Log24

Sunday, July 20, 2025

The Meno Mystery

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 6:08 pm

Continuing today's earlier remarks . . .

One approach to the mystery —

IF  one could inscribe in a semicircle, upon the diameter of the circle,
a right triangle whose hypotenuse is the diameter of the circle and
whose area is exactly half of the semicircle's area

THEN  clearly one could do the same on the diametrically opposite side
of the circle and form a rectangle whose area is half that of the circle . . .

AND  then convert that rectangle to a square, as below . . .

. . . and finally , as in the first  geometric problem in the Meno , one
could use the new square (green in the figure above) to easily construct
a square with double  the area. 

That  square — from the matrix of "Plato's diamond"
would thus have the same area as the circle.

Thus, granted the hypothesis that the first triangle pictured
above has half the area of the semicircle in which it is inscribed . . .

One would have achieved the seemingly impossible, and squared the circle. 

Meno 86e for the Turkish Breakfast Club

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — m759 @ 5:40 am

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292411243_
The_meno_and_the_second_problem_of_geometry_at_86e1
 .

Update of 12:36 PM EDT July 20, 2025 —

Could the second geometry problem in Plato's Meno  illustrate
one tentative approach to the classical problem of squaring
the circle 
?

If so, the following remarks seem relevant . . .

Monday, May 12, 2025

Annals of Cognitive Testing: “Meno, Zeno … Zeno, Meno”

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 1:21 pm

About 402 B.C. —

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Later —

A more recent version of the Meno figure —

Image-- From the Diamond in Plato's Meno to Modern Finite Geometry

See also Mel Bochner at Carrnegie-Mellon
and Bochner's Sixteen.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Plato and the Illiterate Guardian

Filed under: General — m759 @ 8:09 am

"Leibniz … could also be called the first digerati."
The Guardian , May 10, 2013

"Digerati" is a term modeled after "literati"  —

Example —


See also this  journal on the above
Guardian  date 10 May 2013.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Meno

Filed under: General — m759 @ 10:00 pm

From a poet discussed in Plato's Meno  —

Click the above image for an animated version of Feb. 12, 2008.

See also this journal on Feb. 12, 2008.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Plato’s Ghosts

Filed under: General — m759 @ 6:00 pm

The previous post, “Ennead Boo,” refers indirectly to
a passage from Pindar in Plato’s Meno :

See also posts from nine years ago
on the death of director Robert Wise.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Realism in Plato’s Cave

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 8:08 pm

In memory of the late combinatorialist-philosopher Gian-Carlo Rota

Excerpts from the introduction to Allan Casebier's

Film and Phenomenology: Towards a Realist Theory of Cinematic Representation
(Cambridge Studies in Film, Cambridge University Press, 1991) —

Pages 1-2,  pages 3-4,  pages 5-6.

Cover illustration: Durer's 'Knight, Death, and the Devil'

Cover illustration: Knight, Death, and the Devil, by Albrecht Dürer

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Plato’s Code

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: — m759 @ 12:00 pm

John Allen Paulos yesterday at Twitter

"Plato's code cracked? http://bit.ly/ad6k1S
Fascinating if not a hoax or hype."

The story that Paulos linked to is about a British
academic who claims to have found some
symbolism hidden in Plato's writings by
splitting each into 12 parts and correlating
the 12 parts with semitones of a musical scale.

I prefer a different approach to Plato that is
related to the following hoax and hype—

HOAX:

From Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons  (2000)

IMAGE- Illuminati Diamond, pp. 359-360 in 'Angels & Demons,' Simon & Schuster Pocket Books 2005, 448 pages, ISBN 0743412397

HYPE:

Image-- From 'Alchemy,' by Holmyard, the diamond of Aristotle's 4 elements and 4 qualities

This  four-elements diamond summarizes the classical
four elements and four qualities neatly, but some scholars
might call the figure "hype" since it deals with an academically
disreputable subject, alchemy, and since its origin is unclear.

For the four elements' role in some literature more respectable
than Dan Brown's, see Poetry's Bones.

Although an author like Brown might spin the remarks
below into a narrative—  The Plato Code — they are
neither  hoax nor hype.

NOT  HOAX:

Image-- From the Diamond in Plato's Meno to Modern Finite Geometry

NOT  HYPE:

http://www.log24.com/log/pix10A/100626-CrossOnSocratesSm.gif

For related non-hoax, non-hype remarks, see
The Rational Enterprise: Logos in Plato's Theaetetus,
by Rosemary Desjardins.

Those who prefer  hoax and hype in their philosophy may consult
the writings of, say, Barbara Johnson, Rosalind Krauss, and—
in yesterday's NY Times's  "The Stone" columnNancy Bauer.

Image-- The Philosophers' Stone according to The New York Times

— The New York Times

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Plato’s Logos

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: , — m759 @ 9:00 am

"The present study is closely connected with a lecture* given by Prof. Ernst Cassirer at the Warburg Library whose subject was 'The Idea of the Beautiful in Plato's Dialogues'…. My investigation traces the historical destiny of the same concept…."

* See Cassirer's Eidos und Eidolon : Das Problem des Schönen und der Kunst in Platons Dialogen, in Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg II, 1922/23 (pp. 1–27). Berlin and Leipzig, B.G. Teubner, 1924.

— Erwin Panofsky, Idea: A Concept in Art Theory, foreword to the first German edition, Hamburg, March 1924

On a figure from Plato's Meno

IMAGE- Plato's diamond and finite geometry

The above figures illustrate Husserl's phrase  "eidetic variation"
a phrase based on Plato's use of eidos, a word
closely related to the word "idea" in Panofsky's title.

For remarks by Cassirer on the theory of groups, a part of
mathematics underlying the above diamond variations, see
his "The Concept of Group and the Theory of Perception."

Sketch of some further remarks—

http://www.log24.com/log/pix10A/100626-Theories.jpg

The Waterfield question in the sketch above
is from his edition of Plato's Theaetetus
(Penguin Classics, 1987).

The "design theory" referred to in the sketch
is that of graphic  design, which includes the design
of commercial logos. The Greek  word logos
has more to do with mathematics and theology.

"If there is one thread of warning that runs
through this dialogue, from beginning to end,
it is that verbal formulations as such are
shot through with ambiguity."

— Rosemary Desjardins, The Rational Enterprise:
Logos in Plato's Theaetetus
, SUNY Press, 1990

Related material—

(Click to enlarge.)

http://www.log24.com/log/pix10A/100626-CrossOnSocratesSm.gif

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

♫ “The rain is Tess” — Song lyric

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — m759 @ 6:02 pm

Related Platonic image —

"Red sky at night . . ."

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

For Fans of the Coen Brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!”

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 8:12 pm

Related Platonic imagery . . .

"Red sky at night . . ."

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Philosophy for Language Animals:
Quantized Canonical Crystal!

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 11:37 pm

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

This post was suggested by yesterday's "Kyoto Meditation."

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Classic Static vs. Romantic Dynamic

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , — m759 @ 7:07 pm

Dichotomies —

Classic Static

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Romantic Static

Classic Dynamic

Cover of 'Twelve Sporadic Groups'

Romantic Dynamic

Update: The above remarks were suggested in part by a repost today . . .

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Supplement to “The Most Powerful Diagram in Mathematics”

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 12:04 pm

The diagram description in the title is from a YouTube video about
the Miracle Octad Generator of R. T. Curtis.

Supplemental AI-generated reading . . .

Diamond Theorem and Miracle Octad Generator

An “AI Overview” Google Search response to the
search prompt “diamond theorem and miracle octad generator,”
exported to Google Docs on Saturday, January 25, 2025 . . .

___________________________________________________

In mathematics, the "diamond theorem" refers to a geometric concept related to finite projective geometry, which is used to explain the surprising symmetry properties observed in the "Miracle Octad Generator" (MOG), a tool developed by mathematician R.T. Curtis for studying the Mathieu groups and binary Golay code; essentially, the diamond theorem helps analyze the patterns within the MOG, revealing a hidden structure based on geometric principles. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Key points about the connection: [1, 2, 3]

  • MOG and its patterns: The Miracle Octad Generator consists of a set of 35 square patterns, which can be manipulated to reveal interesting relationships within the Mathieu groups. [1, 2, 3]
  • Diamond geometry: The "diamond theorem" describes a specific geometric structure within these patterns, where certain configurations of squares resemble a diamond shape. [1, 2, 6]
  • Underlying symmetry: By analyzing these diamond patterns, mathematicians can understand the underlying symmetry properties of the MOG and the related mathematical structures. [1, 2, 3]

Further details: [1, 5, 7]

  • Applications: The diamond theorem has been used to study various mathematical concepts, including the Leech lattice, which is connected to the binary Golay code and the Mathieu groups. [1, 5, 7]
  • Visual interpretation: The diamond patterns can be easily visualized as arrangements of squares on a grid, making the concept more accessible to understand. [1, 2, 5]

Generative AI is experimental.

[1] http://finitegeometry.org/sc/16/dtheorem.html

[2] https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Cullinane_diamond_theorem

[3] https://arxiv.org/abs/1308.1075

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Octad_Generator

[5] http://xenon.stanford.edu/~hwatheod/mog/mog.html

[6] https://m759.tripod.com/theory/dtheory.html

[7] http://finitegeometry.org/sc/24/diconn.html

"Generative AI is experimental." . . .

Exercise:  Correct errors in the text, using the links.

A more concise presentation —

Square and Rectangle, 16 and 24

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Philosophy Painted Black

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 8:51 pm

From a New York Times  obituary today . . .

"Armed with his work on the German phenomenologist Edmund Husserl,
in his late 20s and early 30s Mr. Hountondji undertook to confront head-on
'Bantu Philosophy,' a book by a Belgian missionary priest, Placide Tempels…."

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Deep Blue Research: A Report by You.com AI

 

Cullinane Diamond Theorem Research Report

by https://you.com/?chatMode=research on March 3, 2024

Overview of the Cullinane Diamond Theorem

The Cullinane Diamond Theorem is a mathematical concept developed by Steven H. Cullinane that explores the symmetrical properties of certain geometric patterns. It is particularly concerned with the structure of finite projective geometry as it relates to the 35 square patterns found in R. T. Curtis's Miracle Octad Generator (MOG).

The theorem asserts that every G-image of a diamond figure D possesses some form of ordinary or color-interchange symmetry.

Symmetry and Group Theory

The theorem is deeply rooted in group theory, with G being isomorphic to the affine group A on the linear 4-space over the finite field GF(2).

This group has a significant order of 322,560 and underlies the symmetry of both the diamond-theorem figures and the square patterns of the MOG . The 35 structures of the 840 G-images of D are isomorphic to the 35 lines in the 3-dimensional projective space over GF(2), which explains the symmetry of the line diagrams and the two-color patterns.

The Diamond Theorem in Various Dimensions

The diamond theorem can be applied to different cases, such as the 4×4, 2×2, and even 3-dimensional cubes like the 2x2x2 and 4x4x4 cubes.

The generalized statement of the theorem involves inscribing a white diamond in a black square and dividing it into four quadrants, each with a diagonal split into black and white halves.

Algebraic Implications

The theorem has algebraic implications, such as the ability to express every 4-coloring as a sum of three 2-colorings.

This algebraic formulation is useful for demonstrating that certain four-colored graphic images can form a ring under multiplication. There is also an infinite family of such 'diamond' rings, isomorphic to rings of matrices over GF(4).

Philosophical and Cultural Context

Steven H. Cullinane has also explored the philosophical implications of the diamond theorem, referring to it in the context of Plato's Meno dialogue and opposing it to the 'Story Theory of truth' as discussed by Richard J. Trudeau.

The theorem is seen as a correct statement of the relation between geometry and the physical universe.

Clarification on Cullinan Diamonds

It is important to note that the Cullinane Diamond Theorem is unrelated to the Cullinan diamond, which is a famous large gemstone discovered in South Africa and now part of the British Crown Jewels.

The Cullinan diamond has its own historical and cultural significance, with its various cut shapes and ownership history.

In summary, the Cullinane Diamond Theorem is a mathematical concept that reveals the symmetrical properties of certain geometric patterns, with applications in group theory and algebra. It also has philosophical implications, drawing connections to classical ideas about truth and geometry.

Instagram ad for You.com AI in research mode

"Show me ALL  your sources, babe."

— Line adapted from Leonardo DiCaprio

Monday, February 19, 2024

Theology for Sophists

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 10:15 pm

"To Phaedrus, this backlight from the conflict between
the Sophists and the Cosmologists adds an entirely
new dimension to the Dialogues of Plato." — Robert M. Pirsig

"It’s all in Plato, all in Plato;
bless me, what do  they
teach them at these schools?”

— C. S. Lewis in
The Narnia Chronicles

Compare and Contrast — Plato's Diamond.

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Monday, September 14, 2020

Socrates in the Marketplace

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 7:39 am

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Diamond Matrix slide template at presentationgo.com

“The 2×2 matrix is commonly used in business strategy
as a representational tool to show conflicting concepts and
for decision making. This four-quadrant matrix diagram
is perfect to be used for business or marketing matrices
like BCG, SWOT, Ansoff, risk assessment…

Additionally, it will also be suitable to illustrate 4 ideas or
concepts.” [Link on “illustrate” added.]

See also a Log24 search for “Resplendent.”

Sunday, August 2, 2020

The Sword and the Stone

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — m759 @ 12:42 pm

A post of May 26, 2005, displays, if not the sword,
a place  for it —

Drama of the Diagonal

"The beautiful in mathematics resides in contradiction.
Incommensurability, logoi alogoi, was the first splendor
in mathematics." — Simone Weil, Oeuvres Choisies,
éd. Quarto
, Gallimard, 1999, p. 100

Logos Alogos  by S. H. Cullinane

"To a mathematician, mathematical entities have their own existence,
they habitate spaces created by their intention.  They do things,
things happen to them, they relate to one another.  We can imagine
on their behalf all sorts of stories, providing they don't contradict
what we know of them.  The drama of the diagonal, of the square…"

— Dennis Guedj, abstract of "The Drama of Mathematics," a talk
to be given this July at the Mykonos conference on mathematics and
narrative. For the drama of the diagonal of the square, see

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Oslo Prophet (after Varignon)

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 12:06 pm

See also Invariance, a Log24 post from yesterday morning —

Note the resemblance to Plato’s Diamond.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Invariance

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 9:00 am

Note the resemblance to Plato’s Diamond.

Click the Pritchard passage above for an interactive version.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Commonwealth Tales, or “Lost in Physics”

Filed under: General — m759 @ 11:00 pm

From Ulysses , by James Joyce —

John Eglinton, frowning, said, waxing wroth:

—Upon my word it makes my blood boil to hear anyone compare Aristotle with Plato.

—Which of the two, Stephen asked, would have banished me from his commonwealth?

Compare and contrast:

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Fans of Plato might enjoy tales of Narnia, but fans of
James Joyce and Edgar Allan Poe might prefer
a tale by Michael Chabon from April 2001 about a
"doleful little corner of western Pennsylvania."

Monday, May 14, 2018

Logos at Harvard

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: , , — m759 @ 3:01 pm

In 2013, Harvard University Press changed its logo to an abstract "H."

Harvard University Press Logo, Before and After

Both logos now accompany a Harvard video first published in 2012,
"The World of Mathematical Reality." 

In the video, author Paul Lockhart discusses Varignon's theorem
without naming Varignon (1654-1722) . . .

Paul Lockhart on geometry

A related view of "mathematical reality" —

Note the resemblance to Plato's Diamond.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Immanentizing the Transcendence

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 10:15 am

The title refers to the previous two posts.

Related literature —

Plato's Ghost: The Modernist Transformation of Mathematics
(Princeton University Press, 2008)  and . . .

Plato's diamond-in-a-matrix:

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Friday, April 6, 2018

A Service

Filed under: General — m759 @ 11:36 am

From a Boston Globe obituary for Andrew Lewis, an Oscar-nominated
screenwriter who reportedly died at 92 on Feb. 28, 2018 —

"A service has been held for Mr. Lewis . . . ."

—  Bryan Marquard, Globe staff, April 5, 2018

From this  journal on the reported date of his death —

The Globe reports that Lewis's father was Clarence Irving Lewis,
a professor of philosophy at Harvard University.

Fact check:  See page 246 of C. I. Lewis: The Last Great Pragmatist ,
by Murray G. Murphey (SUNY Press, 2005).

Figure (a) above is not unrelated to philosophy. See Plato 's Meno  dialogue.
See also a different diamond — a symbol devised by C. I. Lewis for use in
modal logic — in the post Wittgenstein's Diamond (July 10, 2011).

Monday, July 17, 2017

Athens Meets Jerusalem . . .

Filed under: General,Geometry — Tags: , — m759 @ 9:00 am

At the Googleplex .

For those whose only interest in higher mathematics
is as a path to the occult

Plato's Diamond and the Hebrew letter Aleph —

          

and some related (if only graphically) mathematics —

Click the above image for some related purely mathematical  remarks.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Final Club

Filed under: General — m759 @ 11:20 am

Today’s New York Times  on a character in a 1978 film —

“Cluelessly upbeat and charmingly idiotic.”

Related material from a post Saturday —

Plato's Formula: A Hollywood version of Plato's diamond from the Meno dialogue

Director with Oscar

Coda —

See as well this  journal on the above date — Sept. 24, 2015.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Early Personal Computer

Filed under: General — Tags: — m759 @ 10:01 am

(The title is from yesterday morning's Graphical Interfaces.)

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Monday, May 15, 2017

Appropriation at MoMA

Filed under: General,Geometry — m759 @ 1:14 pm

For example, Plato's diamond as an object to be transformed —

Plato's diamond in Jowett's version of the Meno dialogue

Versions of the transformed object —

See also The 4×4 Relativity Problem in this journal.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Logic for Jews

Filed under: General — Tags: , — m759 @ 9:07 pm

(Continued)

Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker  today reacts to the startling
outcomes of three recent contests: the presidential election,
the Super Bowl, and the Oscar for Best Picture —

"The implicit dread logic is plain."

Related material —

Transformers in this journal and

“Lord Arglay had a suspicion that the Stone would be
purely logical.  Yes, he thought, but what, in that sense,
were the rules of its pure logic?”

Many Dimensions  (1931), by Charles Williams

See also

The above figure is from Ian Stewart's 1996 revision of a 1941 classic, 
What Is Mathematics? , by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins.

One wonders how the confused slave boy of Plato's Meno  would react
to Stewart's remark that

"The number of copies required to double an
 object's size depends on its dimension."

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress