As Above, So Below
30 August 2018
As a scientist, I feel a need to clarify the status of polygon symbols that appear in Quantum Gravity from the perspective of a skeptic, or humanist. Let us be perfectly clear. A triangle is a triangle. A hexagon is a hexagon. A pentagon is a pentagon.
Nowhere in mathematics does it say that mathematicians are secretly witches, even the mathematicians that know the importance of associahedra, which is now pretty much all of them. Nowhere in mathematics does it say that the Star of David is a symbol of Lucifer, or that an all seeing eye is the dominion of Man (and not of women or other undesirables). When science and religion are no longer distinct human endeavours, we really need to sort these things out. Because otherwise we all get into trouble.
All right, then. So the ancient Egyptians and others clearly knew some mathematics. Did their religion state that some people were meant to Lord it over all others? Actually, no. The pharoahs ruled by Divine right. What that means is that they exhibited the qualities of true, humane leadership. They could not, as a matter of principle, have a Divine right if they were cheap tyrants. Are cheap tyrants our destiny?