Psybertron Asks

Epictetus Says … Adam Curry’s latest link to the “quotations page” throws up some bon mots from Epictetus – too true.

Upgrade Denied. Cringely tells it like it is as usual in his report on Comdex from a week ago.

News Just In – Stress is Psychological. If there was ever any doubt about the mind-matter link – here’s more “scientific” evidence via Science Daily of anecdotal truth that physical health is (at least in part) a state of mind.

All Human Life is Here. Another gem via Jorn – a Guardian review of “Sex Crimes: From Renaissance to Enlightenment” by William Naphy [Quote] Naphy’s careful study draws heavily on the official court reports from that unforgiving time and yet manages to see past them to the warm, messy human dramas that lie beneath. [Unquote]. It was ever so – “Official Reports” always disguise the mess [buzzing, booming confusion of paradox] of reality – caveat emptor according to Quinn and Cameron (see Manifesto).

Dynamic Bio-Nano-Machines. Thanks to [Jorn] for this Science Daily link. Seems even apparently stable (static) genetic protein structures in living cells are just the “emergent” properties of a continuum of dynamic interactions between components in the protein soup. This dynamic / static levels issue is cropping up in more and more fundamental ways.

Is The Answer 42 ? Thanks to John Robb for this link. How long before 42 becomes the number of dimensions required to make string theory into the unifying theory of life, the universe and everything – currently now stands at 26 apparently. What planet (in what dimension) are these guys on ?

Jim Naughtie on BBC’s Today this morning, interviewing some expert about the latest conclusions, that prescribing below strength spectacle lenses was actually damaging to the future eyesight of child wearers, got the answers “Yes”, “Yes, that’s right” and “Yes, exactly” to his first three questions and was left floundering momentarily like a fish (flounder ?) out of water at not needing to probe more deeply. A magic moment.

Two weeks or more since I last posted – been incredibly busy recently – but in the last couple of days of air-travel and hotels I’ve managed to catch-up on reading Eco’s Kant and the Platypus. 80% finished now. Still on-message – much good stuff in here on the sociology of knowledge and so many good reference sources cited too. Particularly also liked the Quine and Gavagai references in the “Vanville” story.

Picked-up in a conversation with an information modelling colleague a positive reference to Lakoff’s – Fire, Women and Dangerous things also cited by Eco. (Lakoff also co-author of Metaphors We Live By – what was I saying about my bibliography / reading wish list ?).

Spooky Synchronicity no 297 in a series of thousands. Read the Eco sub-chapter – The Real Story of the Platypus, just before getting off the plane, and came into the house to find David Attenborough explaing the same story of incredulity as part of his Mammals series on the Beeb.

Rene Thom Obituary. Thanks to Jorn for the Guardian link. Never quite understood the relationship between catastrophe and chaos theories, so this is useful source. Also interesting in that starting from Bourbaki school of French mathematics and a particular interest in Topology, Thom moved into philosophical biology and linguistics. Very much on the same page as Eco’s Kant and the Platypus.

The Pepys Project may prove interesting ?