Why does the universe exist? An advaita vedantic perspective

Debates concerning causal explanations of the universe tend to be based on a priori propositions (e.g., Edwards, 1973; Smith, 1995; Swinburne, 1978). The present paper, however, addresses the metaphysical question, “Why does the universe exist?” from the perspective of a school of Hindu philosophy referred to as advaita vedanta and two of its a posteriori derived creation theories: the theory of simultaneous creation (drishti-srishti vada) and the theory of non-causality (ajata vada). Objections to advaita vedanta are also discussed. It is concluded that advaita vedanta has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary metaphysical debate in general and our understanding of the question, “Why does the universe exist?” in particular.

“My universe is here”: implications for the future of academic libraries from the results of a survey of researchers

One of the major challenges of university libraries is to adequately support the information needs of researchers. This paper outlines the results of a survey conducted by Deakin University Library into the information needs of researchers and the library’s perceived role and performance. The survey consisted of twenty-three interviews conducted with researchers, and its results challenged established ideas regarding researchers’ preference for print, age of resources required, and reliance on specialist rather than general or cross-disciplinary databases. Of note were the decreasing physical use of the library, the increasing importance of online resources and the changing need for library support services. The study raises some key questions relating to the future of libraries and the role of librarians.

To boldly go where no one has gone before: symbolic annihilation and queer interventions in the Star Trek universe

Despite queer readings and interpretations by scholars and fans alike, the official Star Trek universe is devoid of any concrete or obvious representation of LGBTIQ identities. While this appears to be a case of symbolic annihilation, two recent episodes of the Internet series Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II (2004–, webseries), titled ‘Blood and Fire: Part One’ and ‘Blood and Fire: Part Two’, finally go where official Star Trek texts could, or would, not. Taking up the dual perspective of both fan and scholar, in this article I argue that these episodes use the conspicuous absence of representations of sexual diversity in the Star Trek franchise proper as the impetus for a creative intervention, one that embodies the capacity of science fiction texts to explore human sexuality beyond the confines of heteronormative identities.

It's the e-thing : World of Warcraft meets Coke in China

The increasing sophistication of online computer games – entrancing aesthetics, challenge, and the promise of sociality and community – make them a compelling world for many players, locally and internationally. Games like 'World of Warcraft' provide a complex and satisfying universe where mythically imbued narratives, rules and mores provide a context for players to take on heroic or playful roles. Players can explore identities, create friendships and relationships, and establish a complete and separate space where trust and danger coexist, in ways experienced as both fantastic and safe. Yet such worlds are not value free, nor separated from ‘real’ life. Ideologies implicit in the game (through its narrative roles and architecture, mythic references and occasions for decision making and action) prestructure choices about character building, orientations and allegiances amongst players, and drive towards particular sets of values and moralities. These features, plus the huge numbers of players worldwide, mean that massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide a seductive but largely untapped market to the advertising industry. What is happening with convergences of this kind? And what do they mean for young players of computer games, particularly massively multiplayer and other online games, where communal play, distributed knowledge networks, and relationships, establish strong bonds and allegiances within the game, with cross-overs between on and offline values, identities and community.

Studio enquiry and new frontiers of research

Given the growing complexity of human existence, there is a need for new ways of representing ideas and of illuminating the world and domains of knowledge. A growing recognition of the limits of traditional ways of representing the world has given rise to a search for alternative approaches to transform and represent the contents of consciousness or what can be known of lived experience. Researchers are recognising that scientific inquiry is just one type of research and that ‘research is not merely a species of social science’ (Eisner 1997: 261). Dissatisfaction with positivism and behaviourism as reductive modes of knowing has also come from within the science disciplines themselves. In his work entitled, The Discontinuous Universe, (1972) Werner Heisenberg states that the knowledge of science is applicable only to limited realms of experience and the scientific method is but a single method for understanding the world. Moreover, the notion of scientifically-based knowledge as statements of ultimate truth contains an inner contradiction since ‘the employment of this procedure changes and transforms its object’ (Heisenberg 1972: 189). The work of Heisenberg and others including: Lincoln and Denzin (2003), Schwandt, (2001) and Schon (1983) reveals that knowledge is relational and that different models of inquiry will yield different forms of knowledge.

Traces from the astrolabe: art and astronomy

This portfolio represent an ongoing investigation into relationships between art and astronomy with particular reference to photographic imaging of the cosmos and how such imaging has influenced the mapping and modelling of the universe. I am also interested in the subjective interpretation of astronomical observations and the point at which such images fail to represent, ie, the blurred image, which may represent the limits of technology as well and opening the possibility for metaphorical readings and imaginings on the part of the observer.

Beyond

Using the metaphor of transcendence in his work Beyond, Daniel Armstrong takes us to other-worldly experiences via the anecdotal behaviours of people using a telescope. Each person looking into the telescope reveals more about themselves through their physical viewing behaviours than the universe they are attempting to look at or into. Armstrong’s work examines that infi nite and unsettled space between the ‘here and now’ and the ‘what might be out there’.

Suturing the body corporate (divine and human)in the Brahmanic traditions

In this discussion, we ponder the discourse about the ‘body of the Divine’ in the Indian tradition. Beginning with the Vedas, we survey the major eras and thinkers of that tradition, considering various notions of the Supreme Divine Being it produced. For each, we ask: is the Divine embodied? If so, then in what way? What is the nature of the body of the Divine, and what is its relationship to human bodies? What is the value of the body of the Divine to the spiritual aspirant? We consider, where relevant, which views are pantheistic and which might be considered panentheistic. Panentheism is connected with discourse on the world as the body of God. It has origins in medieval Christian theology with anticipatory traces in Plato’s Timeaus. Under pantheism, were the world to end—were it to collapse or disappear irreversibly, perhaps, into a huge black hole—then God would disintegrate without a remainder as well; for in this view the Divine Spirit is the universe. The same is not true under panentheism which posits a more complex relationship between the Divine and the world. According to panentheism, God pervades the world—God is in the world—and at the same time, God sustains the world—the world is in God. This allows that God be greater than, transcendent of and independent of the world. In our conclusion we remark on how the views we have surveyed link to, resonate with, or dis-compare with the current—should one say revivified—interest in intellectual quarters with panentheism.

Virtual world security inspection : a software inspection process carried out on popular virtual world environments

 Virtual property theft is a serious problem that exists in virtual worlds. Legitimate users of these worlds invest considerable amounts of time, effort and real-world money into obtaining virtual property, but unfortunately, are becoming victims of theft in high numbers. It is reported that there are over 1 billion registered users of virtual worlds containing virtual property items worth an estimated US$50 billion dollars. The problem of virtual property theft is complex, involving many legal, social and technological issues. The software used to access virtual worlds is of great importance as they form the primary interface to these worlds and as such the primary interface to conduct virtual property theft. The security vulnerabilities of virtual world applications have not, to date, been examined. This study aims to use the process of software inspection to discover security vulnerabilities that may exist within virtual world software – vulnerabilities that enable virtual property theft to occur. Analyzing three well know virtual world applications World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Entropia Universe, this research utilized security analysis tools and scenario testing with focus on authentication, trading, intruder detection and virtual property recovery. It was discovered that all three examples were susceptible to keylogging, mail and direct trade methods were the most likely method for transferring stolen items, intrusion detection is of critical concern to all VWEs tested, stolen items were unable to be recovered in all cases and lastly occurrences of theft were undetectable in all cases. The results gained in this study present the key problem areas which need to be addressed to improve security and reduce the occurrence of virtual property theft.

Virtual world security inspection

Virtual property theft is a serious problem that exists in virtual worlds. Legitimate users of these worlds invest considerable amounts of time, effort and real-world money into obtaining virtual property, but unfortunately, are becoming victims of theft in high numbers. It is reported that there are over 1 billion registered users of virtual worlds containing virtual property items worth an estimated US$50 billion dollars. The problem of virtual property theft is complex, involving many legal, social and technological issues. The software used to access virtual worlds is of great importance as they form the primary interface to these worlds and as such the primary interface to conduct virtual property theft. The security vulnerabilities of virtual world applications have not, to date, been examined. This study aims to use the process of software inspection to discover security vulnerabilities that may exist within virtual world software – vulnerabilities that enable virtual property theft to occur. Analyzing three well know virtual world applications World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Entropia Universe, this research utilized security analysis tools and scenario testing with focus on authentication, trading, intruder detection and virtual property recovery. It was discovered that all three examples were susceptible to keylogging, mail and direct trade methods were the most likely method for transferring stolen items, intrusion detection is of critical concern to all VWEs tested, stolen items were unable to be recovered in all cases and lastly occurrences of theft were undetectable in all cases. The results gained in this study present the key problem areas which need to be addressed to improve security and reduce the occurrence of virtual property theft.

How much should Australians know about Papua New Guinea?

In the last week Papua New Guinea (PNG) has received more exposure in the Australian media than it has for a very long time indeed. Ever since news of the ‘Regional Resettlement Arrangement Between Australia and Papua New Guinea’ agreement between Prime Ministers Rudd and O’Neill appeared on 19 July, discussion and criticism of the so-called ‘PNG Solution’ has been widespread on the internet, on television, radio, and even in the few newspapers still being published. Media outlets which negligently had let their regional coverage slip away – preferring to invest their remaining funds into reportage of last night’s Masterchef – are now scrambling to find copy from anyone with either opinions on the subject, but little knowledge, or some direct knowledge of PNG, alas in short supply.

The avalanche of reporting and commentary has masked the complexity of the issues involved here. On the one hand, we have Australia’s response to boat-borne visa-less immigrants: there is a whole universe of pain tied up in this, as any quick glance at the commentary will demonstrate. On the other, there is Australia and its place in the world and in the region: are we embarrassed to be Australians, or proud to be Aussies who ‘grew here’? And within the region, there is Papua New Guinea.

What can one learn from the reporting of PNG so far in 2013?

Artworks : Water Table and Rain Table : presented as part of the Periscope Exhibition, Castlemaine State Festival

Rain Table and Water Table: Delicate splashes and droplets of water act like primitive lenses bringing transparency to the diffused images of celestial bodies. These two installation pieces are inspired by the beauty of the night sky and invite the viewer to consider the cosmos in relation to ones self and to contemplate the discoveries which have changed our understanding of the universe. Water Table and Rain Table are the two works being presented as part of Periscope. Through the form of the science bench or museum cabinet, luminous and projected images play against glass and water invoking the sublime sense of wonder that we have when we look to the starry night sky. Water Table - In 1912 the astronomer, Vesto Slipher made the discovery that “Nebula” were moving at incredible velocities due to the expansion of space itself. This discovery revealed these “Nebula” to be vastly remote and independent galaxies. Water Table speculates on the understanding that when we look into deep space, we also look into deep time. Rain Table is a new work produced for the festival and makes reference to the first telescopic observations of the Moon made by the mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, Galileo Galilei in 1610. The implication of Galileo’s observations gave rise to a radical new understanding of the heavens and our place in it and the final acceptance that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe.

Castlemaine State Festival 2013: Periscope Exhibition: Artwork No 1: "Water Table"

Rian Table and Water Table: Delicate splashes and droplets of water act like primitive lenses bringing transparency to the diffused images of celestial bodies. These two installation pieces are inspired by the beauty of the night sky and invite the viewer to consider the cosmos in relation to ones self and to contemplate the discoveries which have changed our understanding of the universe. Water Table and Rain Table are the two works being presented as part of Periscope. Through the form of the science bench or museum cabinet, luminous and projected images play against glass and water invoking the sublime sense of wonder that we have when we look to the starry night sky. Water Table In 1912 the astronomer, Vesto Slipher made the discovery that “Nebula” were moving at incredible velocities due to the expansion of space itself. This discovery revealed these “Nebula” to be vastly remote and independent galaxies. Water Table speculates on the understanding that when we look into deep space, we also look into deep time. Rain-Table is a new work produced for the festival and makes reference to the first telescopic observations of the Moon made by the mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, Galileo Galilei in 1610. The implication of Galileo’s observations gave rise to a radical new understanding of the heavens and our place in it and the final acceptance that the Earth was not the center of the Universe.

Castlemaine State Festival 2013: Periscope Exhibition: Artwork No 2: "Rain Table"

Rian Table and Water Table: Delicate splashes and droplets of water act like primitive lenses bringing transparency to the diffused images of celestial bodies. These two installation pieces are inspired by the beauty of the night sky and invite the viewer to consider the cosmos in relation to ones self and to contemplate the discoveries which have changed our understanding of the universe. Water Table and Rain Table are the two works being presented as part of Periscope. Through the form of the science bench or museum cabinet, luminous and projected images play against glass and water invoking the sublime sense of wonder that we have when we look to the starry night sky. Water Table In 1912 the astronomer, Vesto Slipher made the discovery that “Nebula” were moving at incredible velocities due to the expansion of space itself. This discovery revealed these “Nebula” to be vastly remote and independent galaxies. Water Table speculates on the understanding that when we look into deep space, we also look into deep time. Rain-Table is a new work produced for the festival and makes reference to the first telescopic observations of the Moon made by the mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, Galileo Galilei in 1610. The implication of Galileo’s observations gave rise to a radical new understanding of the heavens and our place in it and the final acceptance that the Earth was not the center of the Universe.