Gustaf Ullman

Are Stars a Form of Life? A Metabolic Perspective One of the defining characteristics of life, as commonly understood in biological terms, is metabolism. Metabolism refers to the set of chemical processes that allow an entity to sustain itself, grow, and interact with its environment. In this context, the question arises: could stars, with their remarkable nuclear processes, be considered a form of life? The Metabolism of Stars Stars are born from vast clouds of gas and dust, primarily hydrogen. As they form, the immense pressure and temperature in their cores initiate nuclear fusion—a process where hydrogen atoms combine to form helium. This phase, known as the main sequence, dominates a star’s life and is analogous, in some sense, to an organism consuming a primary energy source to maintain itself. As stars exhaust their hydrogen, they begin to "metabolize" helium, producing heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These elements are essential for the ...

Reflections on The Mission : A Review Some time ago, I wrote about the soundtrack to The Mission , expressing my admiration for its haunting beauty. When I watched the film, I found it to be deeply moving, a work that touched me on a profound emotional and spiritual level. At its core, the film carries strong influences from Christian anarchism, particularly its unwavering commitment to pacifism. However, like many works with a strong ideological bent, it is not without its flaws. The film is, fundamentally, a portrayal of Christian missionary work. In this respect, it mirrors the historical errors of many Christian missionaries by underestimating the wisdom and spirituality already present in indigenous cultures. The narrative frames the Christian mission in South America as a largely positive force, which, in the eyes of modern viewers, may feel deeply problematic. This critique is not directed at the spiritual core of Christianity, which emphasizes love and humility, but at hist...

Reviving the Blogosphere Reviving the Blogosphere I've written before about how much I miss the blogosphere. It more or less died out, replaced by Facebook. But this was a serious downgrade, both in terms of freedom of expression and content quality. One of the reasons Facebook succeeded is that it allows for short, hastily written posts. If you have a 5-minute break, you can dash off a quick post. Writing a well-crafted blog post, on the other hand, usually takes closer to an hour. That’s where ChatGPT comes in. I've revived my blog. It may not quite take just 5 minutes to write a blog post, but it might only take 15 minutes — short enough to make blogging compatible with managing family and work. I often repurpose posts I write here and cross-publish them on my blog. In a bit of meta-commentary and self-reference, I decided to write a blog post about t...

God, Quarks, and the Letters of Reality This blog post is based on a discussion from Facebook, translated into a blog format by ChatGPT. God, Quarks, and the Letters of Reality: From Leibniz to Modern Cosmology At the foundation of all human understanding lies language—a collection of symbols we use to describe and interpret the world. Consider the word God . It is, fundamentally, just a sequence of letters. The same can be said for terms like electron or quark . Yet, according to philosopher W.V.O. Quine, when these terms become essential to our scientific theories—when they are necessary as bound variables in our equations—they carry with them an ontological commitment . Today, electron and quark are indispensable in the language of modern physics. God , on the other hand, is not. However, this has not always been the case. Leibniz’s philosophy , once a rival to Newtonian mechanics, treated God as an essential element...

The Music of the Spheres: A Journey Through Harmony and Elegance The Music of the Spheres is perhaps the best piece I have created that combines physics, art and music. This work, available on YouTube, visualizes the pattern formed by drawing a line between Earth and Venus over the course of five Earth years. This period corresponds to eight Venusian years. These numbers—8 and 5—are Fibonacci numbers, and together they create a beautiful five-petaled flower pattern. Having studied physics at an advanced level, my intention with this piece was to reveal the profound elegance inherent in physics, an elegance that is often inaccessible to most. The work draws inspiration from Johannes Kepler and Pythagoras, two towering figures in the history of science and art. Pythagoras not only discovered the mathematical relationships underlying our musical scale but also influenced the concept of harmony that links mathematics, music, and the cosmos. Kepler, centuries later, sought the harmony ...

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about Salvador Dalí as an inspiration for physics, art, and alchemy. In it, I explore how Dalí’s surreal imagery can evoke new perspectives on the nature of reality, which is intriguing both in physics and in art. Feel free to read the article here:   Dalí as Inspiration for Physics, Art & Alchemy .

In the philosophy of science, names like Popper and Kuhn are well-known. We occasionally hear of figures like Feyerabend and Lakatos as well, yet Norwood Russell Hanson is rarely mentioned. Kuhn was inspired by his philosophy, but actually I like the original better. Hanson was influenced by Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, particularly the idea that meaning and perception are shaped by our conceptual frameworks and language. From this, Hanson developed his notion of “theory-ladenness,” arguing that scientific observation is never purely objective but always influenced by prior knowledge and theoretical commitments. This view, foundational to Hanson’s work, highlights that in science, what we see depends on how we understand—a perspective that also influenced thinkers like Kuhn. Norwood Russell Hanson argued that observation in science is never purely objective; it’s always influenced by prior theories, beliefs, and expectations—a concept he called “theory-ladenness.” He believed that ...