Kasia Turajczyk » boltzmann brain http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com My Ramblings About Art Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:43:43 +0000 en hourly 1 Kasia Kasia My ramblings about art No No Science, video and the Boltzmann Paradox http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/science-video-and-the-boltzmann-paradox/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/science-video-and-the-boltzmann-paradox/#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 11:20:17 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=622 On May, 11th 2011 I was invited by Tiverton Art Society to give a talk about art, video and the Boltzmann Paradox.  The society has more than 200 members and is a very active one.  Tiverton is an ancient borough and market town in the county of Devon, and the major town in the Mid Devon. It was a real pleasure to be there and to talk to the audience about quantum physics, my own art and art in general, and to present some of my videos. I even read one of my poems, the one about a physicist of course, the Nobel prize winner Niels Bohr.

I had some concerns before the talk, associated with my accent and random blockages of my memory; especially as I am tired (actually I am in a state of chronic fatigue related to my ME condition). I also wanted to talk about quantum physics, thermodynamics and the Boltzmann Paradox in a language in which I still struggle to express myself in the way I want to. When I talk in English I switch my brain into think-in-English mode, which is the way to master a foreign language.  But still too often I am sucked in by antimatter, which tries to destroy my brain, confuse my memory and makes it impossible to have an intellectual, sophisticated chat.  I find myself missing words, idioms, sayings, humorous expressions, knowledge of complicated grammatical structures. It is a matter of exercises, persistency and strong will, I know that. I am too old and I am lazy, I guess. J) However, I think everything came out successfully. The audience reaction was lively, and I thought they showed a real enthusiasm. I was talking about myself, my art, my videos, and physics and Boltzmann Creatures of course. I brought two big abstract paintings and a few new ones from the “Peter Pan” series. I was myself, spontaneous and a ‘little crazy’ as usual.
The Brits in general are very nice and polite people. Think about it for a moment; all the foreigners using and murdering their beautiful language and then the Brits listening and smiling and trying to understand the others. It is quite an achievement. They have my full admiration for their patience and calm. Definitely the majority of the audience preferred watching art videos and videos about my art than listening to my talk about quantum physics. (Maybe they were bored with my accent and my English!?) I wanted to talk more about thermodynamics and entropy but it was unanimously decided to watch all three videos about the Boltzmann Creatures, Betelgeuse and Mintaka instead of being educated about the laws of physics. Well, the perception of art proceeds in a completely different way than the understanding of the laws of physics. You have to force and to strain your grey cells to understand what quantum physics is all about. On the other hand it is surprising, to me at least, that we don’t try to understand the laws of physics more. As if the world we live in wasn’t extremely complicated. Just think about it for a second. Everything that surrounds us is related to one or another law of physics.
My talk was recorded. From the long video I chose the most interesting and amusing parts, from my point of view of course.  Here is a short video part 1:

More on Science, video and the Boltzmann Paradox

]]> On May, 11th 2011 I was invited by Tiverton Art Society to give a talk about art, video and the Boltzmann Paradox.  The society has more than 200 members and is a very active one.  Tiverton is an ancient borough and market town in the county of Devon, and the major town in the Mid Devon. It was a real pleasure to be there and to talk to the audience about quantum physics, my own art and art in general, and to present some of my videos. I even read one of my poems, the one about a physicist of course, the Nobel prize winner Niels Bohr.

I had some concerns before the talk, associated with my accent and random blockages of my memory; especially as I am tired (actually I am in a state of chronic fatigue related to my ME condition). I also wanted to talk about quantum physics, thermodynamics and the Boltzmann Paradox in a language in which I still struggle to express myself in the way I want to. When I talk in English I switch my brain into think-in-English mode, which is the way to master a foreign language.  But still too often I am sucked in by antimatter, which tries to destroy my brain, confuse my memory and makes it impossible to have an intellectual, sophisticated chat.  I find myself missing words, idioms, sayings, humorous expressions, knowledge of complicated grammatical structures. It is a matter of exercises, persistency and strong will, I know that. I am too old and I am lazy, I guess. J) However, I think everything came out successfully. The audience reaction was lively, and I thought they showed a real enthusiasm. I was talking about myself, my art, my videos, and physics and Boltzmann Creatures of course. I brought two big abstract paintings and a few new ones from the “Peter Pan” series. I was myself, spontaneous and a ‘little crazy’ as usual.
The Brits in general are very nice and polite people. Think about it for a moment; all the foreigners using and murdering their beautiful language and then the Brits listening and smiling and trying to understand the others. It is quite an achievement. They have my full admiration for their patience and calm. Definitely the majority of the audience preferred watching art videos and videos about my art than listening to my talk about quantum physics. (Maybe they were bored with my accent and my English!?) I wanted to talk more about thermodynamics and entropy but it was unanimously decided to watch all three videos about the Boltzmann Creatures, Betelgeuse and Mintaka instead of being educated about the laws of physics. Well, the perception of art proceeds in a completely different way than the understanding of the laws of physics. You have to force and to strain your grey cells to understand what quantum physics is all about. On the other hand it is surprising, to me at least, that we don’t try to understand the laws of physics more. As if the world we live in wasn’t extremely complicated. Just think about it for a second. Everything that surrounds us is related to one or another law of physics.
My talk was recorded. From the long video I chose the most interesting and amusing parts, from my point of view of course.  Here is a short video part 1:

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/science-video-and-the-boltzmann-paradox/feed/ 1 Merry Christmas 2009 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/12/merry-xmas-greetings/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/12/merry-xmas-greetings/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:58:18 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=304 Merry Christmas to everyone!

I love this time of the year. I know lots of people think it is nonsense and commercial and only about money, food, drink, and presents and this kind of stuff.

More on Merry Christmas 2009

]]> Merry Christmas to everyone!

I love this time of the year. I know lots of people think it is nonsense and commercial and only about money, food, drink, and presents and this kind of stuff.

For me Christmas means hope for us. I always become very hopeful for our species (normally I am not), more positive, more optimistic in this time of the year. It is just for a very short time but it keeps me going for the next year.

And I love decorating the Christmas Tree (a very old pagan tradition), probably it is very silly, but I just find it irresistible.
Again, Merry Christmas and a really peaceful 2010 (no war!) for this planet.

Here is a special message from Mintaka with a really funny mixed media art work.

My name is Mintaka. I am stranger here; I was born in the Nebula of Orion.

Your species is dominant, but weird. The only time in the long calendar of the year when you are kind, forgiving, charitable and pleasant for each other is the Christmas time. It is the only time when “men and women open their shut-up hearts freely”. (One of your famous writers pointed this out a long time ago).

I am not sure I understand that. Why don’t you behave in such a way on all the other days of the year? I am watching you and waiting to see you brave and beautiful. Maybe one day….

Mintaka Meditating on the Meaning of Christmas

Mintaka Meditating on the Meaning of Christmas

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/12/merry-xmas-greetings/feed/ 2 The Boltzmann Brain http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/04/paranoia-ii-the-boltzmann-brain/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/04/paranoia-ii-the-boltzmann-brain/#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2009 11:50:43 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=102 I really believe that the theory of the Boltzmann Brain Paradox is very probably correct. I truly believe in it.  It is my own paranoiac delirium.

This new painting is inspired by the latest ideas about Boltzmann Brains from Don Page, a physicist – “Unless our universe is decaying at an astronomical rate (i.e., on the present cosmological timescale of Giga years, rather than on the quantum recurrence timescale of googolplexes), it would apparently produce an infinite number of observers per commoving volume by thermal or vacuum fluctuations (Boltzmann brains). If the number of ordinary observers per commoving volume is finite, this scenario seems to imply zero likelihood for us to be ordinary observers and minuscule likelihoods for our actual observations.”

More on The Boltzmann Brain

]]> I really believe that the theory of the Boltzmann Brain Paradox is very probably correct. I truly believe in it.  It is my own paranoiac delirium.

This new painting is inspired by the latest ideas about Boltzmann Brains from Don Page, a physicist – “Unless our universe is decaying at an astronomical rate (i.e., on the present cosmological timescale of Giga years, rather than on the quantum recurrence timescale of googolplexes), it would apparently produce an infinite number of observers per commoving volume by thermal or vacuum fluctuations (Boltzmann brains). If the number of ordinary observers per commoving volume is finite, this scenario seems to imply zero likelihood for us to be ordinary observers and minuscule likelihoods for our actual observations.”

If that is true, it would mean that you and me, you reading this and I writing this, are more likely to be some momentary fluctuation in a field of matter and energy out in space than persons with a real past and possible future (if we are lucky or unlucky enough). My and your memories and the world we think we see around us are illusions.
“Hence, our observations suggest that this scenario is incorrect and that perhaps our universe is decaying at an astronomical rate.” In other words it means our universe will die one day.

This is my paranoia – my hallucination. Millions of Boltzmann Brains are floating in my brain.

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2009/04/paranoia-ii-the-boltzmann-brain/feed/ 0