by Larry Campbell | Feb 18, 2022 | Explanations |
What the heck is the Tao Te Ching anyway ? A Google search will undoubtedly reveal something to this extent (cobbled together by Campbell):
The Tao Te Ching is an ancient (4th or 5th century BCE) text which translates very roughly as “the way of integrity”. Authorship is usually attributed to Lao Tzu, though whether such a single person actually existed is uncertain. In its 81 verses it delivers a treatise on how to live in the world with goodness and integrity.
Those are the bare facts, and doesn’t really tell the whole story. Here is a much more beautiful characterization, written by William Martin, and excerpted from the Foreword of The Parallel Tao Te Ching book:
It is a gentle book in an aggressive society. It is a quiet book in an age of noise. It is a peaceful book in the midst of hate and violence. It is a book of contentment in a world of discontent. It is about as counter-culture as a book can possibly be, yet it continues to be read in hundreds of translations around the world by millions of people who find wordless solace in its simple words. It is a short, enigmatic, and altogether lovely collection of ancient Chinese characters, presented in poetic form, that attempt the impossible—to present in words the Mystery of existence that forever eludes words and speech.
The Tao Te Ching, while rightfully revered throughout the millennia, has never suffered the fate of becoming a Holy Book. It makes no claim to special Divine inspiration, though it has brought inspiration to countless millions over the centuries. No one has ever fought a war in its name nor burned people at the stake for not accepting its literal meanings. It is fully human, and therein lies its power. . . . Ordinary people simply read it in whatever translation speaks to them, muse upon the meaning of its messages, and gratefully let it be exactly what it is—a beautiful expression of wisdom and encouragement that arises from a clear understanding of “the Way the World Works.”
See more information on The Parallel Tao Te Ching: A Compliation of English
by Larry Campbell | May 30, 2021 | Explanations |
A CONDITIONAL statement is one of the form P –> Q. (P implies Q; if P, then Q; etc.)
EXAMPLE: If you have 4 quarters, then you have change for a dollar.
The CONVERSE of a conditional statement is Q –> P. (It’s where the phrase ‘and conversely’ comes from in daily English usage.)
EXAMPLE: If you have change for a dollar, then you have 4 quarters.
Note that while that may be true, it doesn’t necessarily follow. Concluding that is does follow is to be guilty of The Fallacy of the Converse.
The INVERSE of a conditional statement is [Not P] –> [Not Q].
EXAMPLE: If you don’t have 4 quarters, then you don’t have change for a dollar.
Note that while that may be true, it doesn’t necessarily follow. Concluding that does follow is to be guilty of The Fallacy of the Inverse.
The CONTRAPOSITIVE of a conditional statement is [Not Q] –> [Not P].
EXAMPLE: If you don’t have change for a dollar, then you don’t have 4 quarters.
Note that this DOES necessarily follow!! We say that the Conditional and the Contrapositive are logically equivalent.
Side note (ignore if you wish). We also note that the Converse and Inverse are logically equivalent to each other. (Since one is the Contrapositive of the other.)
by Larry Campbell | Dec 13, 2020 | Explanations |
Here is an early PREVIEW of AME ‘happenings’ in 2021
First Wednesday Report, Bi-Weekly Mailings
As you know, December 14 is/was the last Bi-Weekly Photo Sharing for 2021. The regular mailings will pick up again in January, likely January 11. Our new feature the First Wednesday Report, will arrive on Jan 6. (It will have more information on all these items.
Annual Self Check & Subscriber Input (with Financial Rewards :-))
What is working well with AME? What can we improve? What good NEW ideas are out there? We ask ourselves these questions constantly, but especially at year’s end, which is when we see YOUR input!! Be thinking about what you like (and/or don’t like) about the Mailings, and watch for the chance to give input when we start back up. EVERY subscriber who give (Identifiable) input will receive a Disount Certificate, and anyone who contributes an idea we use will receive a VERY SPECIAL gift! So, A) be thinking, and B) watch for more details.
AME Adventures in Learning – Great Fun Ahead!
We will be starting a new series in late January (31st?) and going full steam monthly after that!! There will be short (30 minutes?) video (probably Zoom?) sessions which meet once a week through a month (usually a total of 4 times) on a variety of FUN and INTERESTING topics for the whole family. The first set of fun ‘classes’ will be FREE to AME subscribers. (After that, we’ll see.)
.Topics Coming in February (each 4 weeks):
1 Rollin’ Down the River Follow the entire Missouri River, and see beautiful scenery and more!!
2. Family Fun With Math Loads of FUN topics, games, and brain teasers for families or individuals!
For questions, comments, and/or to express interest in a topic, reply to the Mailing or use this CONTACT form.
by Larry Campbell | Nov 15, 2020 | Explanations |
Here are the (ongoing) updates about the release of MORE Spitballs from the Back Row:
E-Book (Kindle)
* The Kindle Version of the book was released on Wednesday, Nov 18. It may be ordered NOW by using this Amazon link. The price is $3.14. (Cool price, eh?)
Paperback
The paperback was released and is now available on Amazon (at $8.88), or contact me directly for other options (including signing).
by Larry Campbell | Jul 9, 2020 | Explanations |
For this Drawing, I decided to do an old-fashioned (?) physical drawing, rather than using a random number generator.
Using my Drawing spreadsheet, I printed out a list of the names associated with each of the eleven (11) entries. Then I cut each name out separately, folded them twice and put them into a small container.
At this point, I enlisted my wife. I held the container of names above our heads and asked her to draw out two names, one at a time. I noted the order of drawing on each entry, and proceeded to notify each of the winners from there.
by Larry Campbell | Jan 26, 2020 | Explanations, Other Fun Stuff |
Claim: All Numbers are Interesting
Proof: We prove this by contradiction: Suppose there were numbers that weren’t interesting. Collect them all up, so that now you have the set of all numbers that aren’t interesting. Now look at the smallest number in this set*. What you have is the smallest number that is not interesting. Now that’s interesting! Whoops – we just reached a contradiction!! (It is interesting after all).
This contradicts our hypothesis, and thus proves the claim. (Or if you prefer, throw out that mistake, and go back and repeat the above paragraph as often as needed.)
***
*In case the set is infinite, see the latest Brain Teasers, Bonus #1.
