Saturday, September 29, 2007

Dyson on biotechnology.

Q: You view [biotechnology] as a creative enterprise?

A: Yes. Film technology became one of the major art forms of the 20th century. I would say that writing genomes will probably be an art form for the 21st century in the same kind of way. We will have all these creative people designing creatures and trying out beautiful arrangements. It's a new form of landscape design where you can design the plants as well as the landscape. With that will probably go biotech games for children, where you give the child some eggs and seeds and a kit for writing the genomes and seeing what comes out. That will certainly be a very messy and sometimes dangerous business, but I think it's on the whole likely to be very good for education. People get a better understanding of the natural world when they can manipulate it themselves. For them it will seem natural, which of course is the way it is with computers. My grandchildren are much more at home with computers than I am. So I think it'll be the same with biotech.

--

Same interview as previous post; see link below. Dyson's idea makes sense in a Sim, Second Life kind of way. Perhaps simulation games are our way of preparing ourselves for this kind of future.

There's hope for the rest of us, then.

From an interview with Freeman Dyson on Salon:

"Dyson never earned a Ph.D., but in addition to his 18 honorary degrees he has received numerous awards, ranging from the National Book Critics Circle Award for his 1984 book, "Weapons and Hope," about the nuclear threat, to the 2000 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Among his six children are digital age guru Esther Dyson and science historian George Dyson."

I figured Dyson would've earned a Ph.D. Now I don't feel quite so lost having left my own doctoral program.

I haven't finished the interview yet, but it's been a good one so far. His remarks on Richard Dawkins are pointed, and while I am glad that Dawkins holds the atheist hardline in the face of bad reasoning, I acknowledge that it's sad that someone has to do it. But that's what it takes.

NB: I found this via Sensible Erection. I don't read Salon. Too precious for me.

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

Old pic

Old pic

Omer, the love of my life. Great photo of him at the summit of Snowbird. I took this one right before I took the one overlooking the other mountains.

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Sunrise, Mon 13/08/2007 06:13

Sunrise, Mon 13/08/2007 06:13

Massena, New York. On the St. Lawrence River. The home of Omer's aunt and uncle. Beautiful place; we stayed there a week. Long drive there and back from DC, but the dogs loved it.

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Crossroads of the world. Indeed.

Crossroads of the world. Indeed.

Crossroads of the world, it says. Perhaps it's right. But at whose world is this crossroads? No bluesman, no Devil. No contracts. How can Disney be its own world without referencing the outer world? Can Disney be the manifestation of the map and the territory being the same?

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Where is it? Taken at Disneyland.

Where is it? Taken at Disneyland.

For my part, I find Disney World creepy in a "Prisoner"-type of way. What I want to know right now, though, is WTF is up with Snow White's face? Did the dwarf steal it, resulting in his glee? Why do dwarves get eyeballs while pretty young women don't?

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Peanut butter cinnamon rolls.

Peanut butter cinnamon rolls.

Furtive photography at the former site of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Who would've thought that a foil-wrapped packet of peanut butter cinnamon rolls could be seen as a potential terrorist threat? I took the photo and hid the camera quickly.

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Sun 29/04/2007 14:29 29042007015

Sun 29/04/2007 14:29 29042007015

From the summit of Snowbird Mountain itself, roughly 11K feet up. It was almost 60F at the summit that day, during the final week of the ski season. Just gorgeous. Not much of a photog, am I?

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Sun 29/04/2007 13:01 29042007014

Sun 29/04/2007 13:01 29042007014

And here is where I realized I dig skier culture. Scary.

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Sat 28/04/2007 18:50 28042007013

Sat 28/04/2007 18:50 28042007013From the Snowbird ski resort in Utah. Gorgeous scenery. I was a little intimidated at the combination of altitude sickness and skiing for the first time.

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The Two Cthulhus



From my office at my old house in Baton Rouge. I'm shutting down my LifeBlog account and transferring the images here.

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Blogging with Flock | Flock

Blog This
Blogging with Flock | Flock

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Test post via Flock.

I don't know anyone who's using this right now; I found out about Flock in a seminar on Zotero (blessed with two great website referrals this week). Some problems with lagging when it first opens, but that might have to do with accessing Flickr.

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Monday, September 24, 2007

Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia: transcript.

So I've been puzzled about the position of Islam on scientific inquiry. Well, it appears that Ahmadinejad has some usefulness after all:

"In our culture, the word 'science' has been defined as 'illumination.' In fact, the 'science' means 'brightness' and the real science is a science which rescues the human being from ignorance to his own benefit. In one of the widely accepted definitions of science, it is stated that it is the light which sheds to the hearts of those who have been selected by the Almighty; therefore, according to this definition, science is a divine gift, and the heart is where it resides.

"If we accept that 'science' means 'illumination,' then its scope supersedes the experimental sciences, and it includes every hidden and disclosed reality. One of the main harms inflicted against science is to limit it to experimental and physical sciences; this harm occurs even though it extends far beyond this scope.

"Realities of the world are not limited to physical realities. And the material is just a shadow of supreme realities, and physical creation is just one of the stories of the creation of the world. Human being is just an example of the creation that is a combination of the material and the spirit.

"And another important point is the relationship of science and purity of spirit, life, behavior and ethics of the human being. In the teachings of the divine prophet, one reality shall always be attached to science. The reality of purity of spirit and good behavior, knowledge and wisdom is pure and clear reality. It is -- science is a light. It is a discovery of reality, and only a pure scholar and researcher, free from wrong ideologies, superstitions, selfishness and material trappings, can discover the reality."

It would appear that his version of Islam overgeneralizes the reach of science, thereby rendering it ineffective. If purity and ideology are the defining characteristic of the scientist operating within Islam, then it's the inquiry of the priest-as-scientist. It's contempt prior to investigation.

Having said that, I am not yet done with the transcript, so this post may be edited later.

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Scientific investigation, martyrdom, and redemption.

I received the following in an email forward from a friend yesterday:

"In addition to the anger and revenge motives frequently seen in other female suicide bombers, the Muslim concept of martyrdom involves the forgiveness of all sins and immediate entrance into paradise, so suicide bombing often is seen as an avenue to atone...."

This got me wondering how much of scientific investigation is an attempt at atonement, or maybe exoneration. What is it that we are trying to justify by finding the truth? Surely not something as simplistic as original sin. I'd be disappointed if it were only that. And surely we're not still looking for God.

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Rugby, and why we play. Even at age 43.

Nice washingtonpost.com article on a local player who made it to the Eagles and who will play Saturday in the Rugby World Cup pool games. Rugby gets into your blood. People don't understand the intensity of it, and how attractive that is for some. They just see the onfield punishment. What they don't see is that the party is both onfield and off.

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