THE RELATIONISTS
(the leaders of the Relational (R)Evolution in Gobal Society)
This Post (MIND TRUST) will be updated as frequently as needed to maintain a reasonably representative (certainly not exhaustively inclusive) list of Renowned/Distinguished Experts with links to the conversation ongoing herein from which we can expect the self-identification of a Community to emerge as THE RELATIONALISTS.
ROBERT ROSEN
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Whenever I decide to expose an idea which I think/believe/hope is “new, unique and possibly of some value”, the mine field I fear to tread is the uncertainty of what greater minds might have been here before me. Robert and I both arrived at the newly formed (by James F. Danielli, a former mentor of mine to whom I remain in forever-debt for his patient tolerance of this uncultured farmer) Center for Theoretical Biology at the State University of New York at Buffalo during the intellectually charged period of the late 1960’s. Although Robert and I were colleagues in the broader purposes of the Center, my embyonic meanderings through my intuitions regarding the notion of “relation” seemed to me not to be formally adequate for a dialog with this already renowned expert in “relational mathematics”, in particular, “relational biology”. I expect now, however, to re-visit Robert’s work frequently as this Blog unfolds, albeit I fear my trepidations of indequacy will remain unabated. I wish though this could have been a live dialog.
Initiating Acknowlegement
The efforts to be drawn on herein obviously rest on a plethora of contributions of others, most of which will not be cited in this Blog by choice, or by inadvertent omission or by ignorance of the author (the most likely predominating cause). There are two contributors, however, to the foundations of mathematical/logical/theoretical developments during the 20th century, Richard Threlkeld Cox and George Spencer-Brown, who will be featured. Spencer-Brown (Spencer-Brown 1969) originated a foundation for mathematics/logic from the common sense assumption of distinction with the primal distinction being the drawing of a boundary by which (signitorily) something (an order) is created from nothing particular. Cox (Cox 1961) showed that given an order it dictates a methodology that can be used to generalize the order (formalized as a lattice, an algebra, etc.) to a calculus by relying on relations of consistency with the order to derive the laws of the calculus. Cox’s work experienced its initial exposure relative to Maximum Entropy Theory through the monumental efforts of Edwin T. Jaynes and Myron Tribus in a critical climate “intent” on preventing it. But finally herein, and with no expressed bias regarding relative value by way of the ordering of the following list of researchers, the contributions of Cox and/or Spencer-Brown as presently being evolved are due in large part to Robert L. Fry, Kevin H. Knuth, Richard G.Shoup, and William Bricken. All in the know will recognize, not just their ideas, but the outright “borrowing” of pieces of their original text which may appear without proper specific acknowledgement.
Sun, Mar 4, 2007
R. ELATED MIND TRUST