Status Updates From The Rigor of Angels: Borges...

The eternal questions of agency. Egginton does a pretty good job of making the argument for free will, despite outside observers' abilities to predict action. Just because someone says you will do something and you do it does not mean that you were compelled to do it. Seems logical on the face of it, but deterministically-minded people love to argue against this logic.

lowk a slog

I love the premise of this book. I'm afraid the scope is not entirely in line with my understanding of relativity and quantum dynamics. There's a lot of information I already know, so I might not be the right audience. I keep waiting for Egginton to cut to the chase and get into the meat, but I may have already tasted much of the meat. The corollaries with Kant and Borges' work in particular are intriguing, though.

I've always loved Borges' fiction, but knowing what I know now about his biography, I think I've found a kindred soul in many ways. I won't go into details because I don't want to impugn anyone I might inadvertently "expose" (past or present). Let's just say that when you're in a foxhole "together," you become friends fast.

Absolutely love this quote by Werner Heisenberg: "We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning".

That was profound enough to write down in my commonplace book (yes, I do keep a commonplace book).

Poor, poor Borges. With his life of tragedy and triumph, the man should have been sainted. Saint Borges. I like the sound of that.

Okay, so I bought another book. Kill me. I mean . . . could you resist this premise? I could not. Call me weak-minded.