795
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_91
Chapter 91
Non-Linear Ethics
91.1 Regarding the Conjecture of Ethical Irreversibilities
When we attempt to fathom unsolved propositions using the ideal languages of
mathematics and physics, anything is possible. “Goodness” may be construed, even
proved to be, “Evil” and evil good. There are no ethical irreversibilities in the language of numbers, or even of consciousness. Gene flow, the directions and course of
energy, all matter and mind maintain a position of variability that cannot be “solved.”
Even if the numbers don’t add up, concepts are fluid, gaseous, permeable, indifferent to the plus or minus sides of zero.
German physicist Rudolf Clausius’ (1822–1888) theory of entropy
1
appeals to
the universe of heat, dissipation, and that which tends toward a closed stability, for
example, maximum, as in the case of the three Laws of Thermodynamics (as well
as the fourth, “zeroth” law pertaining to multiple systems). Clausius’ younger contemporary, the German mathematician David Hilbert (1862–1943) inadvertently
challenged the fundaments of thermodynamics by postulating insoluble relations
which he set forth in his famed presentation to the International Congress of
Mathematicians in Paris in 1900, during which he discussed several of what would
eventually be known as the “23 Problems of Hilbert.” Some would be solved, some
not, or not yet. In 1931, Kurt Gödel asserted with his “Incompleteness Theorems”
that much of Hilbert would remain forever unsolved, inaccessible according to any
human levels of induction or alleged consistency (Fig. 91.1).
But Hilbert insisted that there were solutions to everything that was taken on by
the human imagination, independent of presuppositions, or of God
2
.
1 Clausius, R., The Mechanical Theory of Heat – with its Applications to the Steam Engine and to
Physical Properties of Bodies, John van Voorst, London, 1867.
2 David Hilbert, Die Grundlagen der Mathematik, Hilbert’s program, 22C:096, University of Iowa.
See Hilbert, David (1902). “Mathematical Problems”. Bulletin of the American Mathematical
Society. 8 (10): 437–479. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9904-1902-00923-3. Earlier publications
(in the original German) appeared in Hilbert, David (1900). “Mathematische Probleme”. Göttinger
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_91
Chapter 91
Non-Linear Ethics
91.1 Regarding the Conjecture of Ethical Irreversibilities
When we attempt to fathom unsolved propositions using the ideal languages of
mathematics and physics, anything is possible. “Goodness” may be construed, even
proved to be, “Evil” and evil good. There are no ethical irreversibilities in the language of numbers, or even of consciousness. Gene flow, the directions and course of
energy, all matter and mind maintain a position of variability that cannot be “solved.”
Even if the numbers don’t add up, concepts are fluid, gaseous, permeable, indifferent to the plus or minus sides of zero.
German physicist Rudolf Clausius’ (1822–1888) theory of entropy
1
appeals to
the universe of heat, dissipation, and that which tends toward a closed stability, for
example, maximum, as in the case of the three Laws of Thermodynamics (as well
as the fourth, “zeroth” law pertaining to multiple systems). Clausius’ younger contemporary, the German mathematician David Hilbert (1862–1943) inadvertently
challenged the fundaments of thermodynamics by postulating insoluble relations
which he set forth in his famed presentation to the International Congress of
Mathematicians in Paris in 1900, during which he discussed several of what would
eventually be known as the “23 Problems of Hilbert.” Some would be solved, some
not, or not yet. In 1931, Kurt Gödel asserted with his “Incompleteness Theorems”
that much of Hilbert would remain forever unsolved, inaccessible according to any
human levels of induction or alleged consistency (Fig. 91.1).
But Hilbert insisted that there were solutions to everything that was taken on by
the human imagination, independent of presuppositions, or of God
2
.
1 Clausius, R., The Mechanical Theory of Heat – with its Applications to the Steam Engine and to
Physical Properties of Bodies, John van Voorst, London, 1867.
2 David Hilbert, Die Grundlagen der Mathematik, Hilbert’s program, 22C:096, University of Iowa.
See Hilbert, David (1902). “Mathematical Problems”. Bulletin of the American Mathematical
Society. 8 (10): 437–479. https://doi.org/10.1090/S0002-9904-1902-00923-3. Earlier publications
(in the original German) appeared in Hilbert, David (1900). “Mathematische Probleme”. Göttinger