The Flame

At first it flickers giddily in the solitary confinement of the candle, unperturbed by the inevitable end awaiting at the end of the wick.

This initial interval the flame enjoys is followed by the realization of its doom, which manifests in hysterical quivers of despair.

Following a smoldering agony some soot remains, blemishing the nearby wall.

Why I don't like attending exhibition openings

I generally avoid such events, but find myself occasionally obliging a friend and accompanying them with the only consolation being the hope that the experience may prove my convictions inaccurate. Alas those hopes prove to be futile at every such chance attendance.

There's the experiential aspect, which even with the aid of empathy, understanding and careful reflection fails to provide more than painful frustration; during the fake and polite interactions equally ungenuine inquiries arise: "So what do you do?” The frustration emerges primarily from the realization of my cowardice which prevents me from actively defying customary conformity - knowing with certainty the pure formal nature of the inquiry, devoid of no more genuine interest then required to satisfy a curiosity which attempts to avoid boredom and dullness by engaging in mild and superficial intellectual entertainment (the conversation), I find myself pretending that this empty shell of an inquiry is of substance and respond accordingly - with symmetrical pretension. The only way I can withstand the half hour or so of my physical presence at such events is by erecting a hermetic and pseudo philosophical wall around me which relates insincerely to the exhibited pieces, or physically avoiding any interactions by inspecting the exhibited works repeatedly with ostentatious interest that would excuse my lack of socializing. Whilst exercising those evasive tactics I'm always astonished by my paranoia that time has slowed almost to a stop. This behavioral device tends to temporarily fend off those excruciatingly vacuous inquiries into the content of my person.

It would be tempting to at least engage in the consolatory activity of amusing myself by observing the career hungry crowd, seeking mutual attention of only those who in its mind can contribute to the elevation of either the ego or what's more important the factual career status. Sadly I no longer find it amusing. I'm saddened by this and inescapably forced into reflections on the human condition in general - how we will readily crawl, hop or sing in a bad chorus - ready to take those desperate measures if only their performance, no matter how pathetic and degrading, would deliver but a glimmer of a promise of bringing closer the illusory goal that we have chosen to endow with value.

A Bus Encounter

On that day, the bus of the 171 line was full as usual, but Joseph didn't mind standing for the twenty minutes or so since the reminder of his day would be spent sitting in on lectures at the local university. During the journey he would occasionally take his eyes away from the busy city-scape rushing past beyond the nearest window and observe the faces of other passengers, every now and then allowing his gaze to linger on a more interesting one.

While engaging in one of those lazy inspections of his fellow passengers Joseph was unsettled by a pair of blue and mysterious eyes meeting his. Those blue eyes were framed by a pleasant face of a young woman partially visible through a narrow gap between other passenger's heads. Not used to such confrontations from the depersonalized and anonymous crowd, Joseph attempted to conceal his voyeuristic intentions by nonchalantly continuing to turn his head, as if intending to look through a window on the opposite side of the bus. He was sure that during this momentary encounter when their gazes met, a latent smile appeared on her pale and calm face. After composing himself, he glanced back at this mysterious stranger and surely enough she had maintained the same subtle smile and what seemed particularly unusual was how her unmoved gaze welcomed his, as if expecting him to indeed glance back. Prompted by a sudden adrenaline rush Joseph looked away once more.

Not usually forward by nature, he generally avoided making spontaneous acquaintances with strangers, and women especially. Furthermore, he reserved those morning commuting intervals primarily for planning and reflection. Joseph, it seems, desired to suppress and control spontaneity despite seeing its value. It was welcome, but not on a bus. This brief encounter however unsettled his rigid convictions, and the appearance of this mysterious girl tempted him to break his strict habit, only if to learn her name. He made a decision. As the bus would approach the city center where most people would disembark, he would then have the necessary space to approach this newly potential non-stranger and make an acquaintance. This certainly wouldn't require too much effort on his part, since he felt that a subtle yet definite invitation had already been granted.

The bus arrived at the stop where most people usually leave. The commotion created by people heading for the doors was the cue Joseph had been waiting for which gave him the sufficient amount of courage to turn toward the young woman once more.  He was mildly amused upon noticing how his heart begun to beat faster during the composition of the introductory phrase. He approached tentatively, and just as the last of the people standing between them headed for the door leaving behind an empty and unobstructed space, Joseph experienced what could be best described as a cognitive jolt of disillusion, as his eyes fixed on the blind man's cane, which the young woman was holding closely by her side. Her gaze now suddenly stripped of its mystery, had dissolved into a blank and eerie stare into oblivion, and her Mona Lisa smile now equally demystified reduced to the calm and relaxed expression of a morning commuter.

Joseph stood there staring in disbelief for a few seconds, his lips parted with the preselected introductory phrase screaming inside his head. What finally brought him back from the paralysis of this epistemic anomaly was the realization of his asymmetric freedom of being able to look at the young woman, which he thought to be unfair and invasive. With that thought, amused by his imaginative powers of confabulation, he hopped off the bus just as the doors were beginning to close.

Lucid Sententia XVIII

Blows, unlike kisses, leave marks on both flesh and soul, as memories of their acquisition, thereby advising prudence to avoid them. Hence the impenetrable walls and protective shells gradually accreted with time. Those provide shelter from the lethal force of blows, but also are inadvertently impervious to the delicate brushes of kisses.

A Perfect World.

Lev, one of the most gifted graduates of The Academy of Unlimited Arts, with personal interests in Perpetual Omnipotence, decided to focus on universe creation in his postgraduate pursuits. The world he planned to make this time was meant to be unlike any other - a dynamic cosmos full of sentient and intelligent beings. The idea was to make it a perfect world; no pain, no sorrow, no longing, no broken hearts. No death. In short - ideal.

After all the world-making only one thing remained to be done - finding a fitting name for this wonderful creation. Lev was happy and content having finally settled on an appropriately adequate one - a perfect name. Upon completion of his cosmic project, Lev attached a plaque to its Luminiferous Aether, and on it an engraving in a particularly baroque font "A place with no dreams".

Beginning of the End

Elijah had been seeing Barbara for almost a month by then. The first few times they had met for coffee, drawn towards each other with a youthful curiosity and suppressed desire, days passed like hours. They relished in this new unexplored space of companionship. Immersed in philosophical conversations about life, exchanging views about what seemed most important, they managed, it seemed, to create their private realm outside of time which did not conform to the usual laws governing the universe. Before Elijah could realize, their quite lengthy acquaintance, for they had by then known each other for over a year, within no more than a few weeks evolved to a state which was an enchanted and exciting platform full of endless possibilities. Both quite shy, and careful not to spoil what grew out of what seemed like hours in their personal timeless world, enjoyed this curious state full of promise yet free from promises. Aside from Barbara’s cheerful, witty and energetic yet controlled demeanor which captivated with its reliably suitable degree of spontaneity, there was one other particular quality which Elijah admired. Unlike anyone he had met before, Barbara wholeheartedly engaged herself into any issue at hand, and with a particular and genuinely considerate approach when immersed in conversation with a colleague, or a friend. "She makes me feel present" was, Elijah felt the best characterization of her caring, engaging and non-selfish nature.
Barbara had a quintessentially feminine and beautiful Rubenesque figure, which sadly did not reflect her desired self image. This bitter dissonance between love expressed and actual self-love, was to become a blemish which would not only encroach into the blissful realm the two friends had conjured, but eventually mercilessly annihilate it.
The first cracks appeared during one of their many outings through the city’s major bookstores. Whilst strolling through the forest of towering bookshelves inside the city’s largest ‘used books’ store, and admiring the beautiful publications of Shakespeare’s works from the beginning of the 20th century, Elijah captured by an almost juvenile spontaneity with a trace of romantic intention, which he wouldn't deny, turned to Barbara and whispered among the colonnade of world’s major literary works: “Close our eyes, and let me lead you into a place within this forest where you will open them again only after you have blindly picked some book – one which you’ll promise to read”. Barbara agreed promptly – and soon, they were silently dancing through this symbolic storage room of millions of stories, fictional and actual lives, hopes and dreams. Upon stopping among some particularly tall bookshelves Elijah delicately twirled Barbara twice and lead her carefully as she blindly reached out for a book - this mysterious book, which they both anticipated to contain a magical spell which would embody everything that led to its emergence from the dormant and dusty forest. It would also bring a promise, a guide, or clue on this treasure hunt for true love. Barbara hesitated a little before allowing her fingers tentatively feel the spines of the books at shoulder level. She pulled a dusty book out, and after what appeared as having glanced at the title she silently turned with a jerk of the neck to Elijah who, not having seen the title himself only puzzled in horror at Barbara’s cold, narrowed eyes piercing him with a deadly and stern gaze out of the frame of a stone cold and fierce grimace which momentarily disfigured her face. She pushed the book into his chest, said “very funny” and marched off with an impatient glance at her watch. Elijah stood there in utter bewilderment at what had just happened, and his eyes widened as he read “Low fat cooking” - a title screaming at him with its colorful and boldface font from the dusty cover of the book.

Chance's Revenge

Joseph was known to occasionally bewilder random strangers, mostly those unfortunate enough to travel on the same train as him, by unexpectedly turning to them and reciting some lengthy and arbitrary Latin sentence. This exercise in buffoonery was mostly intended to evoke a laugh from his friends who shared his appreciation for the hilarity of the kaleidoscopic mixture of puzzlement, amusement and horror - all inevitably provided by his victim's faces.

Yesterday morning Joseph, up to his usual mischief did just that - while conversing with his typically extroverted group he suddenly turned around without warning and uttered a preselected Latin phrase to the young woman sitting behind him - "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my not so quite short life". This time something odd happened however. Whilst uttering this provocative sentence he slowed down half way through and what began as a nonchalant and lively baritone quietened to a quivering whisper, for at that very moment Joseph realized that what he was saying was true. The jest backfired, and Chance took her revenge on him.

N>1 roots of primes are irrational

The question came up in a conversation recently, and although it seemed intuitively true, I couldn't find a proof online. Many of you reading this are probably familar with the proof for the irrationality of √2. Well, this is a more general version for all n integer roots of any prime.

Theorem

Proof

Euclid's first theorem states that for a, b ∈ Z and any prime p:

p|ab  →   p|a  or  p|b 

An immediate corollary of it is, for a, 1 ≤ n ∈ Z and any prime p:

p|aⁿ   →   p|a

Since

p|aⁿ = aa^n-1    →  p|a  or  p|a^n-1

but,

p|a^n-1 = aa^n-2   →   p|a  or  p|a^n-2

:

p|a^n-(n-2) = a² = aa   →   p|a  or  p|a

→  p|a  or  p|a  or  p|a  or... p|a  ( n times )   →   p|a

* * *

Now suppose for contradiction that

∃a,b,2≤n∈ Z, p∈P (p^1/n = a / b), where a nad b have no common factor.

p^1/n = a / b   →   p =  aⁿ / bⁿ 

→   pbⁿ =  aⁿ  →   p|aⁿ   by def. of divides, since bⁿ∈ Z

→  p|a by Corollary to Euclid's first theorem.

Hence a = pk ,  k∈ Z by def. of p|a.        (1)

But  p^1/n = a / b   →   a = p^1/nb = pk   →   pbⁿ = pⁿkⁿ 

→ bⁿ = p( p^n-2kⁿ )  →   p|bⁿ   by def. of divides, since p^n-2kⁿ∈ Z

→ p|b by Corollary to Euclid's first theorem.

Hence b = pm ,  m∈ Z by def. of p|b.     (2)

Statements (1) and (2) jointly contradict the statement that "a and b have no common factor".

Hence ∀a,b,2≤n∈ Z, p∈P (p^1/n ≠ a / b)  q.e.d.

UNSAFE PROFANATION

An artist doesn't need a lecture on the value of art or the creative process in general. It is a blessing of the muses, a charitable gesture of serendipity for which all artists yearn like junkies. Why is that? Because both the creative process and inspiration are what an artist's soul feeds on and is defined by, which makes them sacred. They're sacred gifts whose value largely springs from their ephemeral and inconsistent nature due to the muses' capriciousness.

Therefore it seems natural that to a genuine apprentice of the muses the acquisition of a respect for the value of this gift and the recognition of its instantiations in the form of "perceivable artworks" is inevitable. It follows that the role of an art school should be both to aid the apprentice of the muses to evoke the longing for this gift, and nurture a respect for its instantiations.

It has come to my attention that during a recent social function at the Queensland College of Art (Griffith University), students have been physically tampering with an unfinished sculpture of one of their absent colleagues. This included climbing on the sculpture en masse, and ultimately soiling it with sand and what appears to be alcohol. Whereas such behavior should be generally labeled as disrespectful or thoughtless in the least, within the artistic community it is nothing short of a profanation.

One may be tempted to endorse a more sympathetic stance, and claim that the students deserve a measure of consideration due to their sheer ignorance. As a proof of their naivety serves the fact that by publishing their photos of the function's activities on Facebook, they did not care to exclude those of the sculpture being tampered with. To the contrary, judging by the number of photographs depicting the activity in question, it seems that it was one of the evening's highlights. Imagine the fury of young "Phidias" upon discovering that the profanation of the progeny of his inspiration served as a vehicle of base amusement to a herd of intoxicated morons.

Pleading ignorance, may get the students off the hook, but the story does not end there. A senior  lecturer and a PhD student were present at the function, as evidenced by the published photographs, which makes them passive participants. What is one to say of the ignorance of those senior figures of an artistic and academic institution? Why didn't they react? Did they succumb to a momentary primitive group think? Were they so overwhelmed by the libations as to be completely oblivious of the surrounding goings on? Or maybe their formal statuses are merely empty labels masking equally ignorant individuals? Surely all those alternatives seem equally unthinkable!

The senior academics are denied a plea of ignorance. If that was granted, what would that imply about the school (QCA) which they represent? After all it would be dreadful to permit the thought that the "Art" in QCA is also just an empty label. So let's give the school the benefit of the doubt and suppose there does exist a genuine spirit of art within its walls. But that would seem inconsistent with the described incident!

What went wrong? Consider this. I'm quite sure that once the story surfaces, the highest ranking bureaucrats of Griffith University Inc. who are more concerned with avoiding liability suits, and making a profit then actually focusing on educating the youths would be appalled that such misconduct had occurred: "damaging a piece of art without taking the appropriate safety measures? The photos clearly depict students climbing the sculpture without adequate headgear and goggles! This is an outrage!".

A lesson from Bach

This anecdote has been attributed to the biography of young Johann Sebastian Bach.
One evening, Johann was playing his latest sonata to a German baroness at her estate. When he had finished, the baroness exclaimed with a bewildered delight: “Ah! Maestro! It was wonderful!… But what did you mean by it?" Bach promptly approached the keyboard again, and replayed the sonata. When he had finished, he turned to the baroness and explained: “That, dear madam, is what I meant.”

Tangibility of the transcendental

I was doing a bit of reading about transcendental numbers today, and had an idea of constructing my own well defined transcendental. I was inspired by the Liouville constant.

Anyway, my idea was to construct a number which is a base 10 concatonation of the digits of consecutive prime numbers:
m_p =  0.2357911131719232931...
or the natural numbers:
m_N = 0.12345678910111213...
The construction proceeded as follows. First we define the function lambda:

Now we can express the numbers as infinite sums:

Where p_n is the n'th prime.

Initially I thought this to be an exercise in creative procrastination, since firstly the idea is dead simple, and secondly who would be silly enough in going to the trouble of formulating such numbers. Surely only a fresh graduate with too much time on his hands.

To my surprise the idea behind those numbers has been already formulated by not one, but a few mathematicians. My m_N is in fact a constant previously formulated by D. G. Champernowne. And it turns out that m_p is already known as the
Copeland-Erdos constant:

Notice the striking similarity in the formulation - I have formulated m_p completly oblivious to the Copeland-Edros formulation. The similarity lies in the fact that my lambda function acts a lot like the floor of base 10 logarithm of y, plus 1. In fact the relation is the following:

Which makes the sums in the exponents of the definitions of m_p and the Copeland-Edros constant equal, since for each i we subtract 1 i.e. we subtract 1, k times, we need to add k back to the sum.

Well, I guess I feel better knowing that I'm in good company deeming quite obscure and prima facie pointless ideas valuable. I knew that both m_N and m_p are irrational, but now I also know that m_N is in fact transcendental (mission accomplished!), and hence don't have to provide a proof, which i feel would be a herculean task.

Who is lying?

Here's a rather simple and fun logic puzzle.

We have three people; Alice, Bob and Cecil. One of them is a liar. You have to determine who is the liar, and give reasons for your choice, based on the following information. Alice claims that Bob is a liar. Bob claims that Cecil is a liar. Cecil claims that both Alice and Bob are liers. Who's lying and why?

Answer in comments.

Infinitude of primes, courtesy of Euclid

I love this proof:
Take any finite list of prime numbers p1, p2, ..., pn. It will be shown that some additional prime numbers not in this list exist. Let P be the product of all the prime numbers in the list:
P = p1p2...pn. Let q = P + 1: 1 more than this product. Then, q is either prime or not:
- If q is prime then there is at least one more prime than is listed.
- If q is not prime then some prime factor p divides q.
This factor p is not on our list: if it were, then it would divide P (since P is the product of every number on the list); but as we know, p divides P + 1 = q. Then p would have to divide the difference of the two numbers* which is (P + 1) − P or just 1. But no prime number divides 1 so there would be a contradiction, and therefore p cannot be on the list. This means at least one more prime number exists beyond those in the list. (Wikipedia)

* If some integer k divides two integers a, b then k divides a-b.
This will be immediate to some, but I'll provide a small proof of that fact for clarity's sake.
Proof:
k divides a -->  a = kx, where x is an integer, by def. of "divides"
k divides b -->  b = ky, where y is an integer, by def. of "divides"
a-b = kx - ky = k(x-y)
but x-y is an integer
Hence k divides a-b, by definition of "divides".

Arithmetic sequences in digits of primes

THEOREM
Here's a fun fact about prime numbers: there are only 5 prime numbers, whose digits (there are bound to be more if we consider positive integers) express an arithmnetic sequence with common difference 1. They are 23, 67, 89, 4567 and 23456789.

123456789 is not a prime.

PROOF
By exhaustion :)

Lucid Sententia XVII

Those who can clearly see impermanence as an intrinsic quality of nature, and live with a lucid accompaniment of this truth, will have their memories project a rich multitude of possibilities onto the present thus rendering it richer, and as such more mysterious and worthy of wonder.

A primes generator written in MATLAB

The algorithm below uses the principle of the Sieve of Eratosthenes, only it doesn't start with a set of integers, but rather extends the p array (array of primes) by checking if any successive integer to the seed is divisible by any elements of p - if not, then that integer is a prime and becomes an element of the p array thereby extending it.

Zoom in, in the browser view options for better readibility - I had to leave it small in order to preserve the neat format of the code and the comments.

function y=primelist(n)
p=[2];%the seed for our primes set
k=1;%array index number
x=1;%denotes the nature of the candidate in the inner loop
i=1;%an arithmetically progressing variable added to failed candidates
   while p(length(p))<n%p(length(p)) is always the last element of p
     while x==1
     %c will take a 0 value if p(length(p))+i is composite 
     c=floor((p(length(p))+i)/p(k))-((p(length(p)))+i)/p(k);
        if c==0
           x=0;%so a composite will yield x=0
        else if c~=0 && k<length(p)
                k=k+1;%if not composite try next p element
            else %if c~=0 && k==length(p)
                x=2;% x=2 denotes p(length(p))+i is prime
            end
        end
     end
     if x==0 %&& k<=length(p)
        i=i+1;%hence we try the next successive integer
        x=1;%and hence reset x fo rum the inner loop again
        k=1;%we start from the first p element again
       else if x==2%once the candidate is verified...
                p=[p (p(length(p))+i)];%it is adjoined to p
                i=1;%search starts at next Z after the last prime
                x=1;%x is reset in order to run the inner loop again
                k=1;%we start from the first p element again
           end
    end
  end%the final output can naturally vary depending on what's desired
p(length(p)-1)%greatest prime smaller than n
%length(p)-1%number of primes up to an including the last one p
%p'%here we get a raw list of primes in the command window
end


Comments and feedback are welcome :)

{First 10 digit prime in consecutive digits of e}.com

I recently watched a documentary about Google Inc., its beginnings and style of doing business. There was an interesting fact about a recruiting campaign which they launched some years ago. It involved billboards containing a cryptic, and mysterious message: {First 10 digit prime in consecutive digits of e}.com. Finding that prime, and going to the page named after it would take one to a Google jobs page with congratulations of completing stage 1 in the recruiting procedure. Consequently one would be presented with another puzzle to pass further stages. I think that is an avantgarde and clever way of attracting all the IT nerds out there.

Being a bit of a nerd myself, I found the problem itself quite interesting, and since it didn't seem that difficult at first glance, I eventually solved it. The only tricky bit was getting my hands on the 10 digit primes set. Anyway, my approach was to write an algorithm in MATLAB to get the answer.
Directly below is the main function, and further below are some auxiliary functions used in the main one.  
Click on the images to enlarge.

The one below is self explanatory: parity check function.

The one below proved very helpful in the main code, since it allowed to perform arithmetic between vectors (digits of e) and scalars (primes). It converts a 1D array into a scalar (well actually into a string consisting of the original array entries), for any integer array. It does not actually convert it into scalar (consider an array with 0 in the first column), but the sieve in the main code skips all such cases.

 And upon execution ... BINGO!

Logic Puzzle: falsification optimization

Below we have four cards, where each has a number on one side and a letter on the other.

Now suppose we make a conjecture about those four cards: "Every card that has P on one side has 3 on the other". Now the question is what's the minimum number of cards we have to turn over in order to check the truth of the conjecture?


Some interesting statistics, concerning the number of people getting this right:
10% - General public
29% - Undergraduates
43% - Mathematicians

So if you got this correct, it means that you did better than an average mathematician :)

SOLUTION IN "COMMENTS"

There's a family of interesting theories concerning the reasons why people get this wrong, and why a more practical set up of this "Watson selection task" reduces the percentage of people who get it wrong.

Ode to Conformity

Oh the pleasure of reassuring nods,
and the soothing blankness of undisturbed sleep.
You are the loud-speaker which guarantees a vast audience.

You taught me well the value of mass delusion,
and the benefits of ostracizing difficult rivals.

I bow before your power to overwhelm truth - the notoriously elusive dissident.

How I enjoy the smooth ride in your comfortable canoe, meandering swiftly downstream through the difficulties of life.

TEAISM DOCTRINE

 There exists a Teapot in orbit around the Sun

I    FOUNDATION OF TEAISM

II        DOGMAS OF TEAISM

III            POSTULATES

IV                  PILLARS OF TEAISM

V                        BOOK OF RITES

VI                             GENERAL TEAOLOGY

VII                                  ANNALES OF THE TEAOCRACY

VIII                                         TEAOGONY

IX                                                 ESSENTIAL ANALYTICS

I

FOUNDATION OF TEAISM

This monoteaistic system had its beginning after the existence of the Teapot had been revealed to the Honorable Octavius in a moment of cosmic clarity. The overwhelming certainty of the revelation motivated Octavius to record the truth contained within it, and thus Teaism was founded. This truth has been prophecised, by Bertrand Russell although the message had been still vaguely understood until its formalisation by Octavius. Presently Teaism has a wide following, and its enlightening content is feverously studied by numerous inspired teaologists.

II

DOGMAS OF TEAISM

I    There exists a Teapot in orbit around the Sun.
II   In addition there exists the 'Divine 8 piece Tea set', or just 'The Jolly Good Octave', which consists of the Teapot, 3 cups, 3 saucers and tray. The Teapot cannot be observed in principle, however its other manifestations which are part of the "Jolly Good Octave" appear regularly to the open-hearted folk in the form of flying saucers, often in formations of three which confirms the transcendental structure of the octave.
III  Teatime is the time when Tea is consumed.
IV  The underlying substance of everything is Tea.
V   The essence of the Teapot is Tea.
As a consequence, all Teaists augment the usual set of astrological symbols of celestial bodies as depicted below. This updated chart is more general by virtue of completeness. To distinguish it from its incomplete predecessors it carries the name of The complete chart of astrological symbols of celestial bodies.

THE COMPLETE CHART OF ASTROLOGICAL SYMBOLS OF CELESTIAL BODIES

III

POSTULATES

It follows from the first dogma that there will be two special alignments of the Earth, the Sun and the Teapot; first being a conjunction, and the second an opposition. Also since, by the second dogma, the Teapot can never be observed the dates and time of those alignments will remain unknown. However they will necessarily take place. Hence arbitrary dates for their celebration have been chosen: The conjunction (whether it is a major or minor one remains unknown) shall be called "The great NecessiTEA" and will be celebrated each year on the 8th of August. The opposition shall be called "The golden ImperaTEAve" and shall be celebrated every year on the 21st of March.

IV

PILLARS OF TEAISM

Tea shall be consumed each day at Teatime. The first day of each month is a Tea Party day.

V

BOOK OF RITES

The strength of tea consumed has a sacred relationship to the time of day. In other words strongest tea is consumed at midday and negligible strength at midnight. It follows that consumption of tea is forbidden at midnight.Using teabags is a profanation of the sacred substance. A Tea Party commemorates the origin of Teaism, and is intended to stimulate reflection on its doctrine. This is done over a cup or two of the sacred drink. Biscuits are optional. By the "The Golden Mean Ruling" a liberal use of milk, sugar, honey or any other additives is permitted with Tea only for non ritualistic purposes i.e. no additives shall be mixed with the sacred brew during Tea Party days.
Individuals who choose not to follow the self evident and true path of Teaism are aTeaists. Aside from their limited right to actively participate in the Teaocracy, all care should be taken in healing their their repugnant and inferior cognitive condition.

VI

GENERAL TEAOLOGY

Current Teaological inquiry focuses primarily onsolving the conundrum ever since the existence of the Teapot was revealed to its founder the Honorable Octavius; does Teatime determine the time at which Tea is to be consumed, or is it the temporarily arbitrary act of Tea consumption that determines Teatime? Some progress has recently occured on that front, and it seems that the arrow of Tea i.e. the direction of the flow of Tea may be a key step in solving this conundrum.
Recent Teaological analysis carried out by the "Ponderites" mendicant order has questioned the necessity of both "The great NecessiTea" conjunction and "The golden ImperaTeave" opposition, by pointing out that those alignments would be necessary only if one assumes that Teapot and Earth's orbits are in the same plane.This may require an amendment to the Dogma which explicitly includes that assumption i.e. gives it a status of an axiom. Alternatively, it has been suggested, the necessary conjunction and opposition should be substituted by two truly necessary positions: the closest Earth-Teapot passage, and the most distand Earth-Teapot passage.

VII

ANNALES OF THE TEAOCRACY

Also, strong arguments suggest, that in order to provide the best conditions for Teaism to flourish and preserve the integriTea of moraliTea, its members should strive to establish a Teaocracy. Once established, all care should be taken to maintain it. In a Teaocracy, aTeaists will be free to voice their opinion, but their rights related to participation in the legislative procedures of the Teaocracy will be limited.

VII

TEAOGONY

In the beginning was The Recipe, a purely formal and transcendental tendency to make Tea. An inevitable probability maximalization of The Recipe led to its manifestation. This manifestation resulted in the Big Boil. The Big Boil gave birth to to the Great Brew which appears to be still expanding. At largest observable scales the Great Brew is both isotopic and homogenous. Such homogeneity had baffled Teaologists for some time until a revelation concerning the initial period of Infusion dawned on one of them. This Infusion was a period of rapid expansion of the fabric of existence which initiated the Big Boil and lasted less than one could say "Bob's your uncle".The Big Boil did not occur at some point IN the brew or time. The Great Brew creates its own space and time as it expands. Hence asking what was before the Big Boil is meaningless. This single origin of the Great Brew from the manifest singularitea of The Recipe, justifies a name often used interchangeably with "The Great Brew"; The Unitea. The former name places emphasis on the dynamical and formal aspects of being whereas the latter on its substance and essence.

VIII

BOOK OF NUMBERS

The number 8 has a mystical and fundamental significance in Teaism.

IX

ESSENTIAL ANALYTICS

TEAISM (disambiguation) Teaism is a belief/thought system initiated by the revelation of The Teapot to the Honorable Octavius. It may also refer to:
A term coined by Okakura Kakuzo in his The Book of Tea.

Lucid Sententia XVI

Living systems are some of the most complex forms of being that that have emerged in our universe. In the mandane vastness of space and vacuum punctured occasionally with slightly more sophisticated collections of matter such as stars and galaxies, living beings as far as we know, stand apart in the sheer self sustaining complexity.

Being surrounded by life we have grown to take its complexity for granted; from swatting a mosquito, through slaughtering animals whose flesh we feed on, to finally killing of humans we deprive the universe of its most sophisticated creations.

Do it yourself Universe kit

Genetical engineering is often labeled as an activity akin to "Playing God". It is nothing, however to what the physicists get up to. This is an exerpt from an interview with Alan Guth - the creator of the "Inflation" model which describes the behavior of the universe shortly after the Big Bang. Shortly means within 10^-35sec of the Big Bang:

Given the inflationary model, it becomes very tempting to ask whether, in principle, it's possible to create a universe in the laboratory — or a universe in your backyard — by man-made processes.
The first question to look at is what would happen if you had a small patch of inflationary universe in the midst of our universe, never mind how it might have gotten there. Let's pretend that it exists, and ask how it evolves. It turns out that if this patch is big enough, it will grow to become a new universe, but it does this in a very strange way. It doesn't — and this is very important for environmental purposes — displace our universe. Instead, the patch forms a wormhole and slips through it. From our universe, it always appears very small and looks more or less like an ordinary black hole. But on the inside, the new universe is expanding and can become arbitrarily large, creating new space as it grows. It can easily become large enough to encompass a universe like the one we see. In a very short length of time, a small fraction of a second, it completely pinches off from our universe and becomes a totally isolated new universe.