Glossary
The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. ~ American author Mark Twain
~ : approximately.
.#.
3-age system: an archeological sequential periodization of human prehistory and early history, comprising the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
4D (aka spacetime): the 4 dimensions of everyday experience: 3 of space (3D) + 1 of time. See HD and ED.
.A.
abiogenesis: the study of how life arose from inert matter.
abstraction: a thought stream involving symbolic representations. Compare concept, idea.
actuality: the world experienced sensorially. Contrast reality.
acupuncture: a medical treatment of bodily stimulating lengyre pathways, typically via needles.
adaptation (evolutionary biology): the teleological process of adjusting to ecological circumstance.
Age of Enlightenment (aka Age of Reason): an intellectual movement in the 17th–18th centuries to reform society via reason, challenging concepts rooted in tradition and faith. The Age of Enlightenment was sparked in the late 17th century by various philosophers, notably Spinoza, Locke, and Voltaire, along with Newton. The Scientific Revolution occurred concomitant with Enlightenment.
altricial: animal species that are relatively immature and immobile at birth or hatching, and so require parental care. Many mammal species are altricial. Contrast precocial.
analyze: to ascertain and separate an entity (material or abstract) into constituent parts or elements; to determine essential features. Contrast synthesize.
animism: the doctrine that that there is no separation between the physical and spiritual world, and that a vital energetic force is inherent in all of Nature. Compare vitalism.
anion: a negatively charged ion (indicating a surplus of electrons). Contrast cation.
anticipate: to make some preparation for an expectation.
apeiron: an eternal coherence that creates phenomena; a concept proposed by Anaximander. See coherence.
apriorism: an assumption (a priori principle).
arachnid: the Arachnida class of invertebrates, with 8 jointed legs. There are over 100,000 named species, including spiders, harvestmen (aka opiliones, daddy longlegs), scorpions, solifuges (aka camel spiders, wind spiders), ticks, and mites.
arcminute: an angular measurement of 1/60th of 1°.
arms race: (the idea of) 2 parties escalating their advantage in interacting with or competing against each other.
arthropod: an invertebrate with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arachnids, crustaceans, and insects are arthropods. There are an estimated 6 million distinct arthropods. Arthropods comprise over 75% of animal species.
ashram: a secluded building used for Hindu religious instruction.
asleep (aka sleep): the state of consciousness where the body is in repose, not dreaming.
astral (theosophy): a supersensible extra-dimensional plane of existence.
atheistic naturalism: the belief that there is no God, only the material natural world.
atom: the smallest particle of a chemical element, comprising at the simplest a proton and an electron (hydrogen).
awake: the state of consciousness where the body is interactively receptive to stimuli and the mind is ecologically aware.
awareness: the quality of being conscious in the present moment.
axiom: an assumed self-evident truth requiring no proof.
.B.
bacteria (singular: bacterium): a domain and kingdom of single-celled prokaryotes, abundant in most ecosystems. Bacteria play vital roles in various facets of the biosphere.
Beelzebub: a demon; in the Bible, another name for Satan.
belief: a habit of the mind to axiomatically treat ideas as true; confidence in abstractions as real.
Bernoulli’s principle: a fluid-dynamics principle that a speed increase of fluid transpires with a decrease in pressure or a drop in the fluid’s potential energy; named after Daniel Bernoulli, who described the principle in 1738.
Bhagavad Gita (~5th–2nd century bce): a Hindu text of a dialogue between Indian prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Lord Krishna.
Big Bang: the hypothesis that the universe began with an initial energetic cosmic explosion from a dense, hot state of singularity.
binocular vision: the vision capability in an animal with 2 eyes to perceive a 3D image. See peripheral vision.
bioelement: a planetary ecological element. The bioelements include the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biota.
biology: the science of life.
biota: the organisms in an environment.
bliss: the feeling of joyful contentment which emanates from connection with Ĉonsciousness. Bliss is symptomatic of enlightenment. Compare happiness.
boson: a quantum that carries a fundamental force according to quantum physics’ Standard Model; named after Satyendra Bose. Contrast fermion.
Bragg peak: the apex of ionizing radiation; named after its 1903 discoverer, William Henry Bragg.
brain: an animal organ central to nervous systems, located within the head.
Bronze Age (~3300–1300 bce): the middle period of the 3-age system, noted for the metallurgical production of bronze; the Stone Age preceded, the Iron Age followed.
.C.
calculus: the mathematical study of change.
caloric theory: an obsolete theory that considers heat as a self-repellent fluid (called caloric) that flows from hotter bodies to colder bodies. Caloric was also thought of as weightless gas which could pass through presume pores in liquids and solids. Caloric theory was ousted by thermodynamics, a mechanical theory of heat, in the mid-19th century.
categorize (aka classify): to arrange or organize via criteria.
category: a group of related concepts.
cation: a positively charged ion (indicating a deficit of electrons). Contrast anion.
causality (aka (noun) cause and effect, (adjective) cause-and-effect): the idea that one phenomenon provokes a succeeding phenomenon. Contrast correlation.
cause (verb) (physics): to effect; to bring about.
cerebellum: a region of the vertebrate brain instrumental in balance and motor control.
chakra: a lengyre center within an organism.
chameleon: a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards, with over 200 species. Many chameleons can change color at will.
chaos theory: the study of dynamic systems highly sensitive to initial conditions.
chemistry: the study of matter, especially chemical reactions.
chordate: an animal in one of the following groups: fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, tunicate, lancelet, or mammal; an animal with tadpole traits during some period of its life cycle.
chromosome: an elaborately coiled package of genetic material within a eukaryotic cell.
ciliary (aka c-opsin): the type of photoreceptor used by vertebrates for vision. Compare rhabdomeric.
classical physics (mechanics): the Newtonian model of physics, notably gravity as a force of attraction; epitomized by Newton’s 3 laws of motion, and the laws of thermodynamics. Compare modern physics.
cockroach: a typically large insect with a broad, flattened body and relatively small head. 30 of the 4,500 species are considered pests, as they are inclined to live in human habitats.
cofactor: a molecule that binds to a protein to have the protein perform a task. Enzymes are typically activated by cofactors, which essentially act as helper molecules. The molecule may either be an inorganic ion or organic (coenzyme).
cognition: the process of understanding, involving both awareness and judgment. Compare mentation.
cognitive load: the instant level of mentation.
coherence: the intelligent interaction behind Nature. Like Ĉonsciousness, coherence localizes.
coherence consciousness: the 6th state of consciousness, with awareness of the unity of Nature. Compare enlightenment, realization.
Collective: people who follow their biological urges as natural imperative. The Collective are slaves to their minds. As believers in matterism and in taking existence at face value, the Collective are naïve realists.
compose: to form the substance of.
comprehension: grasping with the intellect.
concept (aka idea): an abstract construct involving discriminatory categorization.
conceptualize, conceptualization: mentally resolving perceptions into a concept.
conductor (chemistry): a material amenable to containing moving electric charges. Contrast insulator, resistor.
cone cell: a color-sensitive photoreceptor in the mammalian retina, so-called for the cell’s conical shape. Contrast rod.
conformal geometry: the study of angle-preserving (conformal) spatial transformations.
conscious: thoughts, emotions, and desires of which one is aware. Compare subconscious.
consciousness: the platform for awareness in an individual life constituent, such as a protein, cell, or organism. The 4 nominal states of human consciousness are awake, asleep, dreaming, and transcendence. The 3 elevated states of consciousness are enlightenment, coherence consciousness, and realization. A person may be in multiple states of consciousness simultaneously (enlightenment is essentially the sustained state of transcendence while awake). Compare Ĉonsciousness.
Ĉonsciousness: the unified field of consciousness. Ĉonsciousness naturally localizes into individualized consciousnesses. Compare consciousness.
conservation (genetics): preservation of a genetic trait through generations (of cells or offspring).
conservation of energy: the 1st law of thermodynamics, which states that the total energy in a closed system is constant.
conservation of mass: a law of physics and chemistry that the total mass of matter is conserved in a closed system, which the universe is presumed to be. Matter may seemingly be destroyed, but its mass remains constant.
consistent: recognizable from recall as similar.
construal (noun): an interpretation; an exegesis.
construal level theory: a 1998 psychology theorem by Nira Liberman and Yaacov Trope that relates psychospace to objects and events as concrete or abstract. Things seem closer or farther depending upon personal involvement with them (physical distance aside). People tend to think concretely about things perceived as close, but increasingly abstractly about things at a psychological distance. In this context, abstract means high-level: conceptually, not specifically, whereas concrete means detailed (low-level).
construe (verb): construct an interpretation.
consume: to engage in via sensation; to use or enjoy something.
convergent evolution (aka parallel evolution): the independent evolution of similar traits in organisms of different clades.
correlation: the fact that multiple phenomena coincide. Contrast causality.
cosmic inflation: a myth about the early cosmos, claiming that the universe had a near-instantaneous massive inflation 3×10–36 seconds after the onset of the Big Bang. Cosmic inflation outrageously violates physics as understood.
cosmogony: a conjecture about the origin of the universe.
cosmology: the study of the universe.
cosmopolitan (biogeography): a taxon with species in a broad range of biomes.
counterfactual: contrary to facts.
Counting Crows (1991–): American popular music group from Berkeley, California.
craftwork: the process or result of manipulating matter into a certain configuration. Compare sociowork, symwork.
criterion (plural: criteria): a trait or feature for characterization and categorization; a metric, principle, or rule for judgment.
crustacean: a large group of arthropods, including barnacles, krill, crabs, crayfish, shrimp, and lobster. Most crustaceans are aquatic, but some, such as woodlice, are terrestrial.
culture (biology): the transfer of knowledge among conspecifics, and from one generation to the next.
culture (sociology): a system of shared abstractions, beliefs, values, mores, and rituals among a tribe of humans. Culture represents common symbolic expression in a social context.
cytoplasm: the watery gel that holds a cell’s organelles within a plasma membrane.
.D.
Darwinism (aka natural selection): the disproven hypothesis of Charles Darwin that evolution transpires only over millions of years by random rearrangements of matter that create species which endure or are eliminated via competition with other species (“natural selection” via “survival of the fittest”).
Natural Selection almost inevitably cause much Extinction of the less improved forms of life. ~ Charles Darwin
data: factual information.
daydream: an indulged reverie.
dendrite: a branched projection from a nerve cell employed in intercellular communication.
depolarization (cytology): an electrical change in a cell’s membrane potential that makes it more positive, thereby removing the polarity that arises from the accumulation of negative charges on the inner membrane and positive charges on the outer membrane. Contrast hyperpolarization.
desire: mental want. See motivation.
determinism: belief in cause and effect, from which emanates the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
dialectic: a method of analysis/argument for resolving a conceptual inquiry via eliminating alternative hypotheses by exposing their contradictions, thereby verifying a single hypothesis which is not self-contradictory.
dichromacy: having 2 types of color vision receptor. Compare monochromacy, trichromacy, tetrachromacy.
diffuse reflection: radiation reflection with scattering.
discrete (mathematics): quantized, countable.
disordered hyperuniformity: coherent patterning within an apparently disordered system.
dissociation (psychology): the conscious state of feeling separate from the mind-body.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid (C5H10O4): a double-stranded molecular chain that serves as a physical storage medium for basic templates to build bioproducts. DNA is supposed the molecular-level carrier of genetic inheritance. See RNA.
domain (biological classification) (aka empire): the 2nd highest taxon (below life), with 3 classes: archaea, bacteria, and viruses.
dragonfly: an extraordinarily successful flying insect predator, with over 5,900 extant species. Dragonfly hindwings are broader than their forewings.
dream: mentally generated perception during sleep. Compare hallucination.
dreaming: the asleep state of consciousness filled with dreams.
dualism: the metaphysical belief that reality is bifurcated between the physical and the mental (or spiritual). Contrast monism.
.E.
E = mc2: an equivalence of energy and mass, embodying the concept that the mass of an object is a measure of its energy content; formulated by Albert Einstein in 1905.
ecology: an interactive interface; patterns of relations among entities; as a subdiscipline of biology, patterns of interrelations between life forms (e.g., cells, organisms) and their environment (including other organisms); more broadly, the relations between bioelements.
ED: extra dimensions (or extra-dimensionality); the dimensions of existence beyond those that are perceptible and measurable. See 4D and HD.
Edo Period (1603–1867): the period when Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Edo period was characterized by socioeconomic stability, refinement of the arts and its popular enjoyment, sustainable forest management and an isolationist foreign policy.
egene: (the idea of) an energetic hereditary unit which conveys all the information needed to create a trait or biological effect. Nucleic acids alone cannot explain heredity. Compare gene.
egenetics: (the idea of) intelligence represented by nuclei acids and associated molecules.
electromagnetism: the fundamental force responsible for giving matter its sizzle via electrical charge.
elephant hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor): a large moth found in the British Isles, and across Europe and Asia all the way to Japan. Elephant hawkmoths have trichromatic color vision, and excellent scotopic (night) vision.
emergence: the way that complexity arises from a multiplicity of simple interactions. The idea of emergence has been around at least since Aristotle, who expressed that the totality of reality is greater than the sum of its parts (a non-reductionist sentiment). More elementally, emergence refers to actuality becoming phenomenal on an infinitesimal (Plank time) moment-by-moment basis.
emotion: a feeling evolved by cognition into a sustained state.
emotive cognition: appraisal of the ambiance of a situation based upon one’s empathic temperament and experience.
empathy: an imaginative projection of another’s mental state.
empirical: originating in, or based upon, observation or experience.
empiricism (epistemology) (aka verificationism): the presumption that knowledge derives solely from sensory experience. See neopositivism.
empiricism (philosophy of science): the belief that Nature may be entirely explained by physical forces.
endorphin (portmanteau of endogenous morphine): a mammalian endogenous opioid neuropeptide produced to relieve pain.
energy (physics): the idea of an immaterial force acting upon or producing matter. Energy is characterized relatively and by type (how it affects matter). Energy manifests only through its effect on matter. Though the foundational construct of existence, energy itself does not exist. As matter is made of energy, this fact tidily proves energyism.
energyism (aka (philosophical) immaterialism): the monistic doctrine that Nature is a figment of the mind. Energyism differentiates between actuality and reality. Whereas actuality is phenomenal, reality has a noumenal substrate, emergently spawning a shared actuality (showtivity) via a unified Ĉonsciousness. See idealism, neutral monism. Contrast matterism.
enlightenment (aka quietude or quiet consciousness): the state of consciousness with clarity of mind via transcendence. In enlightenment there is intrinsic contentment, accompanied by an eminently sensible perspective on life (and death). Compare coherence consciousness, realization.
entanglement (physics): distinct phenomena behaving synchronously. Entanglement defies locality.
entertainment: stimulation from experience not wholly expected.
enthalpy: a thermodynamic system property, equal to internal energy plus the product of the system’s pressure and volume.
entropy (physics, particularly thermodynamics): the tendency of energy to dissipate and equilibrate (dissipate to equilibrium); the natural physical tendency toward disorder.
environment: a designated spatial region or conceptual realm.
enzyme: a protein that facilitates the activities of other proteins or substrates. Enzymes typically act as catalysts.
epistemology: the study of knowledge, including its origin, nature, methods, and limits.
epithelium (plural: epithelia or epitheliums): 1 of the 4 basic types of animal tissue, the others being connective, muscle, and nerve. Epithelial tissues line the surfaces and cavities of bodily structures and form many glands. Epithelial cells secrete, selectively absorb, protect, and transport. Epithelial tissue does not have blood vessels, instead receiving nourishment from underlying connective tissue via an extracellular matrix (basement membrane).
eukaryote: an organism with internal cell structures (organelles). All multicellular life is eukaryotic. Compare prokaryote.
event: a perceived process with an outcome.
evil: a moral wrong; wickedness.
evolution (evolutionary biology): the process of adaptation, most apparently seen as a distinctive change across successive generations of a population.
evolutionary biology: a subfield of biology concerned with the organic processes of evolution.
existence: corporeality, including both matter and energy. See actuality, manifestation, Nature, phenomenon.
exorcism: the exiling of evil spirits.
expectation: awaiting an event or outcome considered at least likely if not certain. See anticipate.
experience (noun): a conceptualized event.
extensive property: a physical property of a system that depends upon system size or materiality. Examples include mass and volume. Contrast intensive property.
.F.
fact: recall of an experienced event. The idea of fact as objective reality is laughable.
What is perceived in pure awareness, unaffected by desire or fear, is fact. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
faith: belief in absence of fact.
family (biological classification): a major group of shared morphological similarities. In the generally accepted system, family is above genus and below order. For example, maple trees (family) are hardwoods (order), angiosperms (class), vascular plants (phylum), plants (kingdom).
fascism: a form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe, originating in Italy during World War 1. Economically, fascists favor state control of capitalism, with policies designed to achieve autarky (self-sufficiency).
feeling: a perceptual reaction that may develop into an emotion via emotive cognition. Compare emotion.
fermion: a quantum of matter under quantum physics’ Standard Model; named after Enrico Fermi. Contrast boson.
field: an energy associated with a spacetime point.
fignorance: fact ignorance. Compare pignorance. See ignorance.
flicker fusion threshold (aka flicker fusion rate): the psychophysical frequency at which intermittent light stimulus is perceived as steady by a human.
fluid: a substance that deforms (flows) under an applied shear stress. Gases, plasmas, and liquids are fluids. Contrast solid.
fly: a small flying insect with a single pair of wings, adapted for aerial agility.
force (physics) (aka interaction): an influence that causes a change in Nature. There are 5 known forces: coherence, strong (nuclear), weak (nuclear), electromagnetism, and gravity.
fovea (aka fovea centralis): the spot of sharpest color vision in the human eye, by virtue of being packed with cone receptors, each with its own dedicated neuron. See foveola.
foveola: a 0.35 mm in diameter spot in the center of the human fovea, with the densest packing of cones in the retina, thereby affording the highest visual acuity.
fractal: a set of scale-invariant, self-similar, iterative patterns.
free surface: a coherent interface layer in a fluid owing to no parallel shear stress.
frustration: an emotive state of dissatisfaction arising from a thwarted desire.
fungus (plural: fungi): a kingdom of eukaryotes that includes microorganisms such as yeast and molds, as well as macroscopic mushrooms.
.G.
Gaia: a theory by English environmentalist James Lovelock that Earth acts as “a single physiological system.”
Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia. ~ James Lovelock
ganglion: a cluster of nerve cells.
gas: a fluid that may be airborne.
gauge boson: a quantum force carrier.
gene: the idea that nucleic acids provide instructions for producing an organic molecule, typically a protein. Genes do not exist; they are merely a construal. The actuality of genetics is more intricate than supposed by matterist geneticists, as heritable bioproduct information is stored energetically, with organic molecules as illusory material substrates.
general relativity: a geometric physical theory that treats gravity as a property of spacetime, based upon the mass of objects; proposed by Albert Einstein in 1915. Gravity distorts 4D spacetime extra-dimensionally under general relativity. See relativity, special relativity.
genetics: the study of heredity and variation in life forms at the molecular level. The 4 major subdisciplines of genetics are transmission genetics (heredity), molecular genetics (chemistry), population genetics (traits in populations), and epigenetics (influences of living on inheritance).
genome: the (idea of the) entire set of genes within an organism. Like genes, a genome is merely a concept, not phenomenal.
gestalt: (viewing) the whole being as greater than the sum of the parts involved; organization and organized activity with a coherence greater than can be attributed by summation of employed components. See synergy.
Gestalt psychology (aka gestaltism): a school of psychology with the central principle that the mind naturally creates a worldview through self-organizing tendencies.
ghost: the confused soul of a dead being that haunts its previous existence.
ghost field: a field that affects the mass of a boson via interrelations with other bosons and fermions. Ghost fields are necessary to maintain mathematical consistency in quantum physics’ Standard Model. Ghost fields are conventionally presumed to be solely a mathematical device, and not exist, despite their being the origin of virtual particles, which manifest.
glia: the predominant cell type in animal brains. Neurons (nerve cells) support glial cells via their interfaces outside the brain.
God: the myth of an immortal supreme being who is omniscient and typically omnipotent, albeit often inexplicably reserved in exercising such power in moral ways comprehensible to mere mortals. The concept of God is object orientation run amok: one of many delusions construed by believing in what is conceived as contrasted to actuality, and what reasonably may be inferred from known facts.
Goldstone mode: spontaneous breakdown of continuous symmetry. Named after Jeffrey Goldstone.
ground state: the lowest energy state of a quantum mechanical system.
guanine (G) (C5H5N5O): a nucleobase of DNA & RNA.
guņa: a quality (thread) of being according to Hindu philosophy. The 3 guņas are sattva (goodness, harmony, construction), rajas (passion, activity), and tamas (chaos, discord, destruction).
guru: a realized teacher.
gyre: a conceptual framework treating a physical system as a dynamic vortex. A gyre is characterized by its structure, qualities, thermodynamics, and interactions.
.H.
habitat: the environment in which a species population lives.
happiness: a mood of well-being. Compare bliss.
HD (holistic dimensionality): the totality of cosmic dimensions. HD refers to the universe having more than the 4 dimensions (4D) experienced. HD = 4D + ED, where ED = extra (spatial) dimensions.
Heaven: a common religious notion of a residence for souls departed from corporeal existence. Mythologies about Heaven are extensive. Some include a bifurcation, based upon divine judgment, that good souls ascend to Heaven, while bad souls descend to Hell, a place of eternal torment.
heliocentrism: the theory that the Sun is the center of the solar system, around which planets orbit. Historically called the Copernican principle.
Hellenistic period (323–31 bce): a period in ancient Greek history between the death of Alexander the Great and the emergence of the Roman Empire, signified by the Battle of Actium.
hemispherectomy: surgically removing a hemisphere of the brain.
heuristic (psychology): a simple, efficient rule employed to form judgments, solve problems, or make decisions.
Higgs boson: a boson which, as a field, imbues other quanta with mass. See Higgs field.
Higgs field: the field that imparts mass to all particles via the Higgs mechanism. Quantum physics’ Standard Model requires that every particle in the universe swims in the Higgs field, interacting at different strengths, and so having different masses. Massless particles don’t feel the Higgs field, and so carry no weight. The particle representing the Higgs field is the Higgs boson.
Higgs mechanism: the continuous process whereby gauge bosons acquire mass via spontaneous symmetry breaking. The Higgs mechanism exemplifies the basic mechanism by which Nature is composed: universal fields localizing, with local fields quantizing into particulate form.
Hinduism: the dominant religion of India. Hinduism is based upon a compilation of diverse texts, the earliest of which date to the 7th century bce, though most are later (late bce). Such diversity means the Hinduism is an umbrella term, housing numerous religious offshoots.
Hiroshima (Japan): a city on the southern part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island. Hiroshima was the target for the first nuclear holocaust, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on it on 6 August 1945.
holism: the idea that systems and their properties should be viewed holistically (from the perspective of being a whole), not just as a collection of components. Contrast reductionism. See synergy.
holographic: semblances where components reflect the whole.
holy: devoted to goodness and having a divine quality.
homeopathy: a pseudo-medicinal treatment of drinking water that has a specific substance diluted beyond measurement. Homeopathy can be effective via the placebo effect.
homeostasis: a regulatory process by which an organism strives for holistic health.
Hugenot: a 16th–18th century French Protestant inspired by the writings of John Calvin (Calvinism).
hydrocephalus: an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the brain.
hylozoism: the hypothesis that all matter is in some sense alive.
hymn: a religious song written in adoration of a deity or deities. A person who writes hymns is a hymnodist.
hyperpolarization (biology): a change in a cell’s membrane potential that makes it more negative. Contrast depolarization.
hyperuniformity: regularity in density fluctuations in a many-body system. Disordered structures at small scales which possess a “hidden order” at larger scales are hyperuniform.
hypostasis: an underlying state or substance of fundamental reality that supports all else.
hypothesis: a guess gussied up in scientific garb. Under the scientific method, hypotheses are ripe for falsifiability testing. Compare theory.
.I.
idea: the representation of a concept.
idealism (aka subjective idealism, empirical idealism): the monistic epistemology that all of life’s experiences, and what can be known of reality, are entirely within the mind. Compare neutral monism. See energyism.
ignorance: a state of unknowing. There are 2 types of ignorance: fact-ignorance (fignorance) and perspective-ignorance (pignorance). Fignorance is not knowing the salient facts of a subject. Pignorance arises from incognizance of reality.
illusion: mistaken perception; something deceptive by a false impression.
imagine: to form concepts which are not adherent to sensation.
imagination: the faculty for forming counterfactual mental images and perceptions. Compare dream.
impulse: an urge driven by the subconscious.
infinitesimal (mathematics): something so tiny that there is no way to measure it.
infinity (∞): the idea of something unlimited. Mathematics often treats ∞ as a special number, but that is a conceptual error. Infinity is beyond numerics.
influence (noun): the act of producing an effect indirectly.
influence (verb): to affect or alter, typically by indirect or intangible means.
information: an esteemed apprehension of an order among concepts.
insect: a class of arthropods with a 3-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), a chitinous exoskeleton, 3 pairs of jointed legs, a pair of compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Insects are a diverse group, with over a million known species.
instant: existing now, in the present moment; immediate.
insulator (chemistry): a medium that resists the flow of electrical current. Contrast conductor.
intelligence: an attribution for behaving appropriately; the process of gathering and analyzing information.
intensive property (aka bulk property): a physical property of a system that does not depend upon system size or materiality. Examples include temperature, density, hardness and refractive index. American physicist and chemist Richard Tolman introduced the terms intensive property and extensive property in 1917. Contrast extensive property.
interaction (physics): see force.
interface: the boundary between phases or systems.
introspection (aka metacognition): awareness of cognition; (the capability of) reflectively examining one’s own thoughts and feelings. Compare mindfulness.
intuition: direct apprehension. Contrast phenomenon.
ion: an electrically charged subatomic particle, atom, or molecule. See anion and cation.
iris (physiology): the thin, circular structure in an avian or mammalian eye which controls the diameter of the pupil, thus determining the amount of light reaching the retina.
Iron Age (~1300–500 bce): the last (3rd) principal period of the 3-age system, noted for widespread use of iron and the development of steel. See Stone Age, Bronze Age.
Isa Upanishad: a short Upanishad comprising prose mantras.
isomer: a compound in one of various molecular structures (shapes). Isomers with the same chemical formula may have quite different properties.
.J.
Japan: an island nation off the eastern coast of China, comprising 6,852 islands.
Jesuits (aka Society of Jesus) (1539–): a male Catholic order belonging to the congregation founded by Spanish priest Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation, where his absolute obedience to the Pope held him in good stead with the Church.
Judaism: the monotheist religion of the Jews.
.K.
karma (Hinduism, Buddhism): the moral quality of actions by humans.
Kelvin (K): an absolute temperature scale. Kelvin is the primary measurement unit in the physical sciences. 0 K is the temperature at which all thermal motion ceases, from a perspective of classical thermodynamics.
Kelvin has the same magnitude as Celsius, though at a different offset. Absolute zero (0 K) is –273.15 °C.
The Kelvin scale is named after Irish-born engineer and physicist William Kelvin, who expressed the need for an “absolute thermometric scale.”
kōän: a technique in the practice of Zen Buddhism intended to thwart the mind, and so afford intuition.
krebiozen (aka Carcalon, creatine): a hoax chemical cancer treatment using extract of a horse serum inoculated with the bacterium Actinomyces bovis, which causes lumpy jaw in cattle; developed by Yugoslavian doctor Stevan Durovic.
kinetic theory: a physical theory which characterizes gas as a system of energetic particles.
kinetics: the branch of mechanics concerning forces which act upon matter.
kingdom (biological classification): the taxon above phylum and below domain. Conventionally, there are 6 kingdoms: archaea, bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals.
know: to directly perceive, and thereupon understand; to recognize the meaning of a concept.
knowledge: cognition of facts or principles about Nature. Compare knowlet, omniscience.
knowlet: cognition of some subject matter. Compare knowledge.
kōän: a paradox posited in Zen Buddhist practice to engender abandonment of reason for intuition, and thus clear the way to enlightenment.
Korean War (1950–1953): a war that started when North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union and China, invaded South Korea. Within 2 months South Korea was on the verge of defeat. The US provided 88% of the military personnel and almost all of the armaments in the UN-sponsored fight against North Korea. The war ended in a territorial stalemate, with an armistice signed, but to this day no peace treaty.
.L.
lamina propria: a thin layer of connective tissue that is part of the moist linings of mucous membranes.
learning: the process of constructing a conceptual framework.
lengyre (aka vital energy, chi (Chinese), prana (Hindu)): an organism’s life-energy gyre.
life: anything capable of perceiving its environment.
liquid: a fluid that flows freely. Water is a liquid at room temperature.
locality (physics): the idea that an object can only be influenced by its immediate surroundings. See entanglement. Contrast nonlocality.
localization (physics): the process of locally confining or effecting a result from a universal field.
logic: the process of chaining concepts together–from a premise to a conclusion (inference)–in a way that the linkages may be agreeable (especially to others, else socially considered illogic).
logos: Heraclitus’ term for Ĉonsciousness. See Tao.
love: adoration of a concept.
.M.
macula (aka macula lutea): a yellow, oval-shaped spot near the center of the retina of the human eye, with the fovea at its center.
magnetic moment (aka local moment): the torque a magnet will experience in an external magnetic field.
magnetoencephalography: a technique using sensitive magnetometers to record magnetic fields produced by electrical currents in the brain, thereby allowing mapping electromagnetic brain activity.
mahasamādhi: intentionally leaving the body to die.
manifest (adjective): a) capable or readily and instantly perceived by the senses; b) capable of being easily understood or recognized at once by the mind.
manifestation: an outward perceptible expression of Nature. Compare phenomenon.
mantra: a resonant vibration used to attain transcendence.
mass (classical physics): a measure of matter’s inertia (resistance to a change of motion); alternately, a measure that an object of matter has gravitationally.
mass (quantum mechanics): the energy level at which an elementary particle may make an observable appearance.
materialism (psychology, economics): a worldview valuing material consumption and possessions. See matterism.
mathematics: the systematic treatment of relations between symbolic entities.
Matryoshka doll: a set of hollow wooden dolls of decreasing size, which can be placed one inside another.
matter (physics): something with mass, constructed of fermions. See energy.
matterism (aka (philosophical) materialism): the monistic belief that reality is made of matter. Matterism supposes that the mind is a figment of something substantial. See naïve empiricism, naïve realism. Contrast energyism.
māyā (Hinduism, Buddhism): misperception of reality by not considering it an illusion.
meditation: a practice intended to achieve a transcendental state of consciousness. Yoga is intended as a physical form of meditation.
Meiji era (aka Meiji period) (1868–1912): the period in Japan immediately following the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo Period). The emperor was restored preeminence while the country modernized economically in the wake of threat of foreign incursion, especially by the United States. Japan became the 1st industrialized Asian nation.
mentation: mental activity.
mentotype: the psychological constitution of an organism, including cognitive orientations and capacities, awareness loci, and worldview. Compare phenotype.
Mesolithic (20–5 tya): the final period of foraging in human cultures as the predominant lifestyle, before yielding to agriculture.
metabolism: cellular chemical reactions which provide energy for vital processes.
metabolite: a chemical product of metabolism.
metaphysics: the study of first principles, including ontology and cosmology. Metaphysics is closely related to epistemology.
microbe: a microorganism, too tiny to be seen without a microscope, often a single-celled prokaryote. Microbes include archaea, bacteria, and fungi.
microbiome: the endosymbiotic, microbial community that comprises every eukaryotic organism, especially multicellular eukaryotes. Commensal prokaryotic inhabitants are essential to eukaryotic life.
micrometer (aka micron) (μm): 1 millionth of a meter (1×10–6).
microsaccade: a tiny, jerky, involuntary eye movement. Microsaccade amplitudes vary from 2 to 120 arcminutes. Compare saccade.
mind: an intangible organ for symbolic processing.
mind-body: the mind & body as an integral life form.
mind-body problem: the unsolvable inquiry into the functional interface between the intangible mind and the physical body.
mindfulness (aka mindfulness meditation): the practice of paying attention to the prattles of the mind, which has ignorantly been popularized as a form of meditation when it is nothing of the sort. Compare introspection, metacognition.
model: a mathematical construct.
modern physics: post-Newtonian conceptions of physics, including Einstein’s relativity theories and quantum models. Compare classical physics.
moiety: a small molecule of a chemical functional group.
molecule: a combination of atoms.
moment (physics): an expression involving the product of a distance and a physical quantity which accounts for how the physical quantity is situated.
monism: the metaphysical principle that there is a singular reality, either matterism or energyism. Contrast dualism.
monochromacy: having a single type of cone cell (color receptor) in the eye. Compare dichromacy, trichromacy, tetrachromacy.
monotheism: the belief in a singular god. Contrast polytheism.
motivation: a stimulus that causes an organism to behave in a certain way. See desire.
mucous membrane (aka mucosa): a membrane of epithelial cells over a layer of loose connective tissue.
mudra: a symbolic or ritual hand position or gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Mundaka Upanishad: a primary Upanishad, and one of the most widely translated. As with other Upanishads, the Mundaka chronology is unclear, but perhaps the 6th century bce.
myoelastic-aerodynamic theory: a theory of vocalization corresponding with Bernoulli forces (negative pressure) on elastic tissue folds muscularly controlled (myo refers to muscles).
mystical: non-empirically obscure. The commonly bandied definition of involving something supernatural needs to confine itself to magical.
.N.
naïve empiricism: the belief that knowledge can only be gained through empirical examination of Nature. See naïve realism.
naïve realism (aka direct realism, commonsense realism, scientific realism): the belief that actuality as perceived is reality.
nattermind: the involuntary part of the mind that acts as an independent agent. Contrast willmind.
natural philosophy: the study of Nature from a holistic perspective; the common methodology of comprehending Nature until the 17th century, before modern science barged in with its strictly empirical scientific method. See natural science. Contrast science.
natural science: natural philosophy coupled to the scientific method.
natural selection: a meaningless term acclaiming Darwinism, popular among religious evolutionary biologists who should know better. See Darwinism.
Nature: the exhibition of existence. See coherence.
nature (of): the essence; the basic constitution.
Nazism (aka National Socialism): the ideology and practices of the 20th century German Nazi party, characterized by fascism and antisemitism.
near-death experience: an experience near death. People who have near-death experiences may physically cease to function for some duration before reviving.
neocortex (aka neopallium, isocortex): the part of the mammalian brain active during higher-order mentation, such as sensory perception, cognition, motor command generation, spatial reasoning, and language.
neopositivism (aka logical positivism, logical empiricism): a Western philosophical view embracing epistemological empiricism. Neopositivism sprouted in Berlin and Vienna in the late 1920s and gained widespread acceptance in scientific circles since the mid-20th century. Contrast panpsychism.
neurobiology (aka neuroscience): a pseudoscience that equates nerve cell activity with mentation. Compare neurology.
neuron (aka nerve cell): an electrically excitable intercellular signaling cell as part of the nervous system, employed for sensory or motor communication. Functionally, neurons are managed by glia.
neuron doctrine: the notion that neurons are the cells of intelligence.
neutral monism (aka neumonism): the epistemology that the essence of existence is neither material nor mental, but energetic. Compare idealism. See energyism.
nocebo: a belief provoking illness or death; the opposite of a placebo.
non-equilibrium statistical mechanics: see statistical mechanics.
nonlocality (physics): entanglement of objects at some distance from each other. Contrast locality.
noumenon: outside of existence; not phenomenal. A noumenon is beyond perception, as contrasted to phenomena.
.O.
object: something manifest as cohesive matter.
objectivity: the idea that Nature and reality are independent of consciousness. Contrast showtivity.
observation: active perception.
ocellar: relating to, or connecting with, an ocellus.
ocellus (plural: ocelli): a simple invertebrate eye.
ocelloid: a subcellular eye found in warnowiids, with subcomponents analogous to the lens, cornea, iris, and retina of eyes.
ommatidium (plural: ommatidia): a facet of a compound eye comprising 1 or more photoreceptor cells innervated by a single axon, providing a single picture element.
omniscience: (the idea of) having comprehensive awareness and comprehension of Nature. Compare knowledge.
ontological argument: a philosophical argument for the existence of a supreme being.
ontology (philosophy): the study of the nature of reality. Compare phenomenology.
opsin: a light-sensitive protein.
organism: a life form.
osteoporosis: a disease of progressive bone mass and density loss.
ouroboros (aka uroboros): an ancient symbol of a dragon or serpent eating its own tail which symbolizes the eternal cycle of existence.
out-of-body experience (obe): an experience of awareness from a perspective which is outside of one’s physical body.
.P.
panpsychism: the idea that a consciousness and mind is inherent in all things. Panpsychism is one of the oldest philosophical theories and was the prevailing orthodoxy until the mid-20th century, when supplanted by neopositivism. Compare hylozoism, animism.
paracosm: a detailed imaginary world.
paradigm: a construed pattern, often used as a framework for perception.
paranormal: not explainable via matterism.
Parkinson’s disease: a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, initially affecting the motor system, but leading to dementia in its advance. Named after James Parkinson, who published a report on the disease in 1817.
particle (physics): a point in spacetime, typically used to ascribe a quantum. Contrast wave.
pea: the small spherical seed of the pod fruit of the pea plant (Pisum sativum), an annual plant.
perceive, perception: mentally integrating sensory input (sensation) using memory. Perception is a 3-stage process: 1) turn a sensation into a symbolic representation, 2) identify the representation using memory and categorization, then 3) derive meaning, especially regarding affinity or avoidance. See conceptualization.
peripheral vision: vision in animals with 2 eyes that occurs outside focal gaze. See binocular vision.
perspective-ignorance: see pignorance.
phase (physics, chemistry): a physically distinctive form of matter. Common phases, corresponding to temperature/energy levels, are gas, liquid, plasma, and solid.
phase transition: change from one operational state, or state of matter, to another.
phenomenal: known through perception. Contrast intuition.
phenomenon (plural: phenomena): a perceptible event. See actuality. Contrast noumenon.
phenomenology (philosophy): the study of the nature of phenomena, experience, and consciousness. See ontology.
phenotype: the composite visible traits of an organism: physical, physiological, and behavioral. Compare mentotype.
philosophy: a set of consistent definitions pertaining to a system which yields a hierarchical construal. The term philosophy derives from the ancient Greek for “love of wisdom.” There are 3 branches of philosophy: natural, moral, and metaphysical. Natural philosophy, which evolved into science, concerns Nature. Moral philosophy deals with the principles of ethics. Metaphysics considers first principles, such as ontology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
photobleaching (aka fading): photochemical alteration of a pigment molecule such that it cannot fluoresce (emit light).
photoisomerization: the molecular behavior of changing isomer upon photoexcitation (absorbing a photon).
photon: a hypothetical bosonic particle of light; more properly, a packet of light energy, as light exhibits both particulate and wave appearances. Though photons supposedly do not interact with each other, they somehow porter the force of electromagnetism.
photopic vision: sight under well-light conditions. Contrast scotopic vision.
photoreceptor (cell): a specialized cell capable of visual phototransduction.
photosynthesis: (an organism) converting sunlight into energy.
phototransduction: the 4-step cellular process of converting light into a sensory signal. See transduction.
phylogeny: the evolution of a particular group of organisms.
phylum (biological classification) (plural: phyla): the taxon above class and below kingdom. Phylum typically refers to a uniquely identifiable body plan. See family.
Physarum: a genus of slime molds.
physical model: a typically geometric or algebraic mathematical model yielding a mathematical description of the embodied phenomena.
physical theory: an explanation of relationships between various measurable phenomena. A physical theory may include a model of physical events (i.e., a physical model).
physics: the natural science of matter and its patterns of motion, with the intent of understanding how the universe behaves.
pignorance (perspective-ignorance): a wrong worldview from not knowing the nature of existence. Compare fignorance. See ignorance, naïve realism.
placebo: a simulated medical treatment intended to inspire the recipient, thereby provoking the placebo effect of working to relieve or even cure the targeted affliction. The term placebo originated with an old Latin word for “I shall please.” In medieval times, a placebo opened the Catholic Vespers for the Dead, which were sung by hired mourners for a funeral; sycophants who wept crocodile tears on behalf of the family. This gave placebo the odious meaning of a toady. The term took its medical context in the early 19th century, when placebos were remorsefully employed. Placebos’ efficacy gradually transformed their moral worth.
placebo effect: a rejuvenation owing solely to mental invigoration via belief in a placebo (totemic treatment).
Planck constant (aka Planck’s constant, Plank’s action quantum): a physical constant reflecting the size of energy quanta in quantum field theory. Planck’s constant states the proportionality between the momentum and quantum wavelength of every subatomic particle. The relation between the energy and frequency of quanta is termed the Planck relation.
Planck length: the theoretical limit to spatial distance; a measure derived from Newton’s gravitational constant, the speed of light in a vacuum (c), and Planck’s constant. Planck length is 1.616199 x 10–35 meters.
Planck time: the theoretical limit of temporal measurement; the time required for light in a vacuum to travel a single Planck length: 5.391 x 10–44 seconds.
Planck unit: a system of natural units used in physics, particularly Planck length and Planck time; named after German physicist Max Planck.
plasma: the most prevalent of the 4 fundamental states of matter; the others being gas, liquid, and solid.
poison ivy: a rash caused by allergic reaction to urushiol, a sap produced by plants in the Toxicodendron genus (poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac).
polarization (optics): a state of light in which the radiation exhibits distinct properties in different directions.
polymath: a person of encyclopedic learning.
polytheism: the belief in multiple gods. Contrast monotheism.
population: a group of conspecifics within a geographical area.
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a terrifying event in the past echoing onto present awareness.
prāņā: the Sanskrit word for “life force.”
prāņāyāma: a breathing technique.
precocial: animal species with relatively mature and mobile young from the moment of birth or hatching. Many, though not all, arthropods, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are precocial. Contrast altricial.
precocious knowledge: inborn knowledge. Precocious knowledge is a telltale of energyism, as it cannot be explained via materiality.
presence (spirituality): a felt external (ED) spirit.
primary metabolite: a compound produced by a plant that is essential to its survival. Compare secondary metabolite.
principle (philosophy of science): a conceptual construct explaining some countenance of Nature.
problem: a dynamic not understood for which a solution is sought (problem-solving). Whereas problem-solving which shapes matter is craftwork, entirely abstract (non-material) problem-solving is symwork (of symbolic representations).
prokaryote: an organism that lacks a cell nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles. While prokaryotes are strictly single-celled, most can form stable, aggregate communities, such as a biofilm. Compare eukaryote.
prophet: a guru that teaches reality and the consequences of ignorance.
protein: a single, long, linear polymer chain of amino acids that typically takes a folded structure; a complex organic macromolecule by which living bodies are intelligently built. See enzyme.
protist: a catchall kingdom of eukaryotic organisms, including algae and amoeba. Most protists are unicellular, though many practice pluricellularity.
protostome: a clade of animals comprising annelids (segmented worms), arthropods, and mollusks. The sister clade of protostomes are deuterostomes, from which evolved echinoderms (e.g., sea urchins) and vertebrates.
psyche: the psychological structure of an organism, especially as a motive force.
psychedelic: a substance which can induce hallucinations.
psychic: relating to mental projection.
psychological distance: the mentally construed remove from an object, person, or event.
psychology: the study of the mind, leading to philosophy about the mind. There can be no science of the mind. An individual psychology is characterized by mental and behavioral habits.
psychospace: the mental, as contrasted to physical, spatial and temporal environment. See psychological distance.
pupil (physiology): the variably sized hole in the center of the iris that allows passage of light to the retina.
.Q.
quantum (physics) (plural: quanta): an infinitesimal chunk of ripple in a localized energy field considered as a particle (via quantization).
quantum field theory (aka quantum theory, quantum mechanics): a theoretical framework explaining subatomic interactions from a particle perspective.
quantum mechanics: see quantum field theory.
quantum tunneling: a quantum overcoming its 4D classical confines to move itself through an HD wormhole.
quietude: the state of consciousness characterized by being awake with a quiet mind (nattermind subdued). See enlightenment.
.R.
random (adjective): the idea that a system lacks order.
real: that which is, as contrasted to what manifests. See truth.
reality: that which necessarily is, phenomenal or noumenonal. Contrast actuality.
realization (aka unity consciousness): an enlightened state of consciousness with an abiding experience of the unicity of Nature. (Note that the term enlightenment is sometimes used for realization. No knowledgeable distinction may be made between enlightenment and realization by those not having attained unity consciousness.) Compare enlightenment, coherence consciousness.
reductionism: the absurd idea that a complex dynamic system can be understood by ascertaining and analyzing constituent elements. Reductionism requires that the something can never be more than the sum of its parts. Reductionists explain biological processes in the same way that chemists and physicists interpret inanimate matter. In adhering to empirical cause-and-effect, reductionism is a tool of matterism. See synergy. Contrast holism.
reflection (physics): the partial or complete rebound of an energy wave from a surface. See specular reflection, diffuse reflection, retroreflection.
reflection (psychology): the process of contemplation, incorporating memory.
refraction: energy wave deflection due to passing from one medium into another, each medium having a distinct velocity. Contrast reflection (physics).
reincarnation: the idea that souls cycle through incarnations; common in many spiritual belief systems, though not a mainstream belief in Abrahamic religions (monotheistic religions which include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
relativity (physics): the idea that there is an inertial reference frame. See general relativity, special relativity.
religion: a shared belief system encompassing the nature of the universe and life, commonly belied by evidence. Religions are frequently faith-based, typically dogmatic, and usually involve supernatural agents (gods). Compare natural philosophy. Contrast science.
remote viewing: long distance visual perception. Compare out-of-body experience.
Renaissance (14th–17th centuries): the European intellectual and cultural movement from the mid-14th century (after the Black Death) into the 17th century, characterized by collective nostalgia for classical antiquity, though it ended up with skepticism toward traditional thought. The Renaissance affected the arts, religion, politics, philosophy, and science.
resistor (chemistry): a material that resists to a measurable degree passage of electric charges.
resonance (physics): a periodic synchrony.
retina: the light-sensitive layer of tissue lining the inner surface of the eye.
retinal (aka retinaldehyde, vitamin A aldehyde): one of many forms of vitamin A. Retinal binds to the rhodopsin, providing the chemical basis of animal vision.
retinal bipolar cell: an intermediary nerve cell type between photoreceptors (rod and cone cells) and ganglion cells.
retinal ganglion cell: a nerve cell type near the inner surface of the retina that receives visual information from photoreceptors.
retroreflection: radiation reflection back to its source with minimal scattering.
rhabdomeric (aka r-opsin): the type of photoreceptor used by protostomes (e.g., insects) for vision. Compare ciliary.
rhodopsin (aka visual purple): a pigment-containing light-sensitive protein that converts light into an electrical signal (phototransduction).
risk sensitivity: the capability of an organism to discriminate between stable and unstable environments.
robber fly (aka assassin fly): a fast, medium-to-large, powerfully built, bristly fly in the Asilidae family (in the order Diptera, the true flies), with 7,000 described species. Robber flies are notoriously aggressive predators; hence the name. They prey on other insects as ambush hunters. Some robber flies resemble bumblebees, which these flies attack. Their disguise abets predation in affording close proximity before moving in for the kill.
rod (cell): a black-and-white photoreceptor in the mammalian eye that receives 1 photon at a time. 1 of the 2 types of the photoreceptor cells in the retina (the other being cone cells).
rule: a regulating principle.
.S.
saccade: a quick, simultaneous movement of the eyes. Compare microsaccade.
sādhanā: some exercise aimed at spiritual awakening; a term from the yogic tradition. All one needs to do for spiritual awakening is to witness what is going on without interference from nattermind: to live in meditation. Meditation as a practice is simply a form of rest (away from nattermind) which acclimates the system to silence and transcendental consciousness.
saint: a holy guru.
Sanskrit: the primary liturgical language of Hinduism.
scallop: a cosmopolitan marine bivalve mollusk.
schema: a general representation.
science: the study of Nature from a strictly empirical standpoint. Contrast natural philosophy.
scientific method: a set of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring knowledge, ostensibly involving careful observation before guessing what is going on, which is known as forming a theory. Guessing prior to intensive observation is making a hypothesis.
Scientific Revolution (1543–1687): a label by historians to ascribe the era in which modern science emerged. The 1543 posthumous publication of Copernicus’ essay on heliocentrism is commonly cited as the start date, and Newton’s 1687 publication of Principia (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) considered its completion.
scotopic vision: sight under low light. Contrast photopic vision.
scotopsin: the protein moiety in rhodopsin.
sea urchin (aka sea hedgehog): a small, spiny, globular marine animal, closely related to the sand dollar.
secondary metabolite: a specialty compound produced by a plant for ecological purposes. Compare primary metabolite.
selective attention: the ability to screen out useless visual information so as to focus on a target.
self-organized criticality: a property of dynamic systems where a critical threshold (tipping point) exists that, when passed, sets off a substantial reaction.
semiconductor: a material with an electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Compare resistor.
sensate, sensation: receiving stimuli from sensory organs for collation and interpretation via perception.
sentience (aka sentiency): conscious witnessing without cognitive engagement. Sentience is the ability of consciousness to perceive awareness itself.
set (mathematics): a collection of symbolic representations.
set theory: a branch of mathematical logic dealing with sets.
shared subjectivity: the principle that shared subjective perceptions creates an illusion of objectivity via showtivity.
shear stress: coplanar stress in a material cross section. Whereas normal stress arises from a force vector component perpendicular to a material cross section, shear stress arises from a force vector component parallel to a cross section.
showtivity: the seeming objectivity of Nature via a shared experiential platform provided by Ĉonsciousness and coherence as an ordering principle for the perception of Nature.
sleep (aka asleep): the state of consciousness where the body and mind are in repose.
sleepwalking (aka somnambulism, noctambulism): a sleep disorder of combined sleep and wakefulness, where people asleep perform activities usually done only while awake.
slime mold: a protist that reproduces via zoospores.
sociowork: the process or result of mentally manipulating social relations. Compare craftwork, symwork.
solid: a substance with structural rigidity. Crystals and glasses are solids. Contrast fluid.
solipsism: the irrefutable argument that only the self can be proven to exist; universally ignored.
soul: individual consciousness; the part of an organism capable of passively witnessing its own mentation (introspection); more transcendentally, the perpetual essence of a life form.
sound: a vibration propagating as an audible wave of pressure.
special relativity: a physical theory of measurement positing that the speed of light provides an inertial frame of reference; proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905. See general relativity.
species (biology): a physically or genetically distinct population of organisms.
species (chemistry): chemically identical molecular entities with distinct interaction characteristics, typified by different ionization or lack thereof.
specular reflection (aka regular reflection): radiation reflection where each ray reflects from a surface at the same angle as its incidence.
spectral gap: the energy difference between the ground state and the 1st state of excitement in a system.
spin (quantum physics): the mathematically hypothesized internal rotation of a subatomic particle; a form of intrinsic angular momentum. Each particle type has a specific spin. In the Standard Model, only the Higgs boson is presumed without spin.
spirit (spirituality): a soul other than one’s own.
spirit plane: the dimensions where extra-dimensional (ED) life resides.
spirituality: a subjective sense of Nature that transcends purely physiological and material phenomena.
Standard Model (quantum physics): a quantum field theory focused on fundamental subatomic quanta and their interactions. The Standard Model is known to be incomplete.
star: a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity.
Stargate Project (1978–1995): a US Army project to investigate psychic phenomena for military and intelligence applications. Remote viewing was the primary work.
statistical mechanics: the study of the average behaviors in a mechanical system where the system is uncertain; a branch of theoretical physics using probability theory. Modeling irreversible processes driven by imbalances is non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Such processes include chemical reactions, thermodynamics, and particle flows.
Stoicism: a Hellenistic philosophy emphasizing self-control as a means for a virtuous life.
Stone Age (roughly 3.4 mya–3300 bce): the 1st principal period of the 3-age system, noted for use of stone tools, prior to the advent of metalworking. See Bronze Age, Iron Age.
strong force: the bosonic force binding matter together. Contrast weak force.
subconscious (aka unconscious): mentation that one is not aware of (not conscious of): below the threshold of awareness. Compare conscious.
subjective idealism: see idealism.
subjectivity: the idea that manifestation is necessarily an experience of individual consciousness. Contrast objectivity.
superfluid: a matter phase of flowing without friction, via zero viscosity and zero entropy. Helium-4 becomes a superfluid at cooler than 2.17 Kelvin.
supernatural: beyond Nature.
supralinear: greater than linear.
superluminal: faster than light.
sutra: a focal meditation technique.
sweat bee: a bee attracted to salt, particularly human sweat.
symbiorg: a eukaryotic organism, including the microbiome that symbiotically populates the organism as a host.
symbiosis: 2 dissimilar organisms in continual interaction, often in a mutually beneficial association (mutualism).
symbol: an abstraction that signifies something; a representation of a concept.
symwork: the process or result of manipulating symbolic representations into a certain configuration. Compare craftwork, sociowork.
synergy: an interaction of elements that, when combined, produces a total effect greater than the sum of the individual contributions. Contrast reductionism.
synthesize: to form (a material or abstraction) by combining parts or elements. Contrast analyze.
syrinx: the unique vocal organ of birds.
system: an assemblage of interdependent or interacting constituent concepts that form a whole.
.T.
Tao (Chinese philosophy and religion): the order of Nature; may also be considered a synonym for Ĉonsciousness. See logos.
taxon (plural: taxa): a classification of organisms.
teleology (evolutionary biology): the obvious and well supported theory that adaptation is goal oriented.
teleology (philosophy): the doctrine that final causes (ends or purposes) exist. Socrates, Plato, and Kant argued in favor of teleology.
tensor: a geometric object describing linear relations between other geometric entities (vectors, scalars, tensors). A tensor is a geometric entity particularly entangled with other tensors. Tensors are a tautology of entanglement.
tensor network (aka tennet): a network of tensors.
terminal lucidity: a brief revival of mental clarity just before death by those suffering severe neurological or psychological illness.
theory: fact-based explanation about the relations between concepts. See physical theory. Compare hypothesis.
theory of everything: the holy-grail physics theory that unifies all (known) phenomena.
thermalization: the process of matter moving toward thermal equilibrium with its environment.
thermodynamic system: a spatial region considered a self-contained system, characterized by certain characteristics, including temperature, pressure, entropy, and internal energy.
thermodynamics: the branch of physics concerned with the dynamics of heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work.
time: the idea that there is a temporal vector comprising past, present, and future.
topographic memory: a memory involving spatial orientation.
torque: the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis.
trait (biology): a biological feature, either in form or function.
transcendence (consciousness): the state of consciousness where the mind is quiet while the body is resting but receptive to stimuli.
Transcendental Meditation® (TM): a meditation technique popularized by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. TM employs a mantra as a mental vehicle to facilitate transcendence. TM descends from an ancient lineage of Indian meditative practices.
transduction (physiology) (sensory transduction): conversion of a sensory stimulus from one communicable form to another.
trichromacy: having 3 types of color vision receptors. Marsupials and primates are the only known mammalian trichromats, with different receptor types for red, green, and blue wavelengths. Some insects, such as honeybees, are trichromats, but their reception is shorter wavelengths: green, blue, and ultraviolet. Trichromats can distinguish 1 million colors. Compare monochromacy, dichromacy, tetrachromacy.
truth: conformity with reality. Compare theory.
.U.
uncertainty principle: the principle that subatomic quanta are inherently probabilistic in their activity: a measurement may yield only an approximation of either a quantum’s position or its momentum, but not both simultaneously; an intrinsic property of Nature, not a measurement incapacity; proposed by Werner Heisenberg in 1926 and controversial ever since.
unconscious: autonomic mental processes which are not conscious. The term unconscious was coined by German philosopher Friedrich Schelling in 1800. See subconscious. Compare conscious.
understand: to develop a sense of contextual meaning.
universal mind: the idea of showtivity via a unified field of mentation; a synonym for coherence.
universe (aka cosmos): a presumed self-contained repository of energy – a characterization for which there is no evidence, and which quantum theory disclaims. This universe has ~4 trillion galaxies – half are light (with visible stars), half dark.
Upanishads (aka Vedānta) (from the 7th century bce): a collection of ~200 texts which contain philosophic concepts central to Hinduism.
uranium (U): the element with atomic number 92; a silvery-white metal that is weakly radioactive because all its isotopes are unstable.
.V.
vacuum energy: the underlying energy of 4D empty space. Vacuum energy is the ground state from which 4D virtual particles arise. Vacuum energy is an HD phenomenon.
vagus nerve (aka pneumogastric nerve): the longest and most complex of the 12 paired, cranial, neural cables in the human body; part of the parasympathetic nervous system. The vagus nerve conveys 80–90% of sensory signals about the body’s organs to the central nervous system. Vagus nerve activity correlates with sensory input and motor control. The term vagus stems from the Latin word for wandering.
van der Waals interaction: the net sum of attractive or repulsive forces between atoms other than those owing to covalent bonds, electrostatic interaction between ions, or with neutral atoms. The van der Waals interaction is between 2 dipoles; either instantaneously induced (London dispersion force), permanent dipoles (Keesom force), or a permanent dipole and an induced one (Debye force). Relative to covalent and ionic bonding, the attractive power of the van der Waals interaction is subtle; caused by correlations in the fluctuating polarizations of nearby particles. The van der Waals force is an HD interaction: a consequence of quantum dynamics in rapidly fluctuating polarizations among proximate particles. Named after Johannes van der Waals for his work characterizing the behavior of gases, and their condensation to a liquid phase. van der Waals interaction was discovered by Fritz London in 1930.
Vedas, The: a collection of hymns and other Sanskrit spiritual texts written 1500–300 bce; the earliest literary record of the Indo-Aryan civilization. The Vedas become the canon of Hinduism.
vibration: a periodic oscillation about an equilibrium.
virtual particle: a hypothesized HD quantum that significantly affects the properties of 4D quanta. Virtual particles supposedly pop in and out of 4D as a manifestation of vacuum energy: a phase shift in appearance between 4D and ED. See ghost field.
vision: the sense of sight through visible light.
vitalism (biology): the doctrine that there is a vital energy specific to living organisms, distinct from chemical and physical forces; a well-known fact generally rejected by scientists.
vitalism (natural philosophy): the doctrine that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living objects in having a life force. Compare animism.
vocal cord (aka vocal fold): either of 2 folds of a mucous membrane that extends across the interior cavity of the larynx.
vocalization: sound production by an animal through its respiratory system.
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warnowiid: a family (Warnowiaceae) of unicellular protists with ocelloids.
wasan: a distinct mathematics developed in Japan during the Edo Period, without knowledge of Western mathematics, but contemporaneously making the same discoveries.
wave/particle duality: the notion that an object simultaneously possesses the properties of a wave and a particle.
wavelength: the spatial period of a sine wave; commonly used as a statistical measure of the energy of a waveform, which is mathematically the product of a wave’s frequency and amplitude.
weak force: the bosonic nuclear force that transforms matter from one variety of into another and causes matter to decay. Contrast strong force.
willmind: volitional mentation. Contrast nattermind.
Wizard of Oz, The (aka The Wonderful Wizard of Oz): a 1900 fantasy novel by American novelist L. Frank Baum. The Wizard is a humbug who is shamed into helping Dorothy return to her home in Kansas. The Wizard of Oz is best known in its 1939 film adaptation, staring Judy Garland.
work (physics): energy in transit; the result of an energetic force applied to matter.
World War 2 (aka WW2, 2nd World War) (1939–1945): a global war between 2 alliances – the Allies and the Axis – that involved over 30 nations. The primary Allies were Great Britain, the United States, and Russia. Germany, Italy, and Japan were the Axis powers. ~85 million people perished.
worldview (aka Weltanschauung): a cognitive orientation toward life and Nature.
wormhole: a shortcut in spacetime, allowing entanglement.
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xenoglossy: the ability to speak an unfamiliar language.
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yin-yang: the traditional Chinese concept of interdependent dynamic forces composing Nature, dating to the 14th century bce or even earlier. Yin is the receptive principle, Yang active.
yoga: a Hindu school of philosophy advocating and prescribing mental and physical disciplines for attaining realization.
yogi: a person who practices yoga.
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Zen: a school of Buddhism that developed in 6th century China. Zen was introduced into Japan during the 12th century. Westerners are most familiar with Japanese Zen Buddhism, with initial interest sparked by the visit of Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Soyen Shaku to the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, held in Chicago. Zen emphasizes the individual attainment of enlightenment via intuitive insight into the nature of reality.
zero (0): an absence of quantity; mathematical nothing.
Zohar: the primary text of Kabbalah, a mystical Judaist tradition.
zoospore: a motile asexual spore that gets around by flapping its flagellum.
