tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40153504627957818312024-02-18T22:22:33.464-05:00control y"The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha...which is to demean oneself."*kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-631239769339246632010-05-08T00:42:00.008-04:002010-05-15T21:03:54.874-04:00Action at a DistanceMy imagination has recently been piqued by an explanation of Newton's law of gravity. For all that he contributed to physics, he famously did not bother to explain why gravity works. It's academically referred to as a black box theory, perhaps the most famous one. And today, why gravity works remains a mystery. Similar black box theories - those which forego describing any mechanism - are occasionally studied and occasionally derided depending on their context.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe/videos/playlists/beyond-the-big-bang#beyond-the-big-bang-sir-isaac-newtons-law-of-gravity">The Universe — Beyond The Big Bang — History.com Videos</a><br /><br />That a theory - or more like a law, or set of laws - needs no explanation is counterintuitive but also strangely liberating.<br /><div><br />When I learn something, my instinct is to wrap my head around it - to get a feel for it from all angles, to compare and contrast it to other bits of knowledge, and to try to grasp the underlying principles that make it fit together. Perhaps that's just the normal response: we seek to understand things.<br /><br />Newton's curious depiction of gravity, on the other hand, separates learning from understanding.<br /><br />And beyond separating the two, it suggests that understanding might actually set you back. His theory was largely resisted for some time because it lacked an underlying explanation. Its utility and predictive power overcame this hurdle.<br /><br />Following Einstein, the current consensus is that some laws of the universe are so distant from our scale of experience that we can't be expected to understand their mechanism, much less intuitively grasp them. There's an intuitive appeal in this explanation about how difficult it is to grasp very large and very small things. But that doesn't make it true. </div><div><br /></div><div>Returning to Newton, one question I've been asking myself is whether similar black box explanations may apply to things of an everyday scale. It goes against every fiber of scientific thought: Theories with meager explanations seem less plausible and poorly thought out. And yet it seems strangely plausible - that principles may be unfolding on a human-scale which we couldn't fathom - if only as a possibility.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>At the least, this line of thought emphasizes the role of observation and empiricism. As 'theoretical' as the notion of gravity is, its proposal still required real-world observation - without that, it would have made absolutely no sense. </div><div><br /></div><div>The scientific method suggests that we have our presuppositions and hypotheses about how the world works, and then data is used to either back them up or to falsify them. But perhaps the take-home message is that the reverse is at least possible, namely that we start with data and then learn how it fits together. And where a set of awkward principles - such as <i>action at a distance</i>, which, let's face it, sounds more like magic than physics - so perfectly consolidates the data, understanding might be ignored, be it temporarily or deliberately.</div>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-50025786856260616312010-02-11T15:02:00.004-05:002010-02-11T15:41:28.779-05:00Chess & Go<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHanyWzPgQ8-OP9SUldXsPmdPkfSk9aQYXV4WAw-4GHV8YK0FWiPNenzUOzcRxmg_c9YVTCO-PfJo2iErzOa7rHV5DKeKBLBYLtHWRbLa6IYA6FmFhrX7-oJh9wtCK3kjWPN5YZggf-YM/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 123px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHanyWzPgQ8-OP9SUldXsPmdPkfSk9aQYXV4WAw-4GHV8YK0FWiPNenzUOzcRxmg_c9YVTCO-PfJo2iErzOa7rHV5DKeKBLBYLtHWRbLa6IYA6FmFhrX7-oJh9wtCK3kjWPN5YZggf-YM/s200/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437076391676162434" border="0" /></a>Combine mounds of snow and <a href="http://digitalstore.ubi.com/234/product/Buy-Chessmaster-9000-Download">Chessmaster 9000</a> – a PC game – and I’ve been getting a bit too into chess.<br /><br />Growing up I never really got chess. Go – widely considered chess’ Eastern counterpart – caught my attention for some time in college.<br /><br />In Go, unlik<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz46ioUt_w7L8ihTPxnNQV35pl1G4u7NMWEkbWTj-R2Qtfv4cQvC0kzUTmzEfuruKtdLVopAOxuguVGCCpwh2xAeo7vl56RzTOIx_iv1a_r1kVTHYtR8ukTpxmXoKQLL1G9xMTYNRgNYQ/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz46ioUt_w7L8ihTPxnNQV35pl1G4u7NMWEkbWTj-R2Qtfv4cQvC0kzUTmzEfuruKtdLVopAOxuguVGCCpwh2xAeo7vl56RzTOIx_iv1a_r1kVTHYtR8ukTpxmXoKQLL1G9xMTYNRgNYQ/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437075106560078226" border="0" /></a>e chess, all pieces have equal value and the board begins empty. Players take turn placing pieces on the board, with the goal of capturing territory (and enemy pieces) by surrounding spaces.<br /><br />The board is a 19 x 19 grid, and each piece is placed on an intersection, which gives you 361 spots for a piece. This accounts for much of its appeal – at the start of the game, the board is overwhelming and abstract, full of possibility. Go is also notorious for giving computer programmers a hard time – its open possibilities make it impossible to program a computer engine comparable to the best Go players.<br /><br />Nonetheless, beyond the basics, learning Go was deceptively hard, and coupled with a determined friend who was also a beginner, we spent a lot of time making no progress.<br /><br />Chess, by contrast, has recently struck me as full of personality and intrigue. Pieces take on their own persona, and it’s your job to make them collaborate. Rooks are bulky stabilizers of sorts, while bishops have a strong up-field attack. Both pieces have long-range control, as does the queen – yet her absolute power makes her overly prone to enemy attack. Most aspects of the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtxD0C-2bz4k518dxm-yGDET-R5sZFobjsoD_isDsAgbHM6oRmAwPiJDHcrN0gaCKlu-UOLeL0XFNOwTBx8BEPq-gNAqkRsVD88n-ZXNViFt_3XLcLLJaYIbi4687JMUCevvPmvARTfY/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtxD0C-2bz4k518dxm-yGDET-R5sZFobjsoD_isDsAgbHM6oRmAwPiJDHcrN0gaCKlu-UOLeL0XFNOwTBx8BEPq-gNAqkRsVD88n-ZXNViFt_3XLcLLJaYIbi4687JMUCevvPmvARTfY/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437078454125405170" border="0" /></a>game I’m still stumped on. Knights in particular have a whimsy movement, which makes them fun to watch until they’re suddenly staring you down.<br /><br />Yet the strength of each individual piece is conferred mostly by their overall arrangement - their sum inevitably much greater than the total of their parts. In this sense, pawns are like football's offensive (or defensive) linemen - unglamorous and overlooked, yet providing a structure for success.<br /><br />The fun perhaps comes from going back and forth between attack and analysis. Each move by your opponent requires pause to try to figure out what it accomplishes. Analyzing his potential lines of attack requires an almost Zen-like state of scanning opened lines and spaces. Similar to a geometric proof, the best moves are utilitarian, accomplishing multiple objectives at once. Not unlike life, you need a plan, coupled with knowledge of general principles, and flexibility to respond to the unexpected. You face intriguing interplay between ideas and reality, theory and application.<br /><br />When stuck it can sometimes help to change your view. It’s not unreasonable to personify the pieces, especially the king – it can help to stand in his shoes and ask what sort of defense he might lobby for. Make no mistake, we're talking about a competition of intellectual prowess which calls for excruciating patience bordering mental torture, not a town-square with Dickensian chatter. But where Go is impenetrably cold and abstract, there is a warm center to chess.<br /><div><br /></div><div>-KJ</div><div><br /></div><div>_______________</div><div><br /></div><div>Media (in order of appearance)</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mesh/76587035/">Go Game #2 w/Ramon</a>, 12/23/2005, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mesh/">eshm</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjb/4198908464/">Untilted</a>, 12/19/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjb/">Matthew Bradley</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mukumbura/4059761081/">White Knight</a>, 11/31/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mukumbura/">Mukumbara</a>;<br /></div>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-54167681114647970962010-01-23T14:12:00.011-05:002010-01-24T12:10:30.707-05:00Ideas and EgoI’ll often approach things by assuming that the world is right and I am wrong. I just finished a powerful book by <a href="http://www.tsowell.com/">Thomas Sowell</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Intellectuals-Society-Thomas-Sowell/dp/046501948X">Intellectuals and Society</a>, which epitomized the role of humility in approaching ideas.<br /><br />Sowell’s book is a backlash against a group of people he calls intellectuals – those whose professions begin and end in ideas. In many ways, battles between ideas are shaped more by emotion than by rational intellect. Much of intellectual debate rests upon empty arguments. Retorts you commonly hear in th<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGLV6Ii-rZM-g0OYvCCCX3tCQhbioDGCVjjm8Od3q5Ow5u4hmffI_C3gVsGTei0NyYPywZiG4wZwCASKohH9WYe6rKlXexMu8UnxvijQsNn9APAvJoKzDricS7_TF9xh1lwsuogD5jI/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGLV6Ii-rZM-g0OYvCCCX3tCQhbioDGCVjjm8Od3q5Ow5u4hmffI_C3gVsGTei0NyYPywZiG4wZwCASKohH9WYe6rKlXexMu8UnxvijQsNn9APAvJoKzDricS7_TF9xh1lwsuogD5jI/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430011695409750658" border="0" /></a>e media – “you’re oversimplifying the issue”, “you just have too much faith in the free market”, “you’re not seeing the complexities of the issue” – don’t hold much ground.<br /><br />What begins as a simple and even-handed look at intellectuals, by the last chapter, turns into a rather acidic critique. But even this progression is rather fascinating, as it is the opposite of what we’re used to, which is a passionate and fiery introduction to a subject, later supported by facts, and ending in a call to action.<br /><br />Sowell looks at intellectual's influence in the media – where events are skewed with such liberal bias that society hardly recounts Stalin murdering 6 million plus Ukrainians or Hoover’s interventionist and philanthropic ways – their influence in academia – where ideas are judged in an insular way by like-minded peers – and their influence in the law – where inconsistent calls for judicial activism and social justice seem to undermine the law’s purpose.<br /><br />Sowell paraphrases Schumpter, writing how huge social catastrophes can kill millions of people without having the least effect on advancing theory.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_wmtgUw2VGRE126iSCz21QICyTSQPsfC6rBqJ3NFSCx13qeD8csUqQlO9MO4GkR1vuf-edds4zNfqYwFnOORC0DZdsOVjND7JqLt1lGPYToWqsX53wEecffNyhdGXy8XCB-WaHq-JaE/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_wmtgUw2VGRE126iSCz21QICyTSQPsfC6rBqJ3NFSCx13qeD8csUqQlO9MO4GkR1vuf-edds4zNfqYwFnOORC0DZdsOVjND7JqLt1lGPYToWqsX53wEecffNyhdGXy8XCB-WaHq-JaE/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430013303523799106" border="0" /></a>The book culminates in two long chapters about intellectuals and war. If anything, Sowell shows that wars do have an effect on intellectuals, but it is more of an emotional effect than a rational one. French intellectuals widely adopted pacifism after World War I. School teachers went so far as to imbue it in the nation’s children, to the extent where Hitler decided to invade France based largely on their lack of support for engagement. His commanders advised against this – and later studies reveal France to be superior militarily – but Hitler attacked based on his views of the French morale. Such widespread pacifism in Europe also delayed England from mounting an effective response, and made the war much more costly than it might have been otherwise.<br /><br />To a degree, the intellectual attitude before the war was that one must live and fight for one’s ideals. After the war, it was that men’s courage is a fickle thing, and war is a silly game. The point, however, in focusing so heavily on war is to show how such events go far in shaping intellectuals' emotional reactions without in the least sharpening their quality of thought.<br /><br />The events that unfolded in the ‘60s were somewhat similar. America lost the Vietnam War not because of its lack of manpower – and not because of the difficult battle terrain – but due to its lack of support at home. The North Vietnamese intentionally made it a war of endurance, and despite their stunning losses – up to and through the Tet Offensive – their saving grace, as they later admitted, was the war’s unpopularity in America. Such lack of military backbone escalated the Cold War as well, which – despite intellectual calls for disarmament – was won by Reagan’s purposeful decision to make it an arms race rather than a traditional war.<br /><br />Such examples chip away at the notion that pacifism breeds peace. More important than one’s conclusion, however, is the recognition that things like the of idea of pacifism are more like hypotheses – subject, to the degree possible, to historical support – than truths.<br /><br />We all have values, judgments, assumptions about the world. But to hide certain beliefs from real-world scrutiny only does them a disservice. If one believes in a certain policy, for instance, because it reduces poverty, then certainly it behooves that person to see whether it actually reduces poverty.<br /><br />Certainly not every idea or notion that has real-world implications need be supported by reason. One can go on acting kindly to their fellow men without necessarily needing a specific or good reason for doing so. Parents don't need to adopt an ideology to love their children. But it is a common mistake to assume that such ideas are based on a neat underlying logic, as if a pious Christian who says that he loves God because of all his beautiful creations might re-assess his love for God, should the evidence overwhelmingly suggest that his creations were in fact not beautiful, or that his creations were in fact not created by him. Such is often a confusion of induction and deduction. In all likelihood, one starts out liking God, and then finds a reason why. But that reason, then, is hardly useful for convincing others. This sort of confusion is much more common in discussions of social policy, where arguments are more often cloaked in objectivity.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikoGOeMjWTLQmACcwOZopz9jmd0DgrziZbF-rph8VvwDZfilWMPXpq1VfSJQ54pqmMLHZItCEr2f64AgITsDmD504FmUhoDsAiDRJvJ-IyjlHZM8QSGfGWK9iqo8rSCMBU_iJVVotnlg/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikoGOeMjWTLQmACcwOZopz9jmd0DgrziZbF-rph8VvwDZfilWMPXpq1VfSJQ54pqmMLHZItCEr2f64AgITsDmD504FmUhoDsAiDRJvJ-IyjlHZM8QSGfGWK9iqo8rSCMBU_iJVVotnlg/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430014609157644050" border="0" /></a><br />To a large degree, the world has accepted the notion that many ideas need real-world verification. However, a deceptively large amount of arguments use reason, but are more like the example with the pious man, where the reason falls second to the conclusion, in turn revealing that the conclusion is more of an assumption. This has simply created a process whereby people look for whatever verification supports their theory and scrap the rest.<br /><br />On the contrary, when one looks at the wealth of available real-world knowledge – ranging from history to news and the internet, from publicly available data to nationwide trends and scientific analyses, from society’s vast collections of mundane everyday experiences to the narrow yet advanced scope of select experts – one is rather awed by a sense humility rather than empowerment. Indeed, real-world knowledge does not exist simply to be cherry-picked according to one’s own beliefs, but to be made sense of, and to form one’s beliefs. I am often struck by it all with an overwhelming crushing of ego. But at the same time, ego is precisely not the point.<br /><br />-KJ<br />_____________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photos: (1)<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sowell.hoover/PhotographerAtWork#slideshow/5393325016783744162">Thomas Sowell</a>, Stephen Camarata; (2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipeshsoneji/3990822829/">Raising the Flag</a>, 10/07/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipeshsoneji/">P.E.S.H.</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramreinders/2886331645/">radiotelecopen, radio telescopes HDR</a>, 09/25/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramreinders/">Bram Reinders</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-90768275938945678612009-12-26T16:11:00.008-05:002009-12-26T19:44:59.526-05:00The Soft Science of Positive PsychologyModern philosophy – and more recently science and psychology – have shared the revelation that reality is all in your head. Change your head, goes one line of thought, and you change your reality.<br /><br />In psychology this has spurned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology">positive psychology</a>: The study of the positive mindset is implicitly carried out in contrast to the study of negative mindsets, which consist of most of psychology’s history.<br /><br />Positive psychology, however, remains more of a movement than an area of study. It has yet to prove itself, and most of the innovation has occurred in semantics – where, for instance, exercise might have been said to treat depression, positive psychologists would say <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpzvtZOM6_QhE84RH6ot2a7yyNoTxQEp-JYgaJqdK9iepWMJfDMlGsQ7JYSjS7Er0p5bwca6kM4cfQxjzCpEvyKVkLORSNmuZs631daQmVxh2jZEs8Q2IPjBFDiICFIsF4s-6TuicgLM/s1600-h/1.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpzvtZOM6_QhE84RH6ot2a7yyNoTxQEp-JYgaJqdK9iepWMJfDMlGsQ7JYSjS7Er0p5bwca6kM4cfQxjzCpEvyKVkLORSNmuZs631daQmVxh2jZEs8Q2IPjBFDiICFIsF4s-6TuicgLM/s320/1.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419652138633937506" border="0" /></a>that it provides a buffer against depression. (I wrote a bit more on the topic <a href="http://cntrly.blogspot.com/2008/11/good-bad-and-positive.html">here</a>.)<br /><br />And it’s not as if the scientists haven’t been trying – positive psychology remains a well-funded area of research, considered in academic circles to be fresh and forward-looking. It’s just lacked many groundbreaking findings.<br /><br />In all fairness, it’s still considered a new topic, with roots that go back only one or two decades. Researchers are just warming up. But as a movement, it’s already starting to outstay its welcome.<br /><br />As might be expected from any movement, it’s now undergoing a backlash. Cancer survivor Barbara Ehrenreich recently railed against the infusion of cancer treatment and positive psychology. After being diagnosed with breast cancer<br /><blockquote>She discovered that a positive attitude was more or less compulsory. Most of her fellow sufferers thought it would help them recover. Some even said that cancer was a “gift” that helped one find life’s purpose. Ms Ehrenreich disagreed…She complained about the debilitating effects of chemotherapy, recalcitrant insurance companies and, most daringly, “sappy pink ribbons”…<br /><br />More generally, Ms Ehrenreich sees an “ideological force in American culture…that encourages us to deny reality.”…At a confab for motivational speakers, she is told that anyone can achieve “infinite power” by resonating in tune with the universe. From a popular preacher in Houston, she discovers that God will give big houses and nice tables in restaurants to those who sincerely wish for them. After slogging through countless books and lectures, she learns that food doesn’t make you fat unless you think it will, and that you can solve many of life’s problems by avoiding negative people. (The Economist, <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15127034">12/17/09</a>)</blockquote><br />Ehrenreich, along with a handful of other authors, have recently published books that mock positive psychology as a feel-good movement devoid of any true science.<br /><br />Between the movement a<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhI4zTdvuLakXEpsjYQVhGSyEnwDAZB_lToczDqMb8t_EdP_1lMshkxnIQRW7oTVESBLgebEpKTt23RjHKHKCbNPOMKFJHE_UQKplaZ1JYcj2hrRXI6IQX1HCUQGVG_QL2vD7j6tiQI0/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhI4zTdvuLakXEpsjYQVhGSyEnwDAZB_lToczDqMb8t_EdP_1lMshkxnIQRW7oTVESBLgebEpKTt23RjHKHKCbNPOMKFJHE_UQKplaZ1JYcj2hrRXI6IQX1HCUQGVG_QL2vD7j6tiQI0/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419653126704735106" border="0" /></a>nd the backlash, positive psychology has a very American feel: It has more connections to alternative medicine than to clinical science, and its practical pop-science-for-the-masses approach bears some resemblance to America’s 19th century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism">Spiritualist</a> and Evangelical practices.<br /><br />Areas such as a positive psychology are why psychology is still – and will long be – considered a soft science. In almost any other area of science, the creation of a new field of study would be spurned by some scientific breakthrough. Not so in positive psychology. Here, the change has occurred in the researchers’ minds, where they have made a conscious decision to focus on the positive instead of the negative.<br /><br />Yet in itself, explicitly redirecting your thoughts isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This is what you do when you're testing assumptions: You change them and examine the consequences. This process can be powerful. It has given birth to non-Euclidian geometry and to Godel’s incompleteness theorems.<br /><br />But in positive psychology it has produced very little. Highly studied emotions in positive psychology include <span style="font-style: italic;">flow</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">elevation</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">hopefulness</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">appreciation</span>. But in the current state of the things, these remain empty constructs and definitions, with few empirical connections.<br /><br />The insight of empirical science is that, when increasing knowledge, we turn to the outside world. Reality is all in your head, but that does not deny the existence of a very real, concrete, palpable world outside of you. The stubborn inability to learn from this world, in politics, has led to true suffering; in business, has led to bankruptcy; in personality, has led to delusion; and in psychology, has led to positive psychology.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaqyUz0nHLYw4bZDzyiKPVRm1q-_n6AJVeSC1wPpLRQ0M2QPm8-svrp9elEvy1tTaPEZrmt26FF5IjR8mCq1Rp8NikeI_fWuVi_yUE_dvtDV8W1zNbUG4ystFRKkdBw7I9AGg0pOWrzw/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaqyUz0nHLYw4bZDzyiKPVRm1q-_n6AJVeSC1wPpLRQ0M2QPm8-svrp9elEvy1tTaPEZrmt26FF5IjR8mCq1Rp8NikeI_fWuVi_yUE_dvtDV8W1zNbUG4ystFRKkdBw7I9AGg0pOWrzw/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419655228330983730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />_______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Image: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/netsrot/164613381/">Radioactive Happiness</a>, 06/10/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/netsrot/">Netsrot</a>; (2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25819731@N00/317136210/">Woman getting massage</a>, 12/08/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25819731@N00/">hop sungtrieu</a>; (3) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlestilford/189639434/">BP716 Rainbow and Bird</a>, 07/14/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlestilford/">listentoreason</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-44257804832096404032009-12-13T16:17:00.003-05:002009-12-20T16:24:05.112-05:00Things Fall ApartEngland’s anti-drug department has spent the past two years denying a freedom of information request in regard to its domestic strategy to battle drugs. The Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15016160">reported</a> last week that this sort of behavior is symptomatic of England’s freedom of information act, passed in 2000, which contains 23 “get outs” in order to prevent bureaus from having to hand over classified information. Too often these requests get caught up in a legal quagmire and take up to a few years to grant. What separates this case, however, is the creative justification by the Home Office for not releasing the records:<br /><blockquote>The reason is that next March the National Audit Office (NAO), a public-spending watchdog, is due to publish a report of its own on local efforts to combat drugs. The Home Office says that to have two reports about drugs out at the same time might confuse the public, and for this reason it is going to keep its report under wraps.</blockquote><br />The Economist calls this “the most inventive interpretation to date” with regard to the FOI act:<br /><blockquote>This is believed to be the first time that a public body has openly refused to release information in order to manage the news better. The department argues that releasing its internal analysis now “risks misinterpretation of the findings of the [National Audit Office] report”, because its own analysis is from 2007 and predates the NAO’s findings. The argument uses section 36 of the FOI act, which provides a broad exemption for information that could “prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs”.</blockquote><br />It’s a bit ironic that a law passed to increase transparency is being enacted in a manner that’s anything but. Were this a bank hiding info from their shareholders, the public might be angrier.<br /><br />But what’s more revealing about this case is the way in which laws breakdown overtime.<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y6RoJ4GIM9k&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y6RoJ4GIM9k&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br />One of the most admirable accomplishments of the founders was to create a foundation that would stand the test of time. The constitution is in a sense radical, but it is also practical and realistic in its approach. A lack of long-term foresight is one of the largest underestimated factors playing into new legislation. Too often the debate surrounds the magnitude of the problem rather than on the solution.<br /><br />The idea that we can fix deep problems like healthcare or the economy in one bill is not only unrealistic, but it underestimates the dynamic nature of the problem. A close analogy is found in large struggling firms which seek to rectify their problems with a silver bullet: They’ll hir<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNWJc4Khe8h6ba95CaWRyfPN_Hnzpf2tDDrShdqMiBx6GXxYTrpn41U_NS5H9ol_aizm4ekzkkaHpe1pH5gw_pw1MumQyfl4Tzj78l5Vw0MAydnDn6foph5BmqR6uO_pNI7xSx3_rglE/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 141px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNWJc4Khe8h6ba95CaWRyfPN_Hnzpf2tDDrShdqMiBx6GXxYTrpn41U_NS5H9ol_aizm4ekzkkaHpe1pH5gw_pw1MumQyfl4Tzj78l5Vw0MAydnDn6foph5BmqR6uO_pNI7xSx3_rglE/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414830913978351650" border="0" /></a>e an outsider CEO, pursue large mergers and acquisitions, or try extreme new strategies.<br /><br />In a <a href="http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15065913">report</a> this week on Toyota, The Economist discusses how often the best solutions are the least flashy and exciting. The subject of the report is Toyota, whose CEO worries they are on the path to failure and is working carefully to rectify the situation. He is reportedly working with tips from Jim Collins’ book, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Mighty-Fall-Companies-Never/dp/0977326411">How the Mighty Fall</a></span>. In the book, Collins<br /><blockquote>advocates old-fashioned management virtues such as determination, discipline, calmness under pressure and strategic decision-making based on careful sifting of the evidence. Often, the leader best able to halt a downward spiral will be an insider who knows how to build on proven strengths while simultaneously identifying and eradicating weaknesses.</blockquote><br />In line with this, continues The Economist:<br /><blockquote>Mr Toyoda’s approach is not visionary. It is simple, incremental and requires painstaking attention to what the customers want. That is its virtue.</blockquote><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED4AkLM_2drW1jG1FT6cG7r3_G2XKKzAr3eFipOQl8eZtGnjNT6SYQHDrbNHOVMY5WhlekHLjUZrnT9oGggudezQVMvnzPXdsrDhdysZrzfGmrefD-9P8dWxpGx4oYVFbNGfmbgb7nH0/s1600-h/.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiED4AkLM_2drW1jG1FT6cG7r3_G2XKKzAr3eFipOQl8eZtGnjNT6SYQHDrbNHOVMY5WhlekHLjUZrnT9oGggudezQVMvnzPXdsrDhdysZrzfGmrefD-9P8dWxpGx4oYVFbNGfmbgb7nH0/s320/.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414831920902114530" border="0" /></a><br />Occasionally I’ll be watching late night (or early morning) business TV, and news anchors will often ask CEOs “How did you do it? What’s your secret?” And by now it’s a cliché for the CEO to answer that there are no secrets and the only recipe to success is doing a good job, taking care of fundamentals, and perhaps an ounce of fortune here or there.<br /><br />In a sense, the sentiment that there must be some secret to success is even more fascinating than the fact that there is isn’t. The sentiment is somewhat understandable, especially given how many perceived geniuses see the world in a radically unique manner.<br /><br />But there is something different from such academic or theoretical smarts and business smarts. What distinguishes the latter is not clarity of mind and vision, but an ability to be completely in tune with the details of their products and with what people want. From this perspective, it’s obvious why radical shifts make the least amount of sense, particularly when it looks like they’re being done for the sake of change, rather than to alter the underlying content. Rather it’s a question of inspecting resources, using them to their full potential, seeing how they’ve worked in the past, and making the sort of detailed tweaks here and there that, say, an inquisitive public looking for an overarching secret to success wouldn’t be interested in.<br /><br />It’s also, once again, an issue of focusing on the solution not the problem. A radical problem – even a crisis – need not always require a radical solution. An appliance that won’t turn might just have a minor wiring problem. Debilitating diseases are often rectified by targeting just one type of molecule.<br /><br />Too often these sorts of small but effective solutions are confused with finding a silver bullet to solve a whole problem. The smarter solutions are distinguished however in their scope, their maximized use of available resources, and their ability to work within the system rather than to replace it. For instance, we do have an advanced healthcare system<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SVAC2RoyY_wYUOkRWVfLfATOIpIjzAM4LCIpmOnJOuJfkPGPcYxkFyrQ4d-3AaSlXv3nvwux58U_CAf7_n4pH6VGy9ua1fSMXkdnZnQIkf-CY0gIkMIKnlLOmZlJBMdx6prCoy5Z4tc/s320/2.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 176px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414827376916926034" border="0" />, and it can align patients’ needs with doctors. But we do not have enough doctors. An analogy is to a new computer which won’t turn on because it’s unplugged.<br /><br />It is this sort of nuanced thinking which needs to be applied to legislation: An eye for the long-term effects – when deciding on item prices, Costco CEO Jim Senigal thinks about the effect they will have 20 years down the road – maximizing current resources, and a careful expert look at the details involved and how they work. Where these approaches can't be used due to the nature of politics - say, a lack of expertise in government, or an inability to be flexible - then the solution needs to be reformulated or dropped. A half-assed solution is the worst kind.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogiejr/3315993045/">Toyota Camry</a>, 02/26/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogiejr/">ogieabatillas</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimoken/4039512434/">Akio Toyoda</a>, 10/24/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimoken/">Shimoken</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaguelyartistic/334603444%20/">Weird Al in Line at Costco</a>, 12/26/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaguelyartistic/">Vaguely Artistic</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6RoJ4GIM9k">Video</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MrAlstec">MrAlstec</a> channel, of the song "Things Fall Apart" by <a href="http://www.builttospill.com/">Built to Spill</a> from their 2009 album <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/builttospill/thereisnoenemy?q=there%20is%20no%20enemy">There is No Enemy</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-64122331110561256282009-12-02T23:16:00.012-05:002009-12-02T23:45:10.227-05:00Lateral Transmissions: Steam EngeniousThe Beatles got it right at the end of Sgt. Pepper, ending <span style="font-style: italic;">A Day in the Life</span> – the contemplative fragmented waltz – with a dissonant orchestral crescendo. <div><br /></div><div>I think that the next great step in pop music will be to integrate dissonance. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-yBbrYtQ2uH_xiqdzF3jilV6jfyrom6_gU78MdR5WnT7lgR058CXIau7vs8PnxLJhWpBf7av8tLUKSSSP-ZROfR6cCjODi2OftvJic-MAMU4wdiwHyleYMlze0bENR_fcAXJJ01WGP4/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-yBbrYtQ2uH_xiqdzF3jilV6jfyrom6_gU78MdR5WnT7lgR058CXIau7vs8PnxLJhWpBf7av8tLUKSSSP-ZROfR6cCjODi2OftvJic-MAMU4wdiwHyleYMlze0bENR_fcAXJJ01WGP4/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410839266385279154" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s almost ironic that The Beatles were the first – and possibly last – band to have such a famous song centered on dissonance. And even though it's only the end of the track that's notorious, the whole song really is structured around that climax.<br /><br />Pop songs have clean melodic structures that are as condensed as possible. No one knew this better than The Beatles. From <span style="font-style: italic;">Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da </span>to <span style="font-style: italic;">She’s Leaving Home</span>, they had an uncanny ability to immerse you in a whole world in only a few minutes, catchy, compact like poetry, almost dense, like a song from a musical but better.<br /><br />It’s fitting that on <span style="font-style: italic;">A Day in the Life</span>, they went to such lengths to try to snap you out of their pristine songs, ending on a nightmarish almost unsatisfying crescendo, as surreal and dirty as their songs tend to be pleasant and sweet. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_in_the_Life#Recording">Wrote </a>producer George Martin about that famous last chord:</div><div><blockquote>What I did there was to write ... the lowest possible note for each of the instruments in the orchestra. At the end of the twenty-four bars, I wrote the highest note...near a chord of E major. Then I put a squiggly line right through the twenty-four bars, with reference points to tell them roughly what note they should have reached during each bar ... Of course, they all looked at me as though I were completely mad.</blockquote><br />This proved to be only the start for John Lennon, who later went to absurd lengths to embody a sort of over-realism: his experiment with psychotherapeutic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_therapy">primal screaming</a> – it sounds as odd as it looks on paper – and posing nude on an album cover.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dissonance is an odd term, at once technical and completely subjective. It simply refers to a combination of notes that sounds unstable or unpleasant. You know it when you hear it, yet what is considered dissonant shifts across culture and time. Like all things when you study music, it’s about context, structure and temporal relation. When it’s employed well, it can provide a sort of driving force to music. Roger Kamien (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonance_and_dissonance#Dissonance">quoted on Wikipedia</a>) has a stimulating explanation:</div><div><blockquote>An unstable tone combination is a dissonance; its tension demands an onward motion to a stable chord. Thus dissonant chords are 'active'; traditionally they have been considered harsh and have expressed pain, grief, and conflict.</blockquote></div><div>You can hear dissonance here and there on the radio, but surprisingly few rock and roll bands have really integrated it into their songs. Used well and it’s as if an artist is harnessing a wild force.</div><div><br /><br /><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtvmusic.com:439342" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="dist=www.mtvmusic.com" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="512" height="319"></embed><br /><div style="margin: 0pt; text-align: center; width: 512px; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.mtvmusic.com/drake_kanye_west_eminem_and_lil_wayne">Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem</a> |<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.mtvmusic.com/">MTV Music</a></div><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ik0u6My4x68&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ik0u6My4x68&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div>Used poorly and you have nails on a chalkboard.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyfd0L3b6Kgs7CttEsaOKwEXjJ3PwcbquAwbyNvfFOusRQVNJw1AOWlTWlezc4qWI7S949qvU5z4eQNWJJ9DnYoGjwZzK0lzkz83BXDGygTNIu3gjJNoHmHxBynT4aLz_aBYazjMXklo/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyfd0L3b6Kgs7CttEsaOKwEXjJ3PwcbquAwbyNvfFOusRQVNJw1AOWlTWlezc4qWI7S949qvU5z4eQNWJJ9DnYoGjwZzK0lzkz83BXDGygTNIu3gjJNoHmHxBynT4aLz_aBYazjMXklo/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410844603811072178" border="0" /></a>Going back to Kamien’s definition, when I’m in the right mood – say, listening to the right song while driving my car at night – it seems like there’s an underlying dissonance which drives intelligence and clarity of mind. In a sense, the drive for knowledge is predicated on not being content with the current state of things. In a world of perfect contentment, there’d be no need to learn more. In this sense there’s a truth to the archetype of the happy idiot, though I’m not sure whether it says more about man or knowledge. The inability to just be content seems to have a biological correlate as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>I just finished Robert Clark’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Self-Immune-System-Really/dp/0195335554">In Defense of Self: How the Immune System Really Works</a>, and like the best of books it left me both satiated and thirsty for more. The first part of the book is theoretical – it lays down the general principles, introduces you to the main characters, etc. And the second, and longer, part is applied – it covers disease and immune conditions.<br /><br />Naturally I assumed that the second part would build on the first, by applying the theory. On the contrary, the applied portion of the book simply went on and on like the theoretical portion. I <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuqpr7iFc-ge-ZbDDxeSyscmz13mbrszxT6sYlLnfRV1PJUwdhgfzRFQ-zQVySGC56qI77UscToIZLMnrFidAVLTrqsBuuxIuOd9IWfhtgi4-6DXBcwpqzRScTfjApwh532stToIJI_A/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuqpr7iFc-ge-ZbDDxeSyscmz13mbrszxT6sYlLnfRV1PJUwdhgfzRFQ-zQVySGC56qI77UscToIZLMnrFidAVLTrqsBuuxIuOd9IWfhtgi4-6DXBcwpqzRScTfjApwh532stToIJI_A/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410856112559240114" border="0" /></a>doubt this is a shortcoming of the author, as it’s more likely a reflection of the beast itself. But I found it rather thought provoking that there should be such a sharp disconnect to begin with. <br /><br />It was a bit like learning English – or what I imagine learning English must be like: There are principles, structures, and rules, but after you master them, you then spend even more time learning about nuances and exceptions. <br /><br />Certainly there are theoretical principles and natural laws, but the impression that one gets is that based on some primitive defense-system, mother nature was just making shit up as it went along, constantly responding to new threats and stumbling upon new weapons, necessity giving birth some pretty wild inventions, a patchwork quilt of defense systems. </div><div><br />The analogy to dissonance of course is a stretch – but it’s not as much a stretch as one might think at first. Both lend creed to the <span style="font-style:italic;">a-posteri</span> ever-changing being-at-work-staying-onself/coming-into-being approach to knowledge. </div><div><br />-KJ<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AiFYOn1AFms&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AiFYOn1AFms&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />_______________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)Album <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper%27s_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band">cover</a> of Beatles' 1967 album, <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:difwxql5ldae">Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanegledhill/3690186520/">Moon up</a>, 07/05/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanegledhill/">[kane]</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.ralphsteadman.com/">Ralph Steadman</a>, self-portrait.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.mtvmusic.com/artist/drake_kanye_west_eminem_and_lil_wayne/videos/439342/forever">Music video</a> of the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Forever </span>by <a href="http://www.octobersveryown.blogspot.com/">Drake</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0u6My4x68&feature=player_embedded">Music video</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TwoHeadedBaby">Two-Headed Baby channel</a>, of the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Steam Engenious</span> by <a href="http://www.modestmousemusic.com/">Modest Mouse</a> from their 2007 album, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/modestmouse/weweredeadbeforetheshipevensank?q=modest%20mouse">We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFYOn1AFms&feature=player_embedded">Music video</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/cdiamond">cdiamond channel</a>, of the song <span style="font-style: italic;">A Day in the Life</span> by <a href="http://www.thebeatles.com/">The Beatles</a> from their 1967 album <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:difwxql5ldae">Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</a>.</span></div>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-85013198447487815912009-11-08T13:50:00.010-05:002009-11-08T22:15:41.296-05:00Thru Fragments of Cinema: HistoryThe achievement of HBO’s miniseries John Adams is a visual one.<br /><br />History can be difficult to portray on film. Too often what you get on screen is a display of technical prowess with characters that feel like toy soldiers and overdressed dolls.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5PTqKNcoCzh1za02dPH2B1R1bNMU1dm92FIGC2NQYZx11CkAUW59qjunwXvJnmZejjRPq_hrFbkMUP_t8MvvYL8cKVgh5Rfit-F2vcFe-r8NtJ8uCQy2UG4YG8aw1u1bbNlBcPBHZBI/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5PTqKNcoCzh1za02dPH2B1R1bNMU1dm92FIGC2NQYZx11CkAUW59qjunwXvJnmZejjRPq_hrFbkMUP_t8MvvYL8cKVgh5Rfit-F2vcFe-r8NtJ8uCQy2UG4YG8aw1u1bbNlBcPBHZBI/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401793879937124450" border="0" /></a><br />On the other end of the spectrum is a backlash to this style – a sort of post-modern historical drama – which thrives by accentuating those aspects that are more likely to click with the modern mind. Most notably these include Sofia Coppola’s <a href="http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/marieantoinette/">Marie Antoinette</a>, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/williamshakespearesromeoandjuliet">Romeo + Juliet</a>, and <a href="http://www.300ondvd.com/">300</a>, all of which received mediocre critical reviews despite strong box office performances.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Escapism</span><br /><br />Both styles – at their best – provide escapist entertainment, as powerful and fun as the made-up worlds of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. But what makes this discussion about more than just aesthetics is the fact that these historical worlds actually existed. Their big-screen portrayals represent overlapping ways of looking back in time: That of immersing oneself in the past and understanding it from their perspective; and that of pulling distinctly modern lessons out of the past.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Real</span><br /><br />The more traditional approach – deemed period pieces, costume dramas – take a prim and proper Jane Austin-like approach, with the tension emerging out of a patient, slow, and literary restraint. But what often limits these films is the director's inability to use more modern elements of filmmaking.<br /><br />Another part of the problem is that, not only were many past societies more formal than the present, but our hindsight of them is crystallized as well. Once again, this reflects our inherent view of history as setting the seeds for today. As Henry VIII narrates in the opening to Showtime's <a href="http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do">The Tudors</a>, we know how the story ends; the interest is in how it got there.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVOnmUeOyxIaAL9eMKHrV5eeSZn8axzZUT2BwZH0aWxhtHi-8jtB1p_ix1UvVofjv_NHJNqtlcFAQGfDpoq9-0w9-cjz7ik1-6E444QWZ0JW1IAAySoMDDvYWI_yCsa0_w0LM3MGQJKY/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVOnmUeOyxIaAL9eMKHrV5eeSZn8axzZUT2BwZH0aWxhtHi-8jtB1p_ix1UvVofjv_NHJNqtlcFAQGfDpoq9-0w9-cjz7ik1-6E444QWZ0JW1IAAySoMDDvYWI_yCsa0_w0LM3MGQJKY/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401798570856773970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Surreal</span><br /><br />The modern approach is often criticized for looking like a long music video. Critics, for instance, dismissed the use of songs by The Cure and Air in Marie Antoinette. But isn’t there something artificial about watching a period drama in a movie theater anyway? Mood music – be it pop, classical, or ambient – never existed in the real world to begin with, and neither did quick cuts or long takes.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicj16cGg0f9ujj8QQr4ExCawZvOK5sg_CrotFu1WuPHXXfQQEv7iiMvR870yJkY1LkBEwi93SbX61pX-FDGzr_SSuJdP7C5drAPYJpcPBuMwWeJVgndwysZKZL1vCjlYp0gfCZxnIaCgU/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicj16cGg0f9ujj8QQr4ExCawZvOK5sg_CrotFu1WuPHXXfQQEv7iiMvR870yJkY1LkBEwi93SbX61pX-FDGzr_SSuJdP7C5drAPYJpcPBuMwWeJVgndwysZKZL1vCjlYp0gfCZxnIaCgU/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401800094949899810" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Regardless of which style you prefer, the contrast betrays the value – and slight contradiction – of looking at history in the first place: That it is in the context of the past; that it is being scrutinized with a modern mind; and that it is informing a modern world.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">History</span><br /><br />I’ve recently been taking great joy in reading Paul Johnson’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-American-People-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060930349">History of the American People</a>. Johnson capriciously flips between narrating the story of America and stepping out to discuss parallels to modern times. Afterall, it’s worthless – perhaps impossible – to analyze and not interpret. Interpretation without analysis, however, often comes off as empty opinion. The mix one employs is a choice of style, rhetoric, and taste, and it can make or break a non-fictional account.<br /><br /><object style="font-weight: bold;" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ntQOSkd3j_I&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ntQOSkd3j_I&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><span style="font-weight: bold;">Perspective</span><br /><br />I’ve come to enjoy learning about history. In one sense, historical accounts make me feel lucky to be alive today, that I’m able to look back on such a rich history of man to take it in, as if I were sitting on a tall royal throne with the entirety of history at my disposal to learn from and hone my decisions. On the other hand it imbues me with a strong sense of humility that so many chapters of mankind have yet to be written, and that future generations will look back on our time with the same sort of curiosity, attention to detail, and awkwardness as Sofia Coppola looked back at Marie Antoinette. It reminds me of Pascal’s sentiment of being stuck between two infinite abysses.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9CNbQOrxQ-g&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9CNbQOrxQ-g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />In this context, HBO’s John Adams takes an alternate approach in which it is true to the details of the time –costumes, architecture, dialect, mannerisms, and all – while subtly eschewing the neat toy doll-look of films that do the same. It largely accomplishes this through a cinematography style that favors slanted planes and off-angles. The Constitutional Convention is held in an orderly wooden house with period furniture and right angles, but it is shot from an angular perspective, with camera tilted on tripod, to the point where it almost makes you seasick while remaining tasteful nonetheless. The characters, speeches, and passions seem set in time – they are just as what one might expect – but the visual style goes to length to remind the viewer that from their perspective, the future, along with its stakes, was just as unpredictable – if not moreso – as it’s ever been.<br /><br />-KJ<br />______________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDYokpKIDjkj7rUY20zb_eoZ9wVnfIPEEu4jIGU77uv0A1iyqreZJb9_opFyJND9HfFQuBT4RVAUbVQot1mia7JLc4kH6egAp4DkHBiO0rz58QH8ZWe2nMm-X7ym1tt-nKP0L15CKKnUO/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 349px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDYokpKIDjkj7rUY20zb_eoZ9wVnfIPEEu4jIGU77uv0A1iyqreZJb9_opFyJND9HfFQuBT4RVAUbVQot1mia7JLc4kH6egAp4DkHBiO0rz58QH8ZWe2nMm-X7ym1tt-nKP0L15CKKnUO/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401937038639600690" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JohnAdamsHBO.jpg">Poster of John Adams</a>, <a href="http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/">HBO</a> Miniseries; (2)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DangerousLiaisons88.jpg">Shot</a> from 1988 film, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/dangerousliaisons">Dangerous Liaisons</a>; (3)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marie-Antoinette_poster.jpg">Poster</a> from 2006 film, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/marieantoinette">Marie Antoinette</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anjan58/3064973593/">Seeeking Solace</a>, 11/28/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anjan58/">anjan58</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MaKn">MaKn channel</a>, Opening to <a href="http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do">Showtime's The Tudors</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jaa2010">jaa2010 channel</a>, Trailer for <a href="http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/">HBO's John Adams</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-74388773688432474402009-10-30T22:52:00.016-04:002009-10-30T23:31:53.626-04:00Academia, of Sirens and Irrelevance<blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ91jcv2buVqvc1YkZM5zUbmUBVjZnPqq1b6ez_yp-5eyGXhXmCGhStqy47Pg6GbWyBPt8TPrOiqzgGowbgia0aVMFo9NlCE87QSGQ-F5N-LDA2MsCkBFfULcxUzdSXmpiLmYZSRZGkSs/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ91jcv2buVqvc1YkZM5zUbmUBVjZnPqq1b6ez_yp-5eyGXhXmCGhStqy47Pg6GbWyBPt8TPrOiqzgGowbgia0aVMFo9NlCE87QSGQ-F5N-LDA2MsCkBFfULcxUzdSXmpiLmYZSRZGkSs/s200/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398580622491574834" border="0" /></a>It is a self-governing and largely closed community of practitioners who have an almost absolute power to determine the standards for entry, promotion, and dismissal in their fields.</blockquote>So writes Louis Menand of the academic institution. He <a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/11/professionalization-in-academy">continues</a><blockquote>Since it is the system that ratifies the product…the most important function of the system is not the production of knowledge. It is the reproduction of the system.</blockquote>Academia is a bittersweet institution. The cliché of the Ivory Tower pays testament to the pursuit of knowledge over superstition, dogma, and tradition, while at the same time being marred by the very same dogma it sought to remove. Nietzsche would have smirked.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1A0hBEwojHplo265qnwIonmsbxS2P57DARUO1OFw_rmA4AOLu_9431XmwYXokgt7ikR1FTCTEiQW71ILqoHwccXEJL3jo6AvuIXx70XzbnRIC4FzIFBUco9wYWQ3zgs7Ro3V2X9sJ0LY/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1A0hBEwojHplo265qnwIonmsbxS2P57DARUO1OFw_rmA4AOLu_9431XmwYXokgt7ikR1FTCTEiQW71ILqoHwccXEJL3jo6AvuIXx70XzbnRIC4FzIFBUco9wYWQ3zgs7Ro3V2X9sJ0LY/s200/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398579630606974626" border="0" /></a><br />Thomas Jefferson obsessed about creating a meritocracy. The backward aristocracy of Europe drove English colonists away, and despite our Anglo similarities with Europe, it still defines the primary difference between America and Europe.<br /><br />The Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14644403">drew out</a> a practical example contrasting European aristocracy and American meritocracy. They write that Buffett’s inheritance wishes – after his death, he wants his money to be donated away from the family – would be illegal throughout most of Europe. These wishes by Buffett are completely American, intuitive, and they’re almost non-newsworthy; but as the Economist argues, they remain extreme when compared to the rest of the world, even Europe.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gZcIzxHhXOA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gZcIzxHhXOA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Academia is stuck between a few contrasting extremes. It’s attacked for its aristocratic structure – often by its very inhabitants – and yet it’s as American as baseball. The students being pummeled through it grow in number and yet tuition is constantly on the rise. It is oriented towards specialization and detailed knowledge, but it’s slow to adapt to real-time developments.<br /><br />Imperfect it may be in many ways, however, history has borne out that one of America’s best strengths - like the marketplace – is its ability to self-correct its wrongs, no matter how extreme they may be. US historian Paul Johnson <a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-American-People-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060930349/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256955525&sr=1-1">admires</a> how time and again – from the Salem witch trials to the Red Scare – such ugly crises are marked not by the extreme and shameful actions that took place, but by the widespread guilt felt for years afterward.<br /><br />Lingering examples of this are political debates over affirmative action; the heat of these debates makes it easy to overlook how uniquely American they are in the first place. In some cases, as in the Salem witch trial, those who carried out the heinous actions were the first to express their guilt; in others, like affirmative action, the guilt and reaction were much more insidious, extreme and long-lasting. In all, however, the underlying principle is a desire to right wrong.<br /><br />Not to liken those events to academia, but the point is that its warts are correctable.<br /><br />Oddly enough bits and pieces of it become more relevant. The speed of change in today’s economy – manifested by the accelerating frequency of personal career change – increases the import of basic knowledge, analytic skills, and a flexible mind. Euphemized as <span style="font-style: italic;">economic friction</span>, these changes are the result of an odd marriage between technological improvement and material improvement, both constantly moving upward and one-uping the other.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnmnx75hvPYuWOl2m-uNGciHcQZBPs2NBbYIahfMn01niYELc7IWDkVQrEULLAwEtBNJNz-0qzu4Ls_N1RUCu2iCwms90JGuADpVx6a6XDWzdEiT6NJgyHzGDBoGW9NeAT1ELSLrdIw8/s1600-h/3.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnmnx75hvPYuWOl2m-uNGciHcQZBPs2NBbYIahfMn01niYELc7IWDkVQrEULLAwEtBNJNz-0qzu4Ls_N1RUCu2iCwms90JGuADpVx6a6XDWzdEiT6NJgyHzGDBoGW9NeAT1ELSLrdIw8/s320/3.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398586879913065698" border="0" /></a><br />My life often seems like a mixed bag of challenges and experiences. I sometimes try to make sense of their order, but whenever I do this it feels like I’m stringing together random beads, only to make sense of them later, so I can think they look nice and orderly. I imagine this is how Odysseus felt being thrown from one island and conquest to another.<br /><br />I never enjoyed reading Homer that much, but I have to admire the historical progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMxqW3K-XyDIxs2_6sMwpEaJjlmRnYR-Ug4f1JnaW9lrrlx5bJwqJiPnNOQl8e3Chrv8QsiAruai-rnhCQd6Hgag8k5px2P4LXChmzl5J7Z7RXksCr6vNBihSMZpxVElg2OaDUyQ1YCM/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMxqW3K-XyDIxs2_6sMwpEaJjlmRnYR-Ug4f1JnaW9lrrlx5bJwqJiPnNOQl8e3Chrv8QsiAruai-rnhCQd6Hgag8k5px2P4LXChmzl5J7Z7RXksCr6vNBihSMZpxVElg2OaDUyQ1YCM/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398584850699314130" border="0" /></a>ion from Iliad to Odyssey. The former is a primitive linear war tale, while the latter is a loose combination of fairy tale strands, one which – upon closer inspection – seems ready to unravel.<br /><br />More and more this progression, from the former set of tales to the latter, seems like a parable for modern life, where academia is one of multiple strands vying for relevance. Multifaceted as its virtue and output may be, its future success – in way or another – will result from their merit, or lack thereof.<br /><br />-KJ<br />_______________<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/profile/michael_white">Michael White</a> at Scientific Blogging for turning me onto the topic <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/adaptive_complexity/escaping_black_hole_phd_program">here</a>.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyon_photography/3918497313/">The Great Hall -Christ Church, Oxford</a>, 09/14/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyon_photography/">Lyon</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewuphoto/3333494255/in/photostream/">Terry MacMullan Classroom10</a>, 03/06/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewuphoto/">EWU</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/haddaway/4048061483/">Kaleidascope of Minnows</a>, 10/26/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/haddaway/">hadartist</a>;(4)Head of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Head_Odysseus_MAR_Sperlonga.jpg">Odysseus</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZcIzxHhXOA">Moby - Porcelain</a>, 07/03/2009, video, by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/LTUcronus">LTUcronus</a>, of the song "Porcelain" from <a href="http://www.moby.com/">Moby</a>'s 1999 album, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/moby/play?q=play">Play</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-24034864627182457942009-09-27T20:04:00.018-04:002009-09-28T19:31:47.514-04:00How You Play the Game<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkinpADfTdkglzcpWjrs9K-cbf-0kcWSEDbDTbLCmdk-pKMhRCXqXiYvPzvWmzCPC7FwvtROX2UvWz0HfjKPOuPGfCzpw1NAYtXGZtU0GimGuy659L9nYErOz2Otuo5W7L73shDebA64/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkinpADfTdkglzcpWjrs9K-cbf-0kcWSEDbDTbLCmdk-pKMhRCXqXiYvPzvWmzCPC7FwvtROX2UvWz0HfjKPOuPGfCzpw1NAYtXGZtU0GimGuy659L9nYErOz2Otuo5W7L73shDebA64/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386289250733700562" border="0" /></a>I love the quick hook on a pop song. And I often pick up dinner at Chipotle or Quiznos rather than cook – or microwave – it. Such instant gratification is a part of us.<br /><br />And yet I constantly find myself thinking that <span style="font-style: italic;">the only real value is long-term value</span>, or more extreme, that <span style="font-style: italic;">the only thing that matters in the world is long-term value</span>. This was my first thought upon seeing Redskin DT Albert Haynesworth facedown in the grass this Sunday afternoon. At a prime age of 28, 6 foot 6, and 350 pounds – mostly muscle – this made an impressionable image, albeit one that’s not uncommon in the NFL.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Albert Haynesworth</span><br /><br />Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder made Haynesworth his pet-project acquisition last summer, offering him $100 million for 7-years, the largest contract ever for a defensive free agent. And Haynesworth is an invaluable contribution to this NFC East defensive line – he is fast, huge, instinctive, and can plug the run and sniff out a QB.<br /><br />As Haynesworth was carted off the field today, the broadcaster’s thoughts went to the "investment" made by Daniel Snyder, who is known for throwing around large sums of money, along with coaches and players as well. But it would do injustice to view the injury of Haynesworth – who arrived with a reputation for being injury-prone – as merely unlucky.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan Snyder</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvB0AEMdNOp3ta4bRunl36aM0urhNMfSUC6hoBgLFiwfFKZ4lPwbT9QoXujU8Aso9eTJZUn-qa_o7-3r-Vyznx1UfX7JpAu6Hv4rHTfVOWO550CufQ7fW_APDeWqxKE_6iTrWZRLNXIk/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvB0AEMdNOp3ta4bRunl36aM0urhNMfSUC6hoBgLFiwfFKZ4lPwbT9QoXujU8Aso9eTJZUn-qa_o7-3r-Vyznx1UfX7JpAu6Hv4rHTfVOWO550CufQ7fW_APDeWqxKE_6iTrWZRLNXIk/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386290324045982050" border="0" /></a>The problem lies not so much with unfortunate circumstance but with poor underlying philosophy. The real question is why Snyder put himself in a position where he was relying on one $100 million player, rather than 2 or 3 solid players who could build depth into the roster. It’s an issue of being myopic. Of foregoing long-term value for a short-term payoff.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">George McPhee</span><br /><br />By means of contrast the city of Washington has Capitals GM George McPhee, whose philosophy of building their hockey team from the ground-up may transform the way in which sports teams are run.<br /><br />Hockey teams – unlike football ones – are much more prone to being transformed by one <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEpLxVH3RCt6xMl10zQIncUWbxVDMHwvt3SQqDZFpfAhFNEHuqeBfZmMSaBPyKwwzj9BPGJrnZWBIQuXkvJnZKg7TaHTltFoB1mP-nuuQ_ct2kBrKE5F3rCQhwSj7-pMO7aXwM8MXbPVo/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEpLxVH3RCt6xMl10zQIncUWbxVDMHwvt3SQqDZFpfAhFNEHuqeBfZmMSaBPyKwwzj9BPGJrnZWBIQuXkvJnZKg7TaHTltFoB1mP-nuuQ_ct2kBrKE5F3rCQhwSj7-pMO7aXwM8MXbPVo/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386303209671136594" border="0" /></a>star player. And in 2005, that star player for the Caps was Alex Ovechkin. But underneath the media circus that followed him, McPhee focused on building his team from the ground-up.<br /><br />In 2003, he scrapped the team’s premier line-up of aging veterans and fading stars. He acquired younger talent, particularly focusing on the Caps’ minor league team, the Hershey Bears. McPhee <a href="http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2008/12/how-george-mcphee-executed-his-plancaps-gm-shares-4-year-vision-as-ovie-stars-in-ot/">explicitly eschewed</a> short-term success:<br /><blockquote>“For starters, I should say that rebuilding and talking about being patient is easier said than done,” said McPhee. “We had a plan. It was to tear down a team and build it back up.<br /><br />“The program taken to ownership (Ted Leonsis) was a four-year plan. The plan was to be back in the playoffs by then and start to contend. We made it in three years, but we were prepared to need four.”</blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Snyder's Brand</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bKk3lSJwfcZ0QGPe3TfyL1FmSMAoHDD26AKJAYVzye1V5wjPtJLmumNAqzK9SCoSW49JWd3gEqJm09U0WSA4LLE44F57hmfO2ezR6D7fs5xZ3g2AaM633oELCRDvYitMBTC9XgaPjYQ/s1600-h/4.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bKk3lSJwfcZ0QGPe3TfyL1FmSMAoHDD26AKJAYVzye1V5wjPtJLmumNAqzK9SCoSW49JWd3gEqJm09U0WSA4LLE44F57hmfO2ezR6D7fs5xZ3g2AaM633oELCRDvYitMBTC9XgaPjYQ/s320/4.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386293679173181202" border="0" /></a>Over Snyder’s first 4 years, he <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/sports/dansnyderdecade/index.html">cycled through</a> 3 head coaches; each acquisition of a new head coach brought promises of the start of a new era of Redskins glory. In reality, Snyder was merely taking potshots into the dark – as he did with new big-ticket players – hoping that one of his moves would hit the jackpot. Not only did that not occur, but the inconsistency only helped to further break down the franchise into a gathering of high-paid stars rather than a cohesive team.<br /><br />The only break to his sporadic movements came in 2004 when he was able to lure former Redskins coach and local legend Joe Gibbs out of retirement for a few seasons. Following Gibbs’ second retirement, it is not clear whether we will see a return to Snyder's old ways.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQXVzg2PiZw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NQXVzg2PiZw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The twist is that Snyder – a self-proclaimed longtime Redskins’ fan – is known as a shrewd businessman, his rise to the top marked by executive stints with Six Flags, Johnny Rockets, and Red Zebra Broadcasting. Over his tenure he has made the Redskins one of the most valuable football teams. According to Forbes’ <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/30/football-values-09_NFL-Team-Valuations_Value.html">yearly rankings</a>, the Redskins are currently the 2nd most valuable NFL team; they are surrounded on the list by teams that actually win like the Cowboys (ranked first), Patriots (third), and Giants (fourth). And yet Snyder's attempts to build the Redskins are anything but business-savvy, resembling something like a series of get-rich-quick schemes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Long Term Value</span><br /><br />Buried in this expensive mess of a football team are a few life-lessons.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTg-jT1KTtKGKrcdTvncUwxSJr452tJZu1jseOKoPlRkXlxLz53mtnXfhxqfB_3vAzIUOu-zXK_neZWi6a2iObkqdiwaY_RtXE3kq0k76hb76HgazJk2EFbHP4esOKJSoYbdNDZV6rUJo/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTg-jT1KTtKGKrcdTvncUwxSJr452tJZu1jseOKoPlRkXlxLz53mtnXfhxqfB_3vAzIUOu-zXK_neZWi6a2iObkqdiwaY_RtXE3kq0k76hb76HgazJk2EFbHP4esOKJSoYbdNDZV6rUJo/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386295458027230146" border="0" /></a>All too often, individual crises and incidents are mistaken as causes for subsequent misfortune, rather than effects of past doings. The collapse of the housing market – ingrained in the public’s head as a singular event – was seen as causing the financial collapse, just as the Great Crash is often seen as causing the Great Depression. Underestimated are the factors that led up to such incidents, such as poor housing regulation of the 90’s and irresponsible monetary policy during the 20’s. Some have blamed current circumstances on the government’s willingness to allow Lehman to fall. But as The Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/economicsfocus/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14401566">points out</a>, a Lehman bailout would’ve strained some other part of the economy. An analogy can be made to medicine, which warns of mistaking symptoms for cause of illness.<br /><br />Long term growth is particularly important in football, much moreso than in hockey. As player-size has increased, so has the frequency of injuries. A 350-pound QB-chewing gorilla on defense can no longer act as a franchise savior, particularly because the sheer size of his frame poses a threat to his own legs and joints.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WWc_anAtIwyAuGJ-HVIViWDOVJst8bACSlbGpc6KCApbEjpJLx6XTfaViMZBq8uASk5zqqf3uOJ79o_KdC_e5jv-NOpS2AZRRvPv70rUn4e9a9b7-4omw7VpucjMvw-zcIKKmOBENnE/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WWc_anAtIwyAuGJ-HVIViWDOVJst8bACSlbGpc6KCApbEjpJLx6XTfaViMZBq8uASk5zqqf3uOJ79o_KdC_e5jv-NOpS2AZRRvPv70rUn4e9a9b7-4omw7VpucjMvw-zcIKKmOBENnE/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386296558690800018" border="0" /></a>Another piece of advice is that it is worthless to take individual pot-shots at one’s future. Playing the lottery everyday is never a sound strategy no matter how much money you have.<br /><br />There is an intellectual component to this as well: Insofar as abstract intelligence contains any value, it should be used carefully and decisively to plan ahead, utilizing current resources as best as possible.<br /><br />The phenomenon of the one-hit-wonder pop band epitomizes this view. On the one hand, it is possible to produce a singular piece, one moment of greatness, which can strike it big. On the other hand, there is social acknowledgment regarding the emptiness of a one-hit-wonder. A great band is distinguished from a one-hit-wonder in its ability to produce hit after hit after hit; their work comes from a novel group of artistic minds rather than an from an instance of luck. That’s why it is somewhat rare – but not unheard of – for a non-fiction writer to be a one hit wonder, as his art depends less on muses and spontaneity than on smarts and clarity of mind. It would have been rather odd – afterall – if following the publication of A Brief History of Time, Hawkins suddenly lost his pension for theoretical physics.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwlI3Ln486Y49EW18dvLqQ5OBFlghHGxcH2yScJBUmuCZbevWDkMIo8vruiu1i1d7ApWHvwr5LPyMM7cq-kSK2sfHNmdPKDuW8X4z2xbcRSnB-cKcFJojV8VcctuNVmFvBkAv12x1I0k/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwlI3Ln486Y49EW18dvLqQ5OBFlghHGxcH2yScJBUmuCZbevWDkMIo8vruiu1i1d7ApWHvwr5LPyMM7cq-kSK2sfHNmdPKDuW8X4z2xbcRSnB-cKcFJojV8VcctuNVmFvBkAv12x1I0k/s320/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386297491853835858" border="0" /></a>The discrepancy between luck and genius is often portrayed in movies like Oceans 11, where heroes will do anything for one last chance at greatness, one last opportunity to strike it big. Their failure in these stories is marked by their myopic view: If your whole future relies on one individual con operation, one publication, one game, one football player – or even just one decision, to be made by yourself or by someone else – then you cannot blame your failure (or success) on the outcome of that one event. Rather, you are to blame for putting yourself in the sort of situation in which so much rests on so little. This is why in the best of Aristotelian tragedies the fault lies with character, not with circumstance.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inhibitions</span><br /><br />Of course one cannot downplay the counterargument, particularly when it comes to living in the moment. People do win the lottery, corporations do get windfall profits, and individual athletes do save franchises.<br /><br />Digging a little deeper, a primitive breakdown of the human brain reveals that its more advanced regions – the ones that distinguish human intelligence – are inhibitory in nature. In a sense, drug intoxication prevents these higher areas from functioning, leading to a lack of inhibitions.<br /><br />The term <span style="font-style: italic;">lacking inhibition</span> has cultural connotations, but it’s <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_mC3uMJyvVDYXEV_AxZ-IKBcSYfGehSeznBORG4er_Q0E8rslux1SzF2bQfSpuMsR6f-E9IDKkrOpypLn2QG-qa0FyNz0wTKEUAIyY8r-z3KHEfD00QD9FjEQwl2_LrdUp7F6I28_Lg/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_mC3uMJyvVDYXEV_AxZ-IKBcSYfGehSeznBORG4er_Q0E8rslux1SzF2bQfSpuMsR6f-E9IDKkrOpypLn2QG-qa0FyNz0wTKEUAIyY8r-z3KHEfD00QD9FjEQwl2_LrdUp7F6I28_Lg/s320/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386298793245318978" border="0" /></a>backed by science as well. It is a very awkward phrase when you think about it, as it implies that getting drunk or high doesn’t so much cause you to do stupid actions, as it prevents you from inhibiting those stupid actions. In the drunkard, inhibitory functions of the advanced brain are temporarily disabled; in an individual with brain damage, they’re permanently disabled.<br /><br />This ties into constructs of depression and anxiety, which are often conceptualized as an over-activation of these parts of the brain: Stress is often caused by thinking too much and an inability to live in the now. Just as alcohol can turn off those advanced parts <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUDtdBMZtkxj6I2JFZJqxglxTKfvaoUGXz5i5yivGymRp8InR1Ex3PxDCR4RB-2_V13Lk6xtxy4BQB2uoH57hMtfmbPnMQXeRDsa-dUmel2eFdin-9YChYpA_Dg0XAWon5YoJdYoKyZQ/s1600-h/9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUDtdBMZtkxj6I2JFZJqxglxTKfvaoUGXz5i5yivGymRp8InR1Ex3PxDCR4RB-2_V13Lk6xtxy4BQB2uoH57hMtfmbPnMQXeRDsa-dUmel2eFdin-9YChYpA_Dg0XAWon5YoJdYoKyZQ/s320/9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386300458434143698" border="0" /></a>of the brain, so can other feel-good drugs, prescription or otherwise. This is all a simplification of course, but the point is to get a good look at principles that underlie long-term valuation.<br /><br />Personally I tend to over-intellectualize things at times, but after seeing Haynesworth face down in the grass this afternoon, I couldn’t rid my mind of this notion of long-term value. Perhaps it is my way of not wanting deal with the Redskins’ pitiful loss to the worst team in the NFL.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">'It's Not Whether you Win or Lose, But How you Play the Game'</span><br /><br />This phrase is often seen as a euphemism to justify losing a game. And yet there is much about it that escapes the eye, such as its focus on process over outcome. The phrase usually refers to the team that loses a well-played game, but equally important is the team that wins a poorly-played game.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiqhG7HUdEc3cHBX6NmO1QomvqrO9K0VbFj5bWGyy6msMq-1nPQtyBsL8Ct4f4WJyNaifSUYFcbTb4xutSYiBXf_Sdde7eMHXhQsffPxK3fecgQq4VqNx7koubQ4ECCVKrebJ2zCVhi4/s1600-h/10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiqhG7HUdEc3cHBX6NmO1QomvqrO9K0VbFj5bWGyy6msMq-1nPQtyBsL8Ct4f4WJyNaifSUYFcbTb4xutSYiBXf_Sdde7eMHXhQsffPxK3fecgQq4VqNx7koubQ4ECCVKrebJ2zCVhi4/s320/10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386301722272494978" border="0" /></a><br />The latter was exactly the case last week, when the Redskins barely beat the Rams, a team whose mediocrity places them in the same class as the Lions. Embodying the phrase were the home fans’ boos to the Redskins following a touchdown-less 9-7 victory over the Rams, which was no less the home game opener.<br /><br />Not unlike chess – albeit minus its us-them mentality – sound judgment and decision-making require a sober look into the future, combined with a gathering of relevant knowledge and resources, and a respect for dissenters. In many contexts - such as the price of a stock - current circumstance is only important insofar as it speaks to future value. In this sense, winning a poorly played game does more harm than good.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />______________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)Albert Haynesworth; (2)Daniel Snyder; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clydeorama/3322205316/">McPhee Scowls Down</a>, 05/01/2009, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clydeorama/">cyldeorama</a>; (4)An Angry Jim Zorn; (5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89737206@N00/3374735872/">IH161460</a>, 05/21/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89737206@N00/">chickhawkdown</a>; (6)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmundodemontemendoza/2434247310/">Arizona Lottery and Powerball</a>, 04/22/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmundodemontemendoza/">Monte Mendoza</a>; (7)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ocean%27s_Eleven_2001_Poster.jpg">Poster</a> from 2001 movie <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/oceans11?q=oceans%20eleven">Oceans 11</a>; (8) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/225598357/">20060508 - Carolyn's MRI - Image 8 of 15 - Detailed Carolyn brain</a>, 08/26/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/">Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)</a>; (9)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26689367@N02/2503028944/">Depression</a>, 05/18/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26689367@N02/">stillstressed</a>; (10)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/akahodag/1236655666/">Lombardi Pride</a>, 08/25/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/akahodag/">akahodag</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQXVzg2PiZw">Video </a>of the song </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)</span><span style="font-size:85%;">, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceAmbient">Space Ambient channel</a>, song by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murphy_%28composer%29">John Murphy</a>, from the 2007 movie <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/sunshine2007?q=sunshine">Sunshine</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-39268221894889894432009-09-23T22:57:00.012-04:002009-09-24T08:19:47.255-04:00On Parables and ParabolasMaya Angelou recently spoke at the NIH, where she weaved stories of her life. The speech was well-attended, its topic nebulous (“An Afternoon with”), its tone heart-warming.<br /><br />Science professors often advise their students to tell a story. This is meant to unstuck students’ spinning minds, to get them thinking on a human-level, and to get them to contextualize results. “What’s the story here?” is often asked in response to research proposals and developing ideas. The question works so well that it’s become a cliché. The presumption being that there’s always a story, it’s just a question of finding it. <br /><br />But the deeper presumption is that research is akin to storytelling. This interpretation over-stretches the all-too-often well-intended “what’s the story here?”, but it also uncovers the underlying dissonance between stories and research: Namely that stories are experiential while science is analytic.<br /><br />When discussing scientific findings with fellow human beings, telling a research story never hurts, and certainly stories can help us get a glimpse at nature’s hidden clockwork. But at the same time they remain relatively indifferent towards nature herself, whose eternal laws and associations are not so whimsical as to be formed upon experience. <br /><br />In this sense, scientific truth – the pursuit of which involves upending paradigms, half-truths, and rigid minds, albeit with Heidegger’s vision of our convergence towards the truth as if it were just beyond the horizon, all making for quite a story – in and of itself couldn’t be further from a story. In handling such truths, we need be imaginative yet thoughtful and delicate, lest we crudely weld man-made constructs of nature to fit into man-made stories. The later unfortunately is done all the time, even in science, and after long enough it strikes reality with a harsh dissonance. It is called wishful thinking.<br /><br />-KJkerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-90572034934217597682009-09-17T11:04:00.004-04:002009-09-17T11:11:35.243-04:00The World's 2nd Largest Economy<blockquote>There are signs of what some call “a collective identity crisis” in Japan. Income disparity, growing numbers of impoverished pensioners and child poverty.<br /></blockquote>Tough economic times have highlighted the potential of developing nations, China in particular, while Europe is seen as bulky and traditional, struggling to keep up with the Jonses. Japan however is overlooked – still thought to be a victim of its ‘lost decade’ – and now – seen by some – as the setting for a modern portrayal of The Grapes of Wrath. <a href="http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14363169">The Economist</a> goes on to say<br /><blockquote>Hamamatsu, a coastal town south-west of Tokyo, has its share of shattered lives. Workers were laid off right down the supply chain almost as soon as home-town outfits like Yamaha and Suzuki saw export orders slump last year. The lay-offs included many Brazilians of Japanese descent, who had flown to Japan because factories needed cheap, part-time labour rather than expensive Japanese workers on full contracts. The jobless Brazilians live with each other if they cannot pay t<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPl2wDQZf58VpTvExDvG-8Oa0zi9hXoNlnReqDoIwgjad11SgWTzbMEHD8kLBG87JTe7gwodeNk-r8M2FsdshJcLVD_WKLDHUdVQ-5wj3aeLgionUwIJUPZGztDvDSuRPsysWWtHmFH8U/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPl2wDQZf58VpTvExDvG-8Oa0zi9hXoNlnReqDoIwgjad11SgWTzbMEHD8kLBG87JTe7gwodeNk-r8M2FsdshJcLVD_WKLDHUdVQ-5wj3aeLgionUwIJUPZGztDvDSuRPsysWWtHmFH8U/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382449891237528786" border="0" /></a>he rent, and the church provides the neediest with food parcels. At a Catholic church recently, they were making soup to share among those, like themselves, eking out the last of their savings. That included homeless Japanese men, who, unlike the Brazilians, cannot face turning to friends or family for shelter.</blockquote>Halfway through <a href="http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14363169">the feature</a>, I was shocked to read that unemployment in Japan is 5.7%, “low by international standards but a record in Japan.”<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/isp5c7h-p6Y&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/isp5c7h-p6Y&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Humans perpetually struggle to improve our lot in life – that’s half of the fun in living, at least half the time. When relating to fellow human beings, it’s unfair withhold empathy based on another's <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXhElSgB2x24PKzyEeKW4CWQBFl5oBpDosmZzVHxwzSkatWj6cHLvSOJt2FyHnvM2Bh7UU3ZHlXs1DhgozfCRseWMKfsrK-oRQiGAp0zQ-m9qIkSbgFcAsLz644sBnoL6GKXvM5jIrFk/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXhElSgB2x24PKzyEeKW4CWQBFl5oBpDosmZzVHxwzSkatWj6cHLvSOJt2FyHnvM2Bh7UU3ZHlXs1DhgozfCRseWMKfsrK-oRQiGAp0zQ-m9qIkSbgFcAsLz644sBnoL6GKXvM5jIrFk/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382448674521732610" border="0" /></a>lot in life. Afterall, suffering is relative – no matter how bad things are they can always get worse – and suffering is subjective: Its existence cannot be denied.<br /><br />And yet I could not get this 5.7 figure out of my mind. Unemployment in the US – considered dangerously high – is nearing 10%. The discrepancy points to the relative - perhaps subjective - nature of seemingly objective statistics. There’s a tendency to grasp for numbers as undeniable facts, as stable pieces of evidence which pin us to the ground in an ever shifting world. And used with care they're invaluable. <br /><br />But consider now the size of this discrepancy – unemployment in the US being around 40% higher than in Japan – next to Japan’s parallel economic struggles and identity crisis: In some ways we are completely different from Japan and yet in other ways very like them. And don’t forget that Japan’s economy remains the second largest in the world.<br /><br />KJ<br /><br />_______________<br /><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38476655@N00/3024910098/">Hamamatsu Castle</a>, 11/12/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38476655@N00/">Pine 57</a>; (2)Poster from 2003 film, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/lostintranslation?q=lost%20in%20translation">Lost in Translation</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isp5c7h-p6Y">Music video</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/shpytahmon">shpytahmon channel</a>, by the <a href="www.gorillaz.com/flash.html">Gorillaz</a> of the song "Hong Kong" from their 2007 album <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/gorillaz/dsides?q=gorillaz">D-Sides</a>.kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-41582211935953627712009-09-06T00:08:00.013-04:002009-09-06T10:12:09.514-04:00The Right to Eat Unfortified Foods and Health Care ReformScientists have begun to question the benefits of consuming too much folic acid. Potential risks relate to new estimates on how long it takes the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/08/folic-acid-metabolism.html">liver to convert</a> folic acid (“56 times slower than previously thought”); its ability <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/08August/Pages/FolicAcidFortificationCouldBeBad.aspx">to mask</a> particular types of anemia; and an increased risk in <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/08August/Pages/FolicAcidFortificationCouldBeBad.aspx">“accelerating the growth of existing cancers.”</a> Unlike strained arguments for health care reform, this really is an issue that affects us all: The FDA requires folic acid fortification in staple foods like breads and cereals.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYvmUW-ysXcZDmsESsf381gXOCR-8qH0Aj4xJJohWXDvlxDvZxMyw5dmWx47gKJ6dt2XbikH0HOa2GDF0XVxe9LSPUDnkyN_NkTuLRXGMbn6jt2Wt03KaRfpNOzMCSfl4nVji-6gsmU4/s1600-h/.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYvmUW-ysXcZDmsESsf381gXOCR-8qH0Aj4xJJohWXDvlxDvZxMyw5dmWx47gKJ6dt2XbikH0HOa2GDF0XVxe9LSPUDnkyN_NkTuLRXGMbn6jt2Wt03KaRfpNOzMCSfl4nVji-6gsmU4/s320/.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378199390687845938" border="0" /></a><br />The FDA’s <a href="http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/wh-folic.html">original report</a> on the matter (from 1999) reasons that folic acid fortification prevents neural tube defects among pregnant women. Even if the risks of over-consuming folic acid are all made up, the logic still escapes me for why everyone’s daily bread has to be modified.<br /><br />The controversy regarding folic acid is just unfolding, and in all fairness it remains on the fringes of mainstream medicine. But you can feel a strong uneasiness on both sides of the issue: The conventional medical opinion says that folic acid fortification is a miracle of public health and you shouldn’t scare the public into believing half-truths. The opposing view, well, implies that poor regulations actively poison us through our food.<br /><br />It’s too soon to jump to conclusions, but the fear of scaring the public with new info is almost always unfounded. We’re smart enough to figure things out for ourselves. If there is true skepticism about the benefits of folic acid, then we need to hear it. Afterall, we’re the ones who are being forced to consume it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjO58lW7h_jzEY5otC3YBBxn4ZA6phfXDk8lsLfJprejJCqU8uIHU8MDQ744MQ5PJ0VK7kOey_A-wiFEbo_y4XmYuqK8ixQqb1FfVVae4PKvrNnj3w5bzDUdrNQJ49UmH_xrJti3WtQ0/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjO58lW7h_jzEY5otC3YBBxn4ZA6phfXDk8lsLfJprejJCqU8uIHU8MDQ744MQ5PJ0VK7kOey_A-wiFEbo_y4XmYuqK8ixQqb1FfVVae4PKvrNnj3w5bzDUdrNQJ49UmH_xrJti3WtQ0/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378200891096964338" border="0" /></a><br />The debate raises more fundamental questions however about medical regulation, the role of government, medical science, and the rights of food consumers. It is somewhat ironic that we scrutinize new prescription medications given to subsets of the population, and yet gloss over widespread regulations such as this one, which asks the entire population to eat a synthetic diet as if they were all expecting babies.<br /><br />As the health reform debate rages on, expect similar shortcut solutions, which attempt to lower health care costs through such non-conventional interventions. Already we are seeing calls to increase vitamin D and folic acid in our diet, while decreasing other ingredients that medicine deems harmful, at least at the current moment. Such actions need to be scrutinized carefully and at all levels of action, including the chance that fortification will help those who need it most, and that it'll insure that the vitamins and minerals are <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNgJ8dQtWlru0AdSBHyDYtEBDTbbvjrTfNCaOQcpwsE8dW-nHJNIxCVIVVWNatRY0sgBQ6Jr8b0pBntMfcydM2gkBm99t64TI11bWXfyIpJanmetohLWiBDqZP150F6-K-N0HExWJFTY/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNgJ8dQtWlru0AdSBHyDYtEBDTbbvjrTfNCaOQcpwsE8dW-nHJNIxCVIVVWNatRY0sgBQ6Jr8b0pBntMfcydM2gkBm99t64TI11bWXfyIpJanmetohLWiBDqZP150F6-K-N0HExWJFTY/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378198261179111634" border="0" /></a>actually metabolized. Large-scale epidemiological studies need to make sure that negative health correlates to low levels of vitamins and minerals aren't confounded by low consumption of products like orange juice and enriched flour.<br /><br />In fixing health care, there's a strong push-and-pull between ensuring that patients have the personalized attention they need, and treating everyone the same. The solution however needs to err on the personalized approach, because treating everyone the same is no way to give people what they need. Indeed, the more we try to treat everyone the same – be it by putting us all on the same medical plan, or force-feeding vitamins and minerals – the more unintentional consequences will result.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/werklife/3299177146/">[Wonder Bread]</a>, 02/21/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/werklife/">Werklife</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/igeldard/2163634929/">Big Brother</a>, 01/03/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/igeldard/">Ian Geldard</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rydka/514136330/">Vitamin water + energy</a>, 05/25/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rydka/">Ryan</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-12371580306041724742009-09-02T19:28:00.009-04:002009-09-06T00:34:02.493-04:00Reagan Revolution 2.0?Repetition of history is often a given. The question is not so much whether, but how and when. To the latter, our accelerated technology driven world might answer: “Sooner than you think.”<br /><br />Of particular interest is the similarity between today’s pattern of economic-political events and those of the 1970’s and 80’s: Both involved broad Republican power leading to their by overreach and loss of power; the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression; England's return to conservatism. In the late 1970's, the last event preceded America's return to the Right as well. We've yet to see if the same shoe will drop today.<br /><br />In 1974 Nixon left office on the heels of the largest political scandal in American history. He left the economy in sharp recession, and although you can’t blame a recession on any one person, his poor economic policy certainly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Shock">didn’t help</a>. Bitter aftertaste from Watergate allowed the Democratic Party to take charge wi<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFD0d-wBLqyDYblU0LtiRHg1OKsSZ-8fYbe1ZRzBfB89OZm-lHp2_bkmLnbraQein_x53oqdVNL_zJu2lWCYOBRRPacv313wpYA2_t7FEEaruJpsbywWh4Vf-c-SW0ct-1XX8YoIokwo/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFD0d-wBLqyDYblU0LtiRHg1OKsSZ-8fYbe1ZRzBfB89OZm-lHp2_bkmLnbraQein_x53oqdVNL_zJu2lWCYOBRRPacv313wpYA2_t7FEEaruJpsbywWh4Vf-c-SW0ct-1XX8YoIokwo/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377006991196507330" border="0" /></a>th Jimmy Carter. The economy continued to slump over Carter’s term, while England grew restless and the conservatives took charge. Thatcher was elected prime minister in 1979, and shortly thereafter Reagan was elected in 1980 – their combination sparking the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_Revolution">Reagan revolution</a>”.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WLDLsZCJLuFHMiR5eaHd_RdgyJ51Vg_UKf8kmGfZ6ALWucDNuGrtvKtv_7iV7-Qu6RlJn_f_7EC3z3QGeQ1c2Pg9b9O4XQXtN7ktSHUZ0LkqiPn_aLUtcEX_c_LuwO1BIrmQ6sKBOjc/s1600-h/2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WLDLsZCJLuFHMiR5eaHd_RdgyJ51Vg_UKf8kmGfZ6ALWucDNuGrtvKtv_7iV7-Qu6RlJn_f_7EC3z3QGeQ1c2Pg9b9O4XQXtN7ktSHUZ0LkqiPn_aLUtcEX_c_LuwO1BIrmQ6sKBOjc/s320/2.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377007857112049106" border="0" /></a>Today’s sequence of events, although not the exact same, shares some uncanny similarities: W Bush left office in 2009 widely unpopular. It was not due to scandal <span style="font-style: italic;">per se</span>, but there was a palpable sense that, similar to what occurred under Nixon, the Republican Party had gained a whole lot of power and under his lead shot itself in the foot, a blow from which it’s still recovering. Similar to Nixon, Bush also left the economy in a state of disrepair; and although you can’t blame a recession on any one person, Bush’s previous policies (particularly on housing) certainly didn’t help.<br /><br />England is also witnessing a hard and abrupt shift towards Conservatism, one of <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1142543.ece">historic proportion</a>. The immediate cause of this is the expenses scandal, but that can only explain for so much. It is important to view such developments as non-coincidental, particularly in a democracy: Sometimes people need a reason to turn against a party on a dime. Sometimes parties in power become complacent. In following sequence, it is worth asking whether, similar to the late 1970's, England's conservative shift will precede the same in America.<br /><br />Although one shouldn’t jump to conclusions, it’s difficult not to compare today’s events with those of the 1970’s and ‘80’s. The speculative implication, of course, is that a conservative Reagan-like personality will emerge come next presidential election.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYTDLqnO_VLsFiSwKVaob45NExuvWait0xqIoosSJoWO7FBiW_oEpvcXjnxqfJYHc3ASfjypunw1_ROjMbMg8LQA5Dx1t7ch4b9dqMiD1AuCtWq-kgmWQgBOEHydHaWZj4X0EhDXZDnY/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYTDLqnO_VLsFiSwKVaob45NExuvWait0xqIoosSJoWO7FBiW_oEpvcXjnxqfJYHc3ASfjypunw1_ROjMbMg8LQA5Dx1t7ch4b9dqMiD1AuCtWq-kgmWQgBOEHydHaWZj4X0EhDXZDnY/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377009678112181714" border="0" /></a><br />Avoiding such fantastical speculation, the analogy further likens Obama to Carter, a president who is frequently conceptualized as a failed idealist: Perhaps one with the right mind, but in the wrong place at the wrong time to use it to address crisis after crisis.<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pLYV1mC1Brs&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pLYV1mC1Brs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br />It is still too soon to judge Obama – and the public, likewise, is giving him his due time to perform. But emerging recently – and well written in a series of Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14121752">articles</a> focusing on areas in which his efforts have been stifled by poor execution and lack of detail and foresight – is a lingering suspicion that Obama will leave the country in no better sh<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7exh6YLc_6QA7C0LXFvkMBJ-uReXZDEQu4TLZaqtLqjXQwxWhxe7rXv7AZtjUn66jB-ZZSJpoZeJPG6OYqbqLN62_6ygabGKCAj4Pj5NOm1OChms9xtGwH8r4jw1i_spj0NUBXytAfKo/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7exh6YLc_6QA7C0LXFvkMBJ-uReXZDEQu4TLZaqtLqjXQwxWhxe7rXv7AZtjUn66jB-ZZSJpoZeJPG6OYqbqLN62_6ygabGKCAj4Pj5NOm1OChms9xtGwH8r4jw1i_spj0NUBXytAfKo/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377012995340743362" border="0" /></a>ape than when he entered office.<br /><br />This seed of lingering suspicion grows much bigger in light of the soaring popularity with which he entered office, particularly among young people. Such a failure should it occur would be seen as widely symbolic as his election. And such a failure should it occur would no doubt leave the Oval Office wide open for a rising Republican star (perhaps along the likes of Bobby Jindal).<br /><br />At present Obama’s legacy remains to be written in stone. But time is running out. Much of it will rest on his performance over this upcoming year: “<a href="http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14121752">Crunch Time</a>” as The Economist puts it. In the meanwhile Americans continue to hold their breath.<br /><br />Judging from output alone, it took over 10 years for the US economy to return to pre-1974 levels. These sorts of recessions have a way of working themselves out but only in the very long run. Such is often the time required for an economy to unwind and reposition itself, a process which arguably took the whole of Reagan’s first presidential term. That the rate of job and capital loss will slow down is a given, but it’s very unlikely that we’ll see the economy prop itself back up over the next few years. The speculative implication is that the recovery won’t begin until at least the next presidential term.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ail4tsDAU_s_zd7gGPKgAgWAHbesyk2LEhtLnj7kHBt-hs32OJfecazBLfRrpXQTpiewnUmQQ6RDhENIzpTplm5j_B-EepZck_xh2lBBVLjUKq3Dx5CriiNMvretEoFJPj8uB7DHs0I/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ail4tsDAU_s_zd7gGPKgAgWAHbesyk2LEhtLnj7kHBt-hs32OJfecazBLfRrpXQTpiewnUmQQ6RDhENIzpTplm5j_B-EepZck_xh2lBBVLjUKq3Dx5CriiNMvretEoFJPj8uB7DHs0I/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377015717031530098" border="0" /></a>The worst of the crisis is likely over. And yet we still find ourselves at a crossroads with little indication of where we might be heading. Only history will be able to tell us if we’ve been here before.<br /><br /><br />-KJ<br />_______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Nixon.jpg">Richard Nixon</a>; (2)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_E._Carter_-_portrait.gif">Jimmy Carter</a>; (3)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:President_Reagan_speaking_in_Minneapolis_1982.jpg">Ronald Reagan</a>; (4)The Economist, April 1st 2009 <a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayCover.cfm?url=/images/20090801/20090801issuecovUS400.jpg">Cover</a>; (5)<a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/hazy/katwingz20/hazytrees.jpg?o=19">Hazy Trees</a>, <a href="http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii127/katwingz20/">Katwingz20</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLYV1mC1Brs">Carter Crisis in Confidence Excerpt</a> from <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_crisis.html">1979 speech</a>, 11/11/2008, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/metBANS">metbans</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-4650536780636089712009-08-23T01:33:00.009-04:002009-08-23T13:11:55.520-04:00Reality CheckFor perhaps the first a time, a foreword to a book prevented me from buying it. I was pretty close to buying it. In fact, after thoroughly browsing it, I was bringing the book down the escalator to purchase it. I usually don’t even read forewords, but this one caught my mind. What follows is a discussion about my distaste of that foreword, proceeded by a wider discussion of what matters in life and what doesn't.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlB96iEIq7O52Dx38BwrwPpBMNFFc2kvKpABHJJGC-px3mgO75Yxa6C3biHcpLCpUU_3ueVYGEPdya_KzdQV3vhklDsD7cpZdYtG1-iT3FcXaopaWlkSw5eFvbefdvSpdXwJceG9gKN8/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlB96iEIq7O52Dx38BwrwPpBMNFFc2kvKpABHJJGC-px3mgO75Yxa6C3biHcpLCpUU_3ueVYGEPdya_KzdQV3vhklDsD7cpZdYtG1-iT3FcXaopaWlkSw5eFvbefdvSpdXwJceG9gKN8/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373021514588818690" border="0" /></a><br />The book was <a href="http://www.guykawasaki.com/books/reality-check.shtml">Guy Kawasaki</a>’s Reality Check: A compilation of his best work, intended to serve as a comprehensive business start-up manual, an update of his previous publications, and a scattered best-of writings collection.<br /><br />Kawasaki was one of Macintosh’s first marketers, famous for creating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_evangelist">Apple evangelism</a> through ads such as his 1984 spin-off.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OYecfV3ubP8&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OYecfV3ubP8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />His idea, in a nutshell, is that you should try to change the world with your product. Don’t hold back. Don’t be modest.<br /><br />Moreover, simply from browsing his work, he is undeniably quotable and insightful, a sort of philosopher for ADHD-driven capitalism.<br /><br />Riding down the escalator, I couldn’t help but notice the foreword, titled Foreword 1.0 followed by Foreword 2.0, both written by “Daniel Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs”.<br /><br />Explaining the reason for publishing an updated Foreword 2.0 for the first edition of the book is a sort of foreword to Foreword 2.0:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">What follows is the best foreword in the history of business books. It came about because shortly after Dan wrote the first foreword, he announced that he was discontinuing Fake Steve Jobs. I begged him to write one last piece as Fake Steve Jobs – what an honor that would be for my book! Fortunately, he agreed, and so Reality Check has not one but two forewords.</span></blockquote>As you can imagine, I was intrigued, and proceeded to read the 2 forewords. At first they seemed somewhat interesting. Lyons (or whoever) opens by describing Silicon Valley as “the American dream on Red Bull and steroids.” He proceeds to discuss how unique Kawasaki is, essentially asking the reader to take his word that he’s a great guy.<br /><br />It was Foreword 2.0, however – “the greatest in the history of business books” – that thoroughly turned me off. In it, Lyons brags to the reader that he hasn’t read the book because he doesn’t read books. Elaborating: “I wish this book had been around when I was starting Apple <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxp8Rxl5nLEyBiQxaYGxKXeIi9idpsg_ErYiv3_3mdmt0exEvPWM-00hRoxgNZnOV6e198iUhhJje9GnxtgzohokSkdBDpW-gJlLsg-ewEXeXyoeCMo_PVXRp_lkRT2R-4MmgW9WSjow/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxp8Rxl5nLEyBiQxaYGxKXeIi9idpsg_ErYiv3_3mdmt0exEvPWM-00hRoxgNZnOV6e198iUhhJje9GnxtgzohokSkdBDpW-gJlLsg-ewEXeXyoeCMo_PVXRp_lkRT2R-4MmgW9WSjow/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373024391707704242" border="0" /></a>in 1976. I’m sure I wouldn’t have read it, but still it would have been nice if it had been around back then…”<br /><br />A more played out joke in Foreword 2.0 is that Lyons associates Kawasaki the person with Kawasaki the motorcycle company. In fact, this takes up the majority of Foreword 2.0’s two and a half pages, as Lyons tries to applaud Kawasaki but keeps coming back to motorcycles.<br /><br />I’m not one to take life too seriously, but there is an underlying current to everything intellectual – I’d expect, least of all, a marketer such as Kawasaki to realize this: That you may glamorize or skew the presentation of any product, but the central piece nonetheless remains the product.<br /><br />The foreword left a particularly bad taste in my mouth because too often in life people are prone to overlook the underlying content due to less important factors – like when people are more concerned about their ego than the truth, or when leaders become more concerned about power than their driving mission. Had Stalin really been pursuing communism for the common good of his people, then he would have remained in tune with their condition. Bill Gates is not famous because he harnesses the streng<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkiOEwN6ADpxIk55lEPur1Go_d_C_PoloCSlGVCOaGVFxCCLG_ElHrhEKQDst1miBP_3zUOO53u_gaUczmbFlyDSzLv49GTq3LpPD80k-gG5EeKFZCha1R1u-xDqm5MSo3Zy_5R-1-gY/s1600-h/2.3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkiOEwN6ADpxIk55lEPur1Go_d_C_PoloCSlGVCOaGVFxCCLG_ElHrhEKQDst1miBP_3zUOO53u_gaUczmbFlyDSzLv49GTq3LpPD80k-gG5EeKFZCha1R1u-xDqm5MSo3Zy_5R-1-gY/s320/2.3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373027223017730450" border="0" /></a>th of thousands of employees; he is famous for his insight that personal computers may be of use to the average individual, and then acting on that. People come and go, and controlling them is easy; but the truth stays the same.<br /><br />The distinction between such matters – although hardly clear-cut – is widely recognized in society. It’s reflected in the Biblical distinction between the wheat and the chaff:<br /><br /><blockquote>He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=3&verse=16&end_verse=18&version=31&context=context">Luke, 3:16-18</a>)<br /></blockquote>There’s a sense of not only superficiality, but tragedy when one gets lost chasing the chaff, which is merely the outer cover of the kernel that humans inevitably seek.<br /><br />Underlying the notion of marketing evangelism, or the bit that I understand of it, isn’t making your product out to be more than it is; rather, it is convincing people of its true worth and its wide-reaching potential impact. The point is not to do this in a kitsch manner – “buy this Hallmark card, it’ll change your life” – but to remain genuine, albeit while pushing the envelope. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRjwvnZr5tr9VnrY600D8AkJyEY9dUwGXwrTvLozhnmPpjqZ4YZAMz7ov44QR16V6EEBZE0QMkIn7M6YEwU5bRGaQRqbxdm1AY2-HZMzx3bRhxvg7c1hXh_J7yMYDfz86USV89W34mT8/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRjwvnZr5tr9VnrY600D8AkJyEY9dUwGXwrTvLozhnmPpjqZ4YZAMz7ov44QR16V6EEBZE0QMkIn7M6YEwU5bRGaQRqbxdm1AY2-HZMzx3bRhxvg7c1hXh_J7yMYDfz86USV89W34mT8/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373026719385220498" border="0" /></a>Afterall, insofar as typing on and programming a computer maybe a daily extension of one’s mind, an alternative operating system really might get you to “think different”.<br /><br />But opening a book with a person joking around about how he hasn't read the book, but loves the guy, even though his name sounds like motorcycles, certainly does the exact opposite for Kawasaki what “think different” campaigns did for Apple.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnf4wcNhPHP_jflImqZbn0IlYI8fFiq6W6qfjymq5Lmcczamn4kmolDTTfEmza29pWIgzAl4sA8d6pvDrFfAHUJxw13zRW5xowRbEsFx1k_CYH3KuJ5qNs-KsqOm2KRLzEyXBdfXrJJQC/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnf4wcNhPHP_jflImqZbn0IlYI8fFiq6W6qfjymq5Lmcczamn4kmolDTTfEmza29pWIgzAl4sA8d6pvDrFfAHUJxw13zRW5xowRbEsFx1k_CYH3KuJ5qNs-KsqOm2KRLzEyXBdfXrJJQC/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373203154236303522" border="0" /></a>I hardly need to expound on the tongue-in-cheek idea of evangelical capitalism - with it's implication being that rifts between commercial operating systems rival those between religions. But in the spirit of not selling ideas short, good products really can change lives for the better, even if they don't quite live up to the salvation of the human soul. Such ideas, if they are to be one's focus, deserve to be treated with a fair amount of respect.<br /><br />-KJ<br />_________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)Cover of <a href="http://www.guykawasaki.com/index.shtml">Guy Kawasaki</a>'s 2008 book, <a href="http://www.guykawasaki.com/books/reality-check.shtml">Reality Check</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/photohype/2356906385/">EC-24MAR08 [103]</a>, 05/24/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/photohype/">HYPE</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/1517241128/">After the harvest</a>, 10/08/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/">Lincolian(Brian)</a>;(3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceageboy/3114658386/">Apple_logo_Think_Different</a>, 12/16/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceageboy/">Ballistic Coffee Boy</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/300451244/">Baptist Church</a>, 11/18/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/">Thomas Hawk</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8">1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial</a>, Sean Collier's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/seancollier">channel</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-50997736321957270392009-08-15T00:34:00.018-04:002009-08-16T02:28:28.648-04:00Catharsis in the Middle East<blockquote>Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude...in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation [catharsis] of these emotions. (1449[b])<br /><br />-Aristotle, <a href="http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/AristotlePoeticsEdited.htm">Poetics</a><br /></blockquote>Conflict in the Middle East will probably end in violence. It is difficult to see it going down any other way.<br /><br />The Economist declares that the Arab World is awaking from a slumber to find itself in the modern world. Such views, common among Western thought these days, are poorly thought out. They may offer some insight, but they ignore the scope and intensity of the underlying problem. More importantly, they offer no solution to it. But however you conceptualize things, ignoring the problems won't make them go away.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Patronizing View</span><br /><br />The Economist writes in a <a href="http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14027708">special report</a> on the Arab World:<br /><blockquote>Imagine an Arab Rip Abu Winkle who had fallen into a deep slumber some time in the early 1980s. If he woke up now, he would rub his eyes in disbelief at how little had changed.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOsZ-uoO79C5jlyCr6lVMZ0B0WYOjvPhni_wCtWr5HBBT6nHIgvaUbk5pBJUbb_010gmMrWSN71pPYZ2Zl5LjuX3tDsXncwH_PPgTo7Kr5l96lhC9WNrMSMjKhgFj3BT-CXYl8A8mOYM/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOsZ-uoO79C5jlyCr6lVMZ0B0WYOjvPhni_wCtWr5HBBT6nHIgvaUbk5pBJUbb_010gmMrWSN71pPYZ2Zl5LjuX3tDsXncwH_PPgTo7Kr5l96lhC9WNrMSMjKhgFj3BT-CXYl8A8mOYM/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370010392894627730" border="0" /></a></blockquote>Coming off of Iran’s recent election protests, the magazine’s writers see the Arab World as ripe for political and philosophical change. In the face of the region’s common religious-political charges of heresy, they <a href="http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14172611">challenge</a> a Middle Eastern academic to spark an intellectual revolution. Jestingly they conclude:<br /><blockquote>It turns out the French thinker Voltaire probably never uttered the words so often ascribed to him: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” So the way is clear. Let some Western Muslim sage be the first philosopher to make that pronouncement, and mean it.</blockquote>The Economist is right to point out the region’s state of transition, but it’s hard to see how the solution lies in a philosophical breakthrough. Furthermore, it's tempting to view the region as absent from the world’s rapid changes over the past 20 years, but the first half of the 20th century saw a similar stagnation in Europe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contemporary History</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqJJ5UhmGVgo4T9N0Jpot0xhEi3EGwLnkAKvG1hF74QimwOS5wTKm6nJNhvbeiqO1fx_MI57yJEMQRtwESBmjCl4O8_v7UinenGvFmWtiIWYp53RkkSwGGXjrXT4Jg6F_vDe0iKUpfAQ/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqJJ5UhmGVgo4T9N0Jpot0xhEi3EGwLnkAKvG1hF74QimwOS5wTKm6nJNhvbeiqO1fx_MI57yJEMQRtwESBmjCl4O8_v7UinenGvFmWtiIWYp53RkkSwGGXjrXT4Jg6F_vDe0iKUpfAQ/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370014485955064114" border="0" /></a>A European Rip Van Winkle who went to sleep after the First World War only to wake up during the Second undoubtedly would’ve had déjà vu. Many of the direct causes of the First World War can be traced further back to the late 1800’s, and its proper resolution lay in the Cold War - all of which arguably stretches the period of European unrest to just shy of a century.<br /><br />During the years leading up to World War I, Europe has in retrospect been called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_keg_of_Europe">powder keg</a>, waiting to explode into violence. It would not be far off to call the modern Arab World a powder keg. And despite the region’s residual violence and ongoing tensions, it doesn’t seem to have exploded yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXroeOFiF4ZbloJ_-_IOkxyciZ6eXT3Z-iJs1GnXt49ucYkS3umey1131vhWCfVbgfAlIwCbBy0-I_rBLC-X4eE_g5Jw_-wjZo0bv_J73ufOulhyphenhyphenftzFakUrOaHof3fifLElosT45gx0/s1600-h/3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXroeOFiF4ZbloJ_-_IOkxyciZ6eXT3Z-iJs1GnXt49ucYkS3umey1131vhWCfVbgfAlIwCbBy0-I_rBLC-X4eE_g5Jw_-wjZo0bv_J73ufOulhyphenhyphenftzFakUrOaHof3fifLElosT45gx0/s320/3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370015475323012402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Arab Rip Abu Winkle who wakes up today should be gravely concerned, similar to the European Rip Van Winkle waking up around World War II. From an outsider’s view – such as The Economist’s – it’s tempting to conclude that nothing has changed in the Arab World; but this cannot be correct from an Arab’s perspective. Dealing with the same issues for nearly 50 years has likely built a huge amount of tension, which has only been released in small doses of short wars, border conflicts, and mini-massacres.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmJoulpz_sA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmJoulpz_sA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The Arab Rip Abu Winkle who awakes this year, unlike his European counterpart, is unlikely to think that little has changed, as if all of the strife is a trifle annoyance preventing him from getting on with his life. He is more likely to think, "Why do my bloodsucking neighbors still roam the earth?"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What Has Changed</span><br /><br />In the meanwhile, the West has thrown all the resources and diplomacy into the region that it can, none of which has had appreciable effect. If the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again without meaningful results, then working on yet another treaty is certainly stupid. By this point wishful diplomacy further carries the risk of alleviating violence in the short-term while failing to solve the underlying problem. Indeed, the longer the underlying problem persists, the more powder is added to the keg.<br /><br />Disregarding meaningless diplomacy or the rise of an Arab Voltaire, there are a few key factors at play that will determine whether the region falls into bloodshed.<br /><br />First, the region is <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2003/06middleeast_fuller.aspx">getting younger</a>. The baby boomer phenomenon in the West has been echoed throughout the world through dramatic jumps in the average lifespan. Older generations throughout the world are yielding to younger ones. This transition is even further delayed in developed nations, where average lifespan is longest. But it has already occurred in 2nd world areas like the Middle East, where over half the population is entering their 30’s.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU3mGxfusi7210dfH2K0ub4n_eWabUNITyQOHz3FqTjOeyCcnusOHulfnQ99zF-LU8J0Sgk6wwy2bJig68PiDEP6SDaugd1LWGOiv9aXqVUBu4cdwOldkR-VKNEmpfw-DvTIQD35IAxU/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU3mGxfusi7210dfH2K0ub4n_eWabUNITyQOHz3FqTjOeyCcnusOHulfnQ99zF-LU8J0Sgk6wwy2bJig68PiDEP6SDaugd1LWGOiv9aXqVUBu4cdwOldkR-VKNEmpfw-DvTIQD35IAxU/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370017839404601010" border="0" /></a><br />The world is just beginning to witness this transition, as seen in Iran’s election protests. The near future of the Middle East rests in the hands of the young. If the region erupts in bloodshed, it will be their doing. If nations lay down their arms, it will be their doing as well.<br /><br />The protests might signal that the new generation is growing tired of the old regimes, and may consequently be less violent than their ancestors. Moreover, Israel’s culture, in many respects, is known as being surprisingly secular.<br /><br />But forgetting such violent past grievances is easier said than done. Contemporary history doesn’t suggest that peace will do a good job at burying the hatchet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIgJcst7Xd8XxmDzxyXuN6KNBjN3_W4B7y8mQCLtwJhieCRU4twH5VxeCySlwbyqkx2vQYMJX1r7bNjdIC1dHg7dyjpuuSRJY3aVv1MocU-EaDTt5TreztfDoeTrAxJjjlUPcX5fXzjY/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIgJcst7Xd8XxmDzxyXuN6KNBjN3_W4B7y8mQCLtwJhieCRU4twH5VxeCySlwbyqkx2vQYMJX1r7bNjdIC1dHg7dyjpuuSRJY3aVv1MocU-EaDTt5TreztfDoeTrAxJjjlUPcX5fXzjY/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370020026649028930" border="0" /></a><br />A second but less critical factor is the global recession. The Middle Eastern economy is disproportionally reliant on oil, making it overly sensitive to fluctuations in world demand while eschewing other forms of internal economic growth (a phenomenon known as <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/wantchekon/research/lr-04-10.pdf">Dutch Disease</a>). Unemployment is particularly high among Arab youth, which further worsens its prospects for peace.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking Forward</span><br /><br />In a famous <a href="http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/?p=94">piece</a>, American-Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy called Israel the opium of the Middle East; the statement was made in the same sense that Karl Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. She claimed that the conflict has blinded the region from pursuing more virtuous goals by influencing each nation to play the victim.<br /><br />The conflict certainly has taken their gaze off of more noble aims, but the region is hardly in a pain-free euphoric state, even be it artificially induced. The conflict with Israel is hardly intoxicating, and it hasn't trumped more noble other pursuits simply because it's easier. It's trumped these other pursuits because it has remained red hot with intensity for nearly half a century.<br /><br />All hope is not lost for a peaceful solution. But whatever that solution may be, it will have to genuinely come from within the region; patchwork external solutions merely risk making things much worse. The greatest source of hope lies in the new younger generation, who are just beginning to take power. At the same time, their young hubris remains an even greater risk for volatility.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Catharsis</span><br /><br />Modern day relations between European nations might not seem like anything special, but it's no coincidence that Europe's current peacefulness arrived off the heels of almost a century of cyclical violence and tension. The devastation of two World Wars, followed by the bitter taste of the Cold War, thoroughly purged Europe. The world will have to wait and see whether the Middle East need undergo a similar purging of her own.<br /><br /><blockquote>But again, tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic wonder will then be greater than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design. (1449[b])<br /><br />-Aristotle, <a href="http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/AristotlePoeticsEdited.htm">Poetics</a></blockquote>-KJ<br />______________<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqiHcumnjg2cNYj2RaXWbVNOUWjtsNHmAa3VnaCp988sicmT-LP7rA7SLbMuA0dK_K3TG9ztZHcnoKf-loCa2vi0imqgTd_FfCgamLVlOVPTaQCXZyoUxeH8NezUxcCTFE7UcL85GNx8/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqiHcumnjg2cNYj2RaXWbVNOUWjtsNHmAa3VnaCp988sicmT-LP7rA7SLbMuA0dK_K3TG9ztZHcnoKf-loCa2vi0imqgTd_FfCgamLVlOVPTaQCXZyoUxeH8NezUxcCTFE7UcL85GNx8/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370040643448766674" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayCover.cfm?url=/images/20090725/20090725issuecovUS400.jpg">Issue cover for July 25th Economist</a>; (2)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WW1_TitlePicture_For_Wikipedia_Article.jpg">Montage</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I">Main Page</a>; (3)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WWIchartX.svg">WWI ChartX</a>: A diagrammatic illustration of European political alliances in the period leading up to the First World War, depiction of Europe's preWWI "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_keg_of_Europe">powder keg</a>" from Wikipedia; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southpaw2305/3668143045/">Will it ever stop?</a>, 06/28/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southpaw2305/">Clar@bell</a>; (5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25724634@N04/2550679056/">TL032318</a>, 06/03/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25724634@N04/">Ava Pearl</a>; (6)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/293854767/">Oedipus at Colonus by Jean-Antoine-Theodore Giroust 1788 French Oil</a>, 11/10/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/">mharrsch</a>. for the World War I Wikipedia.<br /><br />Music: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmJoulpz_sA">Video</a>, 10/30/2007 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Basketballerke">Basketballerke</a>, of the song "Broken Chord Can Sing a Little" from the 05/27/2000 album <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fvfyxq8kldae">He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms</a> by the band <a href="http://www.tra-la-la-band.com/">A Silver Mt. Zion</a>.<br /></span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-47269933956836651492009-07-27T21:41:00.024-04:002009-08-02T15:33:03.407-04:00Healthcare: Time, Money, and DetailsCapitol Hill is filled with buzz about Obama’s rushed health care proposal, intended to overhaul the current system. But as politicians portray healthcare with broad rhetorical brushstrokes, they continue to overlook a plethora of details that unnecessarily inflate its cost. A less publicized news <a href="http://www.smartbrief.com/news/bio/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=75D1FEB5-3409-40D4-81E2-0ABF7355EF3C&copyid=B5EE8514-7BBE-421C-BB44-8621A5F6C4A5">item</a> from last week was the ann<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4J2R6higlQNqiPsYPz14MuDVLKG-2IrLMiSNm81fAnLNepFJogOO1m0E6z-Fr2atS3HP1SYusfAnjcxO5X6yVYHzmuul-M1z0vrSCGWfjLQAW07m96Ri731wbA02i3Kq-f4Ceb1s4xwI/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4J2R6higlQNqiPsYPz14MuDVLKG-2IrLMiSNm81fAnLNepFJogOO1m0E6z-Fr2atS3HP1SYusfAnjcxO5X6yVYHzmuul-M1z0vrSCGWfjLQAW07m96Ri731wbA02i3Kq-f4Ceb1s4xwI/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363311617328177010" border="0" /></a>announcement that the FDA will delay their final decision on Ampligen – the leading drug for the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – until this fall. The FDA announced that the delay was due to staffing problems.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC63awcxGt7T-DRT6pIx0A29JxIgwKqH20a2gkCS20hZRVDpSOyz9xZ3l7QjRKBnMGXB7Z6iIor2CBPRg9S5eu-I1nF1LIcp2aKHJVf-PyMu9g1kB7pmW5QRn5MRNFLuPIGu-CVQg54M/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC63awcxGt7T-DRT6pIx0A29JxIgwKqH20a2gkCS20hZRVDpSOyz9xZ3l7QjRKBnMGXB7Z6iIor2CBPRg9S5eu-I1nF1LIcp2aKHJVf-PyMu9g1kB7pmW5QRn5MRNFLuPIGu-CVQg54M/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363312498783367346" border="0" /></a><br />Submitting Ampligen’s application is <a href="http://www.hemispherx.net/">Hemispherx</a>, a small biotech company that has researched the drug for nearly 3 decades. Like a handful of similar companies, their future solely depends on the FDA’s forthcoming decision. All of the clinical trials are complete. The drug’s application was accepted for review just over a year ago, which would make the FDA’s turnaround time over a year and a half. Judging from Hemispherx’s annual operating costs, the FDA’s delay by itself will cost them a total of approximately $15 million.<br /><br />The FDA’s mission is largely to protect the public from harmful drugs, however <a href="http://www.fdareview.org/harm.shtml">critics</a> demonstrate that their overcautious ways do more harm to the public than good. Their delays <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrPooKrzX2YgcvLUN6CK31BoOLBKCUKMaAThLzfOv7inycZKT2KFf2eYGrd69-_KL1b-duXAuqWD-toyM4M0Q-xPukJjNWzsHaOWHXo_14b8PsLG5MT0vpMlHUgqy_pZl5Mp2xY6zFOo9/s1600-h/2.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrPooKrzX2YgcvLUN6CK31BoOLBKCUKMaAThLzfOv7inycZKT2KFf2eYGrd69-_KL1b-duXAuqWD-toyM4M0Q-xPukJjNWzsHaOWHXo_14b8PsLG5MT0vpMlHUgqy_pZl5Mp2xY6zFOo9/s320/2.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363322481863440818" border="0" /></a>have cost the public thousands of more lives than they have saved, along with making them unpopular among most practicing physicians.<br /><br />Even if you believe in the FDA’s mission, then it is hard to overlook the sheer inefficiency and waste that they introduce to healthcare. Clinical trials for new drugs take about 10 years, but even after all the data is in – as is the case with Ampligen – it often takes up to <a href="http://www.hiv.va.gov/vahiv?page=treat-05-08">1 more year</a> for them to make a final decision. FDA delays are not-too-unexpected, but they have still hit Hemispherx hard.<br /><br />Following each FDA delay, Hemispherx announced new efforts to raise more cash. Currently they are operating like a bear in hibernation, placed on life-support.<br /><br />Given the millions of dollars lost due to FDA "staffing issues", one strategy might be to give them more staff. They might have applicants pay directly for these staffing issues, but the FDA already <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201622.html">receives</a> hundred of millions of dollars worth of fees; supplemented with more money by Congress, fees from private companies consist of half of their drug approval budget. Why these fees aren't enough to reduce the decision time to under 12-months isn't clear.<br /><br />But the real problem, as discussed above, is with the structure of the FDA and the responsibilities placed on them. As drugs like Vioxx prove to be more dangerous than people could have guessed, the FDA has taken part of the blame; in response they have received more money and power, but this hasn’t led to marked improvement, accuracy, or efficiency.<br /><br />Determining the safety of drugs can be particularly tricky, but there is only so much that you can ask for: Did the clinical trials meet their endpoints? Were there side-effects? Is there any reason to believe that there might be additional risks? Even if it takes 10 years of research to answer these quesitons, it should not take an additional year to intrepret the results: Either the end points were met or they weren't; there are side-effects or there aren't; there are reasons to consider additional risks or there aren't. These questions are not black-and-white, but following 10 years of r<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIhTVxhGhQje2d7pUBQAHXznlW58SPEgx5IXz7eVyyP7b8aH8KnWxVfvirejaYQ8BUccJfqTnxObxsuMZSyApKOalbBrmQly_C9mvNLd35OUmHWfPvGbkR0iqQMqgECmkY2EvEU4sx75e/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIhTVxhGhQje2d7pUBQAHXznlW58SPEgx5IXz7eVyyP7b8aH8KnWxVfvirejaYQ8BUccJfqTnxObxsuMZSyApKOalbBrmQly_C9mvNLd35OUmHWfPvGbkR0iqQMqgECmkY2EvEU4sx75e/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363321677572774642" border="0" /></a>equired research (and often more), an additional year to make the decision - supposedly filled with heated internal regulatory debate - is not likely to find anything new.<br /><br />As with most jobs, the problem lies not so much with the staffing, but with the structure of the organization. The main question is whether their mission – to approve and oversee every single drug (and many foods) on the marketplace – would be feasible, even if they had a large army of scientists at their disposal.<br /><br />Science, like anything in life, obeys laws of diminishing returns: Beyond a certain threshold, the more you study one particular thing, like a drug, the less return in greater knowledge you'll receive for your efforts. Going back to the Voixx example, how many more years of clinical trials, and how much more power and money granted to the FDA, would have better assured its safety?<br /><br />The assumption being placed on the FDA is that more research and regulation is better, regardless of the specific types of research and regulation being carried out. This is the same mistake that has been applied to the SEC for years, whose added regulations over the years tends to favor red tape, paper work, and superfluous committee-creating over investigatory manpower.<br /><br />Currently drugs like Ampligen wander through a maze like patients lost in the healthcare system, knowing where they want to go but not being able to get there. And likewise they incur quite a cost – in the case of Ampligen, an added 18 months and about $15 million, assuming, of course, that the drug is even accepted. On top of decades of research and piles of paperwork, does it really take an additional 18 months and $15 million to judge a drug? The frustrating part is that much of this could be avoided either by cutting back on new drug requirements; somehow lowering the cost to big pharma of drug approval; or at least greasing the FDA's wheels in any manner that would make them more - not less - efficient. As it is, patients along their way are forced to pay for these costs, which are often more attributable to regulatory stuckiness than to added value.<br /><br />Any improvement in healthcare requires us to look at the factors driving up its cost, rather than further re-distributing costs that already exist. In this environment, small companies like Hemispherx - who can survive 30 years researching just one drug - exist not because of the current healthcare system, but in spite of it. Indeed, in what other private industries is it common for a company to go decades without a product? Such gargantuan human efforts are testament to our need for better healthcare, not for better government intervention.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_____________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Note: Long position held in HEB.<br /><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardstreeter/3212501053/">Day 20</a>, 1/20/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardstreeter/">Richard</a>; (2)Ampligen PR; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotogroup/3464773467/">Healthcare, hospital, doctor</a>, 04/22/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotogroup/">Anoto Group</a>; (4) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumit/9010543/">corridor</a>, 04/10/2005, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumit/">sumit</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-1201615972183010042009-07-12T23:51:00.012-04:002009-07-13T21:06:42.115-04:00The Future of News<blockquote>So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here - not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.<br /><br />-Hunter S. Thompson, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail<br /></blockquote><br />I recently started getting magazines again. Specifically, <a href="http://www.economist.com/">The Economist</a> and <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm">Consumer Reports</a>. Both have proved to be surprisingly insightful.<br /><br />Leading up to this decision, I had been on a 10 year magazine-hiatus since my teens, when I received <a href="http://www.reason.com/">Reason</a> and <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/">Sports Illustrated</a>. I never read the issues with any regularity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuyuZ0pZxNgds42lEHZZqfAZkJsMsfS-pP9lw7vormNVQkSxvrsUuYuPLfThPl2I48fUA5iN0whThFv1NVKwXhirOSvumzabPVG9Ik1bYQPorfgpdzPdEc48B6YiSS4VIknw5GfDKTnI/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuyuZ0pZxNgds42lEHZZqfAZkJsMsfS-pP9lw7vormNVQkSxvrsUuYuPLfThPl2I48fUA5iN0whThFv1NVKwXhirOSvumzabPVG9Ik1bYQPorfgpdzPdEc48B6YiSS4VIknw5GfDKTnI/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357765929403405826" border="0" /></a>, and this left me with a trifle of guilt upon their arrival. When I started college I left behind magazines for good (along with TV) and I completely lost touch with current events. It was embarrassing at times. Like when I wondered why Jim Carey was challenging incumbent president George Bush.<br /><br />But my real beef with magazines was that I didn’t care about the news. What I craved was insight.<br /><br />News is temporal, it changes with the scenery. I was reminded of this whenever we visited my grandparents at their Floridian retirement community. The poor residents of that community were barraged with reports of murder and petty crimes. Local news channels invariably resembled Cops, with scenes of police car lights burring at night. Undoubtedly this all appealed to the worn out <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYstTXRhH1MjVDrs69MQnQQWEyYQQypvVTGHTMTEkGF5B6ZOLUkJFLa_kMDyIPrrpl8eiS24t81pwH_X_HwWXtsVsZrRtFDbO_6JlUujkD40DhTAu1jm1rrpkOwfXLQozYKgSpC7ieo4/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYstTXRhH1MjVDrs69MQnQQWEyYQQypvVTGHTMTEkGF5B6ZOLUkJFLa_kMDyIPrrpl8eiS24t81pwH_X_HwWXtsVsZrRtFDbO_6JlUujkD40DhTAu1jm1rrpkOwfXLQozYKgSpC7ieo4/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357768467035771010" border="0" /></a>memory and attention of the elderly, who might as well have been watching reruns of the same broadcast over and over again.<br /><br />After I decided to return to magazines, it took me months to make my first decision. I ended up going with The Economist, and then Consumer Reports, and I couldn’t be happier with them.<br /><br />The 2 magazines reflect upon each other in a unique manner. Whenever I go from reading one to the other I feel a nice dissonance.<br /><br />The Economist is filled with 15-page world and topical surveys. Articles regularly include sweeping statements like this one:<br /><blockquote>De Tocqueville, in his optimistic phase, said that “the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” America has succeeded brilliantly in repairing the ancestral fault of racism. Thirty-six years after Richard Nixon casually remarked that “there are times when an abortion is necessary…when you have a black and a white,” America elected the child of a black father and a white mother to the presidency. The new administration is trying to correct some of the excesses of the Bush years, much as Ronald Reagan corrected the excesses of the Carter years. (<a href="http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13942015">Lexington</a>, July 09)</blockquote>As noted in a recent <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/news-magazines">Atlantic article</a>, the genius behind The Economist lies in synthesizing, interpreting, and digesting current events, rather than barraging the reader with breaking news or unique scoops.<br /><blockquote>The Economist prides itself on cleverly distilling the world into a reasonably compact survey….As a result, although its self-marketing subtly sells a kind of sleek, mid-last-century Concorde-flying sangfroid, The Economist has reached its current level of influence and importance because it is, in every sense of the word, a true global digest for an age when the amount of undigested, undigestible information online continues to metastasize. And that’s a very good place to be in 2009.</blockquote>Such a style of non-objective journalism is certainly prone to pitfalls, but at its best it can be truly enlightening. In The Economist, news is not simply reported for the sake of being news. The best stories link news items to grander constructs and themes. World leaders and CEOs are portrayed as human characters on the world stage. Modern themes playing out are tied to their semi-distant historical roots. Overall trends are elucidated, regardless of whether they are obvious or not. Sometimes the best things to point out are tho<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGK9bZemtqWN80o_DerpAEvE8-5H-2gJNUZkc4fMtug22gO9RazyckNIGeXK3QRypoCBLQTXMlWF4lgCW2s_sYGjfSNGRN2UXaOp4WWWDU7SQXrQGeoD4nzMpA0_eUMg6hpzAL3LT7XSk/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGK9bZemtqWN80o_DerpAEvE8-5H-2gJNUZkc4fMtug22gO9RazyckNIGeXK3QRypoCBLQTXMlWF4lgCW2s_sYGjfSNGRN2UXaOp4WWWDU7SQXrQGeoD4nzMpA0_eUMg6hpzAL3LT7XSk/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357771162218576754" border="0" /></a>se which are obvious. A friend of mine once commented that what he loved about John Madden’s style of football broadcasting is that he’s not afraid to hark on the obvious. The Economist often excels at doing just that.<br /><br />Permeating its writing is a supra-macroeconomic perspective (laid out imperfectly in their publication, <a href="http://www.economistshop.com/asp/bookdetail.asp?book=2676">Making Sense of the Modern Economy</a>). For a while this approach struck me as too unfocused and general. Unlike magazines that are topical, niche, or partisan, it’s difficult to describe. But over time it began to click. The effect is similar to the historian who cries that history repeats itself, only it pulls not from history, but from disparate areas of the world, discussing the sorts of trends, similarities, and contrasts that you might expect to hear from a small group of smart and well-experienced travelers. One example was their insight, critical of America’s drug war, that Mexican drug violence is largely caused by Clinton-era success agains<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyTZUxiyyfqqRe9cV4N34Em0X3QFb5y_0X653VviC3leOaXRFF9l0vQc3iQZrN0-ujIDpcFITKRlvCi-GSHx0AOf0bHdW858VzbYoz66rJRi5qZbJKvs6J0FZ9L7frDZADrV4m69176A/s1600-h/3.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyTZUxiyyfqqRe9cV4N34Em0X3QFb5y_0X653VviC3leOaXRFF9l0vQc3iQZrN0-ujIDpcFITKRlvCi-GSHx0AOf0bHdW858VzbYoz66rJRi5qZbJKvs6J0FZ9L7frDZADrV4m69176A/s320/3.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357776308425227394" border="0" /></a>t Colombian drug czars (<a href="http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13234157">On the trail of the traffickers</a>, 05/05/2009)<br /><br />Consumer Reports in contrast is an expose of detail. Issues feature 20-page specials on kitchen appliances and cars. The advice is so concrete that you can taste its utility: “Stainless [steel refrigerators] might look inviting at the store. But it smudges easily and requires frequent wipe-downs. Clear-coated stainless or faux-stainless vinyl coatings are easier to keep clean.” (p. 27, August 2009 issue). Or “Toto’s Ultra Max II [water-efficient toilet], $510, is among those that use just 1.28 gallons per flush. But clearing the blue dye in our liquid test took two flushes, or a whopping 2.6 gallons.” (p. 47, same issue).<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOghvssyQf4&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOghvssyQf4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The magazine is geared towards that shopping maven side of you who<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtDg7AP901ktWXDP6JCHS1yTRNIBr2Sp7121UhN-NO-yVP6E2dWxeV3CWfErMyj5zuhfL3Dn4TTcRSTmqvrb6YP4IsftNGdiym_AxuxOshMVpLSf0wIanWD2aTGUU8IitbCQAP5eWSbQ/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtDg7AP901ktWXDP6JCHS1yTRNIBr2Sp7121UhN-NO-yVP6E2dWxeV3CWfErMyj5zuhfL3Dn4TTcRSTmqvrb6YP4IsftNGdiym_AxuxOshMVpLSf0wIanWD2aTGUU8IitbCQAP5eWSbQ/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357775358406562370" border="0" /></a> is looking to make the wisest consumer decision. But its real value comes in <a href="http://www.consumersunion.org/other/teaching/index.htm">teaching</a> you how to think on a very basic level.<br /><br />The death of news media - many fear - will lead to the end of the well-informed American citizen, who is now more likely to get free news on the internet that to tune into a TV station or buy a newspaper. Following Iran's election protests, The Economist <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13856224">declared</a>, "Twitter 1, CNN 0". Yet we are not witnessing the death of the news industry, so much as its reformation. Gone is the demand for late-breaking news at ones fingertips or on the TV screen. In its place, however, is the need for a more interpretive spin on the news - one which doesn't tell us everything that is happening in the world, but rather is more selective by telling consumers only those news items that they need to know, and perhaps why they need to know it.<br /><br />For now the media industry - particularly newspapers - is running scared, and no doubt many journalists will lose their job due to lessening demand for such broad coverage. But taking their place are slimmer media outlets that have the capability to not only inform their customers, but to sharpen their wit while they're at it. The mind of the average American news junkie won't so much be an encyclopedia of miscellaneous facts - ranging from local carjackings and rape trials to state elections and abortion debates - but rather it will need to become more discerning, organized and fluid in its abilities. In response to the current adrenaline pocked ADHD news industry, this change will be for the better.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennestepp/441050314/">magainze pile</a>, 05/30/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennestepp/">quietjenn</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenstein/196093216/">Clocked at 67 mph/124km</a>, 07/23/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenstein/">runswithscissors</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/acbo/2073367106/">Blue Marble</a>, 11/28/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/acbo/">acbo</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/33946779@N06/3284448688/">Hard drive clock</a>, 02/16/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/33946779@N06/">Jack AZ</a>; (5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zmcnichols/3218692863/in/photostream/">Consumer Reports Testing Facility</a>, 01/22/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zmcnichols/">ZRec</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOghvssyQf4&feature=channel_page">Toilet Paper Testing from Consumer Reports</a>, 03/30/2009, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/consumerreports">Consumer Reports channel</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-28692652243651616252009-07-03T20:47:00.012-04:002009-07-03T21:09:39.555-04:00The Future of the EconomyThe untold story of the financial crisis is the transition from manufacturing to services. This won’t mean the death of the economy – as some skeptics proclaim - and it shouldn’t even come as a surprise.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Historical View</span><br /><br />To gain some perspective, the Great Depression had a similar underlying theme as the country transitioned from farming to manufacturing. Agricultural products were considered tangible necessitates; the rugged American farmer was seen as a cornerstone of the economy; and, it was argued, the country’s best interest lay in keeping the farmer alive. Supporting the farm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIr9FwZOh5muwVj9bskcjSui0WK7AvFG5VTrLsq-tAFvER726MYg3sLUYgOggJuomga2DbdRJrdocsuieI2oypnTmsf0yl0b9ebwyQ5cno8tXP29cn_ySNMclBZnua_ItoJ6i0WkqQOk/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIr9FwZOh5muwVj9bskcjSui0WK7AvFG5VTrLsq-tAFvER726MYg3sLUYgOggJuomga2DbdRJrdocsuieI2oypnTmsf0yl0b9ebwyQ5cno8tXP29cn_ySNMclBZnua_ItoJ6i0WkqQOk/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354392246697979602" border="0" /></a>er was considered patriotic – the same sort of pathos which, ironically, we currently see in the manufacturing sector.<br /><br />The sequence of events was remarkably similar to that of America’s car companies – a former leading industry begins to falter during an economic boom, depression hits, and it suddenly implodes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nvqtF3_S5Pc-9WytRhjnItahQOA4Lt2323yJ2qbJIz3qM0GJ9hapzIurktd_T26abuaft6uwDtcDYqcPXmLYELJCWRD4frIMWNtiS981rA1GsC5i7X1mfTWAfMzIghE3b7E7CWwoBNs/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nvqtF3_S5Pc-9WytRhjnItahQOA4Lt2323yJ2qbJIz3qM0GJ9hapzIurktd_T26abuaft6uwDtcDYqcPXmLYELJCWRD4frIMWNtiS981rA1GsC5i7X1mfTWAfMzIghE3b7E7CWwoBNs/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354393717176234978" border="0" /></a>Looking back, we can at least feel some comfort that, as useless as our current attempts to bail out the Big 3 have been, they pale in comparison to the damage caused by trying to salvage the farming industry. <a href="http://mises.org/rothbard/agd/chapter8.asp#new_deal_farm_program">Leading the way</a> was the Federal Farm Board (FFB), which was setup before the crash.<br /><br />The FFB began with $500 million dollars dedicated for loans to farmers. After the Great Crash, prices for agricultural products, like most consumer goods, took a nose-dive. Farmers complained that they couldn’t turn a profit. The FFB was then placed in the awkward position of trying to keep farmers alive while raising the prices of their goods. In order to accomplish the latter, they tried to limit farmers’ output by buying and storing huge quantities of agric<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF1c-rUSTKeCT8M36xbKpiDoKU7EM56UjfyTFO9wMZJidoQiOdS79pVoB1sST6JNKcxv-kfvKQPs2kSut2xsmPqnOj9OHo5L0fLsUuZUQJpPgr90SZWjNULVuB-faMG6j_mGEjUqLaGw/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF1c-rUSTKeCT8M36xbKpiDoKU7EM56UjfyTFO9wMZJidoQiOdS79pVoB1sST6JNKcxv-kfvKQPs2kSut2xsmPqnOj9OHo5L0fLsUuZUQJpPgr90SZWjNULVuB-faMG6j_mGEjUqLaGw/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354394343712949842" border="0" /></a>ulture goods, encouraging farmers not to farm, and going so far as to encourage the destruction of farmland. In 1930 it even tried to raise cotton prices by seizing 1.25 million bales of cotton for 1 year; this had no effect on the price.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tangibility of Services</span><br /><br />I imagine that before the Great Depression, one could make the same argument against the foreseeable manufacturing revolution as one can make today against the upcoming service-based economy: Services are non-essential and an economy cannot be built on such intangibles.<br /><br />On the contrary, the only tangibles in any economy are supply and demand. This holds regardless of how concrete a given product is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lIeZXJXcUcdifW92AIGXqH4HCXxFRi0VObnFPq06u2jD2KD0CCZkIBzn8iGQbfT89zZsH-f7OqlsJVeQQKPZF0m-j4K1OFMjgfmVnPiQQm4oEKB0O9emxBa7tolhEPORc_bmAh1b1hQ/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lIeZXJXcUcdifW92AIGXqH4HCXxFRi0VObnFPq06u2jD2KD0CCZkIBzn8iGQbfT89zZsH-f7OqlsJVeQQKPZF0m-j4K1OFMjgfmVnPiQQm4oEKB0O9emxBa7tolhEPORc_bmAh1b1hQ/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354395250220553410" border="0" /></a>Part of the confusion has to do with what, exactly, we mean by services. At times its distinction from manufacturing is blurry. People are also quick to point to failing service sectors – advertising can be lucrative, but its success is strongly tied to that of the overall economy; journalism, another quintessentially American industry, has received a heavy blow; and IT support is overly prone to outsourcing.<br /><br />These smaller service sectors may reveal some clues, but the central veins of a service-based economy – as key today as auto making became after the Great Depression – are healthcare and education. As intangible as services may seem, the modern American cannot live without these 2 services. They are the bread-and-butter of a service economy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Healthcare & Education</span><br /><br />The rising cost of healthcare and education is heavily debated. Regardless of where you side, it can be agreed upon that a large portion of the cost resides in systematic inefficiencies linked to public policy. At the same time, the mere fact that Americans continue to pay such high costs for healthcare and education is testament to their growing importance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCQ72FlU230YYmRpma50fyoyw5Y1sMmL8WnsgPrNIU7q2uqugSQUIf7_5zM05zjsqKo1NKefAjndk6Wk9-8yNnuYNeWRE5ntknpAWO031dTyKJ5DQFr9FIDBdLwPxYESAFkMTBkyzQU4/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCQ72FlU230YYmRpma50fyoyw5Y1sMmL8WnsgPrNIU7q2uqugSQUIf7_5zM05zjsqKo1NKefAjndk6Wk9-8yNnuYNeWRE5ntknpAWO031dTyKJ5DQFr9FIDBdLwPxYESAFkMTBkyzQU4/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354396408778379186" border="0" /></a>The importance of these services is forgotten when pundits speak only of the rising “costs” of healthcare and education, although it is forgotten for a good reason. In the final quarter of 2007, for instance, Apple reported revenues of $3.4 billion from iPod sales; and yet you wouldn’t say that during those 3 months the iPod cost the nation $3.4 billion. Yet by means of contrast, what remains alarming about healthcare and education is that, however you look at it, we haven't found a way to let them thrive. Some sectors do flou<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZg80hrkhg_s8lS_RNRHztkQfy_KDbkIgfRVPGBCupHGehkey1gNnTET4bgGJPJve8Ojq-mkUwjMgw2ZRTsD2dtAtj-iilVnGoKri3PvFe4qI4giAFpEvq3AxGWcRKxgeQVjTiiMOeXe4/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZg80hrkhg_s8lS_RNRHztkQfy_KDbkIgfRVPGBCupHGehkey1gNnTET4bgGJPJve8Ojq-mkUwjMgw2ZRTsD2dtAtj-iilVnGoKri3PvFe4qI4giAFpEvq3AxGWcRKxgeQVjTiiMOeXe4/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354397209963528290" border="0" /></a>rish, but on the whole the industries really do “cost” the economy quite a lot of money.<br /><br />Our current problem is that we haven’t figured out a way to integrate these areas into the economy. The question is not “how do we minimize the costs health care and education upon the economy?”, it’s “how do we make them a part of the economy?” Lots of government regulation and subsidies, I suspect, aren’t the answer. But either way the debate is too <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5vflN-1BagvooKGJZfgHbHwF2ccl8kdMJrIgJAtaFUIZqeGkmuyQ6KuO81ecUrwcTBoA-BO_A9jcJ6nf7iDK6iKfTICFF8vl7IxO4MZTdlqfbv-xyEh2nFieCIYi993HNoWlcibmYyo/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5vflN-1BagvooKGJZfgHbHwF2ccl8kdMJrIgJAtaFUIZqeGkmuyQ6KuO81ecUrwcTBoA-BO_A9jcJ6nf7iDK6iKfTICFF8vl7IxO4MZTdlqfbv-xyEh2nFieCIYi993HNoWlcibmYyo/s320/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354399190248478994" border="0" /></a>focused on minimizing their negative impact.<br /><br />The success of the automobile industry hinged on not only better cars, but on cheaper cars as well – this was the famous recipe to Ford’s success, that he was able to tap an economy of scale. In contrast, healthcare and education in the US are, by any measure, diseconomies of scale. And yet as <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm">national employment</a> continues to decline - with manufacturing taking the biggest hit - service-based employment is growing substantially, and <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm">projections</a> suggest that it will continue to accelerate with healthcare and education leading the way. Looking forward, it’s hard to imagine a successful future economy without these 2 industries on board.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_____________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photos: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotcherry/534365742/">CROP CIRCLE MAKER - Matthew Williams</a>, 06/07/2007, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotcherry/">Mark Berry</a>; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/paraflyer/2291584399/">USA 2005 (October 1st) Nevada, Reno, National Automobile Museum</a>, 02/25/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/paraflyer/">Paraflyer</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/2860050075/">The Causes of the Great Depression/FDR Memorial Site</a>, 09/15/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/">Tony the Misfit</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2756382660/">2008AUG121654</a>, 08/12/2009, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/">bootload</a>; (5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gunnar-ries/3404575516/">Gesundheit</a>, 04/01/2009, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gunnar-ries/">Gunnar Ries</a>; (6)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cokeeorg/384860956/">iPod Family</a>, 02/09/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cokeeorg/">CokeeOrg</a>; (7)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicklebean/2087463847/">Class</a>, 12/04/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicklebean/">Nik Lee</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-30120883557132259752009-06-12T22:56:00.025-04:002009-06-13T15:17:52.200-04:00Honing Capitalism - BAC vs. FedPolitical rhetoric has moved beyond socialism vs. capitalism. Instead, it centers on how to best hone capitalism for the common good. This insight comes directly from Barrack Obama’s autobiography. And in that context, it might just be semantics, replacing the term “socialism” with “honing capitalism for the common good”. The main difference, however, is that people will often have a definitive stance on socia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHvgBkcOmHCfZqdJBnEzWSKXtJ_ZIgyw-WqQm_kNiMHNTk3X-YBNlDe1LBVstFqBWxfYenIcEq7u4FMzrwEizDOqD3zY7eqJ2NR2soxxD1H9KlcIuoj7IZJNNBU_7mrm7N4VDqifZjs0/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHvgBkcOmHCfZqdJBnEzWSKXtJ_ZIgyw-WqQm_kNiMHNTk3X-YBNlDe1LBVstFqBWxfYenIcEq7u4FMzrwEizDOqD3zY7eqJ2NR2soxxD1H9KlcIuoj7IZJNNBU_7mrm7N4VDqifZjs0/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346635441973140642" border="0" /></a>lism; but no one quite knows how to hone capitalism for the common good. This is why the Bank of America / Federal Bank <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/business/12bank.html?ref=global-home">scandal</a> has emerged as bar none the most fascinating subplot of the financial collapse.<br /><br />The basics of the scandal have been unfolding for some time: In September, BAC announced plans to acquire Merrill Lynch (ML). As the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPN81yQqAW73iyHDpRQYLqoFoEgCQ38cygAX_KnKtk_b1s5Gzy2vG-SevCseSPtHu2CbvBa4q8AWIE7Lg8G8Y1NMMzCsPAJsVRPTMjjVnMlD8ACWCD7aVbHH6LTG7gHrVXeG4NGAvx4sY/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPN81yQqAW73iyHDpRQYLqoFoEgCQ38cygAX_KnKtk_b1s5Gzy2vG-SevCseSPtHu2CbvBa4q8AWIE7Lg8G8Y1NMMzCsPAJsVRPTMjjVnMlD8ACWCD7aVbHH6LTG7gHrVXeG4NGAvx4sY/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346637137534828450" border="0" /></a>crisis worsened in the winter, BAC considered backing out based on ML’s projected 4th quarter losses. Paulson (previous US Treasury Secretary) and Bernanke (current Fed Chairman) pressured BAC to go through with the deal, threatening to withhold bailout should the economy worsen. BAC complied completing the deal around New Years. 2 weeks later, ML announced astronomical quarterly losses of about $20 billion. This outraged BAC shareholders who blamed CEO Ken Lewis, and Lewis in turn blamed Paulson and Bernanke. On top of all this, recently uncovered <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE5596Q620090610?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews">emails</a> from the Fed show that they applied much more pressure to BAC than was previously thought, going so far as to threaten to remove Lewis. In the meanwhile, BAC, unsurprisingly, has received upwards of $50 billion in bailout funds, along with guarantees of twice that should they face future losses.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wS19P-gYluaHexEbRwWeLev4jhs6c_Yh5OvRXbKRSKfS46vRDWCeyQlzACi01meaViRK0KxxxOrnSrNYRCemzctlb1wNaJcMULRGn8O8uNZzYFuv0er_f3yzuYRotKdS78MSEXuAq-Y/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wS19P-gYluaHexEbRwWeLev4jhs6c_Yh5OvRXbKRSKfS46vRDWCeyQlzACi01meaViRK0KxxxOrnSrNYRCemzctlb1wNaJcMULRGn8O8uNZzYFuv0er_f3yzuYRotKdS78MSEXuAq-Y/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346638083638289554" border="0" /></a>Bernanke and Pualson justified their actions as necessary to avoid widescale financial collapse. Afterall the failure of The Bank of the United States catalyzed the Great Depression in 1930. And it is thought that in order to avoid another Great Depression, we must prevent such large scale failures.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhN3XRbOYnw7Du03hMwAxbJd1oNVMBgGRhvpl16Ib2TKCMkgEGK2bESeDHnIfadSgx-0EF8fF7KvHRlYyn-x6FF6Gfkh5ZZhS-WUkVfFnnzw6bPfERX52v8sC9Xh0tfIiBwLMWUMgj3g/s1600-h/3.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhN3XRbOYnw7Du03hMwAxbJd1oNVMBgGRhvpl16Ib2TKCMkgEGK2bESeDHnIfadSgx-0EF8fF7KvHRlYyn-x6FF6Gfkh5ZZhS-WUkVfFnnzw6bPfERX52v8sC9Xh0tfIiBwLMWUMgj3g/s320/3.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346640251261412226" border="0" /></a><br />There is one view of history that says it’s determined by large-scale historical events. If you could’ve prevented the event, this line of thought goes, you’d have prevented its consequences. A more subtle view sees large historical events as the effect, rather than cause, of underlying social movement. Going by the latter, it doesn’t matter which large scale events you might prevent, because the underlying problem stays the same.<br /><br />The BAC/ML merger didn't benefit the greater good at BAC's expense. In some ways, it has made the whole system worse. Going into the crisis, BAC was not only the healthiest bank in America, it belonged to a rare breed of successful commercial banks doing business with tens of millions of everyday people. Loading it up with ML's debt was the equivalent of further dragging down our banking system's best fruits with its worst apples. (Ironically, in 1933 the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/glass_steagall_act_1933/index.html">Glass Stegal act</a> attempted to hone capitalism by doing the opposite, forcing the separation of commercial and investment banking.)<br /><br />The underlying story of the financial crisis is that institutions which were too big to fail misread their risks and were too interconnected to each other. Fair enough. But to the degree that separate institutions are indeed separate, forcing BAC to merge with ML is simply perpetuating the original problem (of interrelated systemic risk) albeit to the nth degree. Instead of cutting our losses with ML and maintaining one great bank, we have a formerly great bank forced to remain on life-support from the government.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrEy6f133c3xNEspg1q_OEvRLVB1ezmoI7-opgI2wq24kKSEUPYZXudgA1Fx0IrxUEzgMBPlwSj2VeHexkFCrR1cWLIt1J1QdqoPguL3cEMhROWQEnTOcxPVMO7Zqa7zZyO96zb-gDoc/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrEy6f133c3xNEspg1q_OEvRLVB1ezmoI7-opgI2wq24kKSEUPYZXudgA1Fx0IrxUEzgMBPlwSj2VeHexkFCrR1cWLIt1J1QdqoPguL3cEMhROWQEnTOcxPVMO7Zqa7zZyO96zb-gDoc/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346639512498767122" border="0" /></a><br />Public bewilderment towards the financial crisis stems partly from the fact that no one quite knows what to do. It makes one nostalgic for the 1980’s when things were as simple – at least in retrospect - as Reaganism and Thatcherism vs. Socialsim. Current economic debate - in contrast to the public’s partisan divide on Obama approval ratings - has become less polarized and ideological, more ambiguous and murky, and more important all at the same time. As Greenspan – a self-described Republican-libertarian - pointed out, his job was similar to those of communist central planners, only he was controlling a relatively smaller piece of the economy.<br /><br />It’s a point worth repeating that the current depression is more complex than most of us can wrap our minds around. And it reveals one of democracy’s flaws, which is that running a country requires more detailed knowledge than is commonly held by the public. Our successful economic recovery - similar to the post-WWII recovery following the Great Depression - is likely to leave the public with few lasting insights about the economy or how the world works. It’s in this panicked context that we see such strange behavior as the Fed’s pressure to force the BAC/ML merger – a scandal occurring at the main nerve of the crisis, the lasting effects of which are unlikely to be well known by the public and experts alike.<br /><br />What makes this scandal unique is that it's not quite a financial one, and it is a political scandal but not in the regular sense. What, in the end, did Paulson and Bernanke have to gain by forcing the merger? It wasn't money, votes, or even popularity. It didn't spark public outrage like the Madoff or AIG bonus scandals. And the perpetrators weren't guided by partisan or ideological grounds as in the case of Acorn's voter fraud. Unlike any of the previous examples, the perpetrators' motives are not immediately obvious; you have to sit back and think about it before understanding why Paulson and Bernanke felt the need pressure BAC into the merger. And you also have to sit back and think about it before understanding why Paulson and Bernanke's actions were wrong.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_______________<br /><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattwright/281711369/">Obama at the Texas book festival</a>, 10/28/2006, by Mr. Wright; (2)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/neubie/465250516/">Bank of America Logo</a>, 08/19/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/neubie/">Neubie</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riney/2898954937/">fail</a>, 09/29/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/riney/">rin3y</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc/133751960/">Joan of Arc</a>, 08/23/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc/133751960/">dbking</a>;(5)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31216636@N00/2805592292/">Aghast</a>, 08/28/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31216636@N00/">Daveness98</a>.kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-37118261000371897852009-05-09T15:31:00.005-04:002009-05-13T22:15:30.428-04:00Complexity vs Simplicity...and SpecializationSince I was a kid I’ve had an ongoing debate in my head about whether the world is complicated and hard to understand or whether it’s actually quite simple and straightforward.<br /><br />I know, it’s a silly question, and of course, the answer is relative to your perspective, or to the question you’re asking, or to what you’re trying to get out of things. Still, though, whenever my head goes down that road of thought – the one that deems the question silly – it’s clearly coming from the analytic – maybe read complex – part of my brain that wants to break everything down and attach qualifiers to everything it sees. That’s the pro-complex side in the debate talking. It deems not only that the world is complex, but, more importantly, that this is whole question is worthless and unfocused because we have to get back to work and figure more things out.<br /><br />Nonetheless, this little debate has stayed with me for quite some time – almost in a nostalgic sense, like a pop song that you like when you’re young, and as you return to it throughout life it takes on new meanings. I’m not sure what’s fueling it. I think it’s a nagging feeling that life is pretty simple, but we just make things artificially complicated for ourselves. That’s the pro-simple side of the debate. Recently I’ve been erring towards the simple side. Maybe it’s because I need to think less and do more.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/59NNupminV8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/59NNupminV8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />But as I think about it more, the problem seems to be that when you look into phenomena, you can either raise more questions or consolidate phenomena. On some level many of us are familiar with both of these outcomes, and at times they go hand-in-hand. The ability to raise more questions is what drives knowledge – it’s that section at the end of a research paper that states future directions for your research; more importantly, it’s that intuitive feeling that the more you learn, the more you discover you don’t know.<br /><br />And yet we’ve all had that feeling where we solve a problem, life is better, and, well, that’s that.<br /><br />Although if the drive for knowledge ever became complacent in its footsteps – as if it were to accomplish some new feat, and say to itself, “That’s just what I was looking for. We’ve made such great progress that I feel like I can take a break for a while and bask in the glory of my achievements” – well, then it would have stopped a long time ago.<br /><br />At the same time, this endless drive forward produces a more fragmentary and disconnected picture of things, where further endeavors become more exacting and less relevant. We’re back at the complicated side of things.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdc7fawYGd6pdeY-fRSRqm1pw-XstNIU8bsWo3Um9x8eHhHRrxTPdM5YzKx_3CRAskJZhGaLO1Gi4CuLlF1w5l0HCsu7_s6MHUNRPA7JxAdbwbfYdFAuj4ck8pgZzMQWO8dm4E1AEccM/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 416px; height: 78px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdc7fawYGd6pdeY-fRSRqm1pw-XstNIU8bsWo3Um9x8eHhHRrxTPdM5YzKx_3CRAskJZhGaLO1Gi4CuLlF1w5l0HCsu7_s6MHUNRPA7JxAdbwbfYdFAuj4ck8pgZzMQWO8dm4E1AEccM/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333903584327150354" border="0" /></a><br />The saving grace is that all of these bits of explanations will eventually be consolidated, somehow sometime. The individual study of such disconnected areas as the color of pigeons, speciation of dogs, beaver dam-building, and barnacles might leave one with an incoherent view of things, but it left Darwin with the puzzle pieces to propose evolution by means of natural selection. For every system of Ptolemaic complexity I presume there must be a Copernican revolution waiting on the other end to fix things. It’s just that the turnaround time can be slow, and that the whole thing only becomes obvious in retrospect.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFL5pBal4mdAiUtzzdUSWBiFC15CNnk_Oj26rDMsXgkN6880Cbb9QxP35o4l2WdKGpHuDDBYHouAdjkdbzQkjX2puvtV9I161d0mPklRpv0sEL36Sa8Oe3HcQulVD3kuuos13AxeiARs/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 83px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFL5pBal4mdAiUtzzdUSWBiFC15CNnk_Oj26rDMsXgkN6880Cbb9QxP35o4l2WdKGpHuDDBYHouAdjkdbzQkjX2puvtV9I161d0mPklRpv0sEL36Sa8Oe3HcQulVD3kuuos13AxeiARs/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333904466424647170" border="0" /></a>Most importantly however different fields are more or less open to change, and this is where that nagging pro-simple feeling – that we’re making the world artificially complex – returns. On the one hand, the modern sub-division of scientific fields might actually reflect true scientific progress along with the real nature of the things. On the other hand, there may be artificial or economic reasons for keeping things so complicated. Afterall, the time-consuming credentials required to practice science or medicine inherently pushes those professions towards further specialization. This specialization might not be a bad thing, as per Adam Smith the modern economy is based on it, but it can become suspect when – unlike private or less regulated areas – the costs of entry are greater than the out-going benefits, creating <a href="http://cntrly.blogspot.com/2009/01/healthcare-diseconomy-of-scale.html">diseconomies of scale like our health care</a> system (or, more questionably, like science...I'll have to think on that one some more).<br /><br />From another perspective, the pro-simple side of me keeps wondering what that Copernican revolution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzru6nPbqIOwe1YDgFfCwNYIyeVUGPmB7_O4OpFV_5ibxSHhL9AwVrElhOgL1nG2iEQXFaG783gLhaAGj9NcEorucJ3hlM-uBkkGhyphenhyphen9qwX8L_zGON4JxjKFOWrZn5f73j8qgiuZiyfuFU/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzru6nPbqIOwe1YDgFfCwNYIyeVUGPmB7_O4OpFV_5ibxSHhL9AwVrElhOgL1nG2iEQXFaG783gLhaAGj9NcEorucJ3hlM-uBkkGhyphenhyphen9qwX8L_zGON4JxjKFOWrZn5f73j8qgiuZiyfuFU/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333906882195341922" border="0" /></a> – or even just a bit of genuine scientific consolidation – would look like in various fields. Its benefits I’d think would have to outweigh the pressures pushing towards specialization.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />______________<br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1), (2), Metamorphosis series by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher">MC Escher</a>; (3) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roryfinneren/2307021211/">S'more Peeps!</a>, 03/03/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roryfinneren/">Rory Finnerman</a>;<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NNupminV8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fprofile.php%3Fid%3D1049552950%26ref%3Dprofile&feature=player_embedded">Music video</a>, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBeatles56">The Beatles 56 Channel</a>, of the song "We Can Work it Out" by <a href="http://www.beatles.com/core/home/">The Beatles</a>, released as a 1965 <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jzfqxqekldde">single</a>.kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-22962317889792299402009-04-19T20:48:00.013-04:002009-04-22T22:09:56.059-04:00Peep Diorama<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TU628mEUka-NlDe0YqmA8dSFETmXYBPtZSh7VYS6ehOoo0x6FNSLdA3ktmBhT3ykl-Eojgr3cPlb_cubE1Awuhw-Z1fZ57oQTdSPs4TXtwH8qfbHfn6NfVX2Xe08gIjFtsuIunU0wuQ-/s1600-h/.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TU628mEUka-NlDe0YqmA8dSFETmXYBPtZSh7VYS6ehOoo0x6FNSLdA3ktmBhT3ykl-Eojgr3cPlb_cubE1Awuhw-Z1fZ57oQTdSPs4TXtwH8qfbHfn6NfVX2Xe08gIjFtsuIunU0wuQ-/s320/.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326573114917552258" border="0" /></a>The Washington Post recently had their 3rd annual peeps diorama contest. It consisted of over one thousand artistic renditions of peeps placed in human-like situations. See the gallery slide-show <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/04/10/GA2009041001969.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The kitschy Easter marshmallow treats, dressed for the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040903818.html?sid=ST2009041001087">contest</a> like humans and placed in culturally resonant context, are surprisingly entertaining. I can't quite put my finger on it. And I hesitate to spin too much interpretation as to overkill the impact of the art. But I can't help but mention in passing of how it speaks to something unique about human perception; to the smallness of our existence pitted against the grandness of our imagination; to our ability to laugh at ourselves; and to the way that inspiration sometimes comes from such strange unpredictable sources - as in this case, from <a href="http://www.justborn.com/">Just Born</a>, a traditional candy manufacturer in Pennsylvania.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsJ7IX0RpQ9INO5ltUltZ-WyaRGF4q3aOOHQcqO9x5rb5KKrnuZ3poiO-n-WO7jbmYMhwzIz9fmED7gAXOER-5lnrXP_0ve-sapTAvo7rdPqQ0T9bu9M5fxeyXnqvtwVbFc67zRrXYrHr/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsJ7IX0RpQ9INO5ltUltZ-WyaRGF4q3aOOHQcqO9x5rb5KKrnuZ3poiO-n-WO7jbmYMhwzIz9fmED7gAXOER-5lnrXP_0ve-sapTAvo7rdPqQ0T9bu9M5fxeyXnqvtwVbFc67zRrXYrHr/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326571497841693570" border="0" /></a>On a tangential note, I'm reminded of <a href="http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/index.html">Virginia Postrell</a>'s thesis that there is less of a dichotomy between substance and style than modern society would have you believe. Our modern economy strives to tailor products to willing consumers; and it does this in an infinite number of different ways. The traditional intellectual view is that such is the result of society's vain materialist excesses. Yet it's easy enough to criticize <span style="font-style: italic;">the establishment</span> when you're talking about other people's tastes in general. But in reality, true value is created when you buy a product that is particularly suited to your needs and tastes.<br /><br />This forms the argument of Postrell's light 2004 book, <a href="http://www.dynamist.com/tsos/index.html">The Substance of Style</a>, which suggests that people of modern Western society are more developed, sophisticated, and enlightened than our social critics would have us believe. This isn't so much in spite of our <span style="font-style: italic;">materialist</span> nature; rather, in one sense, it's exactly because of it.<br /><br />Beauty afterall is truth, and <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/101/625.html">truth beauty</a>; and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And though you've probably heard those 2 cliches a million times, they fit together quite well to form a line of inference. In the meantime, I entreat you to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/04/10/GA2009041001969.html">view</a> beauty and truth from the brown-speckled eye of the peep.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_____________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/specialkrb/3248373348/">another peep on the wall</a>, 02/09/2009, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/specialkrb/">specialkrb</a>; (2)Cover of <a href="http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/index.html">Virginia Postrell</a>'s 2004 book, <a href="http://www.dynamist.com/tsos/index.html">The Substance of Style</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-42307779164748455422009-04-11T01:41:00.019-04:002009-04-12T01:41:26.785-04:00Thru Fragments of Cinema: Southwestern SunshineThe new movie <a href="http://www.sunshinecleaning-themovie.com/#/home">Sunshine Cleaning</a> is a real Southwestern film: Comedy, drama, slice-of-life, it can’t quite make up its mind, but it all kind of fits together. It’s well-made, but more than anything it made me miss the Southwest.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJHB5V2SwD6cm9s5u8TlLvFSIIoIQfDrsEctcwJ2SQMli4KWg2I2jWCfB8U1-dZJOf_ObvHxlteg-3Ro08RW16mDGwQEZMXcvELY8CpwRbBWt55HT6f0klEsc1XPQqGRUE0Ci_KTxMKc/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJHB5V2SwD6cm9s5u8TlLvFSIIoIQfDrsEctcwJ2SQMli4KWg2I2jWCfB8U1-dZJOf_ObvHxlteg-3Ro08RW16mDGwQEZMXcvELY8CpwRbBWt55HT6f0klEsc1XPQqGRUE0Ci_KTxMKc/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323290353329441602" border="0" /></a><br />It’s weird how some places can carve themselves into your heart. It might have been the time and circumstance under which I was in the Southwest. There’s always an understanding that life is an inward journal – that when you experience some new place you’re finding something about yourself. But it is strange how places - being external - can etch themselves upon your personality as if they were people themselves.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wf5S-1tJlg0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wf5S-1tJlg0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />That’s how Santa Fe hit me, for the few years I was there. Growing up in the East, each summer we visited one portion of that part of the country for a week, but living in one of them was completely different. I expected that after living in any given city – particularly in America – that after some time, it would just be the same as every other city. Maybe I had that impression from Kerouac’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road">On the Road</a> - in which lively characters impetuously zigzag across America, searching for something, settling in, getting restless, and moving on, and devouring the American highways in the process.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_zBsZ8SkBLl4nLIeyDlsE7C0fjV6wsd_GleoiP_737dcWK3xGe65KaESv1qJQ__0XafrJ0GNXszTZBIHb929xO9LDiAym3uoch9C4kaI1aQV54U3dLURv4yH6byng3D61qoof2RwXDU/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_zBsZ8SkBLl4nLIeyDlsE7C0fjV6wsd_GleoiP_737dcWK3xGe65KaESv1qJQ__0XafrJ0GNXszTZBIHb929xO9LDiAym3uoch9C4kaI1aQV54U3dLURv4yH6byng3D61qoof2RwXDU/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323292091524293378" border="0" /></a>That might've been a misread of On the Road. To my surprise Santa Fe never quite wore in as I expected it to. The sunsets were one of the first things I noticed. You could see far over the land. The flat dessert and lack of buildings was somehow easier on the eye. I expected to get used to the sun setting. But so many evenings it was completely unique and beautiful as if it was God’s blank canvas. Its wonder might have sunk in some, but never completely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgtSye7KDNfrCeG3A04DTDPOy-fryZfSFeoTtWMhR3KMMLUWji_nL4QsI-C0kn0JdJn1j1gVQkq0zs01Eyx7ryMeA13ye8YO9Kg7ardVnvYurHIKf2zIOyOfOY2yM3dWY6FBF4JEpYkU/s1600-h/2.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgtSye7KDNfrCeG3A04DTDPOy-fryZfSFeoTtWMhR3KMMLUWji_nL4QsI-C0kn0JdJn1j1gVQkq0zs01Eyx7ryMeA13ye8YO9Kg7ardVnvYurHIKf2zIOyOfOY2yM3dWY6FBF4JEpYkU/s320/2.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323294837175146418" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Around then it struck me – at first explicitly through conversations with people from that side of the county - that America’s landscape is one of its prominent characteristics. At the time I was accustomed to conceptualizing America as a political construct, delineated by Democrat, Republican, and GDP. It was as if it never occurred to me that it was a <span style="font-style: italic;">country</span> as well. The diversity of the American landscape really is one of its most beautiful and unique features.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9fmXV5Iu0KAHMc3Wiqfe4oPpA5qUBKP0Mb0I02LBTuTKBEloEqncoEPDyZ1gsLX1qD7pooWYcj90fViCN8QhBLXisiKtE4K7sZ9E3-Y1upkDTBaSMpRUbKdMN11ozoCCNhUVfMlzc5g/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9fmXV5Iu0KAHMc3Wiqfe4oPpA5qUBKP0Mb0I02LBTuTKBEloEqncoEPDyZ1gsLX1qD7pooWYcj90fViCN8QhBLXisiKtE4K7sZ9E3-Y1upkDTBaSMpRUbKdMN11ozoCCNhUVfMlzc5g/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323293998647774530" border="0" /></a>There were other more subtle differences out West. No one was quite so worried about being on time. Where I grew up, mileage markers on the side of the highway are often posted every tenth of a mile; makers out there are posted every mile. Driving on the interstate you might see signs for your final destination when you have over 500 miles to go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7-7aPhXa25knlc1HYy3OWG3B07de4ApAK6mC6gJr1SSln5jcMd5qDgHHSdwie7EMd2Td_vb3icxPcvGDGh0NruaLJFargBXQ8W63C4fn8NSXt21Eq0p1xpsW0kJM-9ZAr4BtxIbSFxI/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7-7aPhXa25knlc1HYy3OWG3B07de4ApAK6mC6gJr1SSln5jcMd5qDgHHSdwie7EMd2Td_vb3icxPcvGDGh0NruaLJFargBXQ8W63C4fn8NSXt21Eq0p1xpsW0kJM-9ZAr4BtxIbSFxI/s400/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323296092909890658" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It’s not bad just different. You learn that sometimes there’s something to be said for a lack of precision. Afterall, when you're in the desert there’s no need to mark the highway every tenth of a mile <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXsoQrJ02kvdzE1DcbI6qNBAvy0T0n0yx4s6gCcb2s-tmdlVdxMZtEf5ozogQe4L4XUwiiezdQ1o-loE840CLJmbYJpDMcXbHwNbeuLuSRB7VOdIzNgLTXewD2-YPIKPMIDwmEjAK3Ls/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXsoQrJ02kvdzE1DcbI6qNBAvy0T0n0yx4s6gCcb2s-tmdlVdxMZtEf5ozogQe4L4XUwiiezdQ1o-loE840CLJmbYJpDMcXbHwNbeuLuSRB7VOdIzNgLTXewD2-YPIKPMIDwmEjAK3Ls/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323296850764251170" border="0" /></a>. Things seemed different when the horizon appeared endless. There was a different sort of beauty. I noticed a different sort of beauty to women as well.<br /><br />Sunshine Cleaning captures a small piece of that: the wind-swept prettiness of the lead; the way the plot doesn’t wrap up perfectly, but still feels adequate; the loose connections between the characters.<br /><br />Other films capture the Southwest too. Or, it’s not that they capture it, but they depict it, and think like it. These sorts of films have solidified in my mind as belonging to their own genre. <a href="http://www.wim-wenders.com/movies/movies_spec/paristexas/paris_texas.htm">Paris, Texas</a> remains my favorite, which includes more panoramas of the scenery. <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/taoofsteve">The Tao of Steve</a> is another. They’re not all great films. Others like <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/offthemap">Off the Map</a> have struck me as too loopy. Sometimes the Southwest was as well. It’s just open, that’s all. Even Scorsese’s classic <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/casino?q=casino">Casino</a> gets at it.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tR8wiOzDePc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tR8wiOzDePc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I visited Las Vegas once and was awe-struck by how this area of lights, entertainment, and mischief seemed plop in the middle of desert. But I guess where else are you going to put it?<br /><br />Centered around gambling – you can lose your lifesavings all at once if you’re so inclined - the city almost has a magical feel, until you stay out late a couple of nights and see the intensity of some of the losing ones. You can see it in their eyes. It was uglier in the smaller hotel-casinos located in neighboring Death Valley. There you don’t even have any of th<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPhozgGH_3duwXYS5We_d6NjXuLrw5FTMSZr-02bJBf5OnAawG4irfk68ORcu0HcLxiFvNciDcov0LIWf6Zhcj-jG4ZUPi-gTT63BuyXiHeuPWsCujzye2339rTO54rmA7hMAgAR5N0A/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPhozgGH_3duwXYS5We_d6NjXuLrw5FTMSZr-02bJBf5OnAawG4irfk68ORcu0HcLxiFvNciDcov0LIWf6Zhcj-jG4ZUPi-gTT63BuyXiHeuPWsCujzye2339rTO54rmA7hMAgAR5N0A/s320/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323299806458027426" border="0" /></a>e lights and show. And the whole casino would be empty at 1am except for sometimes one or two desperate gamblers who are still pissing away all they’ve got. That side of it all made me feel dirty for just being there.<br /><br />The city lies opposite – figuratively, and almost geographically - of the Mormon Salt Lake City. It’s almost as if it's there so that when the Utah citizens feel a bit too religiously pure they can soil themselves a bit, or when the gamblers are too in a rut then can cleanse themselves a bit among the Mormons. It’s probably not really like that.<br /><br />Still though the most impressive aspect of the city is its location – as if an oasis of bubbling human life and distraction and sin in the middle of an infinite nowhere.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">_______________<br />Media(in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1) <a href="http://www.sunshinecleaning-themovie.com/#/downloads">Promo</a> from the 2009 film Sunshine Cleaning; (2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22789198@N04/2191166628">Jack Kerourac</a>, 01/13/2008, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tompalumbo/">tompalumbo</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/javierst/1209813298/">Santa Fe 2</a>, 08/22/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/javierst/">Javier ST</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergioblanconegro/3116741276/">On the road....</a>, 12/17/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergioblanconegro/">Spejo Blano Negro</a>; (5)Highway sign; (6)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tompalumbo/2654322954/">Hammock IV</a>, 07/09/2008, also by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tompalumbo/">tompalumbo</a>; (7)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracylee/190314936/">Vegas at Night from the Sky</a>, 07/15/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracylee/">Starr Gazr</a>.<br /><br /><br />Video: (1) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf5S-1tJlg0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fq%3Dsunshine%2520cleaning%2520trailer%26oe%3Dutf-8%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficia&feature=player_embedded">Trailer</a> for the 2009 film <a href="http://www.sunshinecleaning-themovie.com/#/home">Sunshine Cleaning</a>; (2) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR8wiOzDePc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dparis%252C%2520texas%2520trailer%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwv&feature=player_embedded">Trailer</a>, from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/AustralianRoadshow">AustralianRoadShow channel</a>, for the 1984 film <a href="http://www.wim-wenders.com/movies/movies_spec/paristexas/paris_texas.htm">Paris, Texas</a>.<br /></span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-29218266894478490752009-04-02T22:26:00.021-04:002009-04-04T11:19:40.671-04:00Lateral Transmissions: Creationism & The Scientific Tower of BabelA few days ago I ran into the grocery store just to pick up some milk. I realized I could also use cereal, and juice, and a few other items. Since I hadn't picked up a bin, I stood at the checkout line straining to carry each individual item, looking like a buffoon. If I'd have just picked up a b<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX4XQKNG6IOf8w-lYGSn3BFBDJUEKTQx1Els4lxZO1BCR9YF1wVgfsCckZuM4OwEeFxnZTLiHYTkTiQ0vm2JGwhtHrdFZdTL4sGi3Q09c29OIgQ_QcEzLyJ05JNMG-y8Qm8FWLwZbBw8/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX4XQKNG6IOf8w-lYGSn3BFBDJUEKTQx1Els4lxZO1BCR9YF1wVgfsCckZuM4OwEeFxnZTLiHYTkTiQ0vm2JGwhtHrdFZdTL4sGi3Q09c29OIgQ_QcEzLyJ05JNMG-y8Qm8FWLwZbBw8/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320272505795312850" border="0" /></a>in, it all would've been much easier to carry. It would’ve saved me so much energy. And you know, I do this all the time, which merely doubled my feeling of buffoonery.<br /><br />On the ride back, I was chewing on a creationist argument (that an anonymous had posted <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/adaptive_complexity/creationist_code_words_voted_down_texas">here</a> at <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/"> Scientific Blogging</a>) linking God’s creation of the world to the laws of thermodynamics. The argument seemed to rest on a loose and anthropomorphic interpretation of “energy” as something more akin to “life-energy”.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyQD9zaOOmCUEzF7-d2YFtWfPdcoLA3GG7YhvNhRE2IHhn-dFIJuYvQAS_Mu-2W54T-DlPB_LioS8q-Ja8IkUaBUAb4dfA-MPz4OqC01IMRIkRmRRkYhElZQcqtHbsFBPoSIuvp0gQXY/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyQD9zaOOmCUEzF7-d2YFtWfPdcoLA3GG7YhvNhRE2IHhn-dFIJuYvQAS_Mu-2W54T-DlPB_LioS8q-Ja8IkUaBUAb4dfA-MPz4OqC01IMRIkRmRRkYhElZQcqtHbsFBPoSIuvp0gQXY/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320271973133824578" border="0" /></a><br />That’s an understandable mistake. “Energy” can be ambiguous. We have a subjective sense of energy, but then there’s the more objective scientific construct. In the grander scheme of things, picking up a bin in the grocery store wouldn’t have created new energy in the world. But by allowing me to optimize my muscles in accordance with the laws of physics, <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> would've saved energy; and for all practical purposes, I would've created it too, at least for myself, because then my muscles would've been less tired. I might’ve used the energy for some other purpose.<br /><br />The flaws in creationist arguments lie in this type of confusion between subjectivity and objectivity. We’re all grateful for human life. This is a subjective feeling, though it's present almost universally. But there’s a desire to then frame the origins of life in a manner that’s as magnanimous as our gratefulness for it. Science, on the other hand, is explicitly built upon a strict separation of subject and object.<br /><br />Creationism's objective/subjective mistake is understandable. The desire to commit it is as tangible as my feeling of “creating energy” had I simply grabbed a bin ahead of time at the grocery store. Afterall, to me that energy is quite real, and I could’ve spent it any number of more productive ways. But the act of picking up a bin is in no way magnanimous, or of a degree of grandeur proportionate to its subjective value to me. In this sense, the creation of life may be as "arbitrary" as the action of shifting multiple grocery items into a bag.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beyond Creationism</span><br /><br />The paragraphs above account for creationism's starting points or axioms, which almost always stem from man’s subjective amazement of being alive, sometimes explicitly sometimes implicitly. The rest of the creationist account can be summarized in the words, “From this, it follows”.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiif1aKatslmGW6ucDT2g_rL4QeHmzBGKUSOI7yD5NPCReEFFDNUvM1_A3XXiDMpc80mAtbQScYtd6gObqECAGY0UDPhBTNiHTSFK9zkWnrxXBvXbkxo_-Kmo3E_2UwIcv9YDwHwMJeFDI/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiif1aKatslmGW6ucDT2g_rL4QeHmzBGKUSOI7yD5NPCReEFFDNUvM1_A3XXiDMpc80mAtbQScYtd6gObqECAGY0UDPhBTNiHTSFK9zkWnrxXBvXbkxo_-Kmo3E_2UwIcv9YDwHwMJeFDI/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320275021829180466" border="0" /></a><br />Herein lies the deeper mistake, which is significant because it’s shared by science as well. Godel’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_incompleteness_theorems">refutation</a> of logic set the most important tenant for contemporary philosophy. He proved that any completely logical system is inherently either non-complete or self-contradictory. “From this” it rarely does follow, but even if it did follow, and completely logically at that, then we still have little assurance that the account is correct.<br /><br />Volumes of theology are filled with the rigid application of logic on top of these sorts of religious axioms. Parallel to this in Western intellectual history is the confusion of rhetoric for logic. Going back to Ancient Greece, Socrates commonly refuted his peers by asking questions like, “What are your definitions? And how does your argument follow from them?” He would then poke dialectical holes either in those definitions, or in the inferences that were made atop them.<br /><br />This sort of debate appeared so solid that it stuck for centuries. The enlightenment championed the use of reason over all else. And logic, it was assumed, was an integral part of reason.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kyk6IhGv0WE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kyk6IhGv0WE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Ever since Godel’s theorem, logic has quietly slipped out of mainstream thought, leaving a void that has yet to be adequately filled. This is partly responsible for the rise of empiricism and the need for researchers to dirty themselves with collecting data – which is likely a step in the right direction, but these data are still analyzed using similar logical systems that aren’t immune to Godel’s diagnosis. Results to empirical studies are often given an undeserved air of objectivity, as if they were irrefutable. But fundamental errors are still often made, and they can be drastic. I elaborated more on some of these concrete errors in this <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/comments/12290/end_it_comes_down">comment</a> (at the <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/profile/patrick_lockerby">Chatterbox</a>), and in a previous <a href="http://cntrly.blogspot.com/2009/02/restoring-science.html">post</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6-OquEWTER2Vwd8R1c6MAzhOFrn6dh9HTt40gwU8ekzbH3_HZq7424VvdSnSw9G7Cup6r0L1AC1gAzA8fZXoOHGSq_zffz54odi5OGzKiq9SlLHoUoa4bUsskVAsie22XL7bCGnLgLA/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6-OquEWTER2Vwd8R1c6MAzhOFrn6dh9HTt40gwU8ekzbH3_HZq7424VvdSnSw9G7Cup6r0L1AC1gAzA8fZXoOHGSq_zffz54odi5OGzKiq9SlLHoUoa4bUsskVAsie22XL7bCGnLgLA/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320276366122804338" border="0" /></a><br />All of which is to say that science starts with more objective and thought-out axioms than religion, but its flaws in logical deduction might make it just as - or only a little less - wrong in the end.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Scientific Tower of Babel</span><br /><br />Look at history from the rule of the Church to communism. The former rule was based God, the latter based on carefully thought-out central planning. The Soviets went so far as to embrace a scientific precision in their flavor of communism, individually setting prices for up to 24 million different items. Communism was worked to almost an exact science, and it all worked in theory – and beautifully in theory some said - not un<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH08pDTAapFon2J7F3FIdXZ6ONGNC7KAmXpBOaGzZIJdXZXuBj6i2CTNebJ2IQ3QPeJ8JAQtftc36U9SfxckPQxjr1bEvBxI6DYyquR5Uc0xr8DJ8fK5tQQ4vIGZRfRzijeGu7R_tiiBw/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH08pDTAapFon2J7F3FIdXZ6ONGNC7KAmXpBOaGzZIJdXZXuBj6i2CTNebJ2IQ3QPeJ8JAQtftc36U9SfxckPQxjr1bEvBxI6DYyquR5Uc0xr8DJ8fK5tQQ4vIGZRfRzijeGu7R_tiiBw/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320281775779158338" border="0" /></a>like some of the scientific theories we have to today. Its axioms vastly differed from religion’s, as did its glorified intentions. But both failed – and drastically, and with blood on their hands – for similar reasons.<br /><br />The stakes in science today are certainly milder, but each year science plays a larger role in society and policy. The difficulty in modern day science is that there’s no funding for dissenters, which leads to a lack of proper reflection. Much of <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHzcHWmneJGxy7URlWwB_Iy1J0FMNBLrOq3kZBghoJQnB9Ra2TsOiIyss3PiVuTqjFMF2g8AtxY833tfw6YQkrFzd9Mqs9wiQ-M40ralrcY5mhfND4IdnAdj8JMcxqK2ITWNrXNTjJts/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQHzcHWmneJGxy7URlWwB_Iy1J0FMNBLrOq3kZBghoJQnB9Ra2TsOiIyss3PiVuTqjFMF2g8AtxY833tfw6YQkrFzd9Mqs9wiQ-M40ralrcY5mhfND4IdnAdj8JMcxqK2ITWNrXNTjJts/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320283177084867874" border="0" /></a>science is marred by confirmation-bias, often unchecked by the peer-review process, which has just as many holes as science itself. Without the restraints that other business endeavors have, accountability is quite difficult, and experts simply argue that the scientific results justify themselves. The picture is eerily similar to that of creationism, especially when you look at basic science, which is less chained to real world results. The more I look at it, the more I've come to question its correctness. For now it certainly seems like the most logical method to advance mankind's knowledge. But I can't shake the suspension that - similar to pedestals formerly held by religion and logic - a large portion of the scientific endeavor might prove to be an understandable mistake.<br /><br />Arguments from both sides of the creation/science debate – and when you look at the rhetoric used, it really is creationism vs. science – are partisan and acidic, with each side claiming higher ground. I’ve come to the point where I unquestionably side with evolution and science.<br /><br />But I admit unease, however, when I turn back to look at modern-day science in and of itself. It’s not that it’s “just a bunch of theories”; it’s our awkward pursuit of science; the basic assumptions that are often left unquestioned; the centrally dispersed funding (which artificially steers science in this or that direction); the non-role of dissenters (and the lack of meaningful dialogue that it creates); and in some cases, I guess it is <span style="font-style: italic;">just</span> a bunch of theories. In compiling all these factors, I worry that we maybe building our own scientific tower of babel. And while I in no way presume to have the solution, a suitable place to start might lie in an attitude of humility, not unlike the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humility#Humility_in_Christianity">sort</a> characteristic of the pious Christian.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc_xspAm0j-BJgkz3ijalLvrMWHflpJZN6gZCgrJPTjxUQbrsSaocvf-eD2_mexKKNDubNMxyQ0pXvqGi61fswjmy1rvOVB938rQL732gxGuM7u9Ltvj-1JdcbT3z-OIIlaT-7YnE560/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc_xspAm0j-BJgkz3ijalLvrMWHflpJZN6gZCgrJPTjxUQbrsSaocvf-eD2_mexKKNDubNMxyQ0pXvqGi61fswjmy1rvOVB938rQL732gxGuM7u9Ltvj-1JdcbT3z-OIIlaT-7YnE560/s400/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320285141765817762" border="0" /></a><br />-KJ<br /><br />______________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photos: (1) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckp/87599870/">2005_062_17</a>, 01/16/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckp/">chuckp</a>; (2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jef_safi/1428540902/">thε allεgory oƒ Camεra & Obscura . . </a>, 09/23/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jef_safi/">Jef Safi</a>; (3) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kurt_G%C3%B6del.jpg">Portrait of Godel</a>, 1906-1978; (4) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/3168958750/">2009/365/4 Non-Euclidian Geometry Snow Paths</a>, 01/04/2009, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/cogdog/">cogdogblog</a>; (5) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasmic/307780933/">I had to stop and look up...</a>, 11/27/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasmic/">Jasmic</a>; (6) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdine/3060838494/">cheese making</a>, 11/25/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdine/">cdine</a>; (7) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brueghel-tower-of-babel.jpg">The Tower of Babel</a>, 1563, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Brueghel_the_Elder">Peter Brueghel the Elder</a>.<br /><br />Video: (1) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyk6IhGv0WE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial%26hs%3D&feature=player_embedded%29,%2008/24/2007,%20by%20steffi51%28http://www.youtube.com/user/steffi51">Music video</a>, 08/24/2007, by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/steffi51">steffi51</a>, music by the band <a href="http://www.brainwashed.com/godspeed/">Godspeed You Black Emperor</a> from the song "Terrible Canyons of Static" on their 2000 album, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/godspeedyoublackemperor/liftyourskinnyfists">Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-80285699557194695062009-03-28T14:41:00.011-04:002009-03-28T15:17:41.115-04:00"How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?": On Teaching Evolution in Public Schools<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKs1742uJGynfBqGDZtoNUVm286lz9QlAnJvDtHsO2nK2hLUubsS876UkfhYBNLuG-Um0Y91eSRAuK4jwDcyvYZnAYWmTdN2Urs0Uyj6w7b471HIf80ug-OcwZzbu8aAwnJlr8jUjOrX0/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKs1742uJGynfBqGDZtoNUVm286lz9QlAnJvDtHsO2nK2hLUubsS876UkfhYBNLuG-Um0Y91eSRAuK4jwDcyvYZnAYWmTdN2Urs0Uyj6w7b471HIf80ug-OcwZzbu8aAwnJlr8jUjOrX0/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318296348044884866" border="0" /></a>“See the trees outside the window,” my high school English teacher once told us. “Aren’t they just so…beautiful? Trees are good for the environment. But I think they’re just pretty to look at. If people cut down trees then our city would look so …dreary.” She went on to tell us that our city had been named Tree City USA for a number of consecutive years. “I feel honored to live in Tree City USA,” she concluded.<br /><br />I attended public high school in a liberal area. In English class we learned about the virtues of planting trees and recycling. In biology we learned about compost piles. In government we learned how Hoover’s <span style="font-style: italic;">lassiz-faire</span> philosophy worsened the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogodWjj2J3w3UZHrQDqzcaFRyiYZAPfUd7EvyT6DQdCIBRYr5Vs7-Ss0xrAAzRv8TdoMFfsdOyE5z3NQCZ5wh81Afq2EwRj9uifsQobGu3L2USqrIdJxWIjTc8M6QfMqCyRNnomYYRqE/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogodWjj2J3w3UZHrQDqzcaFRyiYZAPfUd7EvyT6DQdCIBRYr5Vs7-Ss0xrAAzRv8TdoMFfsdOyE5z3NQCZ5wh81Afq2EwRj9uifsQobGu3L2USqrIdJxWIjTc8M6QfMqCyRNnomYYRqE/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318300134902125410" border="0" /></a>Great Depression, while FDR’s New Deal brought down unemployment through public works programs like the massive Hoover Dam.<br /><br />It was a secular and tolerant area of the country, so we were never told that evolution was <span style="font-style: italic;">just</span> a theory. But since then the debate over how to teach evolution in public schools has grown exponentially. As evolution becomes more ingrained in mainstream science, there's a stronger push to teach it at lower levels of education. Just recently the Texas education board narrowly <a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/adaptive_complexity/creationist_code_words_voted_down_texas">decided</a> that teachers of evolution didn’t have to present the theory’s weakness. The debate is cast as a strange hybrid of science versus religion meets separation of church and state. The real problem lies not with science or religion, but with the state. The debate is borne out of the awkward institution of public education.<br /><br />Public education is argued to be a lofty institution. And as with most lofty endeavors, its proponents use all sorts of arguments to back it: It’s a human right. It leads to social mobility. It’s a foundation of democracy – how are the people supposed to vote on issues when they’re uninformed? The truth afterall will set you free. How can we have a country where people are ignorant of the truth?<br /><br /><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:256482" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configParams=type%3Dnetwork%26vid%3D256482%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A256482%26startUri=mgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A256482" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" base="." width="512" height="319"></embed><div style="margin: 0pt; text-align: center; width: 500px; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/pink_floyd/artist.jhtml" style="color: rgb(67, 156, 216);" target="_blank">Pink Floyd</a> - <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/" style="color: rgb(67, 156, 216);" target="_blank">New Music</a> - <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/video/" style="color: rgb(67, 156, 216);" target="_blank">More Music Videos</a></div><br /><br />These principles might sound good in theory, but they don’t translate into practice. Our government is good at supplying everyone with the same services, but it’s dreadful when it needs to tailor services to individuals with different needs. Nowhere is this more evident than in public education, where you have some parents arguing that they don’t want their children to learn about evolution, others arguing that their children need to know about evolution in order to compete among the world's intellectual elite, while inner-city schools continue to fall apart regardless.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYF-2LeSiRa1dmQUSI-SsA41GLZ5Z89GVlvPX10b6IQODVsP4WdPA5l1Je_gJz9xQ98WlZ6zSHCllxxlTcd8x3Vhi3pYMu4pWiyM_5GWiuzERsuOe22rO7KORPO2s4sQUhjxqHP_0QNfw/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYF-2LeSiRa1dmQUSI-SsA41GLZ5Z89GVlvPX10b6IQODVsP4WdPA5l1Je_gJz9xQ98WlZ6zSHCllxxlTcd8x3Vhi3pYMu4pWiyM_5GWiuzERsuOe22rO7KORPO2s4sQUhjxqHP_0QNfw/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318307525883372978" border="0" /></a><br />Evolutionists and creationists each think that they can solve the debate by debunking the other side – that the debate is somehow about evolution versus creationism. Personally I strongly suspect that the evolution-side is "right" in every meaningful sense of the word, but that's not what's fueling the debate. It’s not about who’s right and wrong, because neither side should have to pay for the others’ education.<br /><br />The argument is sometimes made that evolution shouldn't be seen as stepping on religion's toes. But it does. If it didn't, then religious parents wouldn't feel like their values are threatened by it. Creationist parents are then pressured to use scientific arguments against evolution. But since they're not scientists, those arguments always fall flat, and then scientists mock creati<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49roN3yF1IcRMRqL_w83frLaZhon06KzByvIaWRfhPguk9U6iWy7n_zUir0jY5DsQVZ1ZoqZqElcthvCuM4bKKZvtthCfXPPtbTZFPXdTW3l68JYAg4Rgvay-nTmVlFBanype7yxPiI8/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49roN3yF1IcRMRqL_w83frLaZhon06KzByvIaWRfhPguk9U6iWy7n_zUir0jY5DsQVZ1ZoqZqElcthvCuM4bKKZvtthCfXPPtbTZFPXdTW3l68JYAg4Rgvay-nTmVlFBanype7yxPiI8/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318309485230098594" border="0" /></a>onists as both wrong and stupid. But scientists fail to see that it's not about science, it's about values. It's one thing for a scientist - after years of higher education - to call someone else with only a bachelor's, or God forbid, just a high school degree, as ignorant of science. But it's another thing for the scientist to then take control over how their children are educated. The scientist might know more about science, but what does he know about raising a child?<br /><br />The strain, once again, falls on the fact that most of our schools are public. If more areas transitioned to a voucher system, then the debate would cool down; and if all schools were private, it would be a moot point on the national scene. The flaw in the current system is that everyone’s education becomes everyone’s businesses.<br /><br />The evolution debate continually brings me back to my liberal high school lessons. Of course, being biased is no crime. But the notion that public education is this pure untouchable right which produces well-informed democratic citizens doesn’t match up with reality. Rather, public education leads to national conflicts of interest about how to best mold the minds of our youth. The debate over evolution is just one of many manifestations of the problems inherent in a public school system.<br /><br />-KJ<br />_____________<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracylee/10470514/">Tree City USA</a>, 04/22/2005, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracylee/">Tracy Lee</a>; (2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chalkie_circle2000/1694228879/">Hoover Dam</a>, 10/22/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chalkie_circle2000/">chalkie_colour_circles</a>; (3)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/therefore/18636595/">Bryan Adams High School Hallway</a>, 06/10/2005, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/therefore/">Dean Terry</a>; (4)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakelelane/1944630919/">E, Brobee and Dino</a>, 10/10/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakelelane/">Shawn Anderson</a>;<br /><br />Video: (1)<a href="http://www.mtv.com/videos/pink-floyd/256482/another-brick-in-the-wall.jhtml">Music video</a> of the song "Another Brick in the Wall" by <a href="http://www.pinkfloyd.com/">Pink Floyd</a> from their 1979 album <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:09fyxqr5ldje">The Wall</a>. </span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4015350462795781831.post-15611991594839324792009-03-22T20:33:00.018-04:002009-03-24T08:26:31.935-04:00Vitamin D & The Dark Side of Science<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntNkdE8TwMUQccvB9vfojxrB1bb5q8Ql143kN53iBWctphZDAzVMZorHCkGVUzwRjvfUljcFoD86jyHQYzFOfr2y-2Mh_8THjftgIzFB_P2Oo6SexNYSvorjXbiyULDJAMoTR_S1rV_w/s1600-h/.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntNkdE8TwMUQccvB9vfojxrB1bb5q8Ql143kN53iBWctphZDAzVMZorHCkGVUzwRjvfUljcFoD86jyHQYzFOfr2y-2Mh_8THjftgIzFB_P2Oo6SexNYSvorjXbiyULDJAMoTR_S1rV_w/s320/.5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316154740662448514" border="0" /></a>In case you missed it, Vitamin D is currently a food-group. In 2005 the Harvard School of Public Health <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/index.html">revised</a> the food pyramid to include, among other things, multivitamins and in particular Vitamin D.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_guide_pyramid#Controversy">Controversy</a> over the traditional food pyramid – which was ingrained in my childhood memory from cereal box spines – was getting out of hand. Its large base of “bread, cereal, rice, & pasta” placed heavy emphasis on carbs, while the meats and protein section failed to differentiate between less healthy red meats and leaner sources of protein. Other <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109104875075676781,00.html?mod=health_hs_policy_legislation">complaints</a> included questionable influence from special interests - particularly those of the pernicious potato lobby - on the original pyramid, which was formed by the USDA. Between the alarming rise of obesity in America, and those confusing dots on the old pyramid that make it look like it’s from Star Wars, many thought that the food pyramid was overdue for a makeover.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7E_F1s-GiX1K7a-XZishHMEKvKfzH5gu6Ea_D8kV5xzxUQ2n5SzIJUKg0uYYjPbwFXSpbNxJ8jzsIY8wuXDElNHO4-MFeCSQQY8O7gEwIPS-mWT-y6Ka7JvKHRIRYyjOQK1VxiReuCo/s1600-h/1.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7E_F1s-GiX1K7a-XZishHMEKvKfzH5gu6Ea_D8kV5xzxUQ2n5SzIJUKg0uYYjPbwFXSpbNxJ8jzsIY8wuXDElNHO4-MFeCSQQY8O7gEwIPS-mWT-y6Ka7JvKHRIRYyjOQK1VxiReuCo/s400/1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316072008146726034" border="0" /></a><br />Enter the The Harvard Food Pyramid, which was formed using the very latest in peer review scientific research. And yet it’s a mockery of science and public health all the same.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVoZtsQxn0w7s1I2Sq1waeAPm5JJYMCkhTCc3m7ZZKRuFV86XJQjh155K18k8yTjjMfcfL9H-HxWUWLtWgoQIHSHhdFYDPFay4uTOW4-x5jWXgzng6NUxghQN3WXWbubocF4LPzm59p4/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVoZtsQxn0w7s1I2Sq1waeAPm5JJYMCkhTCc3m7ZZKRuFV86XJQjh155K18k8yTjjMfcfL9H-HxWUWLtWgoQIHSHhdFYDPFay4uTOW4-x5jWXgzng6NUxghQN3WXWbubocF4LPzm59p4/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316071783864246978" border="0" /></a><br />You’ll notice that its base, instead of “bread, cereal, rice, & pasta”, consists of “daily exercise & weight control”, featuring a collage of cartoony clip-art sneakers, dumbbells, a ping-pong paddle, feet standing on a scale, and, at the right, a plate consisting of some of the very same foods that, above, it says to use sparingly. The food pyramid is also fiber-heavy, going so far as to place white bread in the use sparingly category. The mid-section has a whole box for “nuts, seeds, beans, & tofu”. And salt is included in the “use sparingly section”. From the pyramid’s inedible base to its strange emphasis on Vitamin D, it represents much of what is wrong with science today.<br /><br />The next bit focuses on two specific criticisms (Vitamin D & salt) before returning to larger issues covering science and national policy in general.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS49y-18J9063exPr8H8PvZkb_PUpz8Y6P9_EvhBTXwaYQlX4sIh6U1l1de5cwFPgowmBcK3U2EnUQjREZDBxa1mnWU02iaw5eyCm5exqr0IQV0HeaELoQFq3oDle170bOW7sNMKQcIk/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS49y-18J9063exPr8H8PvZkb_PUpz8Y6P9_EvhBTXwaYQlX4sIh6U1l1de5cwFPgowmBcK3U2EnUQjREZDBxa1mnWU02iaw5eyCm5exqr0IQV0HeaELoQFq3oDle170bOW7sNMKQcIk/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316158068112354914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vitamin D</span><br /><br />Vitamin D has very few empirically demonstrated benefits, and yet medical researchers seem to be all up in a tizzy about it. A <a href="http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/">large group</a> of scientists has hailed that the general population’s Vitamin D deficiency is of epidemic proportions, but it’s not clear whether supplementation is the solution. And it's not like we haven't been trying. For years, almost all milk, most cereals and many juices have been Vitamin D fortified, and yet this epidemic persists. Their response is to recommend <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/13/health/main4516845.shtml">massive </a>(up to 2x for children) increases in the amount of recommended daily intake, which is typical of what happens when you combine bad medicine with bad government: If at first you don't succeed, try doubling the dose.<br /><br />Skepticism about these recommendations, however, should come from previous treatment <a href="http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml">research</a> with Vitamin D. Deficiencies have been empirically correlated with <a href="http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/research.shtml">numerous conditions</a> – from obesity and multiple sclerosis to schizophrenia – but treatment studies have found null or inconsistent at best results using Vitamin D.<br /><br />As we all know, correlation doesn’t equal causation.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_a7DJIOnNu0-tbkb-WiR4K6xX9a5PaHv2ID2uE6Mh3RqwTeCkMxSMTAXv_jap4h6RAYD0HQtozmXNonpEuByxYbdQegiMBPXHNg_q9MltXIBhjeryJW14f9I_y0dAVttXHwH0OJn_2SI/s1600-h/3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 348px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_a7DJIOnNu0-tbkb-WiR4K6xX9a5PaHv2ID2uE6Mh3RqwTeCkMxSMTAXv_jap4h6RAYD0HQtozmXNonpEuByxYbdQegiMBPXHNg_q9MltXIBhjeryJW14f9I_y0dAVttXHwH0OJn_2SI/s320/3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316074840315574530" border="0" /></a>And furthermore, Vitamin D correlates with sun exposure & outdoor activity, which can create all sorts of confounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4guZgA93u9eOQZWlIo1df37ADgcg_gBJsUYgF6o54vVdBEBy2j-KgQs-19OfVaiQq6fCUp4cywJxiqRj-TBEjFnpL_xG0qJKPee_xI8fNoxpqcwQ-IOzpuWws1NSewvMo_p9WCwyp8o/s1600-h/5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4guZgA93u9eOQZWlIo1df37ADgcg_gBJsUYgF6o54vVdBEBy2j-KgQs-19OfVaiQq6fCUp4cywJxiqRj-TBEjFnpL_xG0qJKPee_xI8fNoxpqcwQ-IOzpuWws1NSewvMo_p9WCwyp8o/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316160632448419314" border="0" /></a>In lack of sound theory, studies using Vitamin D as a treatment are highly speculative, and the push to expand guidelines for the public mirrors this: The results might be spurious; they might be tied to how Vitamin D’s metabolized; they might be due to poor lab testing (an issue that was raised just <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-tc-health-vitamin-d-0322mar22,0,6118054.story">this week</a>); or the original guidelines might have been wrong. The potential harms of these recommendations range from Vitamin D toxicity to wasted money and effort. While the potential benefits are speculative at best.<br /><br />Most importantly, these efforts lack supporting treatment studies and sound theory – which might just cover a few basics, like <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> the levels are off in the general public, and <span style="font-style: italic;">how </span>correcting them will help. Without such information, public health experts can’t afford to guess and experiment with the public at their will. For all we know, Vitamin D might be off for a good reason. That may sound silly, but the bottom line is that we just don't know, particularly in lack of any plausible & semi-backed theory. We can't just go around using correlations to dictate public policy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85FlI2IIK3roREFEwFLVi04FEy9T8q80wIdV6E7r8GiYnMsRXVTJzf_NlEpPNdWRN5v0tICfrQIXeTQB0zsr07zQyfZ6HcXLpy04vnd3pQWrVrYijwWOFoZKABF2yLDlHm6tuyVFiu10/s1600-h/6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85FlI2IIK3roREFEwFLVi04FEy9T8q80wIdV6E7r8GiYnMsRXVTJzf_NlEpPNdWRN5v0tICfrQIXeTQB0zsr07zQyfZ6HcXLpy04vnd3pQWrVrYijwWOFoZKABF2yLDlHm6tuyVFiu10/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316162425526651154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Salt</span><br /><br />Proponents of the war against obesity have declared salt as part of the axis of evil. And salt does make you fat by retaining water (although this is just temporary as it’s urinated out like most minerals). But it’s a key mineral. It’s essential for food digestion, hydration, and other basic functions. Furthermore it has a laxative effect, which may offset some of its water-retention effects on weight. Salt likely increases food satiety by aiding digesting. Long-term salt deprivation is a real concern, and insofar as it hinders absorption, it might even lead to overeating. And further, hydrating with extra fluids won’t offset the effects salt deprivation, because it’ll just cause you to urinate more of it out.<br /><br />You could hear the cry of public health from the beginning of the previous paragraph: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sure, we all need salt. But in our modern diets of processed foods we generally eat way too much of it. In this context, eating too much salt is a much greater danger than eating too little salt.</span> This sentiment may have a kernel of truth (assuming it's correct, & it might not be, given the plethora of low-sodium options that’ve popped up). But note that’s not the same as using salt sparingly.<br /><br />The essence of the argument, then, is that modern diets are too salty, so experts have to <span style="font-style: italic;">over-compensate</span> by telling people to err on using too little salt. This gets at the heart of the problem.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Telling People What to Do</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hiQoq-wqZxg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hiQoq-wqZxg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Kk7ZLfCqO_rjHXWfNn6FU6wVZ8yVXrO_nlh4jXNdzOpPXl2v2dVuZpvu9i49P4NbYFwruWyUs4pBWdALdY5nNs5pz2i2Vzq_NQyBGpTBWwiVp4m3UpcxVtdyfM2_Kj_29XRjkgB_E0/s1600-h/7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Kk7ZLfCqO_rjHXWfNn6FU6wVZ8yVXrO_nlh4jXNdzOpPXl2v2dVuZpvu9i49P4NbYFwruWyUs4pBWdALdY5nNs5pz2i2Vzq_NQyBGpTBWwiVp4m3UpcxVtdyfM2_Kj_29XRjkgB_E0/s320/7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316170893080049938" border="0" /></a>What, then, is the role of the updated and scientific food pyramid? Is it to give people the correct amounts of food to eat, or to steer people away from eating supposedly unhealthy foods that are deemed by experts to be too prevalent in our society? It’s clear that the latter is the case, and the guidelines aren’t meant to be followed absolutely. Further evidence for this is seen in the foundation of the new food pyramid, which isn’t even food at all, but includes exercise and weighing.<br /><br />What we're dealing with here is a food pyramid whose foundation, in no figurative or uncertain terms, is not food. Unfortunately, this sort of scientific double-speak extends beyond food policy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spiraling Further Out</span><br /><br />The points I bring up aren’t a hot controversy because the food pyramid itself is relatively worthless. People might follow a few recommendations, but they generally eat what they want. The obesity “epidemic”, if you want to call it such, wasn’t caused by a bad food pyramid, and it won’t be corrected by a good one.<br /><br />My frustrations, however, are more directed towards the source of such inane self-gratifying efforts, which include science and academia, whose recommendations and prescriptive science often overstep their bounds. This is a particular problem in this day of age, as Obama campaigned on a platform of giving “enlightened” science its due place in society. I worry that this “due place” may border on implementing a totalitarian state for the public, guided by the dimly lit headlights of power-hungry scientists and Ivory Tower academics. This paints a grim picture, particularly when combined with Obama’s socialist-leanings. With the push for universal healthcare, the individual's business will become a lot more of everyone’s business, as we’ll have to pay the price for our unhealthy citizens – a problem that I’m sure many ind<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAQO6VsSVe0INfsAlOOfeKR9eM7dc0gwwFmT9LnxdJa-RY00QVxCfJkWXIf75cWPiYAprC8jwEA24Qd5jgI2Fhi2KE4NHDVXbxa1MyW-bU7-1IIXzo2dE7zqwaZ2GvpL7WMH1B60L1nU/s1600-h/8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 349px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAQO6VsSVe0INfsAlOOfeKR9eM7dc0gwwFmT9LnxdJa-RY00QVxCfJkWXIf75cWPiYAprC8jwEA24Qd5jgI2Fhi2KE4NHDVXbxa1MyW-bU7-1IIXzo2dE7zqwaZ2GvpL7WMH1B60L1nU/s320/8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316173129871741826" border="0" /></a>ividual researchers will claim that they can solve given enough funding and power. Global warming science and policy, which rests on an equally <a href="http://www.globalwarming.org/">shaky</a> foundation, has promulgated, & will continue to, in the much the same manner. In the meanwhile, we have the power of Vitamin D (bolstered, perhaps, by man-made global warming) to cure our existing ailments.<br /><br />-KJ<br /><br />_____________<span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Media (in order of appearance)<br /><br />Photo: (1) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/430030376/">Strange Attractor</a>, 04/21/2007, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/">Steve Jurveston</a>; (2) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif">USDA Food Pyramid</a>, 1992 (3) <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard School of Public Health</a>, <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/index.html">Healthy Eating Food Pyramid</a>, 2005; (4) <a href="http://www.xkcd.com/552/">Comic</a> from xkcd.com, A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language; (5) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny/2540431589/">Milk Shelves at Whole Foods</a>, 06/01/2008, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny/">Stephanie Booth</a>; (6) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjflex/233574885/">Cat Conspiracy</a>, 09/04/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjflex/">Craig Elliott</a>; (7) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/166766499/">salt and pepper</a>, 06/13/2006, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/">Hobvias Sudoneighm</a>; (8) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/freedomtoast/280930278/">Joseph Stalin</a>, 10/27/2006, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/freedomtoast/">Freedom Toast</a>;<br /><br />Video: (1) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQoq-wqZxg">Music video</a>, 03/04/2007, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/littlewonder80">littlewonder80</a>'s channel, of the song "The Guns of Brixton" by <a href="http://www.theclash.com/">The Clash</a> from the 1979 album <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jifoxqe5ld6e">London Calling</a>.</span>kerrjachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14446419956533734149noreply@blogger.com3