this universe.

Fundamental awareness is made up of sensations. An identity is a composite of sensations. Where those sensations and identity come from, we do not know. When we are trying to understand ourselves, we are basically trying to understand the sensations that constitute us.

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