In physics, time is a fundamental concept that allows us to quantify the duration of events and the intervals between them. It is often considered a fourth dimension, alongside the three spatial dimensions of length, width, and height. Here are several key aspects of time in physics: 1. **Measurement**: Time is measured in various units, with the second being the SI (International System of Units) base unit. Other common units include minutes, hours, and days.
Anti-psychiatry is a movement that emerged in the mid-20th century, primarily as a reaction against certain practices and assumptions within the field of psychiatry. It critiques the way mental illness is defined, diagnosed, and treated, and challenges the biomedical model that often dominates psychiatric practice.
"Society of Mind" is a theory proposed by the cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky in his 1986 book of the same name. The central idea of the theory is that human intelligence arises from the interactions of non-intelligent agents or processes. Minsky suggests that the mind is not a single, unified entity but rather a "society" of different, specialized agents that work together to produce thought, emotion, and behavior.
"The Center of the Cyclone" is a book written by John C. Lilly, a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst, published in 1972. In the book, Lilly explores his experiences with altered states of consciousness, particularly through the use of sensory deprivation tanks, and discusses various aspects of human consciousness, existence, and the nature of reality.
"The Concept of Mind" is a significant philosophical work by Gilbert Ryle, published in 1949. In this book, Ryle critiques Cartesian dualism, which posits a strict separation between the mind and the body. Ryle argues that this division leads to what he refers to as the "ghost in the machine" problem, suggesting that viewing the mind as separate from the body creates unnecessary complications in understanding human behavior and mental processes.
"The Doors of Perception" is a philosophical work by Aldous Huxley, published in 1954. The book details Huxley's experiences with the psychedelic substance mescaline, which he ingested in order to explore the nature of human consciousness and perception. The title of the book references a quotation from the poet William Blake, who wrote, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
The Kekulé Problem refers to the question of determining the structure and properties of certain organic compounds, particularly those involving aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene. Named after the German chemist August Kekulé, the issue primarily centers around understanding how to represent the bonding and electron delocalization in these molecules, specifically the concept of resonance.
Physical paradoxes are situations or concepts in physics that appear to contradict established theories or intuitively accepted ideas, leading to perplexity or confusion. These paradoxes often highlight the limitations of current physical laws or theories and can prompt deeper investigation or the development of new theories. Some well-known examples of physical paradoxes include: 1. **Zeno's Paradoxes**: These paradoxes challenge the concepts of motion and infinity.
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions to explain, predict, and understand physical phenomena. It aims to develop conceptual frameworks that describe the laws of nature and the behavior of the physical universe, often focusing on fundamental aspects of reality that can be difficult to observe directly.
Background independence is a concept primarily used in theoretical physics, particularly in the context of general relativity and quantum gravity. It refers to the idea that the laws of physics should not depend on a fixed background structure, such as spacetime itself. In other words, the theory should be formulated in such a way that the geometry of spacetime is not predetermined or fixed, but rather emerges from the physical processes described by the theory.
The Correspondence Principle is a fundamental concept in physics, primarily associated with the transition from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics. It states that the behavior of quantum mechanical systems must converge to classical physics in the limit of large quantum numbers or when the system is described by macroscopic quantities. In essence, the Correspondence Principle asserts that any new theoretical framework (like quantum mechanics) should reproduce the results of an older, well-established theory (like classical mechanics) in situations where the older theory is applicable.
"Zen and the Art of Consciousness" is not widely recognized as a specific book or well-known text like "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. However, the phrase could refer to the intersection of Zen philosophy and consciousness studies, which explore the nature of awareness, perception, and the experience of being present.
Subjective experience refers to the individual's personal, internal perception of events, feelings, and thoughts. It encompasses the way a person interprets and interacts with the world based on their unique consciousness, emotions, memories, and interpretations. This concept is central to philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive sciences, as it addresses how subjective experiences influence and shape one's understanding of reality.
Critical realism is a philosophical approach that originated in the field of social science but has been applied more broadly, including in the philosophy of perception. It seeks to bridge the divide between the extremes of realism and idealism, maintaining that while the world exists independently of our perception, our understanding of it is always mediated by our perceptions, interpretations, and social contexts.
The philosophy of color is a branch of philosophical inquiry that examines the nature, perception, and significance of color. It encompasses a range of topics and questions that are both conceptual and metaphysical, including: 1. **Ontology of Color**: What is the nature of color? Are colors properties of objects, or are they subjective experiences in the mind of the perceiver?
Scottish common sense realism is a philosophical position that emerged in the 18th century, primarily associated with Scottish philosophers such as Thomas Reid, who is often considered its principal figure. It emphasizes the idea that humans have a natural, intuitive understanding of the world that provides a solid foundation for knowledge, as opposed to skepticism or more radical philosophical theories.
Subjective idealism is a philosophical doctrine asserting that reality is fundamentally mental and immaterial, primarily existing in the minds of individual perceivers. It posits that the only things we can be sure of are our own perceptions and experiences. Under this view, the external world does not have an independent existence apart from the consciousness that observes it.
Transcendental apperception is a concept primarily associated with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. It refers to the self-awareness or the consciousness of the self that is essential for the unity of experience. For Kant, apperception is the process by which the mind recognizes its own acts of cognition and relates them to a unified self. In Kant's framework, transcendental apperception is a necessary condition for experiencing the world as a coherent whole.
Clinical pluralism is an approach in healthcare that recognizes and integrates multiple methods, perspectives, and practices in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. This concept advocates for the use of various therapeutic modalities from different medical paradigms, including conventional medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, and other health practices that may not conform to the dominant biomedical model.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 5. . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact