Wandering Around

So “wandering in LA” proved to mean “mentally” more than in 3-space (as some call it), as we tick along through that fourth dimension (As the World Turns was a soap on TV when I was a kid, that I avoided). 

[ Note to new readers: our “time tunnels” (world lines) tend to be more tetrahelix-modeled at FSI (successive tetrahedral movie frames, action packed), which, to a “Quadrays head” at least, may translate to “4D” (embedded as “chariot” or “car”) times the Heraclitus Effect (time) ]

The metaphor of finding the deepest valleys along which to travel, also has a “least action” flavor to it. Why take the twisty-turny scenic route when you could barrel along at a better clip by sticking to the “Roman Imperial” ones (another metaphor for “paths most frequented by the normies”)? It all depends on exactly what you want to minimize. Time? What if only death awaits? Keep it waiting?

A well-appointed path, to take one example, leads from Leibniz-Newton to Euler-Lagrange, and on to Hamilton-Tait. A path between their maths. 

Calculus funneled through this time tunnel, gaining in sophistication (fluxions, Lagrangian, Hamiltonian), feeding into our present day quantum mechanics. Terry wants us to retrace to the Carnot branch as well, remembering that thermodynamics (the discipline) aka economics, springs from many sources. Lets add information theory while we’re at it.

So what does the Principle of Least Action really tell us about the Oregon Trail, the pathways followed? Clearly the settlers were hoping to minimize risk, meaning maximizing chance of survival. Safety in numbers represents one of the principles (not fully generalized). 

But what if a family just couldn’t go on?  What was the calculus? Don’t waste supplies. Who were the bad apples? As the World Turns. From such migrations we get a whole genre of trekker lit. What physics applies? What movie-making techniques?