The Science of Discworld II
Page 40
learning 154
lies 285–6
music as 264
ontic dumping 211
perception of 273
primary function 284
speech development 269, 290
and storytelling 158–9
Laplace, Pierre Simon de 304, 305
Law of Supply and Demand 51
laws of nature 19
Laws of Thermodynamics 189–93, 196
lead, alchemy 68
learning
cultural evolution 93–4
from failure 78–9
Leeuwenhoeck, Antonie van 72, 73
Leibniz, Gottfried wilhelm 77
Lemminkainen 157
Lennox, Annie 273
lenses, eyes 268
Leonardo da Vinci 69
libraries 50
Library of Congress 50
lies 340
detecting 285–6, 289
and evolution 284–6
‘lies-to-adults’ 291–2
‘lies-to-children’ 268, 291–3
perception and 289–90
life
autonomous agents 57
Elixir of Life 66–7
evolution 54, 55
light
cold dark matter 20
colour and 289–90
learning about 293
lions 109, 151
brain 149–50
cannibalism 117
and human evolution 90–1, 92
Liverpool 142
logic 166–7
love 216–17
Loxodonta africana 110–11
Loxodonta cyclotis 110–11
luck 157–8, 167
lungs, elephants 110*
lying see lies
M
Macbeth (Shakespeare) 343
MacCrellish, Frederick 242
mad cow disease 245*
magic
belief in 66
illusions 72
meanings 73–5
technology as 73, 75, 76
‘wonder of nature’ 73, 76
worldviews 248
Maidenhead 142
Malawi, Lake 134*
Malaysia 131
Malinowski, Bronislaw 264
Malta 112
mammals
evolution of sea-mammals 110*
evolution of titanotheres 310
The Man in the High Castle (Dick) 312
The Man Who Folded Himself (Gerrold) 314
mantis shrimps 119
‘many-worlds’ concept 197–8, 313
Mars 245*, 249
Marsh, David 92
Mary Tudor, Queen of England 65
Masai 132
mathematics
combinatorics 48–9
modelling innovation 55
phase spaces 43–8
pitch and harmony 270
tunes 271–3
matter
cold dark matter 20
distribution in universe 193–6
duality with mind 324
wormholes 315
Mayr, Ernst 110
Mead, Margaret 264
meaning
DNA 188
information and 184–5
meat-eating 95, 117
mechanical energy 189, 190
medicine
alchemy 67
homeopathy 71, 72
Paracelsus 67–8
medieval Europe, education 69
Mediterranean 125, 237
The Meme Machine (Blackmore) 329, 330
memeplexes 332
memes and memetics 328–33, 345
memories, art and 275
Memphis 120
mental models 25–7, 166
mercury 67, 68
messages
compressing 183–4
context 187–8
digital communications 182–3
entropy 189
language 284
meta-patterns 116
metals, alchemy 68
metaphors 26
Mickey Mouse 117
microscopes 72
Middle East 131
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare) 100, 327, 335–6, 342–4
migration, early humans 131–2
Milgram, Stanley 136
mimicry 284
mind
consciousness 22
duality with matter 324
evolution of 23
guessing what other people feel 282–3, 286
learning from failure 78–9
making choices 175
memes 328–33
mental models 25–7, 166
need for storytelling 31, 325, 326, 327
in pets 119
recognising lies 285–6
selectivity of perception 266–9, 290
theories of 19–21
Mind and the Universe (Bateson) 158–9
mineral acids 66
miracles 326
‘mitochondrial Eve’ 122–4
models
mental 25–7, 166
scientific 247–8
molecules, phase spaces 48
Mongols 121
monkeys 95
evolution 90–1, 107–8
lying 284–5
play 159
writing Hamlet 271
monogamy 141–2
monotheism 157, 172–3, 247
monsters 340–1
Montefiore family 141
Moon 342
formation of 56, 245*
ignorance of 170
landing on 26, 27
perception of 266–7
stories about 26–7
moons, solar system 47, 303
Morgan, Elaine 91–2
Morgan, Lewis 134
Morris, Desmond 265
Moses 76
Moses, Vivian 141
motion, laws of 56, 190–2, 303, 326
movement, patterns 269–70
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 262, 263, 264, 265
MRI scans 263
Murray, George 181, 183
muscles, patterns of movement 270
music
background music 262–3, 265
CDs 187–8
cultural influences 270–1
essence of 264–5
hearing 268
liking for 269
memes 330
musical ability 137
musical instruments 131
perception of 274–5
pitch and harmony 270, 274
‘primitive’ tribes 263, 264–5
recognition by babies 263–4
time in 242–3
tunes 271–3, 274–5
mutations
DNA 52
mitochondrial DNA 123
Muybridge, Eadweard 242
muzak 265
myelin 92
mysticism 66
mythology see storytelling
N
Nagel, Thomas 287, 288
Narrative Causality 23
narrative imperative 24, 324–5, 327, 341
‘narrativium’ 24–5, 26, 27, 30, 78, 152
nations
commitment strategies 215–16
tribalism and barbarism 138
‘natural’, as an illusion 265
natural philosophy 236
natural selection, altruism 213
Nature 288
nature, ‘wonder of nature’ 73, 76
Neanderthals 113–14, 216, 273
extinction 114, 134–5, 137
musical instruments 131
perceptual abilities 276–7
Needham, Joseph 67, 172
nervous system
transmission of signals 92
see also brain
Nesse, Randolph 215, 216
nests 94, 113
neurons, visual cortex 267, 288
neutrons
carbon formation 28–9
models of atom 247
New
Ageism 71, 344
New Guinea, tribes 95
New Orleans 264
New Testament 116
New York, taxi-drivers 51
newspapers
‘lies-to-adults’ 291–2
storytelling 31, 325–6
Newton, Isaac 71, 77
alchemy 68, 238–9
hidden knowledge 72
law of gravity 73, 303
laws of motion 190–2, 303, 326
Nigeria 116–17
Nile perch 134
nitric acid 66
Nixon, Richard 304
nobility, barbarian attitudes of 89, 99–100
Nod, land of 125*
Nørretranders, Tor 187
Norse legends 157
North Africa 141
North American Indians 121, 122, 265
Northern Ireland 173
Norway, storytelling 74
nose, vomeronasal organ 287
Nostradamus 170, 174
nuclear reactions, transmuting lead into gold 68
nuclear weapons 215
nucleotides, DNA 52
nucleus, carbon formation 28–9
nursery stories 74, 115–16, 157, 285
O
obedience to authority 136, 157
Obedience to Authority (Milgram) 136
O’Brien, Stephen 111
occultism 66–8
Olympus, Mount 206
ontic dumping 211, 212
opera 263, 265
Opie, Peter and Iona 115
optic nerve 266
orangutans 108
organisms
altruism 213–14, 215
complexity 57, 188
evolution 54, 55
genomes 185–6
orreries 237–8
Out of Africa theory, human evolution 122, 124, 131–3
overcommitment strategy 215, 216–18
ozone layer 326
P
pain, puberty rituals 135–6
paintings 235–6
by apes 265
cave paintings 113, 265, 275–6
images of God 344
looking at 266, 275
primitive paintings 265
Pan paniscus 88, 325
Pan troglodytes 88, 325
pantheism 77
parables 151, 156
Paracelsus 67–8, 70, 71, 169
paradoxes, time travel 313–14, 315–16
parallel universes 311, 313
parasites 155
particles, quantum mechanics 306–7
patterns
emergent dynamics 311–12
movement 269–70
pattern-seeking by brain 209
recognition of 91, 116
signals 183–4
peasants, tribal attitudes 99–100
Pecon-Slattery, Jill 111
Peking Man 113
Pennsylvania 142
Penrose, Roger 194–5
perception 273–7
art 275–6
hearing 268–9, 273
music 274–5
and reality 289–90
recognition of other people 282
vision 266–8
watching films 273–4
words of songs 273
Peretz, Isabelle 274
Perrault, Charles 155
PET scans 22, 263
Petitto, Laura Ann 154
pets 118–19
phase spaces
biology 51–5
biospheres 55, 56–7
dynamical systems 303–4, 305
economics 50–1
messages 193
music 271
physics 43–8, 53, 56
solar system 47, 303
thermodynamics 48, 54–5, 56, 193
pheromones 286–7
Philipp, Elliott 142*
‘philosopause’, scientists 238–9
Philosopher’s Stone 68
Philosophical Review 287
philosophy, worldviews 248
The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (Whewell) 236
Phoenicians 125
phonemes 269, 283, 290
physics
entropy 189–90, 192–3
fundamental constants 28, 30, 48
illusion of free will 175
Newton’s laws of motion 190–2
and paradoxes 315–16
phase spaces 44–8, 53, 56
quantum physics 196–7, 198
Theory of Everything 247
thermodynamics 189–93
time travel 314–16
and truth 290
Picasso, Pablo 265
pitch, music 270
Planck, Max 28
planets
astrology 66, 169–70
hidden knowledge 72
orreries 237–8
solar system 47, 303
plans 327
play
and cultural evolution 94
music as 269
with dogs and cats 118–19
plays 333, 340–1
Pluto 305
Poincaré, Henri 43–4, 50
Poland 141
polar bears 94
politics
‘lies-to-adults’ 291–2
memetics 345
polyphyletic species 122
polytheism 172
popular music 263
population, early humans 122–5
potential energy 45
prayer 246
predators
co-evolution 310
and human evolution 90–1
predictions
chaos theory 304–5
cheating 307–8
complex systems 305–6
divination 168
evolution 309–10
prophecy 173–4
scientific method 240, 248
storytelling and 166, 171
of universe 304–5
Y2K 173–4
pre-formation theory 72
present
predicting future 303–5
and sense of music 274
prey, co-evolution 310
Price, Derek de Solla 237
prices, Law of Supply and Demand 51
pride 138–9
priests 157
negative effects of 208–9
predictions 166
rituals 136, 210, 217–18
‘primitive’ tribes, music 263, 264–5
printing 99
privilege, in evolution 93
The Privileged Ape (Cohen) 74*, 136
Prodigal Son 116
prophets 156–7, 166, 170, 171, 173–4
proteins 186
protons
carbon formation 28–9
models of atom 247
psychology 73
puberty rituals 134–7
Puck 157
punishment 167
pygmy elephants 112
pyramid selling 329
Pythagoras’s Theorem 192
Pythagoreans 270
pythons 109
Q
qualia, consciousness 22
quantum mechanics 165, 198
and free will 174–5
information universe 196–7
‘many-worlds’ concept 197–8, 313
Planck’s constant 28
predictions 306–7
Theory of Everything 247
questions
‘what if’ questions 155–6, 311
‘why’ questions 47
R
racial differences, humans 122
radio 344
radioactivity 68
rainbows 293
Ramapithecus 108
Reagan, Ronald 66
reality, perception and 289–90
recognition of other people 282
red giant stars 28, 29, 30
reflexes 154
relativity
theory of 249
time travel 314–15
religion 205–13
atrocities 218, 220, 221–2
beliefs 206–8, 218–22
cargo cults 80
cat worship 120–1
conflicts with science and technology 171–2, 241
cultural identity 98
gods 205–6
memetics 331–3, 345
monotheism 172–3, 247
pantheism 77
priests 208–10
prophets 166
‘right way to heaven’ 157
rituals 217–18
rules 212
storytelling 326
tribal conflict 132*
universe and 209–12, 213
worldviews 248
Renaissance 65–6, 69–70, 71–2, 76, 344
‘Renaissance man’ 69
resonance, carbon formation 27, 29–30
retina 266–7, 268, 289
rewards, smiles as 153–4
Reynolds, Len 271*
rhythms
music 274
patterns of movement 269–70
ribosomes 186–7
Rite of Spring (Stravinsky) 264
rituals
priesthood 136, 210, 217–18
puberty rituals 134–7
and tribal identity 95–6
robust forms, evolution 109–11, 113
Roca, Alfred 111
rockets, Moon landings 27
Roman Empire 69, 99
romantic stories 75
roses, perception of 289–90
Rothschild family 141
Rudolf II, Emperor 68
rules 324
child development 77
complex systems 305
dynamical systems 303–4
fairy tales 155*
of history 302–3, 308
of physical world 77
religion 212
tribalism 116, 167
rumours 328
Rumpelstiltskin 115, 116, 327
Russia 275
S
sabretooth tigers 310
Sakhmet 120
sal ammoniac 66, 68
Samoa 264
sand, phase space 47–8
savannahs 90–1, 92, 108–9
Schechem 139–40
Schrödinger, Erwin 306*
Schrödinger’s equation 306–7, 326
science 235–50
conflicts with religion 171–2, 241
defining 235, 236, 239
development of 238
God and 77
hidden knowledge 71–2
limitations 72
models 247–8
objection to alternative theories 75–6
and pantheism 77
paradigm shifts 249
predictions 166
Renaissance 69, 71–2
role of 246
scientific method 32, 239–41, 243–5, 248–9, 344
spellings 236*
as storytelling 246–7, 248, 326
teaching with lies 293
technology and 238
worldviews 248
Science 111
Science and Spirit 215
science fiction
‘alternate universe’ stories 312–13
time travel 313–14
scientists, ‘philosopause’ 238–9
scientology 72
seafood, and human evolution 92
seasickness 274
Second Law of Thermodynamics 55, 57, 189–91, 193, 196
seeds 331
selection, puberty rituals 134–7
Self, sense of 21
The Selfish Gene (Dawkins) 328
semaphore 181, 183, 188
sense organs 266–9, 284, 286–7