The nature of the universe

The physicist: "I wonder what the nature of the universe is. Lets do experiments to find out"

The philosopher: "I wonder what the nature of the universe is. Lets find out by discussing it"

The author: "I wonder what the nature of the universe is. Lets define it as whatever we want it to be"

The theist: "This is what the nature of the universe is. Believe it, of go to hell"

Neural gridlock

The brain is an amazing organ. At an instants notice, all the thought and memories assosciated to a particular idea can be cunjured up. This allows all the information required to make a decision instantly accessable.

This is all possible due to the way the brain is wired. Thoughts are what happens when neurons "fire". When two neurons fire simultaneously, a new neuron is grown, joining the two. This means that when the brain has two thoughts or sensations at the same time, an assosciation is made between the two. For instance, if you touch something, and feel pain at the same time, a neuron is grown between area of the brain that deals with the idea of pain and the area of the brain which deals with the idea of touching that object. Thus, an association is made between touching that object and pain (just try imagining putting your hand in boiling water).

So, when a neurons is fired, more fire of from the original. As we grow older and learn more things, more neural connections are made. Eventially, the point will be reached where each neuron has at least one connection to it. If we suppose that, for every neuron that is fired (ie a thought occurs), 2 more two more neurons fire off. The number of neurons firing in the brain will increase exponentially from a single thought. If this were the case, then eventually, the point would be reached in which every neuron is trying to fire at once. If this were the case, then no logical thoughts could be made.

To prevent this, the brain has developed two inbuilt mechanisms. Firstly, we are able to forget redundant information. Although this can often seem like a hinderance at times, this vastly streamlines and speeds up the thought process, and allows more thoughts to occur simultaneously.

Secondly, we are able so sleep. This allows us to shut down all conscious thought. Then, in the morning, the brain is free from thoughts. Thinking is clearer because there is less "noise"; in otherwords there are no mental distractions.

What is magic?

In literature, the idea of magic is used a lot. In these fictional worlds, magic exists. Logically, if something exists, then it has a physical basis. If something has a physical basis, then it must be explainable and scientifically valid. Thus, in these worlds, magic must be built upon scientifically valid principles.
The dificulty I see therefore, is in distinguishing between something that is "magical" and between something that is "technologcal". If something works by magic, why do we not say that it is working by technology? The only explanation i can give is that the word "magic" is used to describe technology that functions in a way we dont understand.

Interestingly, "magic", seems to be used as an satisfactory explanation, despite it being a total lack of explanation.

Now, imagine we have an analogous word to describe things in the real word that we dont understand. For now, i shall call this word "x", although any word would have the same meaning. So, if there is something that is unexplained, we describe it as X. Now, over time, jsut like the word magic, X becomes an explanation. Anything that is unexplainable by current knowledge is explained as X. In peoples mind, X becomes imagined as a force, because only a force could explain all things that would otherwise be inexplicable.

Some things can be explained by logical deduction from current knowledge (science). However, there is always a limit to understanding; in understanding a principle or process, a new question arises, that is, what is the reason behind the reason. This idea of limited knowledge can be expressed by the question "if x can be explained by y, how do we explain y?". Any scientific fact, no matter how vast our understanding of the universe, can always be reduced to an inexplainable principle in this way.

However, as we saw earler, X is an explanation that can be used for anything. X must therefore be an infinatly powerfull force. With X, we have a satisfying explanation for any gaps in our knowledge. This can be very comforting as it can be unsettling to be unable to explain something. Therefore, the idea of X an an opnipotent force becomes popular.