Psybertron Asks

I’m getting into a tight corner on MoQ-Discuss, where it has been impossible to avoid debate between scientific belief and religious faith. At least we’ve got the level down below the history of global politics and war, where there is some chance of debate rather than propagandised gain-saying. As you know I’ve been in many respects anti-science, or at least anti the extreme-logical-positivist or exclusively-scientific-fundamentalist aspects of some applications of “science” in management in particular. (I see even Enlightened Caveman is embroiled in an identical debate – this god stuff is pernicious, gets everywhere.)

However, finding myself practically a universal Darwinist – most real world change processes have some element of “copy, vary, select” – I can’t help but reject any kind of intellient designer creationism, or indeed any purposeful, causal “god” real or metaphorical.

I made the point that what was convincing about science, “quality of explanation”, was not exclusive to science, and lumped just about any of the intellectual spheres of thought into the same pot philosophers, artists, ologists of practically any kind. Except theologians, where either such explanations were not made, or if they were, were constructed with “dishonest intellect” using false logic and premises of mediaeval science. I was not alone, but seem to be carrying the brunt of the demand for explanation. (See David Deutsch posts earlier for post-Popperian scientific explanations.)

Anyway faced with “explain what you mean by science, or at least a high-qualty explanation” I spotted via Sue Blackmore the “Spiked” Guardian survey of 250 scientists asked “What one thing do you think everyone should know about science” as part of the Einstein / e=mc2 centenary year of science. (The full survey is here, along with more analysis.)

Some of it is quite predictable – Dawkins’ plea against intelligent design … some of it is fairly simple, single tangible examples from that scientist’s sphere, targetted for a lay public …. and a good deal of it focusses on uncertainty, and the intent of scientific method, as the distinguishing aspect of science.

In fact the majority are about the easy half of scientific method – the disproving of false hypotheses – very little said about the creativity of formulating good candidate hypotheses, and explaning why before subjecting them to falsification.

Well I’m still reading – only 200 to go, but I’ve reached the D’s – and lo David Deutsch is amongst them. Sadly he was lost for words, or rather refused to be drawn on a single fact – so responded “read my book” (which as recorded earlier is about how not one but four distinct threads support each other as the most fundamental science). I know he’s right, but it’s a pity he missed that chance. He didn’t make the cut to the Guardian summary.

Or in this case, “It was a tongue-in-cheek idea which seemed to catch the imagination.” says Pep Torres, inventor of this Spanish battle-of-the-sexes work-sharing washing machine.

Isn’t it always the way. Technology and intellect are nothing without imagination and humour.

I referred to the Alexander McCall-Smith Von Igelfeld Trilogy described as a farcical germanic Frasier / Clousseau mix. Well its true, but it was thought prvoking in a philosophical kind of way – the farce allows a surreal world to supplant the supposedly real, but who knows which is which kind of thing. Truth stranger than fiction.

Like Don Quixote, which I’ve just started reading, there is an element of the writer writ, the reader read. The Von Igelfeld character is a writer whose only repute is through his written work, that no-one has read. I notice McCall-Smith’s third work is “The Sunday Philosophy Club”.

Very impressed with the Carlos Fuentes introduction to “The Modern Library CLassics” edition of Tobias Smollett’s translation of Cervantes, as well as Smollett’s own description of the life of Cervantes. Fuentes quotes Bachelard “But when science, ethics, politics and philosophy disciver their own limitations, they appeal to literature to go beyond their insufficiencies. Yet they only discover with literature itself, the permanent divorce between words and things.” Summarising Erasmus, who was a major influence on Cervantes, through his tutor Juan Lopez de Hoyos, Fuentes says “The Erasmian folly, set at the crossroads of two cultures [faith and reason], relativises the absolutes of both: this is a madness critically set in the very heart of faith, but also at the very heart of reason. The Madness of Erasmus is a questioning of man by man himself, reason by reason itself, and no longer by god, sin or the devil. Thus revitaised, man is no longer subjugated to fate or faith; but neither is he the absolute master of reason.”

Nothing new under the sun, again. Why are we still stuck in this dualist battle 400 years later ?

I also love all the “first modern novel” allusions, and the cross links to Shakespear’s Hamlet, Lear and Macbeth. I had no idea. I think I’m going to learn something in the next 1100 pages of close-spaced tiny print !.

[Oh yeah, and Reading blew it, losing at home to Wolves after leading – Oh well, all down to hoping for results on the final day of the season next Sunday.]

Been watching a TV documentory about Australian management practices (can’t find a link for now … ) and was struck by a quote from a Harvard guy, that echoed with the one I keep using from John Z DeLorean – “Committees of moral men make immoral decisions.”

The quote yesterday was “So many board members seem to lose their ethics in the car on the drive to the office.” The game in the boardroom is about pushing the envelope of the legally possible, not “what is right”. Quite different from their domestic behaviour with family and friends, most of them go to church (sic). Partly it was seen as a detachment issue – reaching the boardroom as a retirment reward, rather than a job affecting people – but whatever the mechanism, the behaviour is real enough.

Saw the H2G2 film this evening. Remarkably good; story, effects and the point – all pretty true to the first book, as true as any screenplay adaptation. The John Malkovich character the only superfluous addition. The planetary construction scene is indeed impressive. Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast steals the show. The whole presentation seemed quite literal, new audiences should have no trouble following the narrative, powerful stuff.

(And Sunderland are Champions. Whoohoo … More importantly The Royals get the edge over Hammers for that final play-off place. So close this season, even the one extra goal conceded by Hammers drops them behind the Royals. Unlucky Mr Pardew. Enjoy the party Mr McCarthy.)

One of the claimed opportunities for quantum information processing is highly secure private key encryption – here demonstrated in real time encryption and decryption of each frame of streamed video.

I see from the linked stories, the other more interesting aspect, non-local entanglement over real world distances also demonstrated (1mm and 600m mentioned). The encryption aspect is really just a result of the power, the processing density, of Qubits, but the non-locality raises all sorts of causality bypasses in real world physics, and communication channels behind the electromagnetic “ether”. Hence my interest in basic questions of what is information anyway !!!

(And Stevie Elliott puts Sunderland ahead of the Hammers … Yeehah, …. 1:2 with 2 minutes to go. Hammers biggest crowd of the season, 33,400 leaving in droves, 90 minutes up, 4 minutes added.)

Almost a week since I posted. Too many domestic (relocation to Australia) chores. Been active philosophically on MoQ-Discuss e-mail forum, trying to raise the bar as far as scientific explanation being more than “scientific method”.

Since finishing David Deutsch and “The Rule of Four” I’ve been reading “The Two and a Half Pillars of Wisdom – The Von Igelfeld Trilogy” by Alexander McCall Smith (Author of “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”). Amusing, if a little stereotypically British about stereotypical Germans “A blend of the cultivated pomposity of Frasier Crane and the hapless gaucherie of Inspector Clouseau.” says the cover blurb aptly. As I say, amusing with “philological” intellectual references. Flood of reminiscences as the central character is asked what he would most like to do in life that he has not yet had the opportunity to do “Study and work in Cambridge” he says, and for all the reasons I miss the place. Oh well.

Of course it was the title caught my eye. What with WWI in focus with the ANZACs suffering at Gallipoli against the Turks and other disasters like Townshend surrendering to the Turks at Al Kut in Iraq – T. E. Lawrence “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” was clearly just below the surface.

Anyway, whilst waiting for the following to arrive …

* Dennett – “Freedom Evolves”
* Dennett – “Consciousness Explained”
* Dennett – “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”
* Hofstadter and Dennett – “Mind’s I”
* Hofstadter – “Godel, Esher, Bach”
* Chalmers – “The Conscious Mind – In Search of a Fundamental Theory”
* Blackmore – “Consciousness, An Introduction” (to replace one I gave away)
* Neville – “Magic Circle” (suggested by Georganna in response to hype around The Rule of Four and The Da Vinci Code) – out of print, must find a used copy.

… prompted by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, I picked up Cervantes’ Don Quixote (The Tobias Smollett translation). Something I probably ought to have read already.

(Almost forgot – what a great coillection of book links from Rage Boy / Entropy Gradient Reversal.)

No one I spoke to in the club of the above name (in Northbridge, Perth) seemed to have heard of George Thorogood and his “Bad to the Bone”. Still … the place has live blues bands 5 nights a week, and tonight had two acts on. The venue has only recently organised itself to that format, so management and staff were keen to please, and attract an audience for future nights.

The first duo, rhythm / vocal and lead semi-acoustic covered a wide range of bluesy-country-folk-rock. Apart from the Kalgoorlie to Port Hedland “road” blues number, the two that stuck were covers of Dylan’s “Times They Are a-Changin'” and Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” – both in the vocalist’s own style, rather than a karaoke imitation style. Brave for such well -known classics.

The next act were a 4-piece (2x Strat) blues rock outfit called “The Gators”. A tight unit, but quickly apparent that they were the latest vehicle for guitarist Paul Felton and vocalist Pete – it was the rhythm sections first gig together. Says something about the quality of both that they were tight throughout. Paul impressed on The Animal’s “Misunderstood” and on Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. “Misunderstood” introducing Paul’s understated right hand pinched harmonics, and the latter giving free reign to his solo virtuosity. So simple, but so effective.

I’ve seen a few rock guitarists in my time, Joe Satriani most recently, Slim Hamster and Bill Puplett most memorably, but Paul is up there in the top handful. Worth catching.

[Post Note : This was my first visit of many to BTTB, and the first “duo” mentioned were Rick Steele (see many later references) Became very friendly with Rick, life and soul of Perth Blues Club still (in 2012) even though BTTB has long changed its format. Saw him most recently in 2011, though don’t appear to have blogged.)]

April 25th is ANZAC Day here in Australia, commemoration of war dead, the particular date being that of the ill-fated landings at Gallipoli in 1915.

I can’t think of Gallipoli without thinking of Shane McGowan’s baleful rendition of “And The Band Played Walzing Matilda” with The Pogues. [Post Note … although the Pogues version is widely known, it was originally by Eric Bogle, and popularized by Liam Clancy and Ronnie Drew before the Pogues version.]

[The event remains a particularly poignant defining moment for the then very young nations of Australia and New Zealand, who “came of age” in the ANZAC involvement in the great war, starting at Gallipoli and ending in France, and in doing so discovered their stiff-upper-lipped colonial-ex-masters couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, even if ironically, they did organise an evacuation without a single fatality. As well as defining Australia and New Zealand, the event also effectively created Turkey out of the Ottoman empire, as hero Mustafa Kemal went on to become Attaturk – Father of the Turks. Churchill resigned over Gallipoli, not simply taking the rap as non-executive head of the operation, but also for his original pre-war blunder in confiscating two British-built Turkish warhips. As well as the 9000 Anzac dead, 86,000 Turks, 9,000 French and 21,000 British, including many Irish home-rulers at the time, all perished. Not to mention the countless maimed, and the ongoing historical repercussions, as the song reminds us.]

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in nineteen-fifteen my country said son
It’s time to stop rambling ’cause there’s work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
When the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he’d blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
And we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again

Now those who were living did their best to survive
In that mad world of death, blood and fire
And for seven long weeks I kept myself alive
While the corpses around me piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying

And no more I’ll go waltzing Matilda
To the green bushes so far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded and maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind and insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
And they turned their faces away

And now every April I sit on my perch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving the dreams of past glory

I see the old men, all twisted and torn
The forgotten heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask me, what are they marching for ?
And I ask myself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me ?

I’ve just spent several hours downloading software and registering with Real, Napster and MusicMatch on-line MusicStores as pointed to my MP3.COM so I can legally buy and download music tracks (rather than whole physical CD’s from the likes of good old Amazon). Each let me download, install, register and log-in before advising that their service is only available to US residents.

WTF (iTunes next I guess.)

Or back to BigPond – which seemed to work initially, but the UI had no buttons to get past “Checkout” and seems to have charged me for tracks I’ve found no way to download. Grrrr. (Now seems I’ve paid 3 times for one track and failed to download every time.)

Omigod, even iTunes doesn’t work in Oz.

OK, so where else can I buy music on-line in Oz.

NineMSN and HMV all utter cr*p too. Very limited range of material available for download. Oh well off to the real (physical) record store it seems.