Thursday, October 25, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Hallelujah.
Item from The Economist:
European lawmakers condemned efforts to teach creationism in schools yesterday. In a vote at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 48 to 25 voted for a resolution stating that creationism was "a radical return to the past".
Thank you, Europe, for calling shenaningans on this.
European lawmakers condemned efforts to teach creationism in schools yesterday. In a vote at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 48 to 25 voted for a resolution stating that creationism was "a radical return to the past".
Thank you, Europe, for calling shenaningans on this.
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Monday, October 01, 2007
David Allen, "Getting Things Done."
Yes, everyone knows about this already. I've known about it for, what, two years now? This long article on Wired about David Allen has got me thinking.
"Allen's practical suggestions on how to turn thoughts into reality sharply distinguish him from his predecessors. His advice is so simple as to appear simpleminded. He insists that nothing should ever appear on a to-do list that is not a specific, concrete action expressed at the most practical level of detail. Do not write "set up a meeting," for instance. Instead, write "call to set up a meeting." "If you just say you are going to set up the meeting," he says, "then that leaves a question open: How are you going to do it? Are you going to call? Are you going to email? It's like having a monkey on your back that won't shut up." Allen's voice shifts into a more taunting register. "How are you going to do it? How are you going to do it? Somebody shut up the monkey!"
"The difference between issuing an invitation by email and issuing it over the phone seems perversely minuscule. But in practice, as Allen points out, the question of how to communicate is often freighted with unarticulated anxieties. His mandate to resolve apparently trivial issues serves as a kind of research tool, bringing to light aspects of work that are otherwise felt only as vague concerns. And when it is difficult to find a simple physical action that can advance a project, it is a sign that the project may be unrealistic or even impossible. This is an excellent thing to know in advance."
This one passage explains a lot. I don't know if I'm thorough enough to do the whole GTD system--write down everything? Yowza. But, "when it is difficult to find a simple physical action that can advance a project," maybe I need to be listening to myself more. I've already been thinking about what my true obligations are versus what I have decided that I want or should do. (Blogging is one of those wants, not an obligation.) Maybe there's more to be investigated with this system.
As it turns out, Allen was a mental patient roughly in the vein of Phaedrus in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Somebody shut up the monkey, indeed.
"Allen's practical suggestions on how to turn thoughts into reality sharply distinguish him from his predecessors. His advice is so simple as to appear simpleminded. He insists that nothing should ever appear on a to-do list that is not a specific, concrete action expressed at the most practical level of detail. Do not write "set up a meeting," for instance. Instead, write "call to set up a meeting." "If you just say you are going to set up the meeting," he says, "then that leaves a question open: How are you going to do it? Are you going to call? Are you going to email? It's like having a monkey on your back that won't shut up." Allen's voice shifts into a more taunting register. "How are you going to do it? How are you going to do it? Somebody shut up the monkey!"
"The difference between issuing an invitation by email and issuing it over the phone seems perversely minuscule. But in practice, as Allen points out, the question of how to communicate is often freighted with unarticulated anxieties. His mandate to resolve apparently trivial issues serves as a kind of research tool, bringing to light aspects of work that are otherwise felt only as vague concerns. And when it is difficult to find a simple physical action that can advance a project, it is a sign that the project may be unrealistic or even impossible. This is an excellent thing to know in advance."
This one passage explains a lot. I don't know if I'm thorough enough to do the whole GTD system--write down everything? Yowza. But, "when it is difficult to find a simple physical action that can advance a project," maybe I need to be listening to myself more. I've already been thinking about what my true obligations are versus what I have decided that I want or should do. (Blogging is one of those wants, not an obligation.) Maybe there's more to be investigated with this system.
As it turns out, Allen was a mental patient roughly in the vein of Phaedrus in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Somebody shut up the monkey, indeed.
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Blackwater: Poised for hero status?
My talking $5 bill says that a Hollywood film will be made about the bravery of the Blackwater contractors in Iraq. Here's a snippet from Reuters today:
"A report prepared by the staff of committee chair Rep. Henry Waxman, released details from Blackwater's own reports of multiple incidents involving Iraqi casualties and said in most instances Blackwater fired first.
"The memorandum also slammed the State Department's oversight of Blackwater and said it was often more interested in getting the company to pay off victims' families and 'put the matter behind us' than in investigating what happened.
"It listed 195 shooting incidents from the start of 2005 until September 12 of this year, an average of 1.4 per week. Of those, there were 16 Iraqi casualties and 162 cases with property damage, the California Democrat said. He did not specify if there were fatalities."
I totally expect Blackwater to be lionized as American heroes. Whether they deserve it or not will likely never be known.
Also, kudos to Waxman for pressing the State Department on their policies.
"A report prepared by the staff of committee chair Rep. Henry Waxman, released details from Blackwater's own reports of multiple incidents involving Iraqi casualties and said in most instances Blackwater fired first.
"The memorandum also slammed the State Department's oversight of Blackwater and said it was often more interested in getting the company to pay off victims' families and 'put the matter behind us' than in investigating what happened.
"It listed 195 shooting incidents from the start of 2005 until September 12 of this year, an average of 1.4 per week. Of those, there were 16 Iraqi casualties and 162 cases with property damage, the California Democrat said. He did not specify if there were fatalities."
I totally expect Blackwater to be lionized as American heroes. Whether they deserve it or not will likely never be known.
Also, kudos to Waxman for pressing the State Department on their policies.
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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.
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.
"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
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, 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.
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.
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
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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From 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.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
Test post via Flock.
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.
"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.
"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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