This puzzle is a member of the Map of Victoria GeoArt. It has been placed to coincide with the Parkville Mega.
Do you ever just sit and contemplate life? Is my existence real? Why do we operate in society the way we do? What are morals? Who defines values?
The purpose of this puzzle is to introduce you to some of the great minds over time who pondered some of these thoughts and more. You will meet each great mind one by one, who will introduce themselves and explain what some of their ideas were to you. You first task is to associate a name which each idea. There are no full names, only the one name they are most commonly known by.
From there, it is a simple digit to single letter conversion.
Ie. A= Jacko. J10+A1+C3+K11+015 = 40 4+0 = 4 A = 4
You will find the final cache at:
S 37.4(A+4) (B+1)(C+5)(D+2) E 144 5E (F-1)(H+2)(G-2)
Let’s begin….
A. I am one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of western philosophy, despite never having written a single line. Given this, my real thoughts will always be shrouded in mystery.
I spent most of my adult life wandering the streets of the city, sparking conversation with people I met. What was important for me, was discussion rather than lecturing, finding the truth through dialogue with the premise of knowing nothing. I believe real insight comes from within, and through dialogue with people would help find and assist in its delivery. Often I would feign ignorance, which helped exposed weaknesses in people’s thinking. My thoughts were later deemed as corruptive by the state, and I was sentenced to a self-inflicted death. Some have compared my trial to that of Jesus.
I am…
B. Some have called me the Father of modern philosophy. I was convinced that reason is the only path to true knowledge; I did not trust the general body of knowledge that had been handed down in society. In particular, my main interest was the relationship between body and mind. Does the mind and brain exist separately? Is body and soul separate? Being a mathematician, I was interested in breaking down these complex subjects to many simple forms. I doubted everything. Even my existence. How do we know we are not just dreaming? These doubts I was having however struck me, as the only one certainty I could have. And that was when I doubted things, I had to be thinking, so I think, so therefore I am.
I am……
C. History has been set with examples of class struggles, rich a poor, slave and slave owner. The economic system of capitalism is the latest form of oppression and of class struggle, the rich exploiting the poor in a form of economic slavery. It is time for the working people of the world to overthrow the shackles, and create a society free of the capitalist state, free of class struggle and free of economic slavery to create equality for all.
I am ….
D. I published a geometric theory of gravity in which gave a clearer picture of how gravity works. I theorised that space time is not flat, but curved or warped, by the distribution of mass and energy. Objects follow the nearest thing to a straight path in curved space, which in four-dimensional space time is a straight line, however appear curved in three dimensional space. For example, watching a plane fly over hilly ground, following a straight line in space however its shadow follows a curved path on the ground.
I also developed the mass energy equation, which explains that the mass of any object is also a measure of its energy- therefore as its energy increases (such as by falling), so does its mass- causing weight to increase. This equivalence of mass and energy amounts is also reliant on the speed of light squared.
I am….
E. I took a rather long boat ride, and in doing so observed things which may me contemplate the nature of life. I formed the idea that life forms which adapt better to their environment due to certain physical characteristics and instincts have a better chance of survival and therefore produce more offspring. These offspring that carry these changes which make them more suitable to their particular environment go on to create new subspecies in a process of evolution.
I am…
F. A philosopher, I was interested in ideas and ‘higher forms’ in which I believed sat a true reality. To describe this, I came up with an analogy. People who have not being out into the world and live in an underground cave. Sitting in the cave, with their backs to the mouth, they face the back wall of the cave. A fire behind them casts shadows on the wall, which they believe is the true form of things. One day one of these cave dwellers leave the cave, and see the light of the open world, and see objects in their true forms, animals, plants, trees. The shadows on the cave wall are not true forms however only reflections, and one must wake up and leave the shackles of the cave to truly see things in their true form. In giving this analogy, I attempted to explain what I believed was that the natural world, which we see, is sanitised and is only a reflection of an objects real truth, brightness and beauty.
I am…
G. I was a cultural philosopher, and studied human nature and the mind. I was particularly fascinated by human driving factors. I did not believe man to be the rational creature that eighteenth century rationalists liked to think. I believed these basic human needs, drives and desires, were steering our actions without even knowing it. I developed a theory which consists of a primal part of the mind being comprised of sexual drives and hidden memories, a section that acts as a moral conscience, and another part which mediated between internal drives and the moral conscience.
I am….
H I lived during a time when science was triumphing in the west, and my country was becoming a world power. Despite this, I saw the time as nihilistic, believing science had effectively killed god, without adding any values or real direction. This void of meaningless values was at risk of being filled with narrow minded nationalism, which was underpinning global conflict. I sought to find a way to return value and meaning to daily life, that escapes what I saw as the voids of Christianity and aggressive nationalism.
This led to one of my theories, concerned with human will. I believed the will in human beings was often stronger than the desire to survive, as many would give up their lives for causes they believed in. However, I saw more importance for power and will to be associated inwardly, in terms of drive and self-mastery rather than conquering others. I believe this will power explained the fluid and changing nature of reality, that will power is the fundamental driving force behind change. In this, I was of the belief that anything that doesn’t recognize willpower and change is life denying, which put my ideas as being critical of organised religion.
I am….
