Invitation to be Chinese
What a disgrace that all of you keep writing “Taiwan and China” and “Taiwanese and Chinese.” Does the mainland [China] have a copyright on the word “China?” Taiwan is the Republic of China (ROC) and China is the People’s Republic of China (PRC), so why not “ROC and PRC?” Not that I advocate the notion of “two Chinas.”
I am from New York and I am a proud American-Chinese. Are Taiwanese ashamed to say they are Taiwanese Chinese? Should I start calling myself Americanese?
John Chiu
New York
Universal answer to come
The excellent article in the Taipei Times, (“A century ago, Einstein’s theory of relativity changed everything,” Nov. 28, page 9) was beautifully written and leaves one with the impression that relativity provides a complete answer of the mechanics driving the motions of the solar system. Every article like this leaves out an important piece of information; relativity tells us why bodies move without a physical connection, but it does not, and cannot tell us “how” the solar system moves.
Relativity obeys the laws of physics, which have at their core the second law of thermodynamics. This states quite clearly that physics only moves from order to disorder. You will notice that leads to a contradiction: The solar system started out as rubble and dust, but ended up as a clock so accurate it keeps time better than human mechanical devices. This is disorder ending up not only in regular motion, but the startling beauty and harmony as seen in Saturn’s rings.
Physics says this is allowed, but does not provide any mechanism. If it did, we get a contradiction described in a mathematical proof written by Kurt Godel, The Incompleteness Theory. Physics is never going to provide an answer that collapses the logic of its own being.
This problem was first uncovered by Newton, who found his equations only worked for two bodies. Worse, Henri Poincare proved in 1887 that there are no equations that describe the motion of three bodies. If it looks like science is beginning to unravel here, that is because it is!
We know the physics of atomic structures is correct, we know the physics of gravitational structures is correct, but there are two very different kinds of physics, neither of which can describe how atomic structures and gravitational structures end up in the order we observe in cells and solar systems.
Now we are stuck. Modern science comes to a dead end here: two incompatible theories of physics that cannot explain anything as complex as three bodies moving in space, or how the bodies of animals contain nothing but elements.
One can stare at the periodic table all day, but will never be able to predict all the chemical complexity that makes up a rainforest. The internals of a single cell has millions of complex interactions every second, a rainforest goes off the chart. Universities do not present information like this, it would simply confuse students and lead to a lack of confidence.
There is a complete and consistent answer, and that answer will be put before teams from universities and The National Museum of Science. This is the peer review demanded by the discipline of science.
On Dec. 26, a theory will be laid out that shows how the universe is not a predictable physical structure at all. In fact, it is all built from entities that have no properties of volume or substance.
Base quantum entities have no properties except mathematical ones. The universe can be described correctly as a mathematical system that self assembles and is nothing more than a relationship between energy, information and time; a computer based upon binary and complex computations. It can be simplified down to a matrix written by Paul Dirac. Shocking stuff, but the theory can answer all of the above problems without ending up in a contradiction.
The answer is already being put to good use in industry and schools are rewriting curriculums in which all information cross references. Students are taught mathematics and science as a single, integrated subject. It turns out that the universe is a sensible place after all; it does obey the demands of first-order logic.
It might not be what Newton wanted, a predictable physical place, but who says it has to be what humans want, it is just how it needs to be to self-assembled from the mathematical entities at the base.
P.A. Cook
Taichung
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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