98
factors—no matter how much latitude a particular truth be granted—defining sets of
numbers that translate into biological organisms.
From our limited perspective—the sum total of consciousness, the human conscious, qualia, biophilia, physiolatry, reciprocities within an anthrozoological, interdependent biosphere, deep ethology—we cannot attest to any span of truth. The
distance between whole and partially whole truths is further widened by the duration before, during, and after the object of perception, and the event upon which it
is expatiated in our contemplations and computations.
“A paradox is a situation where observations are not in accordance with experiences or expectations,” says the American Mathematical Society (AMS). And “the
moral here is that via dramatic examples, mathematics has the ability to show that
one’s intuitive expectations cannot always be trusted!”
8
Perceived paradoxical
behavior fluctuates across every target of our concentration. There is the legacy of
the South Island alpine parrot the kea (Nestor notabilis), which once had a government bounty on its head for farmer allegations pertaining to the bird killing sheep,
to its more recent protected and celebrated status as an avian rarity, and a model of
good humor, pranks, and much pleasure for observant humans
9
. Or the Josiah
Willard Gibbs Paradox concerning the alleged violation by otherwise indistinguishable particles in a system that manage to alter entropy thereby slighting the Second
Law of Thermodynamics in the exchange of intensive versus extensive quantities.
As with every paradox suggested for the behavior of birds, gasses, entropy, medical
sociology,
10
and humans, for starters, the aforementioned AMS protocols suggesting that human perception and interpretation may be flawed (not to be “trusted”) is
a welcoming addition to the literature on paradox in that it transports certainty into
subjectivity, a healthy signal that our own histories and the summation of our wisdom literature, and scientific verities are to be called into question.
10.3 The Argument for Equilibria
There are significant instances, ambassadors of variance, throughout natural history,
philosophy, and the sciences in general, where the lack of firm elucidation must
counter our proclivity as a species to leap at conclusions. When Alfred Russel
Wallace compared the flora of the European continent, of India, and of the
8 http://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/feature-column/fcarc-machines3, Accessed February 8,
2019.
9 See Kea, Bird of Paradox: The Evolution and Behavior of a New Zealand Parrot, Judy Diamond
+ Alan B. Bond, University of California Press 1999.
10 See “The Ecological Paradox: Social and Natural Consequences of the Geographies of Animal
Health Promotion,” by Gareth Enticott, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New
Series, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct., 2008), pp. 433–446, Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal
Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers, https://www.jstor.org/
stable/30135326
10 Ecological Contradiction, Antinomy, and Counter-Intuition
factors—no matter how much latitude a particular truth be granted—defining sets of
numbers that translate into biological organisms.
From our limited perspective—the sum total of consciousness, the human conscious, qualia, biophilia, physiolatry, reciprocities within an anthrozoological, interdependent biosphere, deep ethology—we cannot attest to any span of truth. The
distance between whole and partially whole truths is further widened by the duration before, during, and after the object of perception, and the event upon which it
is expatiated in our contemplations and computations.
“A paradox is a situation where observations are not in accordance with experiences or expectations,” says the American Mathematical Society (AMS). And “the
moral here is that via dramatic examples, mathematics has the ability to show that
one’s intuitive expectations cannot always be trusted!”
8
Perceived paradoxical
behavior fluctuates across every target of our concentration. There is the legacy of
the South Island alpine parrot the kea (Nestor notabilis), which once had a government bounty on its head for farmer allegations pertaining to the bird killing sheep,
to its more recent protected and celebrated status as an avian rarity, and a model of
good humor, pranks, and much pleasure for observant humans
9
. Or the Josiah
Willard Gibbs Paradox concerning the alleged violation by otherwise indistinguishable particles in a system that manage to alter entropy thereby slighting the Second
Law of Thermodynamics in the exchange of intensive versus extensive quantities.
As with every paradox suggested for the behavior of birds, gasses, entropy, medical
sociology,
10
and humans, for starters, the aforementioned AMS protocols suggesting that human perception and interpretation may be flawed (not to be “trusted”) is
a welcoming addition to the literature on paradox in that it transports certainty into
subjectivity, a healthy signal that our own histories and the summation of our wisdom literature, and scientific verities are to be called into question.
10.3 The Argument for Equilibria
There are significant instances, ambassadors of variance, throughout natural history,
philosophy, and the sciences in general, where the lack of firm elucidation must
counter our proclivity as a species to leap at conclusions. When Alfred Russel
Wallace compared the flora of the European continent, of India, and of the
8 http://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/feature-column/fcarc-machines3, Accessed February 8,
2019.
9 See Kea, Bird of Paradox: The Evolution and Behavior of a New Zealand Parrot, Judy Diamond
+ Alan B. Bond, University of California Press 1999.
10 See “The Ecological Paradox: Social and Natural Consequences of the Geographies of Animal
Health Promotion,” by Gareth Enticott, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New
Series, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Oct., 2008), pp. 433–446, Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal
Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers, https://www.jstor.org/
stable/30135326
10 Ecological Contradiction, Antinomy, and Counter-Intuition