... this cartoon does a pretty good job of expressing alot of my thoughts about parts of modern life and work.
It involves a strong reaction to it - oh dear NSFW language.
The challenge in life is how to ensure the poetry this world has to offer us outweighs the frustrations life blocks us with ... and an understanding that overcoming those frustrations is partly what creates our poetry. Life aint easy - but that shouldn't surprise us really.
I recently found this
talk by Richard Dawkins and was delighted to discover it contained a quote by Ricahrd Feynman who is one of the scientists who has most inspired me.
Feynman in his lecture QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter was discussing just how accurate quantum theory was. He said:
I had known that some scientist had used an analogy of great distance to get some idea of the amazing accuracy of a scientific prediction; I'd read about it years and years ago, but ha
Jerry Coyne at Why Evolution is True had a competition to:
I missed the competition and didn't post an entry, but reading about it later I set my mind to the task of seeing if I could come up with a better word than the winner: faitheist.
Eventually I mangled my fascination with Chinese to produce 3 words which I hope express the issues reasonably well:
For someone who believes in believe how about using the word aixinian pronounced as ai-shin-ian(ai 爱 is the Chinese character fo
I found this and thought I'd share it, but had no idea where to put it on Manx Forums so thought I'd put it up on my blog.
Below is an attempt to visualize how the endevours of science are communicated between the most important scientific journals. I found it at Well-Formed-Eigen-Factor.org!
Lots of science is really only of interest to specialists, and you can see that in the tight loops of citations between journals concentrated in one particular field.
But this detailed work can
I was sitting in a Nobles day ward having a test done and reading a book. Just a novel, a book whose author I have followed for over twenty years. An author who’s inspired me with his plots and paragraphs and phrases, and given me insights into different points of view. A writer who has created stories fantastically linking the everyday with a magical reality which always lies just under the surface of the mundane.
The nurse bustled in talking fifty to the dozen, reminiscing about Isle of
I recently watched the movie the Right Stuff exploring how America and NASA launched their first astronauts into space. I really enjoyed it, I think you can tell it was based on Tom Wolfe's book - its well written on lots of levels.
I enjoyed the recurrent motif of Chuck Yeager who's story of breaking the sound barrier starts the film, but who is then left behind apart from continued reprises as the astronauts take centre stage. He bravely headed out time and time again to push his aircr
There is a bright rainbow arcing in the sky outside my window. Its colours touch the green farmland my office looks out onto. When I first saw it I stopped work and stood staring out for a few moments, smiling at its beauty.
‘Always look for beauty’ has been one of my guiding phrases recently – listen to bird song, enjoy a fleeting glimpse of the sunset while on the commute, feel a sense of awe watching the crescent moon set with Venus and Jupiter shining bright next to it.
I always tr
Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem revertis.
Remember man, that dust thou art, and to dust thus shalt return.
Found this on some web site. It made me stop and think. The Latin and King James style English give its succinctness multiple allusions; for me it conjures up images of tombs and catacombs; and Medieval monks berating their flock. It isn't a topic dwelled upon much in this (modern) age; true though it remains.
And there I pause: it is true, we will all rot and
I'm part reading The Revenge of Gaia at the moment. It’s about the 4th book sitting on my bed side table, so if my main book(s) bore me it is possible for me to get down to it to browse.
A quote in the introduction by Sir Crispin Tichell caught my imagination and I've been mulling it round my mind for a bit.
The Revenge of Gaia page xiv.
I totally agree with the second sentence but the first one troubles me: "a single, self regulating system"?
For all the obscure reasons I
I was asked by a fellow forum member how I write my posts.
I found it very difficult to reply and this is a rather boring reply - but I still love the book Straight and Crooked Thinking and so thought I'd blog my reply!!
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How do I post - I'm not really sure - I've been thinking about how to reply and not really getting anywhere other than a rather patr
I’ve just watched
a documentary by Aaron Russo.
What to make of it. What fascinates me is how people are using both traditionally left AND traditionally right wing arguments to turn what are basically free market ideas of liberal democracy into an Aunt Sally or whipping boy for the anti-globalization movement.
I have to admit I do wonder if I am using the correct word in describing this movie being as part of the anti-globalization movement – as alluded to above there are themes of ant
