Sunday, October 20, 2013

Indians VS. Redskins A Gift that Keeps Giving




Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.



 

 

Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.

If the NFL Football team in our nation’s capital changes its name to “Redscams” or something else because of political or social pressures, what good does that do anyone in real terms? Are we quits with tribal people for genocide, broken treaties, stolen children, cultures, languages, and unacknowledged contributions to our nation in war and peace and in every aspect of its constitution?
No, Native tribes still struggle to survive in a twisted maze of treaty rights and reservation lands that to this day they must battle to hold on to in the face of interests circling like coyotes beyond the campfire light. Don’t believe that railing against the Redskins football team solves anything for tribal interests, it does not.
Tribal interests in the 21st century are more corporate in nature than traditional. This recurring business of offense at a sports team logo is good for the publicity that no money can buy them.  After everything the tribes have lost, and all they have suffered, still they must survive; so they adapt nobly and cunningly to the times, and play the hand they are dealt.
If we truly care about tribal interests we must start by looking hard into the mirror. Only by seeing past the cartoon images and two-dimensional ideas of Native American Indians can we see them as fellow human beings who live and breathe and suffer and heal as we all do every day.  As many tribal acquaintances have expressed to me, the chief insult is to be seen as a stereotype and in effect made not human.  I don’t claim to speak for any individual of any Native tribe as to whether he or she feels demeaned by the Redskins’ name or logo, or the term ‘Indian’ or something else; because each of them has a voice with which to speak for them-selves. Tribal leaders speak for the tribe just as politicians speak for Americans: ho ho, what a laugh.


Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.
 

 


Monday, July 8, 2013

In the Great By and By

<
I've been away too long; but I'm still making notes,
and in time our journey through Whitehead and
Russell's take on mathematical philosophy shall
continue on.
 
 
I've been capturing my share of Indian Images.
 
 
And Ms Bardot's poise and fearless confidence 
has always inspired me.

Hal Foster teaches us to be calm
when peril is all around.

 


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

56. Equivalence and Formal Rules


Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant

© Respective copyright/trademark holders.

“In mathematics, the greatest degree of self-evidence is usually not to be found quite at the beginning, but at some later point; Hence the early deductions, until they reach this point, give reasons rather for believing the premises because true consequences follow from them, than for believing the consequences because they follow from the premises.”









Dan DeCarlo The greatest of all time comic book artist!

Archie Andrews Gang   © Respective copyright/trademark holders.


Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant

© Respective copyright/trademark holders.


Artists unknown © Respective copyright holders.



Pencils: Stan Goldberg  Inks: Jon D'Agostino Josie Gang 
TM & © Respective copyright/trademark holders.



 Personally I approach this work with great confidence, and so very much of its apparent complexity melts away. The oppressive notations that the authors felt that (rightly) it was necessary to include in order hold the attention of conventional mathematicians, skeptical, at best, of this, then very modern work. By laying their proofs with each proceeding proposition and the extensive demonstrations of certain further proofs. By now we should be well able to read these equations and discern at least some varying meaning from them. Just to repeat the key to opening up an understanding to this section, all propositions are to be numbers which are all either 1 or 0.

    Treated as a "calculus," the rules of deduction are capable of many other interpretations. But all other interpretations depend upon the one here considered, since in all of them we deduce consequences from our rules, and thus presuppose the theory of deduction. One very simple interpretation of the "calculus " is as follows: The entities considered are to be numbers which are all either 0 or 1; "p:) q" is to have the value 0 if p is 1 and q is 0; otherwise it is to have the value 1;, p is to be 1 if p is 0, and 0 if p is 1; p. q is to be 1 if p and q are both 1, and is to be 0 in any other case; p v q is to be 0 if p and q are both 0, and is to be 1 in any other case; and the assertion-sign is to mean that what follows has the value 1. Symbolic logic considered as a calculus has undoubtedly much interest on its own account; but in our opinion this aspect has hitherto been too much emphasized, at the expense of the aspect in which symbolic logic is merely the most elementary part of mathematics, and the logical prerequisite of all the rest. For this reason, we shall only deal briefly with what is required for the algebra of symbolic logic.      
 
I can’t help wondering if Whitehead and Russell may have erred in dismissing the binary calculus that runs our computers today. It seems to be right on the tip of their tongues. Still they clearly had other fish to fry, and this work certainly demanded a focused attention.

Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant

© Respective copyright/trademark holders.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

55. The Logical Product Of Two Propositions



Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.



 






Story and Art: John Stanley and Irving Tripp  Little Lulu 
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.




Illustration: Meyers - 1912 Outdoor Life & Indian Stories

Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.

Big Chief Western  Feb 1941

I am a bit slow sometimes. After reading this material over and over I have finally realized what has been bothering me. I understand the material easily on a visceral level, but the descriptions, and most especially the proofs built in by the authors are a great labor for me to digest, and I have been feeling frustrated by this. Now after so many re-readings I managed to penetrate the systems order of proofs; though I am sure it is clear enough to someone with a more mathematical bend of mind.
Still even as I am back to enjoying this material again, I do have to take a bit of time to digest it before making each future post, and it seems for now about every two weeks will be the best I can manage.


Superman and Supergirl © TM Respective copyright/trademark holders.


Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

54. *2.more on Immediate Consequences Of The Primative Propositions


Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.















James Childress’ Conchy © Respective copyright/trademark holders.

© Respective copyright/trademark holders

Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.


© Respective copyright/trademark holders

 I’ve been having an awful urge to break-up with this blog. I have a strong desire to be with it, but it seems to have become so demanding and laborious to post that I am feeling… inadequate. I have been thinking about that a lot and all analysis tells me that I am bored and lazy with this and upcoming posts, but I see them as key, and I just can’t let myself skip this material over.

Clearly the early parts outlining mathematical logic are essentially expansions of basic metaphysics we have already absorbed as parts of logical philosophy. Our authors are expanding the equational expressions of the bare bones previous treatment. My personal problem here is not one of understanding the material, but simply taking it into my tired old brain. Having spent fifty years avoiding any meaningful entanglement with ‘higher’ mathematics I feel like I’ve painted myself into a corner. This subject has definitely dropped out of my paramount interest, but I still love the material and I cannot give this blog up just yet. I’m not content with two posts a month, but that may be all I can handle for awhile.

I’m reminded of a quote from William James I posted somewhere above but will use again here:

“My dying words to you are “Say good-bye to mathematical logic if you wish to preserve your relations with concrete realities!”

Truly yours,

Wm. James

October 4, 1908

I am studying mathematics to come in closer touch with ambiguity. Is there anyone with me on this aspect? I see this is the most rational stairway that western thinkers can use in approaching the North American shaman mind.
© Respective copyright/trademark holders
 

Harold R. (Hal) Foster’s Prince Valiant
© Respective copyright/trademark holders.