The period around 1900 showed a rapid development in science.
Sigmund Freud introduced his psychology. Arthur Evans discovered the pre-hellenistic roots of our civilization.
Hugo de Vries stood at the cradle of what we now call genetics and rediscovered Mendel's laws of heredity.
Also in physics happened a lot in a short period. The ancient Greeks already had suggested that matter was composed of small particles.
At the beginning of the 18th century Isaac Newton thought, that atoms were invisible and indivisible small billiard ball like particles.
But what about the empty "space" between these tiny balls? If matter were composed of atoms, what were atoms composed of?
Were they the smallest particles, or was there something smaller? In the late 1800s, a number of scientists, interested in questions like these,
investigated the electrical discharges that could be produced in low-pressure gases, with the most significant discovery made by English physicist J. J. Thomson (1856 - 1940) using a cathode ray tube.
This apparatus consisted of a sealed glass tube from which almost all the air had been removed; the tube contained two metal electrodes.
When high voltage was applied across the electrodes, a visible beam called a cathode ray appeared between them.
This beam was deflected toward the positive charge and away from the negative charge, and interacted with magnetism. You could deflect the beam with a magnet.
In similar experiments, the ray was simultaneously deflected by an applied magnetic field, and measurements of the extent of deflection
and the magnetic field strength allowed Thomson to calculate the charge-to-mass ratio of the cathode ray particles.
The results of these measurements indicated that these particles were much lighter than atoms. Thus the electron was discovered and the basics for making a television.
Television became available in crude experimental forms in the late 1920s, but it would still be several years before the new technology would be marketed to consumers.
After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white TV broadcasting became popular in the United States and Britain,
and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion.
Just imagine how the scientific developments in the 20th century have shaped our world of today. We can no longer imagine a world without television.
More dangerous in this search for the smallest particles was, that it eventually also ended in creating the atom bomb.
But how we see the world was not only revolutionized by science. Also fine art contributed to the revolution.
On October 25, 1900, the train from Barcelona arrived in Paris at the Gare d'Orsay. One of its passengers was Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973). He was then only 19 years old.
Picasso was in Paris because of the Exposition Universelle. In the Spanish pavilion was his painting "Last Moments" exhibited.
What maybe not everyone knows, Picasso was at that age a very promising and talented, but still traditional, figurative painter.
His cubism only emerged in 1907 with his painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon " which introduced a whole new approach to art, its function and meaning.
In other words, already from the very beginning of the 20th century science and art caused, that the world from then on never would be the same anymore.
Thank you for your attention again.....
The Discussion
[13:21] Ciska Riverstone: thanx herman
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:21] Aph (aphrodite.macbain): thank you
[13:22] herman Bergson: Again we see that evolution needed millions of years to change our being in this world, while the 20th century needed only periods of decennia to do the same
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed we take many things fro granted nowadays without giving them a 2nd thought
[13:23] herman Bergson: We are exposed to changes these days at high speed.....
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like the tv
[13:23] herman Bergson: indeed Bejiita....
[13:24] Aph (aphrodite.macbain): and SL!
[13:24] herman Bergson: Although the effect on our existence is enormous
[13:24] herman Bergson: Indeed Aph....and the Internet in general
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and speaking of atoms, the CRt also gave birth to the particle accelerator, an old tv tube and the LHC basically operate on the same basic principle
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): allowing us to further study the atoms and similar
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): while we watch more and more crap on the tv
[13:25] herman Bergson: And we have found a lot of new particles indeed....I knew you would love this Bejiita ^_^
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hehe
[13:25] Aph (aphrodite.macbain): I was thinking about the influence of Darwin and his natural selection
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we have for sure
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): also the www was created by a guy at CERN
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the link system with browsers and similar
[13:26] herman Bergson: The most interesting observation could be that homo sapiens seems to be capable of keeping u with these rapid changes in his environment
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its a CERN creation
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): otherwise we would probably still use some BBS like system
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm indeed, and toddlers today take IPads as granted as wooden toys
[13:27] herman Bergson: It is amazing to see how easy we take things for granted
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): because they have "always" been around us
[13:28] druth Vlodovic: I find it odd that proto humans needed 200,000 years to figure out tying rocks to sticks, now we are shuttling through changes like mad
[13:28] herman Bergson: yes we grew up in this world Bejiita
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): while elon musk sends electric cars into space
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): lol
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): electric
[13:28] herman Bergson: YEs Druth
[13:28] druth Vlodovic: I wonder what would happen if an animal managed to hit the right cognitive method of inventing and adapting technologies
[13:29] Aph (aphrodite.macbain): I am afraid I must go. Thank you!
[13:29] herman Bergson: That is what I was wonder just now....
[13:29] druth Vlodovic: ttfn aph
[13:29] herman Bergson: Has evolution come to an end?
[13:30] John Howard Cassio (sticaatsi): Ciao Aph
[13:30] herman Bergson: or are we just some little aberration of evolution, which makes us what we are compared to the animal kindom?
[13:30] herman Bergson: kingdom
[13:30] druth Vlodovic: I think it was "childhood's end" where humans reverted to a primitive state after achieving spaceflight, intelligence was just a reaction to overcrowding like locusts
[13:31] bergfrau Apfelbaum: the evolution never ends, our grandchildren have big plans :-)
[13:32] herman Bergson: But intelligence appeared long before the world was overcrowded
[13:32] herman Bergson: Humanity could change due to genetic engineering....
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:34] herman Bergson: But we won't witness that in our lifetime, I assume
[13:34] bergfrau Apfelbaum: hmm yes
[13:35] herman Bergson: Will the future be that we help evolution a little bit?
[13:35] herman Bergson: But in what direction?
[13:35] Ciska Riverstone: the chip underneath the skin could become true for some of us here
[13:36] herman Bergson: That is possible indeed Cisca
[13:36] herman Bergson: It already exists....
[13:36] Ciska Riverstone: yes
[13:36] Ciska Riverstone: so maybe we all get chipped at one point
[13:36] herman Bergson: Like electronic brain stimulation for epileptic patients
[13:36] Ciska Riverstone: yes
[13:36] druth Vlodovic: there is a youtuber who inserted a bit of magnet under his skin (turned out to be a bad idea) so he would be able to sense magnetic fields
[13:37] Ciska Riverstone: or direct access to wikipedia ;)
[13:37] druth Vlodovic: imagine the popup ads
[13:37] Ciska Riverstone: lol yes
[13:37] herman Bergson: and the viruses...!
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako) whispers: OOOW
[13:37] Ciska Riverstone: totally
[13:37] herman Bergson: We could be hacked!
[13:37] John Howard Cassio (sticaatsi): Maybe tatuated chips
[13:38] druth Vlodovic: you see if Picard had helped the Borg install Facebook...
[13:38] John Howard Cassio (sticaatsi): chips so tiny to be tatuated
[13:38] John Howard Cassio (sticaatsi): chips that use nanotechnologies
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:38] herman Bergson: It is probably all in the pipeline....
[13:39] Ciska Riverstone whispers: and a voice in your head that often repeats "don't eat cookies"
[13:39] druth Vlodovic: I heard a lecture that called humans natural cyborgs since the first thing we do is enhance our natural abilities with tools
[13:39] herman Bergson: But again.....what you see is that we only needed one century to achieve all this
[13:40] herman Bergson: Well, Druth, there are a number of animals that use tools too
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): apes do that
[13:40] herman Bergson: homo sapiens is not unique in using tools
[13:40] herman Bergson: even some birds
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:41] druth Vlodovic: so what was the tipping point? using tools to make tools? or having an ideology of discovering? or of sharing knowledge?
[13:41] herman Bergson: What I also find most interesting is how art completely has changed....
[13:42] herman Bergson: I guess one of the first things, Druth, was our consciousness of time....
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): however we are the only ones using machine tools
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): however they are also older then o thought
[13:42] herman Bergson: The knowledge that we will be here tomorrow too
[13:43] herman Bergson: which forces us to plan ahead
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the lathe was the first and the principle is several 1000 years ol
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): old
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): when they figured out that you could spin and object and then shape it with cutting tools
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the only difference to the machine i use at work is the gearbox and 3 phase electric drive
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but the base principle is same
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): drills have been used for as long too i think
[13:45] herman Bergson: Animals life by the seasons....we can transcend the cycle of seasons....
[13:45] druth Vlodovic: awareness of the future
[13:46] herman Bergson: yes.....so we have to plan ahead.....
[13:46] druth Vlodovic: Dr Peterson sees this as the meaning behind the 1st book of Genesis
[13:46] druth Vlodovic: and sacrifice (we sacrifice our fun now for stability later etc)
[13:47] herman Bergson: Well...being kicked out of that nice park forced us to prepare for our future indeed :-)
[13:48] druth Vlodovic: he sees it as being kicked out of our minds,
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i build parks so not an issue
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): my company have contributed to many nice relax areas in my city
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:48] druth Vlodovic: the scary outside world is about awareness rather than anything else (he has odd opinions on the capability of animals but that is another story)
[13:49] herman Bergson: Who is this Dr. Peterson?
[13:49] druth Vlodovic: Jordan Peterson is a psychology professor and amateur theologist from Canada, he has a youtube channel
[13:50] Ciska Riverstone: I linked him to you at one point herman
[13:50] herman Bergson: Ahh...the Canadian fellow
[13:50] druth Vlodovic: University of Toronto, also considered a controversial figure,
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok
[13:51] herman Bergson: I think I remember....I saw some documentary about him.....the conflict with his parents .....wasn't it?
[13:51] Ciska Riverstone: well the manosphere kind of hopes he will save masculinity ;)
[13:52] druth Vlodovic: as for art changing at the same time, if darwinism is about adapting to the environment, and technology is about adapting the environment to us then a feedback loop would be inevitable
[13:52] herman Bergson: Could be true
[13:53] druth Vlodovic: he came out against adding gender expression to Canada's hate laws
[13:53] herman Bergson: ANother chapter....but we have questions about the function of art...how it works and reacts
[13:53] druth Vlodovic: it set off the SJWs, but since then he has become a sort of new DR.Phil/ Ann Landers to many
[13:54] herman Bergson: In other words a kind of odd character?
[13:54] druth Vlodovic: eh, you'd have to look and make up your own mind
[13:55] herman Bergson smiles
[13:55] herman Bergson: ok
[13:56] herman Bergson: Unless you have another question or remark, I think I gonna work on making up my own mind about Dr. Peterson.....:-)
[13:56] druth Vlodovic: have fun
[13:56] herman Bergson: So, I thank you all for your participation again.....
[13:56] druth Vlodovic: make sure you look up his own channel though, there is a lot of weird stuff out there
[13:56] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman
[13:56] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok
[13:56] herman Bergson: I will Druth
No comments:
Post a Comment