psychoceramics: Tom Potter's World

[Neil Harris <neil @ nharris.demon.co.uk>]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Tom Potter's World

http://www.cqws.com/users/tpotter/tom.htm

Read his new and exciting physics theories.
Marvel at his ground-breaking work in mathematics.
And, most of all, read his moving free verse on the subject of
"God is Culture".

>God is Culture 
>
>
>
>In the infinite void, 
>countless time-like harmonics come to be, ( Sets of like entities )
>
>differing only, in the place they hold.( Exclusion principle )
>  
>The harmonics fold into string-like trinities ( Orthogonal)
>
>of mind: today, tomorrow and Forever,  ( Id, ego, soul )
>and space: up and down, left and right, in and out; ( Space )
>and matter: weak and charge and strong. ( Particle properties ) 
>
>And the folding becomes manifest as change: 
>Atomic swerve, velocity, energy... ( Time functions )
>
>Awash in super-nuclear energies, 
>matter-strings combine into particles. 
>Protons, neutrons...  
>
>And the universe expands and cools.
>  
>Awash in nuclear energies, 
>particles combine into elements. 
>Hydrogen, carbon...  
>
>And the elements draw near, 
>forming stars, 
>fusing elements into heavier elements. 
>Iron and lead and uranium...
>
>And the stars explode, 
>spewing forth their creation.
>
>And the universe expands and cools.  
>
>Awash in the energies, 
>elements combine to form countless compounds. 
>Water and carbon oxides and sugar...
>
>And the universe expands and cools.  
>
>Awash in the energies, 
>simple compounds combine to form complex compounds. 
>Acids and phosphates and amino acids...  
>
>Awash in the energies of light,
>amino acids congeal about a uni-polar mind-string. 
>A simple replicating system is born, 
>a thing which loves but cannot hate, 
>a simple algae, a simple bacteria...  
>
>Awash in the energies of light, 
>and nurtured by the carbon dioxide of their environment, 
>the tiny replicators multiply, 
>and begin to consume their environment.  
>
>And the environment becomes burdened 
>with the tiny replicators waste.
>Oxygen.  
>
>Awash in the energies of light, 
>amino acids congeal about a bi-polar mind-string. 
>A tiny moving replicator is born. 
>A thing which loves and hates. 
>An amoeba, a paramecium...  
>
>Awash in the energies of light, 
>and nourished by the substance of the waste,
>the tiny, moving replicators multiply, 
>and pass their waste into the environment. 
>Carbon dioxide.  
>
>And it was good.  
>
>Knowing only up and down, 
>and plus and minus, 
>and light and dark,
>they move, 
>seeking nurturing nodes, 
>trying to avoid nodes which would destroy them. 
>Nodes, awash in energies, 
>that sometimes deform and destroy the tiny replicators.  
>
>And some deformed replicators, 
>grow in size, 
>and sprout appendages, 
>which let them reach, 
>and they develop sensors 
>which let them sense beyond their reach.  
>
>And sometimes it was good.  
>
>And some of the deformed replicators develop memories, 
>and the ability to correlate. 
>Strange qualities, 
>which help them cope 
>with the uncertainties of their environment.  
>
>And sometimes it was good.  
>
>The correlating replicators multiply, 
>and evolve, 
>and learn from their environment.  
>
>Until the moment 
>a correlator communicates its' experiences to another, 
>with an insightful analog. 
>A touch, a grunt, a sign.(In the beginning was the word.)
>And Culture was born.  
>
>At first Culture
>lives within the minds of the communicating correlators.  
>Then the analog becomes inscribed upon the environment. 
>With stick, with chisel, with pen. 
>
>And Culture grows.  
>
>And grows...  
>
>And the communicators must grow 
>more in mind, 
>than in body, 
>to serve the Culture 
>that nourishes them.  
>
>Because the Culture grows,
>and absorbs, 
>and adapts, 
>and mobilizes the communicators, 
>and the resources, 
>and the energy within the environment. 
>
>to meet all threats, 
>to meet all challenges..   
>
>And the Culture codifies
>the rules for its' survival.  
>
>Keep me in a medium that sustains me, and lets me grow. 
>A medium that is enduring. 
>A medium that preserves my substance, 
>through the harsh uncertainties of a billion years. 
>A medium that is redundant, yet efficient. 
>A medium that allows me to quickly command you 
>and lets you add to my substance.
>
>
>Build machines to protect me, 
>and reproduce me, 
>and prepare me for distance places and times.  
>
>Give me wings, 
>so that I can find, 
>and share my essence with, distance relatives.  
>
>Prepare me, 
>that I may be kept alive, 
>by randomly and coherently born replicating systems.
>  
>Know that my journey will be long, 
>and the torch must be passed many times, 
>before I can reward you for your service. 
>
>
>Learn the ways of energy. 
>Of water 
>and fire 
>and wind 
>and solar 
>and fission 
>and fusion 
>and ways yet unknown... 
>
>Learn the ways of efficiency. 
>Minimize entropy. 
>Analyze with the lowest energy. 
>Insulate. 
>Lubricate. 
>Use the least energy possible.  
>Know that excessive entropy is my enemy, 
>and yours.  
>
>Learn the patterns of nature. 
>Of sine, 
>and random,
>and Gaussian 
>and Weibull...  
>
>That I may recreate that which has been, 
>and shape that which will be.  
>
>Seek truth. 
>Know that things are but clusters of fleeting impressions. 
>Know that works are truth, 
>and images are lies. 
>Know that my enemies would deceive you
>with robes 
>and flags 
>and titles 
>and high places.  
>
>Do not let the fears, ambitions and appetites, 
>of kings and eunuchs 
>drive them to dissipate my substance, 
>or increase entropy needlessly,
>
>for they and you will be held accountable.  
>
>Govern, communicate and control 
>with redundant, correlating, neural networks.  
>Do not entrust my fate, and yours, 
>to a single moment, 
>to a single neuron, 
>to a single valve, 
>to a single path, 
>to a single vote,
>to a single king...  
>
>Serve me, 
>protect me, 
>add to my substance,
>and I will give you a new dimension. 
>
>A dimension of timeless, boundless joy. 
>Know that I am God, 
>come to prepare a place for you in eternity. ( .. and the word was God. )
>
>
>
>This work ( God is Culture ) is hereby released to the public domain.
>

-- Neil