The migrating
birds ascend by the force of vertical hot air stream. They circle in it in
widening circles and accumulate height, up to the point where the air cools
down. Then they begin a continuous flying to the next spot of hot air column in
their way. A bird after bird joins the vertical spiral in the morning. Together
they create a giant flock of knowledge and power, which is necessary to carry
them on to their destination.
The birds' vertical ascending
The structure
of the human knowledge resembles a spiral column. The individual starts his
learning in low and small circles of knowledge. Newer circles are added above
them. Each one is the continuation of the circle below it. Together they create
the totality of human knowledge.
Are these immense
towers of knowledge possible within the personal existence? Is the individual capable
of carrying himself alone to the relative heights and distances of the
migrating birds? The individual will surrender quickly to fatigue. The
Probability principle explains how we built our personal knowledge from segments
of information and trust others' knowledge for completion.
The true
learning is based on a rebellious character. The thinking man is not ready to acknowledge
new facts quickly. When someone is ready to use important information without
doubt and believe that he will succeed in this way to learn everything, he starts
to have vice, with exaggerated self confidence first.
Nevertheless,
many societies tried to cerate a monopoly of knowledge through an authoritative
system. This caused a forced belief instead of free belief.
The famous
painter Diego Velasquez worked in one of those absolute societies, Spain of the
17th century. He painted the portraits of the kingdom nobles. As a genius
he understood the corruption. He succeeded
to add hidden and clever messages to his art.
The most
famous of his painting is "Las Meninas". This painting got numerous interpretations.
Chapter 8 is dedicated to it.
"Las Meninas" – The artist: Diego
Velasquez, 17th century
The painter Salvador
Dali gave "Las Meninas" the most original interpretation.
According to
Dali, each one of the characters represents a number. Each number appears one
time.
An exception
is the number 7, which appears three times in perspective:
In the
background it is the person in the back door. In the middle it is Velasquez
himself. In the front it is the giant canvas frame.
Salvador Dali interpretation of "Las Meninas"- 1960
What did Velasquez
want to say with the numbers?
"Las
Meninas" was painted in the room of Baltasar Carlos, the crown prince.
The main
character in the painting, the princess with the "8" shape, was his
sister.
In another painting,
Velasquez painted the crown prince Baltasar Carlos riding on a horse.
In this painting,
the prince's body creates the number 4. The horse's legs create the number 3.
Baltasar Carlos on Horseback
Velasquez
created a message which passes from the first painting to the second:
On the first
level, the little sister watches her brother and reminds him to be careful.
The second
level is a sophisticated effort to stretch the authoritative ruling system to
its edge.
On the third
level Velasquez laughs at everyone. He says: I have to paint you like sons of
gods but our real power is as simple human beings.
The prince
died in the age of 17, in a horse riding accident.
There is no
doubt that the light-headed life style which he conducted was a major cause for
the accident.
He became an
immortal symbol thanks to the painting.
Vision is the
art of seeing what is invisible to others. It is very easy to get side tracked.
There is no
achievement without a vision. Determining goals and destinations create a clear
vision.
It is important to focus only on
one project at a time.
Focusing is critical
at the last phase of landing, which is the Hold-off.
The plane is
sinking then in a gliding mode.
In this
situation the pilot does almost nothing. Apparently it is a very enjoyable
situation. In reality, the airplane, because it is slowing down, loses much of its
stability, and is very close to a crash.
The phase
takes only few seconds, from the Aiming Point of the Touchdown.
The pilot
must have a clear vision of the final destination, which is attaching safely
the airplane to the ground.
This task is even
harder than it seems because of the Ground Effect.
In a low
height from the ground the airplane is influenced by the ground. The air between
the wings to the ground becomes denser and unstable, as a result of the
pressure that was created upon it.
The Ground Effect
is known from the early days of aviation.
Birds use it in
order to slow their speed at the moment that they approach and contact the
ground. They straighten up the body and flap the wings, because they know that a
gust will return.
There are
airplanes which were planned in particular to exploit this effect, for fuel
saving.
In this
situation, the plane is floating on dense air, and the required energy for elation
is minimal.
The Ground Effect
is created in a height of about half the wings' width. If the airplane has
wings of 10 meters, the pilot will start sensing the effect while being at about
a height of 5 meters from the ground.
This is not a
dramatic phenomenon as, for example, the air bags in cars at a time of an accident.
The phenomenon is very delicate: The pilot senses gradually a light gust of wind
that rise under the airplane
Floating
The actions
that the pilot can take in this control loss situation are few.
He is dependent
on what he did previously.
The pilot must
guard of the wings parallel to the ground, and the speed.
If he senses
that he loses control during the few seconds of the event, he can speed up at
once and 'Go Around', i.e. stop the landing and make an additional circuit.
The town of
Gernika was destroyed by a Nazi air bombing during the Spanish civil war of the
1930th.
The painter
Pablo Picasso painted a famous picture in memory of the victims.
In the middle
of the Picture we see a suffering horse.
The horse's
shape is like the number 7.
Gernika – by Pablo Picasso
The number 7 hints
with its shape at the birds' vertical spirals and the human columns of
knowledge.
