Kuhn

hope things are well. = when are you back. . I would love to do =omething with you , but sleep is not going to be it. = I have read quite alot and frankly , the subject is =ascinating but i see no real insights. just more =uestions and mostly the same ones that have been asked for =ears. . yes, its role in many processes are now =ecoming apparent. but I see no theories that can hold their own ( =et ).

Appreciate =onsideration. I'm next in NY June 7 (for about a week); love to =rainstorm.... I too would really like to do something (important) =ogether.

Just =rrived in Beijing for the "The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation" =commentating), the second most important event of 2017 in China =after the upcoming Party Congress), but Western media not paying =uch attention, what with All-Things-Trump.

plant biology. ? great experiments being =one. rarely looked at before. root =ommunication. No , I have not lost my mind, = If done well , you would get lots of press. =utting edge technologys for optogenetics , experiments that =ont require IRB approval. . its very =xciting. do plants get an alzheimer =quivalent placque, . als disease. =arkinsons , yes it seems =o. most cancer drugs are plant derivatives. = lots of fun . good luck in china

Ruminating (in Beijing traffic) on plant =iology and ways to structure possible Closer To Truth (CTT) series to =ortray your sense and insights.

For plant biology per se, there's=probably three strong episodes, with higher production values needed to =llustrate ideas/principles (more than the usual CTT talking heads). To =it the CTT framework (and audience expectation), these fascinating =iscoveries or hints of complex, multifarious mechanisms would need to =e explored (even if not yet understood) in terms of simple, fundamental =rinciples (applicable across disciplines - so-called 'general =ystems theory').

This potential series on plant biology could be extended to =-6 episodes by including medicinals - plant derivatives that are, for =ome conditions, best treatments for numerous diseases. This could =nclude, for example, a critical look at Chinese medicine.

I think, though, there =s a bigger idea lurking here. Your unique ways of thinking, exemplified =y plant biology, encourages another, larger possibility for a =ignificant CU series. Each of the topics you've brought up, =nd many of your past fundings, sought kinds of breakthroughs or =adically new ways of approaching reality and the knowledge and =anipulation of reality. So, how about producing a big C17 series on =ust that - "Radical Breakthroughs"?

I can imagine CTT episodes on each of =he following kinds of topics you've mentioned, in which radical =reakthroughs or deep structural significance are being =ppreciated:

• Plant =iology

• =exception (biology)

=/span>- Power Laws ("found everywhere in nature, Pareto, law of large =umbers")

• New =ath ("category theory, membrane computing, as a new tool for =ognition")

=/span>- Mathematics and Truth

=/span>

• Music ("a tool to interogate =he brain, not a product of but a lense into the inner =oftware")

=/span>- Dreams ("always on, consciousness blocking access, schizo have =leep disorders")

• Power (nature,as you said, =financial, physical, intellectual, ability to do things in a local =pace")

I'm sure there are other such categories of =E244radical breakthrough' - for example, several wild ideas =n neuroscience, such as levels of information from sub-cellular to =assive circuitry.

We would clearly unify the topics and episodes with an =verarching thematic vision of "radical breakthroughs" =hat "challenge conventional wisdom" (this phrase was an =arly Closer To Truth subtitle).

Several of these topics can have more =han one episode. We can easily produce 13 high-quality episodes and =hus have a coherent full season on "Radical Breakthroughs", =hich would be distributed and marketed as such.

Such an approach to "Radical =reakthroughs" is core CTT - in fact, I attempted this as part =f the very first CTT series in 1999/2000

"How do Breakthroughs Change =ience" - with evolutionary biologist =rancisco Ayala; philosopher and neuroscientist Patricia Smith =hurchland; author/astronomer Timothy Ferris; child psychologist Rochel =elman; and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson - https://www.closertotruth.com/roundtables/how-do-breakthroughs-=hange-science

"What are the Big Questions of Science?" - 4th evolutionary biologist =ancisco Ayala; philosopher and neuroscientist Patricia Smith =urchland; author/astronomer Timothy Ferris; theoretical physicist =eve Koonin; and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson - https://www.closertotruth.com/roundtables/what-are-the-big-questions-science

Though the production values of these early shows are much =ower than our current version (since 2008), the content and =ontributors suggest how CTT can do a big new series - a full season of =3 episodes - on "Radical Breakthroughs".

Appreciate specific =irection, so that when we meet, I can be prepared

Love to do something big =nd dramatic together.

Robert