Year: 2008

Conversation between a Physicist, a Politician and a Poet. Mindwalk with screenplay co-authored by Fritjof Capra, based on his “Turning Point”, subsequent to his “Tao of Physics”.

First I need to say, that I have previously seen Capra taking the parallel’s between Mysticisms of ancient cultures and New Physics into interconnected harmonies a step too far, but it raises many of the same issues as Michael Talbot’s “Mysticism and The New Physics” and he too seemed to take the metaphors too far with his later “Holographic Universe”. Intriguing and interesting stuff that you have to be very careful if and how to bring into real-life considerations.

That said, this film is played pretty gently, and despite the probable conflation of too many connected issues – too much of “the great convergence” into systems theory – it covers many interesting points at a pragmatic level – the politician asking “but how would that get me elected”.

Wisdom as the addition of values to science. The individual responsibilities of scientists (very reminiscent of Durrenmatt’s “Die Physiker”). Life as self-organization. Evolution as co-creativity. Adding Blake to Descartes and Newton. Very Gaia. Very little new, but intelligent and thought provoking presentation.

Thanks to Marsha and Krimel over at MoQ-Discuss for bringing it to my attention.

Saw Tommy Womack again on Saturday, this time as a double act with Alabamian Will Kimbrough, who I’d not seen before. Saw them at a Nashville venue I’d not visited before either, Norm’s River Road House.

Great little basement venue, in the middle of nowhere, and I discovered I wasn’t the only first-time punter who almost turned-back thinking “I must have taken a wrong turning”. Small packed entry-fee-paying crowd hosted by owner, cum barman, cum MC, cum mixing engineer Norm, someone who clearly likes his Americana.

(This painting from 2011 – courtesy Jim Osborne on Facebook.)

Tommy and Will alternated their original numbers dueting and harmonizing on guitar and vocal on each others numbers. Some great poetry from Will as well as the legendary guitar playing that preceded him, and Tommy’s venomous wit and manic rhythms. They made a great double-act, with a clear fondness for each other and each other’s material. Will’s “Hill Country Girl” lodged in my mind – must acquire the CD EP. Have to emphasise in these parts how unusual it is to hear and pay to hear artists play entirely original material. So much covers for the tourists.

Bought a copy of Tommy’s “Cheese Chronicles” biography of his brush with stardom in Government Cheese. Great read so far, helped by a common history of music through and beyond the punk period, and Tommy’s aforementioed wit with words.

Very interesting “Thinking Allowed” today with Charles Leadbeater discussing his “We-Think” (subtitle – Mass innovation not mass production).

Very brief part of the programme – but I was taken by the comment that all (that is all) successful bottom-up / de-centralised / self-organising collaborations like Wikipedia, Linux etc, not only seem to have some freedom-limiting rules, but also have some “aristocracy” to apply some form of governance. Collaborations that deliberately preserve or encourage 100% anarchy – total freedom and nothing else – do not evolve progressively. Governance is essential and an essential aspect of that governance is an “elite” with additional rights and responsibilities beyond those of general community members.

A thesis I’ve expressed many times, in a number of discussion forums that end up going nowhere fast, despite the progressive intent of their memberships.

Hope this guy turns out to be innocent … but an interesting real example of black (non-PC) humour at work. In service industries looking after the welfare of individuals (eg education, training, health-care, and to a lesser extent, food, drink & leisure retail service) Sylvia and I have often joked about the black humour amongst professionals (where Sylvia has worked). If “outsiders” (or god forbid, the “clients”) could hear the routine banter between such staff, referring to their charges in the course of a normal day’s work, they might well be shocked.

Was this case just black humour, or did the knowing banter turn to innappropriate action – murder is still illegal in West Yorkshire, right ?

[Post Note : Guilty of Murder]

Dave Winer interviews George Lakoff.
Thanks to Matt at WordPress.

It’s a worthwhile listen. Informal and rambling, but some good stuff about the (deliberate) psychology of associating ideas with words when describing candidate and party positions in the current US Presidential campaigning. (Framing and Parent / Child & Strict-father / Nurturing theories.)

“Expelled” is a movie in the pipeline (due for release in April at the last count) that purports not so much to “debunk” evolution (or Darwinism as they refer to it, like any good Victorian might) in favour of ID / Creationism, but to claim a mass institutional conspiracy preventing debate on alternatives, not just to evolution, but to fundamentals of science generally. It’ll be lizards in the board-rooms next.

Thanks to P Z Myers at Pharyngula for the link to Roger Moore’s piece, on previewing the film, under conditions where the makers intended it to be seen only by supporters. (The review piece includes a YouTube link to the film’s trailer.)

[Post Note – I notice these guys are paying serious attention to publicity – they get top billing in the sponsored Google side-bar, when any evolution / origins keywords are on the page.]

The film is such an obvious piece of conspiracy theory propaganda, that it is very easy for the reviewer (and the commenters) to rubbish it, on so many levels beyond the content itself. It is a good review, and as an atheist I side with the scientific view, but as you know my agenda is to temper the “hyper-rationalism” of science as a “culture” to knee-jerk its response in dogmatic certainty in the name of science.

Intellectual honesty demands that science recognise the limits to what can be known scientifically, at its own boundaries and it’s own foundations in epistemology and the philosophy of science, however much it screams the empirical evidence mantra, back at faith-based believers. I made my comment on the original post.

You probably know my view on conspiracy theories generally – most are in the minds of the beholder – but you could be forgiven for seeing the scientific response as just the kind of conspiracy that Expelled claims to be exposing.

Reminds me of so many threads on Ben Goldacre’s “Bad Science” Blog, where the assembled masses end up baying for blood like any neurotic lynch mob. Again,  a good blog exposing good valid stories, but if science doesn’t wake up it will find it has shot itself in the foot whilst it nodded off.

It’s also exactly the kind of thing that happened within “Friends of Wisdom” – a forum of those in science and education looking to promote the philosophy of science ideas of Nick Maxwell – when any member openly suggested doubts or value-based philosophical extensions to the basic empiricism of science, the poor dears were run out of town (despite the fact those ideas are explicit in Nick’s work.)

Methinks science doth protest too much. Something I said about Dawkins, long before the recent upturn in science vs god debates.

[Post Note – I see in the very brief “Expelled” ads being broadcast on Fox TV (~12th April ?) – the language is “evolution” rather than the pretense at the “Darwinism” target, and apart from a worried looking shot of Dawkins, the memorable line, in response to a crusty, dusty old “evolution” lecturer the question asked is “Yes, but how did life originate.” – as if somehow that was some killer question. Doh ! The disgusting rhetoric continues. This one may run and run.]

The kind of science reporting that drives me spare, but some interesting content about evolutionary possibilities …. science experts say that shit could happen, Brits too 😉

When your world is largely virtual, can your values be sufficiently real ?