4. Math Theory.
3 random tidbit stories in about 3 minutes.
A 4. Math Theory Story.
LUCA likely had a very simple, leaky membrane or a rudimentary protein shell. Bacteria developed a cell wall made of peptidoglycan (a mesh of sugars and amino acids). This acts like a reinforced chain-link fence, allowing bacteria to survive in different water pressures without exploding.
The peptidoglycan wall of sugars and amino acids is exactly what penicillin attacks! If a cell has this specific wall, it’s a bacterium.
I wrote that 4. Math Theory Story,
A 4. Math Theory Story.
30 Philosophers, Chapter 20, Francis Bacon, Touchstone 49: Absolute Truth.
Truth is the successful correspondence between a proposition and reality, and human absolute truths do not exist. They only exists in nature. The idea that humans possess it is a thinking error. Objective reality refers to the material world as it is—reality that exists independently of human thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. This is the metaphysical “split” discussed in the Idea of Ideas, between the Material World and our ideas. The belief in objective reality is key to science, law, and journalism.
To be clear, absolute truth is not the same as our Empirical Ideas about it. Objective reality is on the other side of the “split” from our ideas. Absolute truth concerns reality as it is, while our ideas represent our best descriptions of it and are still subject to fallibility.
Analysis: This view of absolute truth has similarities to Kant’s distinction between phenomena and noumena. Both perspectives recognize an underlying reality beyond human perception. However, while Kant maintains that the noumenal world is ultimately unknowable and serves as a limiting concept to our understanding, this view asserts that absolute truth exists in nature, while our ideas about it are descriptive and subject to continuous refinement.
I wrote that 4. Math Theory Story,
A 4. Math Theory Story.
Hominini Tribe: The last common ancestor with humans and the pan genus (chimpanzees and bonobos) lived around 7.5 mya. This branch of pan splits again about 1.5 mya into two species: chimpanzees and bonobos.
Humans did not evolve from Chimpanzees, but both are the current evolution of a common ancestor. That common ancestor has yet to be identified and is sometimes referred to as the Chimpanzee–Human Last Common Ancestor (CHLCA). That ancestor lived in Africa about 7.5 million years ago, likely in East Africa or perhaps Central Africa. The genus that is perhaps the most likely for the CHLCA is Sahelanthropus. While much of Africa today features arid deserts, Western Africa and at least parts of Central Africa and Eastern Africa were rainforests and tropical forests during this key time of early hominin evolution.
CHLCA likely lived sometime between 5 and 9 million years ago, with 7.5 million years ago being a common educated estimate. Sahelanthropus tchadensis, and other later Hominini tribe descendants, supports estimates placing the CHLCA at about 7.5 million years ago. For example, Sahelanthropus tchadensis survived from 7 to 6 million years ago in Central Africa.
I wrote that 4. Math Theory Story,
