Friday, November 6, 2009

Weekword: Hole


Fig. 23a This is not Whole

After I made my weekword drawing above, I googled the two words (whole and hole), hoping to find a poem that cleverly combined the two (like I had) to flesh out my 2-minute effort. But what I found was even better - an interview with a very interesting man - Arthur M. Young (1905-1995), mathematician, engineer (he invented the Bell helicopter) and philosopher. Read more about him here.


Fig. 23b Arthur M. Young's Torus Whole (with an infinitely small Hole)

From an interview with Arthur M. Young:
MISHLOVE: It (the torus) looks like a donut, for people who may not know.
YOUNG: A donut, right. Now, suppose you had a sphere, and there was a cow on the sphere and you put a fence around him. He can't escape. It's the same as a field. If you put a fence around the cow, he couldn't escape. But if you did this on the donut, provided the fence included the hole in the donut, the cow could escape through the hole. In other words, he wouldn't have to climb over the fence, he just goes into the middle and through.
MISHLOVE: And comes around out the other side. Because the inside and the outside are the same.
YOUNG: Right. This is an image for our separation from the universe. I'm separated from you and you're separated from me, but if we were to go into our inner life, we would join up in the divine spark. That's the center of this whole thing.
MISHLOVE: That's very profound.
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So there you have it. For more interpretations of the weekword "hole" see Linda Sue's blog here.

14 comments:

Linda Sue said...

Oh this is SO good! My brain nearly exploded. Thank you for pointing me in this direction...I really need a lift over the fence, down the hole and to the other side ths morning! Wonderful , Ms. Mother of Snous.
Give her a sniff and lick from us.

Leenie said...

Fun concepts! Another way to explore the universe, at least in my head. Glad I went through and came out in South Africa to find you. Blogging blows holes in the world, if not the universe.

But given a fence and a hole--MOST cows would go for the fence (unless they were inclined to jump over the moon--that's another story).

Sarah said...

Wow! Your idea at the beginning would have been enough but your whole post just keeps on giving! You are very clever! The doughnut idea is very clever! It reminds me a bit of a moebus strip which is also very clever and never fails to amaze me.
I hope any farmers with doughnut shaped fields and cows are reading too.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant post - I think I shall dream tonight of cows and doughnuts!!

kendalee said...

Very profound indeed! I agree with Sarah - your original idea was brilliant and Mr Young's was just icing - great post. Makes my mind feel very teeny.

Aris said...

thoughtful. BLogging makes me certain that we all meet in the center(:
great post.

yoon see said...

Happy "Whole" week!
Love your super creative idea Anairam.
I also love the fact such simplicity can break a great effect on the reader.
I feel so happy and inspire reading and appreciating this post.
Sorry to drop by late, I was in a whole hole for a while...I hope i am not anymore!

Bye and take care the whole hole yeah!!!!!

Deniz said...

well what can i say anairam- you ARE still the reigning queen of the weekword! its really brilliant!


as you were giving crowns out- i thought i could too :)

Denise Kiggan said...

Clever interpretation and interesting story too!!

Caroline said...

Well, that's a different perspective! Nice one!

e said...

oooooh, way to take weekword to the max!

Elizabeth said...

This is very clever and splendid and intellectual!

aimee said...

you have a great way of finding positive connections between objects or concepts. i love how you did this!

Lotte said...

Haha...love it :DDDD