Science in the States

Though I am a firm believer that to completely trust the theory of evolution takes about as much faith as believing in anything else (to trust that billions of years and billions of minor changes are responsible for what we know as our modern world and everything in it is beyond our direct comprehension - we can accept it, we can even understand it, but we cannot grasp "billions" as a concept other than it's a damn lot) the difference lies in the unflinching testing of the theory.

Religions have a lengthy history, and even a modern reputation, for being unwilling to be put to the test while scientific theories are pretty much hanging it out there at all times and are regularly reinforced or modified. I mean, prove it wrong! I think that's what bothers me most about a biblically literal "creationism" being taught in a science classroom. It's untestable and it's unapproachable - and the only reason it "has" to be taught in the classroom is because biblical literalism and evolution go together like oil and water. But in the realm of reality, biblical literalism and evolution are about as old as each other. In the history of Christianity, for all the good and horrible things contained within it, Biblical literalism is a reactive (and reductive!) ideology that has only come to prominence since the mid 19th century as a foil to the literary criticism of the Bible of the same age.

Early church fathers are on record as interpreting Genesis' creation story far more allegorically than their modern, literal, American Christian contemporaries. Maybe that's the reason Catholicism has accepted evolution (mostly). The downside, our modern "Creation Science" is rooted in scientific sounding half-truths furthered by non-scientists and scientists working out of their depth/field. Cherry picking science much like believers cherry pick the principles of their faith from their holy books.

In Madison, every outdoor farmers market (so every Saturday between May and December), there are dozens of people crowded around "Evolution is a Lie" posters and giant information collages, along with plenty of other "witnesses." Though I agree with them that rationality/evolution is a worldview, it is a worldview that is grounded in testable, observable science (though conceptually difficult to grasp - like a concept of "God"), the people who disagree with that don't have facts on their side, instead having only faith. While that sort of resolve is commendable, that's the same sort of faith that is responsible for an unjustifiable level of ignorance and intolerance throughout history (which is not commendable).

No one can make you believe the truth, but no amount of belief can make something true. I just think it's sad that we (as a society) are hung up on these ideas and debates (creationism/evolution, gay marriage) when there is so much suffering here and abroad and innumerable and infinitely more important problems to solve. Ultimately, I think it just comes down to anomie - for (closed-minded, biblically literal) Christian parents to have their children subjected to such rational alternatives to their irrational beliefs creates an incredible feeling of anomie in their children, but more importantly, in themselves. And nobody likes to be told that they don't have a grasp on reality.

I think religion should be taught in schools, not A religion, but all - the facts, history and worldviews. Talk about creationism then. Leave science to the science class and leave religion out of it. What the bible says isn't science and it isn't really history either. It's not ALL bad but it's pretty ignorant to take two, or four or six thousand year old information and assume that the authors were aware of everything we know today. Especially in terms of modern science where twenty years is ancient history.

That said, I'm a spiritual guy from a spiritual family and my youth was spent bouncing from one fundamentalist Christian church to another. My extended family includes a high percentage of young earthers and I was taught creationism, I was also taught about evolution (though it wasn't framed as anything remotely close to truth). The evolution I was taught was the straw-man version that's rife with misunderstandings that make it look as unbelievable as this sentence makes it sound: Evolution goes against the Bible and against other laws of science - like the second law of thermodynamics (thank you for clearing that up).

Now that I'm on the other side of my childhood, there is a divide between my spirituality and my rationality. Though I prefer my material world to be infused with metaphor and meaning I also prefer my spirituality to maintain (at least) a modicum of rationality, ultimately they are separate. My spiritual experience in life has little to do with the material world, and the origins of the material world have nothing to do with my spiritual experience. Though my spirituality has a tremendous effect on how I interact with the world around me and see myself, and my experience of the material world regularly tests me and my faith, it's not a zero sum game. Thankfully.

It Hurts Me Because I Care

The Constitution

This is ONE of my problems with the whole "tea party" ideology. The decision to amend the constitution instead of remaking it was so we would understand our own mistakes and see where we came from. Not so we could gloss over it in a bunch of hoo-ha and rigamarole.

This is 'priestly' civil religion, when the leaders are big on their own team and not so up on their failures. I'm far more interested in what the 'prophetic' side of civil religion, where what we're doing is looked at and the mistakes and flaws are pointed out so we can improve upon the current situation.

You shouldn't read the constitution as it is, but as all that it is and has been. It is both. And! Our elected officials can't even be troubled to STAY through the whole reading? F'n A cotton, f'n A. Guess doing their job doesn't pay the bills.

A Friend of Mine Said...

...Wonder which of our rights they'll take away as a result this whole Tucson deal...

Well, hopefully this stays within the state. And, frankly, Arizona has pretty much zero gun legislation at the moment. The 2nd amendment is in full effect man, too many guns to take that away. Maybe they'll take away "Congress on your Corner" style events - I'd be far more concerned with what this is going to cover-up in terms of Media coverage.

But I agree, rights are being taken away. Legislation contrary to the will of the majority, or of some majorities, is somehow coming into effect, either through our representatives or through our courts. Some of these are heartfelt and passionate, like homosexual marriage on the Liberal agenda, some of these are coldly self interested like big business Republicans attacking Net Neutrality. It's a shame everybody else either doesn't care or seems to have a price - or at least everybody who's motivated enough and cold enough to run a company well, or run for office has a price - and the price buys complicity and complacence.

There is an uneasy and regularly changing balance between corporate interests and big gov't interests (to call them by the names they're called by their enemies) but ultimately, there is only one problem, man's lust. Specifically in this situation, man's lust for power. And! it runs deeper than that, there is a lust for safety, for security, and in unsafe places where money buys everything, money is security but don't ever think that more money doesn't come with more problems; catch-22. In a way, it's like "Skora" how can you blame Skora for his nature? It's our nature to seek security, both as a group and from the group, as families (real and imagined) and, especially in the modern, western milieu, as individuals.

Our society praises and treasures success, if only through our sycophantic worship of celebrity and wealth. The very idea of an entourage! It's nothing to celebrate to be a blue collar worker, nothing to celebrate to be middle management. It's really no wonder that the powerful, the price-tagged, are the people in charge of it. They're the people who have made their decision, whatever it may be, for good or for bad. Their movtivated and they make it happen. Think Frank Costello. The shame is how we need them. In some ways it's reminiscent of Mein Kampf, but it's not Jews, it's no ethnic other, it's just something akin to C. Wright Mills' "Power Elite." Our way of life is like an open-air prison, but it keeps us "safe" from most-everything but each other.

Somebody has to buy what's produced, or everyone has to find something else to do. The whole system is out of control man. I agree that "big gov't" isn't the answer, but until we change the way we live on a massive scale, "big corp." doesn't have another counter-balance. So we vote for guys like Russ Feingold... oh wait, I guess we don't anymore.

Or, that's just the way I see it Tony. Miss ya bud.

Life, Beyond the Stars

What a fantastic idea, that perhaps "we" are not alone in the vastness of the ever (at least for the moment) expanding universe. Broadcasting our presence via radio-waves, well... that one I'm not so sure about. We've got science and we've got sci-fi, either way we really don't know anything, if all our knowledge teaches us anything it should be humility - because we don't know jack. Maybe it's because I watched Star Trek the Motion Picture at a young age, but it just doesn't seem like a great idea. If the universe we know turns out to be like Star Trek and warp drive is the test of a civilization, we're still quite a ways off, and hopefully safe from outside forces until then. If it's a Battlestar Gallactica situation, there's a completely different set of problems and we're probably still a long ways off from whatever is going on in the universe. If it's more like Simbieda's Mechanoids, Bear's Von Neuman machines or even Michael Bay's interpretation of the Transformers, ultimately we're probably just f'd.

Stephen Hawking made his opinion on the matter known, and of course we're free to agree or disagree with him - and though on this matter I basically agree - I feel that something is going overlooked. Radiowaves. We're using radiowaves to show the universe how technologically advanced. Hawking made the connection to Columbus and the people of the "New World" that he found, but I'd only add to that, using radiowaves to show how advanced we are could be like using a smoke-signal to show how advanced we are to a group of people with radios.

I've been told that believing that humanity is God's chosen is arrogant but I must say, it seems just as arrogant to assume that we're the most advanced race in the universe and if we don't, if we aren't, I think it's probably a bad idea. If there is a more advanced race out there, I agree with Hawking that we might not want to be discovered, especially if they find radiowaves but a primitive technology.

The matter of language is a whole other development - imagine a group who was able to learn the language of another group without the other group knowing their language. In terms of codes and code-breaking, one can argue that this has had a lot to do with how wars have been won and lost in our own history. They'd know our language and we'd have no idea of theirs, they'd know what kind of technology we use to communicate, even if they were so far beyond it that it would have only struck them as white noise and gibberish had they just stumbled across us.

And besides, so long as we keep proving Bill Hicks right we don't deserve the stars.

New Years Day

Usually, over the course of my life, I have made time on New Years Eve or in the week before to go over my year, to process it and make some adjustments for the coming. 2010 was different. I spent some time before Christmas doing a fair amount of revaluation, checking my intentions and looking for possibilities. 2010 was a year of "plan b's." A year where things turned out, just not as planned. New Years Eve was like a microcosm of the entire year. Maddy and I threw together a fairly last minute party plan. We did a lot of inviting people who already had other plans, but that was fine in our book. This is the text message I sent to everyone, in two parts: "Maddy and I are throwing a lil party for NYE. Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and a Woodford Reserve midnight toast at my place tonight." Followed by, "If you don't have any plans, or even if you do. We're saying 6pm-???(after midnight); hors d'oeuvres, snaks and some casserole - stop through, even if it's on your way elsewhere." I arrived back in my town around noon from a quick trip out to visit my pops in his locale, so this message wasn't sent until the afternoon of New Years Eve. So it goes.

I spent the evening fielding polite no's from my friends, most of whom are lucky enough to be working but whose jobs require their working on days like New Years Eve. I have no grudges about it. In addition to the short timing, most of my friends are an hour (+) away, or have children and family plans for the holiday. That the party turned out to be me, my fiancee and her bestest friend with guest appearances by her aunt, sister and my brother, didn't bother me. Maddy though was basically stabbed in the back by her "friends." The "friends" in question were mostly people she works with and old pals from High School. We both put effort into the party, ultimately, she spent more of her time, effort and money on the party than I - and I never expect my friends to come to my functions, because I understand that they are regularly unable to.

There was an incredible fog in Madison all day and night New Years Eve, so dense it cancelled my flight home from Chicago and I got rerouted by bus. So it goes. I know the fog kept at least one of my friends away, no telling for hers though as they just come from across town. It's unfortunate that this has thrown her into not just doubt about the quantity and quality of her friends, but also about herself. Tough to deal with when you keep in mind that she's a "reep what you sow" ideologue.

That was 2010, and frankly, besides the importance of having contention plans (b, c and often d) all I learned in 2010 was that I don't have to talk about it if I don't want to. I am done with 2010. It's peaks were memorable, but I hope to keep it's valleys sheltered in the shade until they simply fade away, forgotten beneath the sands of time.

2011 is a year of big, though possibly bittersweet plans, and unmissable opportunities. From a semester in Spain, to a transfer into the University system from Community College. I'm making machinations to make 2011 the year I remember how to have fun and feel alive. 2011 is the year I test my boundaries. I don't have a good track record when it comes to being away from home, but I haven't tried it in twenty years - twenty years that have led me away from home and shattered my "home" into four or five different states (depending on how one counts). So it goes.

2011 is the year of the kindle, the year I read classics and see more of the world than I ever knew existed. 2011 should be the year I get a real job again, though we'll see what happens with that. 2011. Ok then, moving on...