Society Does Not Exist

Only individuals exist. 

Society is a metaphysical abstraction. And as an extension an economy is simply people engaging in commerce with one another. Still, there is need to manage these transactions, to protect the welfare of the individuals engaging in supply/demand transactions, if only to regulate interest rate mechanisms. 

As bodies invested with 'spirit' our experience of living is a matter of perception, and relates to a unity of inner acts and potenials, in which we discover ourselves as the organizer - as the composer of our own organic constitution.

The "we" we experience, the inner "I" appears to be a living thing we invent, the presence of another version of ourselves, accompanied by other presentations, which join and once alive or revived, mutually transfer meaning between themselves our our many selves. 

Without the ability to transfer meaning 'we' would not exist. That is, the inner part of the other held within would not be perceived and thus would not be utilized as a catalyst against which we perceive self. 

Only through intuition, applied to language, and then deducted from communication and speech do we interpret signs and symbols of organic experience. When we analyze the initial function of language inside the constitutive system, it underlines the impression produced, as we introduce ourselves to the notion of our other, of our soul from the other organic body. 

We are the living current of our other world, language reduced in the worldly sphere of continuous acts in the analogic transfer of one meaning to another. 

In other more poetic words: 

"The Sun is bright," said the dark sky of night. 

Like history, the notion of "I" of "we" of "society" is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. 

How to Read an Article

Applying sound analytics and critical thinking skills are the foundation upon which all Western thought is built. They are the inerrant methods for establishing authority for truth in the modern world. The way we approach analytics is critical to our understanding of content and context, and in how we ought to respond in relation to information. Therefore it is necessary to recognize the importance of several key elements of analytical study or critical deconstruction, interpretation, and application in order to extract the most value from reading a given article. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF 

THE AUTHOR'S INTENDED MEANING

The wrong question to ask: What does it mean to me? 

• This question implies that authority rests with me. 
• It therefore means what the reader wants it to mean. 

The right question to ask: What is the author's intended meaning? 

• This question examines the information for its intended content/context. 
• It is thus interpreted in relation to the author's intended meaning. The author is the individual sharing the information. 

A further question to ask: How does the author's meaning apply to me? 

• This question recognizes the author's knowledge of, or perspective on a given subject, and their purpose for writing the article. 
• The "take away" is the principle meaning which can affect an reader's interpretation of a given subject. 

Analytics is not judging, but rather interpreting.

THE IMPORTANCE OF 

CONTEXT

What is meant when an author writes, "I'm blue." 

• My skin is covered in blue paint. 
• I am an Avatar. 
• My skin is turning blue, and I'm going to pass out. 
• I'm feeling down. 

The context of the information is directly related to the specific situation in view and has significant bearing on what the author intends to convey. 

If the author's skin is turning blue and he or she is about to pass out, the author may also be feeling down. However, when the author claims he or she is blue, it is the readers job to understand that the author is not requesting that someone sit down and counsel him or her about how to feel better; he or she wants someone to call 911 or get them medical assistance quick! 

While additional interpretations may be made by observation and associated implication from a specific way in which an article or sentence is worded, statements typically have one intended meaning (unless they are double entendres). 

THE IMPORTANCE OF

OBSERVATION

Articles are filled with intended meanings to reveal to us how we ought to think about a given subject from another individual's perspective and design. I like to think of reading articles as discovering the underlining principles held by another in order to examine my own thinking on, or knowledge of a subject. 

The intended meanings are golden nuggets of additional perspectives that we must extract from the text. Like an archaeologist mining for fragments of an incomplete story, no one perspective, not even our own, holds ultimate authority. Each piece merely provides additional context in an ever evolving unfolding of information for our consideration. The truth claims (pieces) are aspects of many complex ideas and cannot always be cross-examined without the advent of additional truth claims to further our understanding. 

Some comment (on articles) rashly, agreeing or disagreeing with the text. These readers are very close to the surface of the subject matter; others, such as those who click "like" and think about rather than comment on a given subject are typically those who recognize another perspective, appreciate or reject that perspective, and move onto the next thought that interests them. They may revisit the thought again later, or simply file it away, allow it to fade into the recesses of their subconscious, inside the mind's massive, continually overwritten processing vault. 

Whether or not we choose to affirm/reject the perspectives of others as being in alignment/contrast with our own, articles and their corresponding perspectives are presented (often times for free) for our consideration. They have as many interpretations as readers, but most are misinterpreted. 

To fully understand an article one must invest the time, patience, and commitment it takes to consider the perspectives and their intended meanings; these perspectives are treasures and worthy of the effort, in particular when the activity results in an enhancement to our own perspectives or knowledge of a subject. 

New ideas are fresh ideas...

When reading an article most of us simply skim the information for take aways. We instantly recognize familiar wording as complementary, while divergent concepts stand out. Many argue and disagree with that which they do not understand or with that which they disagree rather than asking the author why the information was presented in a certain context. Asking questions requires us to engage our critical thinking skills. 

Through careful reading and critical examination we can arrive at an accurate interpretation of an article, but this analysis requires a time commitment that few of us are wiling to invest given the demands on our time (our most precious resource). Thus, the most clearly written articles are those most easily understood. These articles can be revisited when we have more time (and the desire) to consider their deeper meanings and relevance to our own way of thinking. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF

MOVING FROM BROAD TO SPECIFIC

"Sign up for Free!"  This is advice shared across the advertising world. This advice intends to persuade a specific action, namely, to sign up [for something]. If we begin our observation from a broader scope before signing up, this phrase illuminates a process: 

1. Is the advice current? 
• If yes, the advice may or may not be followed. 
• If no, the advice is outdated and inapplicable. 
2. For which activity is this advice applicable? 
• Is the author authorized to give the advice? 
• Are there clues in the text that further describe or imply what will happen after taking the advice? 
• Does the author clearly identify who should take the advice? 
• Are there clues in this advice or in similar advice that further describe the context and the conditions under which this advice should be accepted or rejected? 
• Are there clues indicating the benefit or cost associated with taking this advice? 
• What is the author's purpose for giving this advice? 
3. Is the advice contained in a particular section of a larger context? 
• Are there any clues that would indicate what the author is trying to achieve by offering this advice? 
• What sections surround the section in which the advice is found? 
• Sections do not necessarily abide by intent, because articles/advertisements are sometimes later edited to help clarify the text; articles are not always "inspired". 
4. What is the context of the passage containing the advice? 
• What is the main idea of the passage? 
• Are there clues or sub-points that support the main idea? 
• (These questions can only be answered after utilizing the smaller units of the article.)
• What information surrounds the advice? 
• Have I properly grouped/classified the information to carry across the whole idea of the article? 
• Articles may also contain links to other articles. Have I investigated additional information prior to making an informed decision/conclusion? 

It is sometimes necessary to reexamine commonly utilized words for additional meaning. Language style differs from one author to the next. Do not assume that a word utilized by one author is utilized in the same way as another. 

One does not need to be a literary scholar to read an article (but it helps). By investing a little more time in the articles that interest us, we can interpret and ultimately contribute more to further the intent of the article in the comments section. We can also use this section to clarify - not attack - what the author has shared. 

An analytical approach to reading articles allows us to interpret and consider information in a way we may not have previously considered. Reading is not an exercise in dramatic theater. It is an activity by which we bring in new information for our mind's consideration, elucidation, and ultimately, for our intended use or purpose in a furtherance of our goals, be those edification or utility. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF

BRIDGING THE (UNDERSTANDING) GAP

After arriving at the main point of an article using a broader scope as well as examining the fine details, it is important to be able to bring the information shared by the author into our present context for application. For example, if the reader is skilled in the task of analytical interpretation and takes away nothing else from this article other than Thomas Paine's keen insight: "... a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right," which references a particular habit of mind, then this thought alone is one of value as it provides the ready with information worthy of deeper consideration. It is also practical to examine how we think given the thousands of rationalizations and interpretations we make on a daily basis.

Whenever we are confronted with new information, certain information is immediately apparent. What is not readily apparent is the more complex associations one can make when stepping back to consider a subject in a different light.

What we recognize in the perspectives of others is largely based on our habits of mind, the information our mind's encompass, and the understanding that has developed and deepened as we have worked through these ideas. 

The keys to extracting more from an article are found in the following habits: 

• persistence
• managing impulsivity
• listening with empathy and understanding
• thinking flexibly
• thinking about your thinking (metacognition)
• striving for accuracy
• applying past knowledge
• questioning and posing problems
• thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
• gathering data through multiple senses
• creating
• imagining and innovating
• responding with wonderment and awe
• taking reasonable risks
• finding humor
• thinking interdependently
• and remaining open to continuous learning. 

Supervillains of the World's Global Economy

I'm going to tell you the most important secret in modern business: the supervillains have won. It didn't happen in a massive battle that no one remembers, and it's not the result of hidden schemes concocted by secret puppet masters. It happened while society was busy going to work every day, dreaming of better times to come, and checking their Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest feeds on their smartphones. 

The richest 1% of people own nearly half of global wealth, says report by Credit Suisse

The richest 1% of the population are getting wealthier, owning more than 48% of global wealth. This "paradox of plenty" is astonishing, and could be a trigger for a longer recession. 

According to the Credit Suisse global wealth report, a person needs just $3,650 - including the value of equity in their home - to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens. More than $77,000 is required to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and $798,000 to belong to the top 1%. 

The bottom half of the global population owns less than 1% of the total wealth, said the annual report, now in its seventh year. 

Anti-poverty campaigners, Pope Francis, demanding just distribution of the world's bounty, and millions of people across the globe are FINALLY starting to take notice. 

Supervillains vs Batman

Let's compare the Supervillains of the World's Global Economy to the Superhero protector of Gotham City: Batman, that obsessive, manipulative, and emotionally closed off, even from his closest companions, billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy. But how different, really, is Batman from the real Supervillains of the World's Global Economy?  

Econ students at Lehigh University crunched some numbers and determined thatit would cost $2.8 million to show world's criminal scum that cities, err, rather, that industry means business. After all, stealing from innocents (who then file insurance claims) costs industry money. 

The students compared Wayne Enterprises' construction division to real-worldTurner Construction, which nets about $39 million. Because Wayne Enterprises is in defense, they also considered L-3 Communications' net income of $956 million in 2011. They compared the securities division with struggling Bear Stearns, which still reported an annualized net income of $684 million.

In summary, Wayne Enterprises has an approximate net income of $1.45 billion. If Wayne Enterprises trades at a similar ratio to General Electric, a public company with a significant defense sector, trading at around 16 times its earnings, then Wayne Enterprises would be the 121st largest firm in the world by market capitalization.

And Bruce? Assuming he has a 50% controlling stake in the firm, he'd be the73rd richest person in the real world, and in the fictional world, the fourth richest, putting him ahead of Iron Man. 

You're thinking:

"But Bruce Wayne swore an oath to rid the city of evil. He fights crime as a vigilante. He's a Superhero not a Supervillain!"

And you'd be right. But despite his oath to put an end to the most influential and corrupt figures in Gotham City, his presence in Gotham actually inspired more criminals like Catwoman, Dr. Hugo Strange and his Monster Men, and his greatest nemesis, the Joker. Later came the Scarecrow, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mister Freeze, and the Penguin. 

So, why compare the Superhero Batman with the Supervillains of the World's Global Economy? 

ANSWER:

The inequality of wealth gives rise to crime, which ironically is precisely what motivated Batman's personal vendetta against criminals in the first place. 

The richest 1% of the population refusing to equally divide the world's resources will eventually cause the entire world economy to plummet deeper into a recession from which we cannot emerge, which will only give rise to more crime. 

It will take a Superman or Superwoman with a "Quest for Peace" to save the world from the Parallax-like Supervillains of the World's Global Economy intent upon rewriting the history of the universe, with them seated on the proverbial golden throne. 

Disclaimer: The author has referred to the richest 1% of the economy as Supervillains based on the inequality of wealth distribution on the planet and the corresponding crime and unhappiness inequality produces.

My Versailles

Then it all bursts out before us, the tapis vert that slants gently down through the trees that are brought tightly in to focus the view, the Bassin d'Apollon, the Grand Canal, and, most of all, the overriding sky. Louis tells us to admire it all. He was quite aware that it was a moment of vast release. The oval of Latona opens up and surprises us, releasing us to the burst of velocity that explodes at the middle of the garden. Our gaze moves rapidly down the tapis vert, but when it hits the water it literally takes off. It no longer adheres but slides across the water to the sky reflected on it ... We are released to infinity, or at least to indefinitely expanding space. 

~the architect theorist Vincent Scully

 

Whether the gardens of Versailles provoke an intrinsically sublime and passionate experience, or whether by nature of their strict regularity they allow for a similar, albeit lesser, release, they embody the concept of beauty proper, namely of "free beauty," despite their stiffness and mathematical regularity, which are a mere means, an aesthetical judgment to the judgment of taste, that is, to the judgment of the beautiful, which is not the same as witnessing the unfolding of beauty, for that experience lies within, and is sublime. 

While Versailles is a man made object of nature, unlike an ocean or a mountain peak, the experience her architecture provokes is immesurable. Versailles presupposes a concept of what beauty should be, she introduces us to simplicity through elaborately designed features of self subsisting beauty. 

Flowers, those free beauties of nature, thrive in Versailles, and flourish near the Petit Trianon, there is no perfection of any kind, no internal finality, as something to which the arrangement of beauty underlines our judgment [of it]. They are fantasias (without a theme), and, indeed, like music that is not set to words. They are not appurtenant to the objects around which they flourish, they are the flourishing around which edifices are erected. 

~the philosopher Sophy Laughing

Critics of taste have long since attempted to define, regulate, or otherwise deconstruct Versailles into her most basic concepts, but these concepts are absent of finesse, a minor verdict carried out by minor figures who are without the concept of beauty. Mathematical regularity serves its purpose. It speaks of symmetry, but cannot perceive it. Deconstruction forms an estimate of an area of a plot of land, rendering intelligible the relation of divided parts to one another and to the whole, but those regular figures, even the simplest kind, are a delight to the mind which immediately gives way to the senses the moment these figures strike the eye. 

Construction is serviceable in all its possible purposes, it makes rooms out of walls and oblique angles, it brings forth a garden out of plots of land, it arouses figures of animals and mythological gods from its violation of symmetry, but alone it is only practical, valuable to us only for its all manner of possible purposes. 

Taste is different. When it is pure, it combines delight with immediate aversion to bare contemplation of an object. It elevates a concept to the indispensable condition (conditio sine qua non) of grasping its significance and connection to accomplishment. We have merely to allow for the value to set itself upon our minds, to entertain our mental acuity with what is called beautiful. It is the understanding of the service of imagination. 

Versailles owes her existence to purpose, not to a building, a particular sculpture, her regularity, which consists in symmetry, but to the unity of the intuition accompanying her concepts to their natural end. Her heart lies in cognition, a free play of acute powers that decorate the mind's many chambers, that flourish in the mind's ornamental gardens. Her good taste is the furniture that brings to life beauty as conceived in the mind insofar as it is possible to conceive of a free flowing concept. 

The contemplation of Versailles affords us lasting entertainment. She brings the mystical in to view, she expands the scope of our imagination, and her final play is the long lasting freshness her beauty evokes. 

Versailles is full of charm, and her mid-forest with her rows of parallel stakes on which plants twine themselves infer that wild heart within. Across seasons her appearance changes, to know her is to know her in the rain and bitter cold, to welcome her in the spring and lounge with her in the summer. For some winter might evoke an irksome constraint upon their enjoyment of her majesty, but it is precisely during the cold winter months that the constraints of her artificial rules awe us with her libertine bursting. How in constraint she can still express a luxuriant variety to supply the mind with constant food for its taste is part charm and part mystique. 

Geometrical layout in Versailles is a necessity. The garden is ordered starting from a principal axis, with secondary axes, alloys out of stars, basins in circle and half-circle. Her symmetry is staged on several levels, with rigorously cut trees, which compose a true vegetable architecture. The concepts supporting her regularity and symmetry are not only proper to garden design but also an essential characteristic of Baroque aesthetics. 

The Baroque does not yield to the terrain, on the contrary the Baroque masters the terrain and tries by all means to impose on it a homogeneous character. The Baroque reigns over symmetry. It is the regularity of Versailles that characterizes the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. 

The Renaissance was concerned with giving architectural motives, but without giving them relationship, all remained without a unity of composition; whereas the Baroque made progress toward architectural composition of an entirely unified space, one that interpreted progress as a political fact but was simultaneously aware of its natural composition to space and its expression of power. 

Versailles seizes visual control over her viewers, gently guiding them toward the illusory symbolism in her sunlike magnificence. 

Power radiates outwards into France from Versailles. Her grand avenues draw crowds of subjects reveling in the magnificence of her trees and shrubs, in her topiary proper, and in her masterful expression of power in nature. 

The unlimited sky as seen from Versailles reflects the limitlessness of our world. Her fountains are endless streams of life's flourishing. The rich interior decorations and dramatic spatial and lighting sequences contrast and heighten the structure's physical immediacy. It is from the vantage of regularity that we perceive the unlimited vistas of her gardens. From her balcony the vanishing point disappears, merging with the horizon and our imagination. Her massiveness implies infinity, linking us to the unlimitedness, which gives rise to the sublime questions of nature. 

Generally the sublime refers to the formlessness of an object. The sublime provokes rather than involves. It is immediate in its thought of totality, yet limited in its grasp of it. It is a delight produced by the beautiful, a furtherance of life compatible with charm and playful imagination. It is an unleashing of vital forces, an intense release from restrain as our earnestness overrides our judgment. 

The mind is attracted to this interplay, and produces more positive pleasures as a result ... admiration and respect being the two primary characteristics of mind. Their effect on our mind is sublime, a natural cousin to earnest passion. 

The beauty of Versailles is only limited by one's pre adapted power of judgment, a condition violent toward our imagination, as it attempts to override it. Considering Versailles as an expression of overriding power, in relation to her overriding sky, is like welcoming chaos into peace, a wild irregular disorder and desolation of spirit filled with rational ideas, visible only in their construction and limitation and attempt to constrain imagination's natural flourishing. 

The sublime is that characteristic that supersedes, where even the grandest ideas seem small in comparison. The sublime provokes the representation of absolute magnitude, it disappears on the horizon and is an unlimited vista. The sublime excites the mind toward progress and infinitum, whereas the idea of the sky itself is a mere subjective judgment, a candidate of our own inner progress, or lack thereof. 

Attempting to explain the beauty of Versailles requires a quantum in the imagination that involves both imaginative apprehension and comprehension, and is incapable of taking the two along anything other than the axis that leads to the horizon, whereas the vastness of the sublime seems to call us forth, toward the magnificence of infinity; a place where even we disappear as we reach the vanishing point. 

It is the sublime that accounts for the lovely bewilderment, a sort of perplexity, which, despite understanding of mythology and its relation to self, seizes visitors upon their first entering of her gates. Here a feeling comes home of the inadequacy of our imagination for presenting the idea of a whole, and thus our imagination fights to attain its maximum, and, in fruitless effort to extend its limit, before recoiling in on itself, succumbing and then resting in emotional delight. 

For the few brief years that Marie resided in her Petit Trianon, she raised her children in this very state of emotional delight. Their deepest connections were those that were linked to the magnitude of living and loving, those that honored the sublime, in an dynamic interplay with nature in a fanciful picturesque world overriding the turbulence of the times and the difficulty of inheriting a nation in financial ruin with none other than vicious, self serving courtiers, who would just assume throw their benefactors to the lions than extend a gracious hand of solidarity. Such grace and solidarity can only flourish when known within. 

Fear is not the sentiment the Sun King dedicated his life to evoking, and while a formidable foe, its powers are commensurable to the task of opposing it. We bid adieu to its grasp upon our psyche, and return to where we feel secure: in our Gardens, whether alone or shared with our relations, their sublime nature evokes our imagination, and their effect is the truest way to feel the presence of magnificence, to bow before it in a dynamic unfolding of what it truly means to be in the presence of majesty. 

The gardens of Versailles honor majesty, and imply a real presence that is the self embodiment of mastery over limitation. Versailles relationship to self is a principal characteristic of her charm, and a prescription for anyone seeking self understanding. Versailles transitions us from form to formlessness, from her Château to her picturesque layout sweeping across the French skyline. 

She is the embodiment of nature without ruling, despite her mathematical relationship between foreground and background. Such a relationship is the genius behind her unfolding, but not the essence of it. 

Versailles links us to ourselves by separating us from the spell of self hood. In this way, Versailles is a linkage between the human and the divine, honoring our relation with self and other. Versailles proudly imposes not limits but heights upon which infinity rests. Any finitude is from within, any order to her universe entirely intellectually conceived, any rational organization of her beauty into geometrical patterns is suitable only for stately progress ... 

A solitary walk along her avenues, in her fully enclosed microcosm affords us a magnitude so absolute that it calls us forth from the chateau to infinity ... the effect of which cannot be understood, only felt. 

The Secret Logic Behind Romantic Chemistry

Biologists know a lot about how living systems work; ironically, they know even less about how chemistry between two people begins than cosmologists know about the beginning of the universe or social media enthusiasts know about the Kardashians. 

Where "chemistry" begins is a hot debate (pun intended). We can look to the laws of physics which allow computation at the scale of atoms, electrons, photons, and other elementary particles. Thanks to computational universality, systems at large scales are also computationally universal. You, I, and our smartphones are also capable of the same basic computation. Computation can take place at basically any level above the atomic scale. 

Chemistry is that science that describes how atoms combine, recombine, and disassociate. Simple chemical systems are also capable of explaining romantic "chemistry". 

But just how does this compute? Imagine, if you will, a container, such as a small pore in a rose, filled with various chemicals. At the beginning of our chemical computation, some of the chemicals have high concentrations. You can think of these chemicals as bits that read 1. Others have low concentrations: these read 0. 

These chemicals react with one another. Some that start out in a high concentration are depleted; the bits corresponding to these chemicals go from 1 to 0. Some that start out in a low concentration go to a high concentration; these bits go from 0 to 1. As the chemical reactions proceed, some bits flip while others remain the same (which usually leads to break-ups). 

Explaining romantic chemistry in scientific terms sounds promising. After all, break ups are just bits flipping in a systematic fashion. In order to save relationships everywhere, all we have to do is (1) show that chemistry can perform AND, NOT, and COPY operations, and (2) then figure out how to keep them in the preferred AND, NOT, or COPY state. 

Let's start with COPY

Suppose that Francine enhances the production of happy chemicals for François, so that without lots of affection from Francine, François' happy chemicals remain low. If there is a low concentration of Francine's affection and a low concentration of François' happy chemicals, then the concentrations of love chemicals for both individuals remains low. 

If the bit corresponding to Francine's affection for François is 0 initially, as is the bit corresponding to François' happy chemicals, then these bits remain 0. That is, 00 -> 00. 

Similarly, if there is a high concentration of Francine's affections for François and a low concentration of François' initial happy chemicals, then the chemical reaction gives rise to a high concentration of affection from Francine directed toward François together with a high concentration of resulting happy chemicals for François as a result. That is, if the bit corresponding to Francine's affection is 1 initially, and the bit corresponding to François' happy chemical reaction is 0, then these bits both end up 1.10 -> 11. 

Here the reaction has performed a COPY operation. The bit corresponding to Francine's affection for François is what it was before François' happy chemical reaction and the bit corresponding to François' happy chemical reaction is now a copy of the bit corresponding to Francine's affection for François. 

Note that in this process, Francine has an effect on whether or not François produces a happy chemical response, but Francine herself is not consumed in the reaction; in purely chemical terms, Francine is called a catalyst for the production of François' happy chemical response. 

NOT is produced in a similar fashion. Suppose that instead of enhancing the production of happy chemistry for François, the presence of Francine inhibits the production of happy chemistry. In this case, the reaction leads to François' bit being the opposite of Francine's bit; that is, François' bit is the logical NOT of Francine's bit. Ouch! 

What about AND? 

Suppose that Francine goes from a low concentration to a high concentration if and only if there are high concentrations of François' good humor and drive to succeed around. Then a reaction that starts out with Francine feeling lukewarm for François, i.e., having a low concentration (her bit is 0) leads to a higher concentration of happy chemicals if and only if both good humor and the drive to succeed are in high concentration (good humor and the drive to succeed can be replaced with other desired traits in mate selection). In other words, Francine produces happy chemistry if and only if good humor and the drive to succeed are both 1. After the reaction, Francine's bit is the logical AND of François' good humor and drive to succeed. 

Chemical reactions produce AND, NOT, and COPY operations. By adding more chemicals to the set, such logic operations combine to produce a set of reactions corresponding to any desired logic circuit. Thus, romantic chemistry is computationally universal. 

Basically, as the chemicals in the pore of a rose react, some are catalysts for the initial set of romantic reactions and some of the products of these reactions are catalysts for yet further reactions. Such a process is called an "autocatalytic set of romantic reactions" : each reaction produces romantic or non-romantic catalysts for other reactions within the set. 

Autocatalytic romantic sets of reactions are powerful systems. In addition to predicting romantic chemistry, they also produce a wide variety of chemical outputs. In effect, an autocatalytic set of romantic reactions is like a tiny, computer-controlled factory for producing chemicals. Some of these chemicals attract us to others, some do not. 

We cannot say with certainty whether or not autocatalytic romantic sets determine chemistry between people until we identify the circuit diagram and the program for autocatalytic romantic sets that first started producing butterflies in the stomach and sweaty palms. For now, the computational universality of autocatalytic romantic sets tells us that someone has too much time on her hands, a big imagination, a kooky sense of humor, and romance on the mind.