The Radical Philosophy Of Allan Kurzberg: Exchanging Thoughts With A Being From Another Planet, Part 1.

July 30, 2017 Leave a comment

As some of the succeeding postulates become quite involved, I decided to include this fanciful dialogue to help the reader gain a clearer understanding of Kurzberg’s views. In this dialogue, Kurzberg visualizes a being from another planet in which reason is the dominant force that motivates the being’s actions.

Tybol:  Let me say that it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kurzberg.  I’ve enjoyed wandering around the earth and studying its history.

Allan:  Please call me Allan.   Do you have names on your planet?  And, if so, what is your name?

Tybol:  Our sounds are not quite equivalent to yours, but if you call me Tybol, that will be a close approximation. Certain sounds predominate as they do in your languages.  However,  our language is quite precise, has one grammatical structure, and is devoid of the ambiguities and the figurative connotations that are part of your language system.

Allan:  Then, everyone on your planet speaks the same language?

Tybol:  Correct.  I know that on your planet you have quite a myriad of languages, so it is not surprising that communication is often difficult.  But, even if one selected one language, you would still have difficulty communicating, because of the imprecision of terms and the dependence of gesture.

Allan:  Then gesture is not a part of your language?

Tybol:  No.  The sounds that we make are understood by all without the need of gesture.

Allan:  With your emphasis on reason, do you consider yourself an advanced civilization?

Tybol:  We don’t use terms like advanced or backward, inferior or superior, for those are judgmental words that insult those whom we would designate as backward or inferior.  As you have written, judgments of comparison create an “Other” and an atmosphere of distance.  From such judgments anger and mistrust follow.  That situation is what our inner reason tells us to avoid.

Allan:  But isn’t it impossible to have a society that doesn’t use comparisons?

Tybol:  No.  Let me tell you something about life on our planet, Allan.  We view ourselves as a whole which every member of the planet is a piece of.   Each member has something wonderful to contribute to the life of our planet.  We use terms such as “discovery” and “exploration” in connection with our fellow beings.  We try to meet and learn from as many beings as we can, because this is what makes our lives so exciting and surprising.  We would never use terms that induce isolation or discontent, since we would be harming ourselves and depriving us of the joy of getting to know other beings.

Allan:  So you trust your fellow creatures?

Tybol:  Absolutely.  There is no reason not to.

Allan:  That type of thinking would be unthinkable on our planet.  As you probably know, our history is full of mayhem and destruction of our fellow humans.  Doesn’t anyone on your planet ever get the urge to harm or injure someone?

Tybol:  Why should we wish to harm or destroy that which we most admire and cherish?  It doesn’t make any sense.  Further, it would be a sheer act of masochism to do what you suggest, because we would be limiting our own growth.  I cannot understand why you allow such rampant destruction of human life on your planet, which might be depriving you of future medical researchers, astronomers, artists and individuals with great insight into the problems humanity faces.  And, it seems incredible to us that you would follow leaders who are clearly mentally unbalanced and carry out their nefarious orders.  Why do you do this?

Allan:  I really have no definite answer to your question, Tybol.  It is a puzzle to many of us as well.  That certain forms of mental illness are linked in many people’s minds to power and strength, cannot be denied.  Why there is such a strong attraction, yes, and fear to mentally unbalanced individuals, is something we don’t really understand.

 

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The Radical Philosophy Of Allan Kurzberg And His Fundamental Postulates, Part 2.

July 4, 2017 2 Comments

What follows are Allan’s  thoughts on the implications of the First Postulate:  “…  Since mathematical reasoning is the highest form of reasoning that we humans have developed, and since, according to P1, we distort the truth more than any other species, we have the main reason for a universal study of mathematics:  to undo false reasoning through careful mathematical reasoning.  Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the more mathematical reasoning is applied to every facet of our lives, especially to our personal, the less contradictions will occur in our lives.  The reader might wonder why.  The answer lies in the kind of language that mathematics represents:  It is an objective language that seeks to prove statements through a series of conditional statements using precise definitions or previously proved theorems.  Mathematics does have synonyms and does use symbols that have different contextual meanings, but never foregoes consistency and brevity whenever possible.  In addition, mathematics involves a kind of generalizing that often leads to universals.  Most importantly, no mathematical system allows for contradiction, which is definitely not the case with other human-contrived systems such as political or social…  In my Theory of Us, I try to locate universals which will subsume all possible human interactive behaviors…  Thus, I feel that the primary reason for studying mathematics is the universal need to apply mathematical reasoning to disprove false statements, whatever field they arise from.  Such a universal need should be the first thing listed in any preface about mathematics.  Perhaps, some of the resistance many feel and fear about mathematics is due to the intrinsic awareness that mathematics is hostile and unmerciful towards human falsehoods and negative states of mind that so often engulf us.  I will call such overwhelming negative states OE-(negative overwhelming energy), which I will expand on later.  One thing I will say is that to attain world peace we must learn to detect, define and minimize OE-.  Our very survival may depend on our ability to do so…  People might say that not every one is capable of mathematics and on a certain level this is true.  Humans may vary enormously in their capacity for abstract reasoning and not everyone can prove limit theorems so essential for understanding calculus.  However, if we state simply that calculus enables us to delve into the infinite, helping us to study instantaneous motion, quantum mechanics, and the theory of relativity, the reader would at least gain some understanding of the enormous scope mathematics has.  I would add the above facts to our mathematical preface in a purely descriptive way so that many would understand the implication of mathematical reasoning.  I would also include some of the magic of the Cartesian graph, which enables us to view the behavior of simple and complex equations in our preface.  However, no such preface has ever been written…  Mathematics is a series of carefully defined and proven steps that lead to further growth in its carefully built structure.    Postulates and theorems have led to many branches of mathematics, which it would be ludicrous to ignore in any preface that purports to describe the purpose of mathematical thought.  But it is just as ludicrous not to describe mathematics as being reason’s most essential tool for dislodging falsehood, deception and misrepresentation…”

In the next post, Allan Kurzberg reveals his 2nd Postulate and what he calls the Corollary of Human Existence.

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The Radical Philosophy Of Allan Kurzberg And His Fundamental Postulates, Part 1.

June 25, 2017 Leave a comment

I first became acquainted with Allan Kurzberg when I was a freshman at USC.  It was a time of immense turmoil and change, but also a time of great excitement and discovery.  Many college students were seeking alternative lifestyles other than those propounded by “The Establishment.”  The reason for this was simple:  the lifestyle emanating from “The Establishment” was producing a plethora of lies, bodies of prejudice, and the Vietnam War, resulting in countless injuries and deaths.  Many students thought of alternative lifestyles that encompassed communes, the Hippies of San Francisco, philosophies from the Far East, especially meditation as practiced by famous Maharishis.  Youths were also reading about the links between science and psychology, mathematics and computers.  To cope with the rigid mindset of “The Establishment”, young people smoked marijuana, took PCP and LSD to reach other mental states than were condoned by the AMA.  Families were not only torn by war, but by “the generation gap”, which led to a total breakdown in the family structure, the shock waves of which are still affecting the present.  It was a time when one person could change the world and each was encouraged to  “do your own thing”.  People used profanity as a rebellion against the norm and as a strike for human freedom.  Sex became far more casual and explicit.  The notion of premarital sex as a taboo was tossed out the window.  The Living Theater performed on streets and in parks.  And there were “sit-downs” and riots across college campuses as the emotions of anger engulfed the U.S.  The authoritarian approach that had for so long defined the hierarchy of professor and student broke apart, and closer, more meaningful relationships were developed and encouraged.  Especially, there was much talk of peace, while paradoxically, different factions were building.  It was during this epochal time that my then girlfriend, Janet, suggested that I look at Allan Kurzberg’s essays on the Theory of Us.  I told her that I already had a full course load and had numerous books I wanted to read.  Why should I read Kurzberg?  She told me that in her opinion he was the only true radical, because he opposed both “The Establishment” and the youth.  She thus led me into a hitherto unknown world:  the mind of Allan Kurzberg.

His first essay was entitled:  The Fundamental Postulates.  I started reading and found myself absorbed by a writer that was a curious mixture of strict reason and digressions.  “In this essay I have attempted to establish the cornerstone to the Theory of Us.  In my writing I use some principles of mathematical reasoning when applicable…  Different branches of psychology remind me of lonely subsets in search of a universal set.  Each is merely a limited, restricted set of elements…    The Main Postulate, 1. reads:  There is no species on earth that lies, prevaricates or dissembles more than the human species.  Since to lie is to speak falsely and no other species can “speak” in the way that we define it;  as an assemblage of sounds so sequenced  and intoned as to give expression so broad it allows not only for denotation, but connotation as well, our case is proved.  We might also accept the postulate, since no counter example can be proffered.  We do know that camouflage is widespread in the animal and insect kingdom, but this is only for survival.  Humans can use camouflage on, say, Halloween, and the object is sheer play, not survival…”

I must say that I found Kurzberg’s essays the most difficult of any essays I had ever read.  It was not on account of their intelligibility, but rather that I found myself being challenged, so I retaliated by writing NOs on many of the pages, and, in some cases, actually writing rebuttals.  Now, after almost fifty years have passed, I’m not sure I was altogether correct in my objections…

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