SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
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| CH = chapter, P = page, L = line, C = comment, N = Norwegian, T = (alternative) translation, usually closer to the original text, TTR = Two-Tier Reality (metaphysical system bridging East and West) |
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CHAPTER 5: DEMOCRITUS (PP36-40) |
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| P36 L20: dumber T: sillier | ||||||||
| P37 L2: closet T: cupboard/wardrobe L5: (Lego blocks) are all different T: have different sizes and shapes L8: as bright and new as the day they were bought T: as they had been when she got them L11: construct something new T: build something quite different L14: beyond her T: still just as incomprehensible L17: Why did people quit (T: stop) playing? C: most people, but not all L19: She blurted out T: exclaimed L21: I'm doing a very (T: working on some) complicated philosophical experiment T: research L38: due to the fact that anything actually changed T: due to anything actually changing | ||||||||
| P38 L3: 'a-tom' means 'un-cuttable' T: in-divisible L4: everything else was T: everything was L5: divided indefinitely into smaller parts T: divided into smaller and smaller parts L6: blocks T: building blocks L6: could eternally be T: could be L7: dissolve T: flow L9: Nothing can come from nothing. In this, Democritus agreed with Parmenides and the Eleatics C: How encouraging to have such distinguished backing against the modern creationist cosmythologists L41: These tiny pieces (of clay) can never be joined together again to make something else C: But they can! Children played with plasticine long before Lego was invented. And Meccano was also good fun for kids | ||||||||
| P39 L7: 'elemental particles' T: elementary L8: protons, neutrons and electrons. These will possibly some day be broken into even lesser particles T: And perhaps these can be split up into even smaller particles C: Quarks L9: Physicists agree that ... there has to be a 'minimal part' of which nature consists T: there have to be some 'minimal parts' C: If nature has no maximum size limit, why should it have a minimum size limit? God may play with dice, but he may not play with Lego. Physicists may not like the idea, but that's their problem L18: The only things that existed ... were atoms and the void T: All that existed ... was atoms and space C: Space is not a 'thing' L21: no conscious 'design' T: purpose L23: randomly T: fortuitously L23: everything obeys the inevitable laws of necessity T: follows nature's unbreakable/immutable laws C: nature (a human creation) has no laws, mutable or immutable, apart from those invented by humans L25: a cause that is inherent in the thing itself T: lies in things themselves L26: cause of nature T: law of nature L32: the 'soul' T: consciousness | ||||||||
| P40 L12: Democritus ... using his common sense T: reason C: 'common sense' is common i.e. general; D. had new ideas which were far from 'common'. | ||||||||