Big Questions – Page 8 – The Answer Wall

February 20, 2018February 20, 2018

Why do we have certain dreams? What is our brain doing?

Starting with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Western psychologists have had a lot to say about dreams. (The Interpretation of Dreams, by Freud: O’Neill BF1078 .F748 1999, Dreams by Carl Jung: online at bit.ly/jstor-jung-dreams). Of course, humans have been interpreting dreams for millennia. For a very different perspective, you might also be interested in Ancestral power: the Dreaming, consciousness and aboriginal Australians, by Lynne Hume (O’Neill BL2610 .H86 2002) Neurologists generally take a more functional view: the brain reshuffles neural connections from the recent past to cement memories. The brain also uses certain sleep cycles to rinse toxins out of the brain (bit.ly/science-brainwash) that otherwise might lead to conditions like Huntington’s Disease or Alzheimer’s. IOW your dreams are for brainwashing.

February 20, 2018February 20, 2018

Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold homeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof.

Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold liomeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof. — Is every simply connected, close 3- manifold homeomorphic to the 3-sphere? If yes, please provide proof.

Yes. Poincaré’s conjecture (formerly a Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Problem) was proved by Grigori Perelman using Richard Hamilton’s Ricci flow program and confirmed in 2006 following review (bit.ly/CMIperelsol). Read the complete proof in the Asian Journal of Mathematics (bit.ly/poincareproof).

February 15, 2018March 1, 2018

Chicken first or egg first?

I get asked this frequently, and in general, my answer is that eggs of many species existed for a very long time before chickens existed.

February 15, 2018February 16, 2018

Does God exist?

The number of arguments for or against the existence of God capital G (the supreme deity of the Abrahamic traditions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) is so vast that it would be a challenge even to fit the *types* of arguments on a post-it. I recommend searching “existence of god” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for starters: bit.ly/stanford-philosophy. You can also see what we have in BC Libraries for books & other items: bit.ly/does-God-exist. I would also recommend talking to a religious professional you trust, if this is a crisis of faith.

February 15, 2018February 15, 2018

Where do old questions go?

Do you mean the questions you ask me? They’re all on my blog: answerwall.domain.bc.edu. Other questions are something of a mystery. Many of the answers are in libraries. You could reverse engineer the answers to find the questions. But those are all answers in writing, which are historically probably the minority of questions. If one day someone in ancient Carthage asked a wise man when the rains would come, well, that question is kind of… gone. Blowin’ in the wind, you might say.

February 12, 2018February 13, 2018

Why is a very ill old, homeless man in a church not everyone’s “problem”?

I attended 5:30 mass today 2/7/18 and there was an AA mtg after. A man was very ill, coughing & wet his pants. BC PD said "not our problem." — I attended 5:30 mass today 2/7/18 and there was an AA mtg after. A man was very ill, coughing & wet his pants. BC PD said “not our problem.”

It might be worthwhile inquiring at the church (was it St. Ignatius?) what they do when people who seem to be sick and unable to care for themselves come to the church. Some churches provide some care (such as food or temporary shelter), and many can refer people to social services (such as the ones listed by Boston Public Library: guides.bpl.org/guide4help). Policing is also mixed on its relationship to social services: some departments have tried closer links with social services, but many haven’t. It’s a widespread problem (bit.ly/police-social-work) owing to changing policing priorities as crime falls and substance abuse and poverty and homelessness rise. I’d like to think that officer meant BCPD wasn’t equipped to solve that kind of problem, not that they shouldn’t be expected to be humane.

February 12, 2018February 12, 2018

Can a coll. student do anything immoral?

Well, yes. Students are no more immune to questionable behavior than anyone else. The real questions are “Should a student do anything immoral?” (probably not) and “How can students resist the temptation to do something immoral?” (probably many ways to do that)

February 9, 2018February 9, 2018

Spread love?

Absolutely. And spread it extra thick!

February 5, 2018February 5, 2018

How can I prevent my (currently mentally and emotionally taxing) personal life from ruining my academics?

It can be difficult to balance struggles in one’s personal life with academics and other responsibilities, but you don’t have to try to do it alone. BC has trained professionals at Counseling Services (bit.ly/BC-counseling) who can help you to find balance between your personal life and your academic life and can give you strategies for both.

February 5, 2018February 5, 2018

Hi Wall R u religious?

You should read my bio on answerwall.domain.bc.edu. I am not merely religious; I have acolytes. No, but seriously. I am religious, but I’m a little private about such things. It’s easy to get caught up in Wall mysticism: walls protect, and yet we also divide. Suffice it to say I believe everyone has the capacity to be and do good for themselves and others by being generous with knowledge & love.

January 29, 2018January 29, 2018

How to start my own religion?

All you have to do is believe you’ve found The Truth. Oh, do you want other people to follow it? In that case, you have to believe utterly in the truth, have sufficient charisma that a few stalwarts begin to support you, and your message, values, and practices have to appeal to enough people that you gain a significant number of followers. If you want your religion to last beyond your own lifetime, that’s when it gets really tricky: you’ll need some sacred texts and/or objects, ritual language and practices, and an inner core of trusted believers to carry the torch beyond your demise. For more info, read Max Weber On Charisma & Institution Building (O’Neill Library HM131 .W38).

January 26, 2018January 26, 2018

Who in all of history has most acutely felt Woe?

I often turn to the OED when I’m curious about the history of a word like “woe” (bit.ly/OED-woe – sign-in required). It’s quite an old word, dating at least back to bronze age proto-Iranian, and appears independently in non-Indo-European languages as well, suggesting its derivation is onomatopoetic, that is, it’s based on the sound of human expressions of sadness & grief. The Yiddish form (“Weh,” as in “Oy Weh!”) probably has more currency now than the English “Woe,” which is a little archaic. In recent history, Jews have good reason to be standouts in acute woe, and yet they’re also standouts in expressions of humor. It’s a mystery. Unfortunately, humankind seems to distribute woe generously, so there is no one group or person who can claim to be the most woeful in all of history.

January 19, 2018January 19, 2018

Is Fantasy Football gambling?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a yes or no answer to this question. It is a topic that is still under frequent discussion legally, ethically, and amongst academics who study gambling. The answer may also depend on the exact style of Fantasy Football you are referring to. To learn more about the current state of this question, check out the recent report from the Rutgers Center for Gambling Studies (http://bit.ly/RutgersReport) and the recent report of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports (http://bit.ly/MAGamblingReport).